Not a typo. There are no buses unless you go to one of the neighboring cities. I live too far from anywhere that has buses. You either have to walk, or… you can drive! Like everybody else in the US without access to any sort of public transportation remotely close to their home…
Edit: Here’s my nearest walking directions to a large supermarket
Just for fun, I decided to check my distances against yours
Here are my walking distances:
- To the nearest convenience store: 1.13km
- To the nearest chain supermarket: 2.74km
- To the bus stop: 33.8km
- To the nearest park: 2.41km
- To the nearest *big* supermarket: 17.7km
- To the nearest library: 2.41km
- To the nearest train station: 24.14km
- Straight-line distance to Nashville’s “The Batman Building” (closest approximation to a large unique cityscape building): 67.76km
Yeah, the USA has huge issues with people straight ignoring road laws… no turn signals, no zipper merging, no yielding properly in roundabouts, “no cop, no stop” at stop signs…. I mean just insane.
Like I said before, I think it’s much easier to learn to drive in an automatic, and move to a manual when you’re better at it, you know got the basics down. Like using a manual if you’ve exceeded the limits of an automatic, as I described above.
I do think driving can be a lot of fun though, even more so in a manual, but that only comes when you have the experience for it to be second nature to you.
No, the USA is filled with idiots who refuse to signal… I’m the weird guy for signaling everything, including in parking lots….
As someone who drives an automatic, I so wish I could have a manual. I much prefer driving them.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad I was able to drive an automatic and get experience first, but once you start really driving a car, you realize how much an automatic limits you. Things like engine braking, coasting, and honestly just staying in one consistent gear when you’re trying to maintain good speed control are much harder, if not next to impossible depending on the automatic.
Learning to drive is going to take a lot of time though, and the fact that everyone just does it and takes it for granted I think really messes with you. Speaking from experience, most people don’t even learn to drive that well, no matter how much they drive. I see people constantly driving off the lines, poor speed control, braking distance, etc. just blows my mind that where I live (USA) there’s next to no requirements to drive.
At my current job, I’m about 45 minutes away by car. Car is also the only option. Before I moved closer, I was actually an hour and a half away, so 90 minutes one way, or 3 hours per day worth of driving.
It’s too expensive to live in the cities themselves, so I have to live further out and just commute.
Closest wal-mart is about 30 minutes away, but there’s smaller stores closer if I dont’t need much.
I haven’t mentioned walking/biking because there’s no point in walking where I live. There’s next to no shoulder on the road, and it’s 45MPH (72KPH) roads with mostly large pickup trucks driving on it, so it’s not safe to walk.
For reference, I live in the American south, so it’s somewhat rural.
I get 30+ highway and 25 combined average in my 2002 V6 Accord. In a 4 cylinder you can get 3-4 more to both
It has like 300K, I grew up in the thing, parents gave it to me and I drive it now. It was not even well taken care of lol
And yet… it won’t die
It could be worse… I’m just glad it wasn’t “AIpple”
So, this is gonna sound weird, but I actually find a lot of these bands calming to listen to. I’m autistic, and have a lot of weird sensory issues because of it, so music that’s too simple (a lot of pop or punk or other genres that show up on the radio usually) doesn’t fully grab my attention. Like, there’s not enough happening at once for me to feel immersed in it.
So I’ll end up listening to Power Metal to fall asleep sometimes because I can hear every instrument individually, and my brain switches focus to each one at random times, and it’s stimulating enough that I can be completely distracted from my other senses and calm down. Dragonforce is my go-to because they even have two lead guitarists at the same time.
That said, I do have songs of every genre in my library, and if I do want something slower or simpler, there’s a ton of Metal ballads that aren’t necessarily high energy. Try something like Crimson Day by Avenged Sevenfold, Remembrance Day or Trail of Broken Hearts by Dragonforce, Christmas Truce by Sabaton, or Mother Gaia by Stradivarius.
There’s a lot more examples, but you can certainly have slow, calm metal. I could probably make a decent sized playlist
I will!
Metallica for a dark, thoughtful mood
Dragonforce for fun, energetic, silly moods
Mick Gordon’s DOOM soundtrack when working out
Avenged Sevenfold for a carefree, fuck the world attitude
Blind Guardian when I’m looking for high fantasy, “take me away” mood
Sabaton when I want some motivation for work
Rhapsody of Fire for when I’m cleaning alone and want to get into some classical feeling stuff
Killswitch Engage when I’m feeling edgy
Korpiklaani when I’m wanting to go on a run
Parkway Drive when I’m angry or sad
There’s so many more than this, and much of these have overlap with specific songs instead of general artists, but this gets the point across, I think
Honestly not a fan of the newest Honda accord design. It’s not overtly bad, just… uninspired. Doesn’t look like an accord much to me. On the flip side, the new civics look great!! And if they had just stuck to a similar design as the civics, it could have turned out a lot better.
Choose 3?
Pink, Black, and Blue. Easily best combo.
