Black Flag.
New Generation
- Thread starter jake
- Start date
My Age group likes older Muscle cars but i dont see any really wanting to learn about them or anything. But Nissans, Hondas Whatever, Is still their main choice. And Diesels, that is a Ego thing in which i cant stand.
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- Nov 14, 2010
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Yes, Another good one.
Yatzee
Active Member
Let's face it, some of the vintage cars are just not of that much interest to younger people without changes that bring them up to todays requirements and standards - price of fuel, stopping distance, modern fuel blends, high tech tires, light weight rims, and the list goes on. Where I live the four lane cruises at 120kph and I was sure that the guy in front of me could stop in about half the distance of my drum brake system. So what's the answer? Trailer queen or short hops to the local show and shine. Only drive on Sunday on back roads or simply limit the amount and distance you drive from home? Where's the fun in that? People who have own a somewhat luxurios car want the power seats, remote entry, nice stereo, quick stopping etc just like their new Kia Sorento. And they can have it all, for a price on their vintage sedan. To deny yourself a total driving experience in your classic is probably a result of paranoia or lack of funds. I applaud anyone who makes their ride safer for all around them on the open road by conducting a few modifications and upgrades be it brakes, suspension or reliability. Older cars were OK in their time when people drove only 30 to 50 MPH and the biggest, heaviest car survived a crash but that was yesterday, and yesterday is neither acceptable to younger people or their insurance companies today. I'm not advocating total mods, front to back, but who doesn't want to stop quicker, see the road better at night and be able to read their gauges at a quick glance. Idiots that's who!
GregG48203
Active Member
I'll add this note about safety: the most significant cause of accidents is human error. This applies in cars as well as airplanes. So we still have injuries and fatalities on our roads despite the relative safety of modern cars. Therefore, a person must be willing to accept all the risks of owning and operating an older vehicle. Entities such as this forum can hopefully allow a person to make better informed decisions.
Yatzee
Active Member
I agree somewhat but in the event of catastropy, "what you expect and what you get" from your ride can make the difference between walking away or looking at the underside of a cofin lid. I would be interested in knowing how many vehicles were on the road in 1969 as opposed to now because crowding on the blacktop and lack of patience today has to be taken into consideration. As they say "There's one born every minute" and in order to protect yourself from that a$$hole you need every advantage you can get with braking and handling. This does not necessarily hold true if you only drive one block to a car show, take a folding chair out of the trunk, place it behind your car, and plunk your *** down until it's time to go home. The "risk assesors" at the insurance company would disagree with me completely and say most accidents happen just a few blocks from home. But then their the ones that most modern car manufacturers have to satisfy with crash tests, airbags, sofisticated restraints and all that other good $hit they never had in 1969. Until this forum offers a "defensive" driving course, other than staying home, pay particular attention to the other guy. He's/she's the one that's gonna ruin your day. Just check three posts down from this one.
I'll agree with some of that, but 24" wheels with what looks like a strip of electrical tape for tires is not an improvement in safety, or reliability, and certainly not looks. And as far as people only driving 30-50 mph back when these cars were new is sure as hell not the case, at least not where I lived, 80 mph was not unusual. I will say that most of the older cars would benefit from better brakes.
These cars were built pre-55 MPH national speed limit... on many roads you didn't even have a posted limit... they were meant to cruise with comfort and at considerable speed. Braking, yes... not up to modern standards. Unfortunately, I see too many brake conversions that aren't up to standards also. If you are going to go there, make sure you go all the way to something safe, please.
Wildaugust
Senior Member
I don't understand why people have the idea that classic cars can't stop. I've never had any problems with stopping. I've never rear ended another car or been "at fault" in any accident in my 35 years of driving. Most of that time was spent driving pre-'75 vehicles, some used as daily drivers.
