What up AZ peeps, this place is kinda slow, eh?

[BryanR]

not bad....for a volvo

[BryanR]

not bad

[Ryan_T]

Moar.

[BryanR]

nice plate

[BryanR]

[BryanR]

anyone else think these are dead sexy?

[Siggiepop]

[BryanR]

[bunnn]

I'm afraid you have too much time on your hand now Bryan, lol. The Bentley and AMG is win though. Makes me miss that deal on the Bentley about 1.5years ago. Lease take over was $700 a month!!! ..12 months remaining. Would have been quite enjoyable...

[hoganalley]

There should be a G+ license (requiring extensive professional driving courses and tests) to allow people access to certain tracks and/or buy certain types of cars. And maybe a higher allowance for speed.

this would never fly. It will only take 1 guy to make a mistake and ruin it for everyone else. Nice idea, but too hard to control. All that power goes to some people's head's once they have it.

[Tanner]

Higher allowance for speed on the highways? Keep dreaming.

We're lucky enough to have a nice track near Toronto. So if you have the need to speed, do it there at Mosport. Much safer environment.

There are way too many drivers that don't check their rear view mirror so needless to say, mixing much faster drivers with others not really aware of what's going on around them is a recipe for disaster.

[BryanR]

EVERYONE needs a lesson from her

[405Z]

Although funny, better that than driving around an automatic, paddle-shifting Ferrari. IMHO.

Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it. Once you've driven a car on the track with "those stupid flappy paddles", as JC puts it, you'll wonder why anyone would want a conventional manual tranny. However, I'll agree that a manual tranny is more fun in day to day driving.

[SleeperAvant]

^Bryan that's sick...

[Ryan_T]

^ I love Sabine, and that video. Gonna get myself on the waitlist for that taxi ride.

Higher allowance for speed on the highways? Keep dreaming.

We're lucky enough to have a nice track near Toronto. So if you have the need to speed, do it there at Mosport. Much safer environment.

There are way too many drivers that don't check their rear view mirror so needless to say, mixing much faster drivers with others not really aware of what's going on around them is a recipe for disaster.

this would never fly. It will only take 1 guy to make a mistake and ruin it for everyone else. Nice idea, but too hard to control. All that power goes to some people's head's once they have it.

It won't if certain rules are in place. Recipes for disaster can swing the other way. What if it brings more awareness to general drivers to be more skilled?

I'm not saying to bring the speed or reckless fun to the public roads for a few. I'm suggesting there should be a differentiator between good and bad drivers beyond the easily acquired license. Another example maybe restricted access to express lanes for certain permit holders (again requiring higher qualifications).

[bunnn]

It won't if certain rules are in place. Recipes for disaster can swing the other way. What if it brings more awareness to general drivers to be more skilled?

I'm not saying to bring the speed or reckless fun to the public roads for a few. I'm suggesting there should be a differentiator between good and bad drivers beyond the easily acquired license. Another example maybe restricted access to express lanes for certain permit holders (again requiring higher qualifications).

That's the problem.... we don't need a differentiator license for good and bad drivers. There shouldn't even be bad drivers in the first place if they were more stringent on giving out licenses to anyone who can move a damn vehicle.

[Ryan_T]

That's the problem.... we don't need a differentiator license for good and bad drivers. There shouldn't even be bad drivers in the first place if they were more stringent on giving out licenses to anyone who can move a damn vehicle.

I was trying to take it one step at a time. We all know how resistant people can be to new ideas or changes. The graduated licensing system we currently have is broken. People pass their G2 and get on the road with barely any skill. Being able to drive slow under constant supervision and commands from an instructor on a pre-ordained route is hardly useful in real life.

[bunnn]

And since we're all just posting cars

[Ryan_T]

^ I used to live there. Can't believe that sort of enthusiast community is that alive and kicking down there.


Notice how all the cars are gleaming, even the E30 M3s. Servants are cheap there.

[bunnn]

^ I used to live there. Can't believe that sort of enthusiast community is that alive and kicking down there.


Notice how all the cars are gleaming, even the E30 M3s. Servants are cheap there.

If you haven't seen this already have a look..this must be one of the biggest gathering of enthusiasts I've seen in a while.
Click

[Ryan_T]

Saw it.

First I was .

Then I was

Finally I was

[BryanR]

That's the problem.... we don't need a differentiator license for good and bad drivers. There shouldn't even be bad drivers in the first place if they were more stringent on giving out licenses to anyone who can move a damn vehicle.

They simply need to make drivers training MANDATORY, and by people who know how to drive in the first place that have taken strict courses themselves.

Honestly, how many times have you seen some Toyota Corolla with "insert name here" driving school on the roof - driving poorly....

