The Return of the Sedan?

[Road Hog]

Before it got rear-ended on the interstate, I had a Honda four-door with paddle shifters, so it was like having a combination manual and automatic. It was badass.

[kphoger]

It's better to have power and not need it, than it is to need power and not have it.

Other than mountain driving, where a car can be under-powered for the up-hills, I don't really think having more power is realistically any better having barely-adequate power.  I'm sure I've never really used my car's power to its full potential.

[Max Rockatansky]

I have a Dodge Challenger Scatpack with a 485 horsepower 6.4L Hemi V8.  There is no practical application for day-to-day use with that much power. 

[Takumi]

Most days I don't even need to use all 305 HP in my Acura TL.

[Plutonic Panda]

If a car is too powerful it feels like you're having to hold its leash back to keep it from running away with you. That's not exciting to me, it's nervewracking.

In my opinion, any driver with enough experience and skill should be able to handle a high powered car. It's just about throttle modulation, knowing the car's limits, and knowing how it reacts to inputs. It's better to have power and not need it, than it is to need power and not have it.

How many enthusiast oriented cars have CVTs in them?  I can't imagine it is very many. 

None, unless you count the Jeep Cherokee.  But I don't see any rubber duckies in their windshields.

Don't forget the Subaru WRX CVT. Though I'm not at all surprised that they represent just a sliver of overall WRX sales.

And I will die in this hill that is the problem with Mustangs. They are great cars, but the people that buy them are retarded and don't know how to handle them.

[Max Rockatansky]

If a car is too powerful it feels like you're having to hold its leash back to keep it from running away with you. That's not exciting to me, it's nervewracking.

In my opinion, any driver with enough experience and skill should be able to handle a high powered car. It's just about throttle modulation, knowing the car's limits, and knowing how it reacts to inputs. It's better to have power and not need it, than it is to need power and not have it.

How many enthusiast oriented cars have CVTs in them?  I can't imagine it is very many. 

None, unless you count the Jeep Cherokee.  But I don't see any rubber duckies in their windshields.

Don't forget the Subaru WRX CVT. Though I'm not at all surprised that they represent just a sliver of overall WRX sales.

And I will die in this hill that is the problem with Mustangs. They are great cars, but the people that buy them are retarded and don't know how to handle them.

S650 Mustangs don't have CVTs.

[Plutonic Panda]

If a car is too powerful it feels like you're having to hold its leash back to keep it from running away with you. That's not exciting to me, it's nervewracking.

In my opinion, any driver with enough experience and skill should be able to handle a high powered car. It's just about throttle modulation, knowing the car's limits, and knowing how it reacts to inputs. It's better to have power and not need it, than it is to need power and not have it.

How many enthusiast oriented cars have CVTs in them?  I can't imagine it is very many. 

None, unless you count the Jeep Cherokee.  But I don't see any rubber duckies in their windshields.

Don't forget the Subaru WRX CVT. Though I'm not at all surprised that they represent just a sliver of overall WRX sales.

And I will die in this hill that is the problem with Mustangs. They are great cars, but the people that buy them are retarded and don't know how to handle them.

S650 Mustangs don't have CVTs.

No, I'm just saying they're good cars and people that tune them up. Don't know how to drive them and they fuck them up and fuck other people up in it messes up the brand image. Personally, I'm not a big Mustang by myself. I prefer the first gen I don't like the hate the Mustangs get

[Plutonic Panda]

And in my opinion, other than the big American SUV, which I think are the best cars in the world, other than the mercury grand marquis our great cars

[Max Rockatansky]

Conceptually I like the idea of body on frame cars like the Crown Vic and the Panther platform.  The issue the Panther platform had during the last generation was how many were saddled with the 16 valve 4.6L Modular Motor.  The 16 valve variant of that engine was a complete turd in anything but the SN95 Mustang.  The Panther platform came alive when the Marauder got the DOHC Modular. 

[kphoger]

I haven't had any interest in learning to drive a manual—don't want to be screwing around trying to manage the car when something important and/or interesting might be going on outside it.

Shifting takes 0% of my attention away from whatever is going on around me.  It's not like I have to look down at my left foot or right hand in order to shift.  The clutch pedal and shift knob are in the same place they've always been.

