It’s still hyperbole. A compact hybrid SUV weighs 4000 lbs (specifically, a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid). Neither a behemoth or gas-guzzling - just a heavy, deadly moving object.
Maybe not sound, but at least one dude thought making it look like a horse was a good idea, so as not to scare the other horses. Well That Didn't Work: The 1899 Car With a Full-Size Wooden Horse Head Stuck to the Front | WIRED
They actually did. Our willingness to accept the mass death that cars bring was something drilled into our culture with very conscious marketing campaigns.
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That’s existed for a while now - hill start assist
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Gear stick and engine noises without an exhaust?
Clutch, throttle, brake co-ordination – not that tricky, even 15 year old me could manage it.
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My last two cars were a Mercedes C class and a Jaguar X-type, both auto transmission for the sake of my wife, who can’t drive a manual. In both of them I became very skilful at judging my speed from the engine note. My EV has a limiter function. I can set max 30 mph when going through a village and keep my foot on the pedal. Even without using that, I’ve found I’m unconsciously judging my speed quite accurately without any engine noise, probably from visual clues. I don’t hear a lot of outside noise because of the radio.
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This is so nuts. The whole coolness of a stick shift if you feel a real connection to the engine. Ok, so let’s make that a fake connection!
I love stick shift cars but please, if / when I eventually get an electric car, no engine noise and no stick!
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The man did say he if asked his customers what they wanted they would respond, ‘Faster horses’.
I would like a fake clutch pedal in all cars that don’t need them. My foot has found the brake while seeking the clutch way too often…
Thankfully I drive rarely 2-5 times a year and usually on the backroads.
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I just use my own megaphone and make vroom-vroom noises when I drive the staff electric Smart.
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That will certainly help with witness statements:
“Did you recognise what make of car the bank robbers used to get away, sir?”
“No, officer, but it sounded like a galloping horse.”
(Police officer writes down “Ford Mustang”.)
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Being European I’ve driven stick for 35 years now, but when on the second day of my holiday I got stuck at a red light as the first car going up at the top of one of those very steep San Francisco hills I was more than happy to realise that the automatic transmission of the rental car would sort that out for me. I don’t panic easily in traffic, but that situation had me sweating blood for half a minute.
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I didn’t realize how much other people rely on those cues until I drove an EV! Over six years, I drove a Bolt and a Leaf, neither of which have low speed pedestrian warning noises in the US versions.
I had to be very careful in parking lots. People would constantly stumble out in front of you or lazily cross in front without looking. People rely on sound a lot in parking lots to know if there’s a car there. The difference between driving ICE and EV is really dramatic in this one particular way.
I ended up tapping my horn at people more than I wanted to, to warn them I was there. The Volt had a nice little pedestrian warning sound with its own button. A great feature that they did not carry over to the Bolt for some reason!
I think most EVs make some sort of dinging noise at low speed now, but I’m not sure. My last EV was a couple of years ago.
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There used to be laws that a car had to have a flag man walking in front of it at all times to warn everyone. People were rightfully terrified of cars at first.
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crash the gears
common reply …sort it out
all in one box…
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When my mother was learning how to drive, my grandfather took her out to a hill in their town, parked their VW Bug on it and then said “okay, let’s go!”…
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When I was a newly-licensed driver I accompanied a girlfriend as she practised her driving in her father’s brand new Lada. She lived in Shaftesbury and, due to concentrating on driving technique rather than the route, we ended up on Gold Hill which is horribly steep and cobbled. She and the Lada aced it, I had sweaty palms just considering it.
I go back to this when I need a noise.
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Less sticky tires mean less rolling resistance, so the tires might well be part of it.
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