Not to mention STANDARDIZATION across the board for driver training. I know 2 people who've attended Young Drivers courses, and you should hear some of the stuff they're teaching. eg "...drive in the lane of least resistance..." which can be taken to mean the left lane....erm, the PASSING LANE!!

crazy.

[Esoteric]

Too much stretch and poke for me, but I would give my left nut to 'resto-mod' and old Z.

[Tanner]

Making of the 2011 Subaru WRX STi commercial, done by an ad agency here in Toronto, filmed at Cayuga!



Extended version of the commercial...

[cory_can]

Making of the 2011 Subaru WRX STi commercial, done by an ad agency here in Toronto.....

Interesting idea I suppose but I kind of like the more direct approach:



Which reminds me of this classic....

[JackalS4]

Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it. Once you've driven a car on the track with "those stupid flappy paddles", as JC puts it, you'll wonder why anyone would want a conventional manual tranny. However, I'll agree that a manual tranny is more fun in day to day driving.

I'm not knocking it as much as it sounds. I'd never call flappy-paddles "stupid"..

The F1 trannies are (as expected) crazy-fast nowadays. I have tons of respect for what's been pulled off (shift times on the 458 Italia and some newer street cars are sick). I've driven my share of semi-autos, but no real true DCT's if i'm honest...however...it's obvious to me that the concept isn't for me (even with the increasingly fast/aggressive shifts), especially on the street...but even on the track really. I find the excitement wears off and i'm itching for a 3rd pedal again.

Track or street, I really appreciate the extra driver involvement of a true manual, I like the rawness of it and the extra control in how you engage each gear without needing any "settings". Obviously at the competitive level things get a little different...but I drive for the passion of it (i'm not really competitive anyway).

I will say it does annoy me that some cars aren't coming in manual anymore, but ehh, such is life!

[JackalS4]

not bad....for a volvo

[SleeperAvant]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...=1#post5858801

[BryanR]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...=1#post5858801

Nice!

[BryanR]

[orangelmo]

Hey Bryan just curious, did the fox make it out to Ottawa with you? Any progress on it?

[SleeperAvant]

Nice!

Ya mon.

[SleeperAvant]

Making of the 2011 Subaru WRX STi commercial, done by an ad agency here in Toronto, filmed at Cayuga!

Thanks for sharing Mike....very nice and informative.

[hoganalley]

It won't if certain rules are in place. Recipes for disaster can swing the other way. What if it brings more awareness to general drivers to be more skilled?

I'm not saying to bring the speed or reckless fun to the public roads for a few. I'm suggesting there should be a differentiator between good and bad drivers beyond the easily acquired license. Another example maybe restricted access to express lanes for certain permit holders (again requiring higher qualifications).

one step at a time I agree, however, what you're talking about would take generations. Besides, we have so many immigrants that come here from countries where cars are unattainable. Bring them here and make them drive when they haven't even seen or had any experience with them before is insane. That's what we get for building our lives around the automobile.

With better driving courses we could in theory teach these people how to drive but when you're exposed to it from birth you gain a subconscious feel for it. Trying to teach a 30 year old to drive with no knowledge at all of driving, is worse than trying to teach a 2 year old to share!

[Ryan_T]

I understand the point about immigrants. While some maybe unaccustomed to driving, I believe many are perfectly capable of driving well. Their senses are there (have you seen the Bangkok or vietnam traffic videos). It's just a matter of educating them to follow the rules here. As a country, we can't keep making concessions for immigrants or anyone who bitched and whined about new things. They made the conscious decision to move here, and there are consequences of that. One of many being following the rules. Language is in there too...but that's a different discussion.

[hoganalley]

I understand the point about immigrants. While some maybe unaccustomed to driving, I believe many are perfectly capable of driving well. Their senses are there (have you seen the Bangkok or vietnam traffic videos). It's just a matter of educating them to follow the rules here. As a country, we can't keep making concessions for immigrants or anyone who bitched and whined about new things. They made the conscious decision to move here, and there are consequences of that. One of many being following the rules. Language is in there too...but that's a different discussion.

wow.....I think we are going to open a can of worms so we'll end it here. I completely agree with you but don't think it's possible! We are too complacent here. We are so easy going it's a detriment!

[BryanR]

Similar to an article Tanner posted recently:



Controlled Chaos
European Cities Do Away with Traffic Signs

By Matthias Schulz

Are streets without traffic signs conceivable? Seven cities and regions in Europe are giving it a try ** with good results.

"We reject every form of legislation," the Russian aristocrat and "father of anarchism" Mikhail Bakunin once thundered. The czar banished him to Siberia. But now it seems his ideas are being rediscovered.

European traffic planners are dreaming of streets free of rules and directives. They want drivers and pedestrians to interact in a free and humane way, as brethren ** by means of friendly gestures, nods of the head and eye contact, without the harassment of prohibitions, restrictions and warning signs.