[Max Rockatansky]

It usually takes me maybe 15-20 minutes to get used to driving a manual transmission again.  After that I don't even really notice what I'm doing.

[Scott5114]

I haven't had any interest in learning to drive a manual—don't want to be screwing around trying to manage the car when something important and/or interesting might be going on outside it.

Shifting takes 0% of my attention away...

Yes, but I have a deficit of it.

[kphoger]

Yes, but I have a deficit of it.

Does using the steering wheel distract you from what is going on around you?  Does using the gas pedal distract you from what is going on around you?  I mean, knowing you, maybe the answer is yes.  But, once you know how to drive stick, shifting is just part of driving, not some added thing that you have to focus on.

[Scott5114]

Yes, but I have a deficit of it.

Does using the steering wheel distract you from what is going on around you?  Does using the gas pedal distract you from what is going on around you?  I mean, knowing you, maybe the answer is yes.  But, once you know how to drive stick, shifting is just part of driving, not some added thing that you have to focus on.

Have you ever seen Green Acres? You know how Oliver was always lecturing his wife about how many volts or whatever the farmhouse's electrical system could handle and how each of the appliances had a number and the numbers couldn't add up to more than 9 or whatever? And then she'd nod and smile and then plug in a bunch of stuff and they'd cut to the generator sparking and the lights would go out?

My brain sort of works like that, except I don't know what any of the numbers are.

[kphoger]

Have you ever seen Green Acres?

Yep.

You know how Oliver was always lecturing his wife about how many volts or whatever the farmhouse's electrical system could handle and how each of the appliances had a number and the numbers couldn't add up to more than 9 or whatever? And then she'd nod and smile and then plug in a bunch of stuff and they'd cut to the generator sparking and the lights would go out?

Nope.

My brain sort of works like that, except I don't know what any of the numbers are.

For what it's worth...  Of all the people I know, the one with the absolute worst ADHD is also one of the only two who have owned a car with a stick shift recently.  He'd still own it, too, except that he totaled it in an accident last year.  The guy with the second-worst ADHD has told me that he misses driving stick, and he had a job for a while driving a stick shift propane truck.

It's just becomes muscle memory—at least, up-shifting does.  When the engine revs sound a certain way, my hand and feet just... do their thing.

[kphoger]

I thought about this yesterday and was going to put it in the Random Thoughts thread, but seems kind of appropriate here instead:

My wife has not driven a car in more than a year and a half.  The reason?  ...

Our family vehicle bit the dust in November 2024.  I suspected that one of the catalytic converters completely clogged up.  It had been showing signs of being clogged for more than a year and had been getting worse.  But, because the converter in question was the least accessible one of the three, replacing it would require a lift, air tools, and a long flex-bit.  Rather than shell out the cash for that repair, I decided to just baby it along for as long as it would last, and then we bought a small secondary car—the first time we've ever owned more than one car at a time.

We bought an '02 Ford Focus that needed some repairs.  The plan was to take care of most of those repairs, for me to use the car as a daily driver to and from work, and to teach our eldest son to drive in it—only using the bigger one for grocery shopping and stuff like that.  The plan worked for a while, and eventually the bigger car finally pooped out.  Carrie had prayed that God would keep it running till after a vendor fair in nearby Benton that she had a Scentsy booth at.  Well, God answered her prayer exactly as she asked:  after that event, we drove home, unloaded everything out of the back, came in to rest before going out for supper with the kids, and it wouldn't start anymore.  I sold it on Facebook several months later.

Anyway, Carrie never learned to drive stick shift growing up.  I keep asking if she'd like me to teach her how, but she has no interest in learning.  I already taught our son, and he's already got his license.  But she's just perfectly happy to let me do all the driving.

[Plutonic Panda]

Conceptually I like the idea of body on frame cars like the Crown Vic and the Panther platform.  The issue the Panther platform had during the last generation was how many were saddled with the 16 valve 4.6L Modular Motor.  The 16 valve variant of that engine was a complete turd in anything but the SN95 Mustang.  The Panther platform came alive when the Marauder got the DOHC Modular. 

I agree you know one of my favorite cars was a 99 marquee. Such a great car. I wanna get a bronco. I had a I believe 94. It was an Eddie Bauer. I do not want Eddie Bauer cause I don't mind having to pull my seat back without electronic assistance. I should've never have gotten rid of that car that was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made.