Ever since ABS Brakes first appeared there has been a public perception that older cars can't stop, which is just pure bullshit. A recent study compared two Caprice police cars, one with ABS and one without. In every test, the car without ABS had the shorter stopping distance by several feet in fact, but the car with ABS was better at swerving around obstacles with the brakes applied. I remember having to do a panic stop from 30 MPH while driving my '70 Meteor when a small child ran out from between two parked cars. I hit my brakes, heard his mother who was on the sidewalk let out a scream and expected to hear or feel my car hit him. When I stopped, he was standing a couple of feet in front of my car. According to the study I just mentioned, if my car would have had ABS Brakes I would have hit him. With ABS, I could have put other peoples lives in danger by swerving into oncoming traffic or I guess I could have just swerved into the parked cars. Another time I had to do a panic stop to avoid hitting a deer that ran onto the highway. I stopped in time. People do drive faster now, but it's not necessarily because the speed limits are higher, but rather that they drive 10 to 15 km/h above every posted limit. Fact: In 1975 the speed limit on portions of the Trans-Canada Highway through Manitoba were 80 MPH. In the mid-seventies the US speed limits were dropped to 55 MPH. Around the same time Canada was going Metric. All speed limits would be posted in km/h from then on. They also decided to lower the speeds at the same time. The speed limit on the Trans-Canada through Manitoba was dropped from 80 MPH on some portions and uniformly set at 100 km/h after the change to metric. Most other highways in the province were posted at 90 km/h, down from 60 MPH. It's just recently that limits have been increasing. The speed limit on the TCH is now 110 km/h, so of course most people do 120. The thing is, back in the early '70s, while the speed limit on the TCH was 80 MPH, people were driving at night with sealed beam headlights, somehow managing to stop without ABS Brakes and getting to their destinations alive and in one piece. Yes, there were serious accidents and fatalities. However, in those days there seemed to be two, maybe three serious accidents per month. Yes, I realize there are more cars now, but these days there seems to be at least one fatality per week. We just had two in the province this past week.
Ever since ABS Brakes first appeared there has been a public perception that older cars can't stop, which is just pure bullshit. A recent study compared two Caprice police cars, one with ABS and one without. In every test, the car without ABS had the shorter stopping distance by several feet in fact, but the car with ABS was better at swerving around obstacles with the brakes applied. I remember having to do a panic stop from 30 MPH while driving my '70 Meteor when a small child ran out from between two parked cars. I hit my brakes, heard his mother who was on the sidewalk let out a scream and expected to hear or feel my car hit him. When I stopped, he was standing a couple of feet in front of my car. According to the study I just mentioned, if my car would have had ABS Brakes I would have hit him. With ABS, I could have put other peoples lives in danger by swerving into oncoming traffic or I guess I could have just swerved into the parked cars. Another time I had to do a panic stop to avoid hitting a deer that ran onto the highway. I stopped in time. People do drive faster now, but it's not necessarily because the speed limits are higher, but rather that they drive 10 to 15 km/h above every posted limit. Fact: In 1975 the speed limit on portions of the Trans-Canada Highway through Manitoba were 80 MPH. In the mid-seventies the US speed limits were dropped to 55 MPH. Around the same time Canada was going Metric. All speed limits would be posted in km/h from then on. They also decided to lower the speeds at the same time. The speed limit on the Trans-Canada through Manitoba was dropped from 80 MPH on some portions and uniformly set at 100 km/h after the change to metric. Most other highways in the province were posted at 90 km/h, down from 60 MPH. It's just recently that limits have been increasing. The speed limit on the TCH is now 110 km/h, so of course most people do 120. The thing is, back in the early '70s, while the speed limit on the TCH was 80 MPH, people were driving at night with sealed beam headlights, somehow managing to stop without ABS Brakes and getting to their destinations alive and in one piece. Yes, there were serious accidents and fatalities. However, in those days there seemed to be two, maybe three serious accidents per month. Yes, I realize there are more cars now, but these days there seems to be at least one fatality per week. We just had two in the province this past week.
Come to Maryland and see how people drive here....
I've driven on roads all over the world and never seen so many bad driver's in one small state. ABS brakes aren't helping these idiots in the least. And when we get a dusting of snow....
I've driven on roads all over the world and never seen so many bad driver's in one small state. ABS brakes aren't helping these idiots in the least. And when we get a dusting of snow....
Drive a couple hours south to Richmond if you want to see piss poor driving at its finest ! The stupidity is rampant ! I could tell you stories for hours, it's fu@king pitiful.
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