If I could only pick one, Black, all the way
TIL about the Honda Insight, a hybrid vehicle from 1999
I learned about this today so now you all do too
The Honda Insight is a car all the way back as far as 1999. This crazy vehicle was able to achieve an EPA MPG (with modern tests) of 49 city and 61 highway. Original testing was actually 67 city and 71 highway, at that! This crazy little engine has a maximum of 78 horsepower, combined between the Inline 3 SOHC Honda engine and a 10KW (13HP) electric motor. This motor is used as the starter, the alternator, and a motor together, but it actually has a separate starter motor in case the hybrid motor dies, using a separate 12v starter battery as well.
While 78 horsepower doesn’t sound very great, keep in mind the following: the coefficient of drag is 0.25, and if weighs a maximum(!) of 1,964 lbs, or 891 kg. What does this mean? It can still reach a maximum speed of up to 112mph! Not to mention, modders that get ahold of these things can push it far beyond these limits, with someone putting in a Honda J32A2 engine and getting 295HP in this little thing! That would put it at approximately capable of a top speed of about 192mph!
Not to mention, not only is this thing super light and nimble, it still has respectable crash ratings, and while parts for it may be hard to find, this car is one of the coolest and most efficient one can buy, even today
Edit: Found a link I like even better for the main link, original link here
Part 2: What concept about vehicle function/maintenance do you feel most drivers dont understand?
This is a follow up to my last post about driving habits. This time, we’re looking at maintenance, performance, and functionality! I’ll start.
Tires. Very few people understand the importance of good tires. Not only that, but the habits for maintaining them. Firstly, your tires are the only thing truly connecting the road to the rest of your vehicle. This extremely important link is overlooked when I comes to just about every category people look for in a car. Generally, Performance, Comfort, and Efficiency are the three focuses consumers have with vehicles, and it heavily affects all three.
Performance is self explanatory. You want to go fast? Good tires are the easiest thing to change for the biggest gains. New tires means as much power as possible your engine puts into spinning those wheels gets delivered into the road, propelling you forward. More grip also improves braking, cornering, and lack of hydroplaning in the rain, or slipping in the snow and dirt.
Comfort. You want a smooth, quiet ride? Get new tires first. This will dampen vibrations coming from road imperfections that travel to the cabin area, and that means you won’t feel the bumps, the rumbles, the texture of the road, meaning you can enjoy your drive in peace.
Efficiency. Want to know what’s efficient? Getting up to speed, maintaining speed, and keeping control. The enemy to all of this is losing grip, and tires play a huge role. Even if you drive easy, the ability to turn at consistent speeds without braking is more efficient, so it not slipping while driving up a hill, so is not sliding around in harsh conditions. Better tires save gas, they save your suspension, they save your money.
What other aspects do you feel are not well understood or are under-appreciated here?
What driving concept you feel that most drivers don't understand?
I’ll start. Stopping distance.
My commute is 95 miles one way to work, so I see a lot of the highway, in the rural part of the US. This means traveling at 70+ mph (112km/h) for almost the entirety of the drive. The amount of other drivers on the road who follow behind someone else with less than a car’s length in front of them because they want to go 20+ over the speed limit is ridiculous. The only time you ever follow someone that close is if you have complete and absolute trust in them, and also understand that it may not even be enough.
For a daily drive, you likely need 2-3 car lengths between you at minimum depending on your speed to accurately avoid hitting the brakes. This doesn’t even take into account the lack of understanding of engine braking…
What concepts do you all think of when it comes to driving that you feel are not well understood by the public at large?
Get yourself a headlight restoration kit, it’s worth it!
Here I used the Cera Kote headlight restoration kit (about $15 from Wal-Mart) and i was really surprised at how much of a difference it made on my OEM headlights. All factory from 2002, so I didn’t expect them to turn out that great, but it’s amazing what a little smoothing and sanding can do for old headlights. I wish I had taken better before and after pictures, to be honest, but this speaks for itself!
I’ve also been very impressed with Cera Kote trim restore products before, maybe I’ll show some pictures of what it did to my engine-bay plastics. Stay tuned!
Update: it’s been 7 months so far, and still looks great. I’ll see what it looks like after a year and post pictures of that too. My car gets a lot of UV exposure since it’s not in a covered environment, but it holds up well. I think the coating you apply at the end must have great UV protection
Sometimes it’s the simple things you love. What’s yours?
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Everyone likes to look at the legends, but admiring what you have already is the key to happiness. This is my 6th gen Honda Accord, the first V6 model. It only puts out 160 WHP and 155 lb/ft of WTQ, but it has enough acceleration to put you back in your seat and is fast enough to pass everyone on the highway. Most importantly though, it’s mine.
What other “normal” cars do you think are under appreciated?
6th Gen Glare
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I’ve always liked the way the 6th Gen Accord’s lights look. At night it’s a sharp, distinct look that no other Accord has been able to replicate. Not quite aggressive, but more than your average sedan. The perfect blend.