Certainly! A lot of newer vehicles are faster than I would consider necessary. Mr. Kidd just rented a Yukon Denali while his Silverado is in for repairs (both are 2020’s). The truck is faster than it needs to be, the Yukon is worse.
I was looking at specs for the new Z - the engine is north of 350 HP. It’s an itty bitty car that lots of young men will kill themselves in. Not much available yet on the new Integra coming next year… Either one will be exceedingly faster than necessary. I still want one of them, with the Nissan being my preferred choice - from the available images, it reminded me of my dearly departed 280Z so much that I got verklempt.
I hear you. Then again, in fairness, it’s hard to go from the old version to a mid-engine (behind the driver*) in stages…
*I say that because I guess TECHNICALLY the old config is still “mid-engine” because it sits behind the front axle. Which I suppose is true for a lot of rear wheel drive cars.
True, but when VW introduced the new front-engined, water-cooled Beetle in 1998 it may have been a fundamentally different car than the earlier models, yet they managed to maintain a strong visual link to the past with distinctive body design elements. The new ‘Vette doesn’t have a whole lot in common with older models even superficially.
Counterpoint: I agree when it comes to speed. The Porsche Cayman GT is geared such that one basically can only use half the gears on public roads in the US. I disagree when it comes to acceleration. Being able to out-accelerate 99% of the cars on the road has saved my bacon from bad drivers many times.
But with ridiculous acceleration becoming cheap and ubiquitous on new cars I don’t think that’s a net gain in safety. After all, bad drivers get high acceleration too.
The situations I’m thinking of weren’t drag races. They were situations where a driver who wasn’t in control or wasn’t paying attention was heading towards my car and neither braking or reverse were viable options. Controlled acceleration is a safety feature.
Plus, I thought we had established before that the problem that caused that Taycan crash was accidental activation of the launch control feature?
"There are three laughably named driving modes you can select through the touchscreen: Whisper, Engage, and Unbridled, ordered from least to most responsive.
The supposedly highest performance mode, Unbridled, was unusable. Throttle response was so incredibly binary that it turned the accelerator pedal into an on-off switch. I could’ve touched it with a feather and the SUV would still lurch forward. Smooth acceleration, especially from a standstill in city driving, was impossible."
This is the most under-appreciated feature of electric cars. They absolutely and easily trounce all internal combustion engines in acceleration. Even grocery getter cars like the humble Chevy Bolt are heavily regulated by the computer because 100% torque at zero rpm (a feature unique to electric motors and steam engines) is otherwise undriveable. Gas engines require increasingly elaborate transmissions to keep their fussy engines within ever-decreasing power bands (the price of higher efficiency and lower emissions), meanwhile electric motors have a handful of moving parts in the entire car and outperform in every way (except range, of course).
If only the companies would get off their asses and make them so we could buy them and everyone could see how good they are. I drove only electric cars for six years, and it ruins you for driving anything else. Gas engines are terrible in comparison as a driving experience.
Sounds like Ford needs to update the software in the Mustang’s stupid “Unbridled” mode, which was probably only included for 0-60 mph bragging rights.
I’ve driven the Bolt, the VW e-Golf, and one or two others, and you’re right. They’re quick off the line and loads of fun, while still being usable transportation. It only took a few city blocks before one-pedal driving felt natural.
I’ve been looking at electric vehicles and thinking about getting a Bolt. Are the battery fire issues people have been talking up just FUD? I see a lot of people complaining about not being to replace the batteries on 2016 Bolts and my manager (who owns such a Bolt) is saying never again for GM EVs. I’m almost leaning in an “any EV but a Tesla” direction now, but lead times on Teslas are measured in weeks here in Canada, but lead times on other EVS are measured in months or years…
Although GM’s experience with electric vehicles goes back decades — its late-1990s EV1 was the first mass-produced electric vehicle from a major carmaker — the automaker quickly lost ground to other manufacturers
Ah, yes, the EV1 that GM only offered as a closed-end lease and, when the leases were up, destroyed most of them and didn’t make another electric car for decades! (General Motors EV1 - Wikipedia)
100% FUD, yes. There was a recall related to battery safety, but like most recalls, it was from an abundance of caution. No Bolts have auto-driven into a tractor trailer and killed everyone inside, or locked up the computer at 80mph, for example.
That I don’t know anything about, but to be fair there have been seven model years since then so I imagine they addressed it. I leased all my electric cars and I’m glad I did, because the technology is getting so better so fast. I didn’t want to be tied to one for too long. I had the Nissan Leaf which cost $40k and had a range of 90 miles. Three years later I got the Bolt which cost $32k and had a range of 270 miles. That’s how fast these cars are improving (not that that will continue linearly of course, but you get the idea). I don’t believe in leasing cars in general, but I do think it makes sense to do so in this case.
You do you, but I can’t bring myself to buy a Tesla and give You Know Who a single dime.
I still want one of them, with the Nissan being my preferred choice - from the available images, it reminded me of my dearly departed 280Z so much that I got verklempt.
I drove only electric cars for six years, and it ruins you for driving anything else. Gas engines are terrible in comparison as a driving experience.