A project implemented by the European Union is currently seeing seven cities and regions clear-cutting their forest of traffic signs. Ejby, in Denmark, is participating in the experiment, as are Ipswich in England and the Belgian town of Ostende.

The utopia has already become a reality in Makkinga, in the Dutch province of Western Frisia. A sign by the entrance to the small town (population 1,000) reads "Verkeersbordvrij" ** "free of traffic signs." Cars bumble unhurriedly over precision-trimmed granite cobblestones. Stop signs and direction signs are nowhere to be seen. There are neither parking meters nor stopping restrictions. There aren't even any lines painted on the streets.

"The many rules strip us of the most important thing: the ability to be considerate. We're losing our capacity for socially responsible behavior," says Dutch traffic guru Hans Monderman, one of the project's co-founders. "The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles."

Monderman could be on to something. Germany has 648 valid traffic symbols. The inner cities are crowded with a colorful thicket of metal signs. Don't park over here, watch out for passing deer over there, make sure you don't skid. The forest of signs is growing ever denser. Some 20 million traffic signs have already been set up all over the country.

Psychologists have long revealed the senselessness of such exaggerated regulation. About 70 percent of traffic signs are ignored by drivers. What's more, the glut of prohibitions is tantamount to treating the driver like a child and it also foments resentment. He may stop in front of the crosswalk, but that only makes him feel justified in preventing pedestrians from crossing the street on every other occasion. Every traffic light baits him with the promise of making it over the crossing while the light is still yellow.

"Unsafe is safe"

The result is that drivers find themselves enclosed by a corset of prescriptions, so that they develop a kind of tunnel vision: They're constantly in search of their own advantage, and their good manners go out the window.

The new traffic model's advocates believe the only way out of this vicious circle is to give drivers more liberty and encourage them to take responsibility for themselves. They demand streets like those during the Middle Ages, when horse-drawn chariots, handcarts and people scurried about in a completely unregulated fashion. The new model's proponents envision today's drivers and pedestrians blending into a colorful and peaceful traffic stream.

It may sound like chaos, but it's only the lesson drawn from one of the insights of traffic psychology: Drivers will force the accelerator down ruthlessly only in situations where everything has been fully regulated. Where the situation is unclear, they're forced to drive more carefully and cautiously.

Indeed, "Unsafe is safe" was the motto of a conference where proponents of the new roadside philosophy met in Frankfurt in mid-October.

True, many of them aren't convinced of the new approach. "German drivers are used to rules," says Michael Schreckenberg of Duisburg University. If clear directives are abandoned, domestic rush-hour traffic will turn into an Oriental-style bazaar, he warns. He believes the new vision of drivers and pedestrians interacting in a cozy, relaxed way will work, at best, only for small towns.

But one German borough is already daring to take the step into lawlessness. The town of Bohmte in Lower Saxony has 13,500 inhabitants. It's traversed by a country road and a main road. Cars approach speedily, delivery trucks stop to unload their cargo and pedestrians scurry by on elevated sidewalks.

The road will be re-furbished in early 2007, using EU funds. "The sidewalks are going to go, and the asphalt too. Everything will be covered in cobblestones," Klaus Goedejohann, the mayor, explains. "We're getting rid of the division between cars and pedestrians."

The plans derive inspiration and motivation from a large-scale experiment in the town of Drachten in the Netherlands, which has 45,000 inhabitants. There, cars have already been driving over red natural stone for years. Cyclists dutifully raise their arm when they want to make a turn, and drivers communicate by hand signs, nods and waving.

"More than half of our signs have already been scrapped," says traffic planner Koop Kerkstra. "Only two out of our original 18 traffic light crossings are left, and we've converted them to roundabouts." Now traffic is regulated by only two rules in Drachten: "Yield to the right" and "Get in someone's way and you'll be towed."

Strange as it may seem, the number of accidents has declined dramatically. Experts from Argentina and the United States have visited Drachten. Even London has expressed an interest in this new example of automobile anarchy. And the model is being tested in the British capital's Kensington neighborhood.

[hoganalley]

^wicked cool.

I would so be on board for that. Not quite sure how it will work in a metropolis like T.O., but the more people get used to it the easier it would be I guess.....

What would you do at an intersection like Dufferin/Steeles though? That would be insane! I don't know if anyone would actually do this properly!

[BryanR]

^wicked cool.

I would so be on board for that. Not quite sure how it will work in a metropolis like T.O., but the more people get used to it the easier it would be I guess.....

What would you do at an intersection like Dufferin/Steeles though? That would be insane! I don't know if anyone would actually do this properly!

How about a round-about?

I'm not saying it would work here, but there are a lot of sound theories about how people perceive the rules of the road and how they're always trying to get around them. Which leads to accidents, etc.

[BryanR]