"I will never again buy a Ford or Chrysler product; and will never own any GM product with the exception of a Vette or a Caddy."

OR an old Impala. Those things were tanks! Our 84 went to 350k before we gave it away.

Honda and Toyota FTW!

nutbastard

aw great. Now instead of a little red dot, we get giant profanities on the local movie screen. Back to my home theatre. (not that I left)

avconsumer

@Curves:
I guess its all about what model you choose. Personally in my short 35 years on this planet I've had my share of nice cars (the count is up to 12 now not including a couple of parts junkers and POSs that don't count), and I hope not to offend anyone but, the only thing I have found from the experience of owning that many rides and being a car guy/gear head is that I will never again buy a Ford or Chrysler product; and will never own any GM product with the exception of a Vette or a Caddy. So far I'm on my 6th Honda, and unless something drastic happens, I'm sticking with HMC. I recently sold my 06 Ridgeline RTL and picked up a really nice and RARE 05 Civic Si Hatch, love it.

This brings me to my point of model, as Honda seems to have done it right- offering certain models like my Si with certain things only, like silky smooth (best tranny I've ever had in a car) 5 speed manual ONLY. No option for an automatic; no auto climate controls or any frilly crap just a suspension that keeps the car flatter than my Xs butt.

Point being is your right, you just have to find the model your looking for and depending on the manufacturer, the transmission options can be limited. I personally love both for diff reasons, like Nut pointed out; the 5 speed (as long as I keep the power train stock) because of performance and mileage, and the auto for cruising and road trippin.

Out2gtcha

you know, for a second there i thought i was on Jalopnik. had to scroll up a bit to remember what we were talking about... oh yeah the light thingy! that was on Daily planet a year ago at least. they were thinking about using it for cops to stop cars at checkpoints.

good idea regardless!

@nutbastard: i too recently switched from stick to auto and i HATE AUTO!

@Curves: "always trust your car to the man with the star" old texaco spot from waaaay back

B1663R

@workingonyourinvoice:
engines last longer in manual tranny cars, too, in addition to the money saved VS an auto. plus you can roll start it if your battery dies. torque converters piss me off, delaying power to the wheels by a critical fraction of a second. It IS nice, though, in uphill, stop and go traffic. That's the WORST in a 5 speed.

nutbastard

...like you just dont care!! :)

alukard

@Curves: They are making a comeback, finally. When I bought my last car, price was a major factor. But I basically asked them to show me the cheapest 5 speed on the lot, and that was the car I got.

workingonyourinvoice

@nutbastard: Excellent point, which I why I drive a standard shift, and have for years, even though I have to order them built every time since you cant find one on a lot anywhere around here any more.

Curves

@Out2gtcha:
HOF == Hall of Fame
COTD == Comment of the day
COTY == Commenter of the year

nutbastard

@dantaylor08: I will take people however I damn well want and I dont recall asking you to be my boss.

Curves

@Curves:
Seatbelts == good. But drinking and driving != drinking enough to puke and driving. I'd've tried to kill him too.

A big problem, I think, is the advent of the automatic transmission. With a manual, you simply HAVE to pay attention to everything. Automatics enable people to become distracted - you wouldn't be applying makeup or texting if your turn was coming up and you had to prepare for a downshift into third gear. Keeps sleepy drivers awake, too. I also think automatic transmissions are a big reason why all the idiots on COPS never lose the fuzz and end up crashing eventually - they use their brakes too much (which causes brake fade) and they can never keep the engine singing at the top of the torque curve.

Having switched to automatic (as a precaution, mostly to keep myself out of trouble - give me a five-speed and i'll milk the engine for every last horse) i can say i am now a bigger danger on the road - i dont have the level of control im used to. But i compensate for it, because i'm AWARE i dont have as much control as i could. I know i can't power through a slide if i have to wait for the tranny to shift and engage. So, i end up driving a lot slower, which was the whole point, but i still get uneasy, especially in the rain.

nutbastard

@someToast: OMG that is the one I had!

ackthbbft

These POV toys have been around for at least 25 years. I had one when I was a kid. Had a full keyboard on the back to enter messages, but only 7 or 8 LEDs. Seems like a no-brainer that someone finally came up with a USB-programmable version.

I want one about the size of a baseball bat, which can flash messages like "Fur is murder!" while clubbing a baby seal.

ackthbbft

@Git Em SteveDave:
@nutbastard:
Damn all the acranyms here are hurting my brain. Are you sure this isnt some kind of sub-concious Microsoft cert class of some kind??

Out2gtcha

@Curves - stop taking ppl so seriously. It was obviously meant to be a joke.

dantaylor08

The Ideal Sky Writer lives again!

I really, really wanted one of those as a kid. Today, less so.

someToast

@nutbastard: I happen to be a very good driver, not causing accidents, signaling lane changes , etc. You would die of envy if you knew my insurance rates for FULL maximum coverage.

The last time I was in an accident, I did leave the scene, taped to a head board on a stretcher and put in an ambulance. The "other guy" was taken to the same ER as me, and when the medical staff caught me trying to get up to go kill him (he was puking up his 4 hour bar stint 3 beds down) they had the nerve to sedate me. The only reason I survived (barely) was that I was wearing my seat belt, so dont forget to buckle up and DONT drink and drive.

Curves

@nutbastard: Good points. I must say I've never feared for my life like I did whenever I'd ride around with my sister behind the wheel. As far as I can remember, her worst offenses were poor planning, lack of awareness of surroundings, and she would do shit like put on hand lotion while entering the freeway ramp (driving with her knees).
And she backed my dad's 350z into a van a week ago, so that too.
I see some of these same problems in my fiancée, so I tend to be the driving instructor when we're out. It drives her nuts.

workingonyourinvoice

Wow, I wondered what that star was. I figured I was on Double Secret Probation (the fast track to the Banhammer) for pissing someone off yet again. I dont know what I did, but thanks anyway. Its like winning the Bronze Star for stupid, irrelavent comments above and beyond the call of duty.

Curves

@Git Em SteveDave: i read somewhere (can't find it now) that red BMW male drivers were the worst insurance risk in UK ....

flyboy

@Ni Tsu Alien: no that is a good idea - and on the front wipers?

flyboy

@Keebler: Girls CAUSE the most accidents. Here's a scenario I think we can all imagine. Soccer Mom is driving her one child in her Suburban(she needs all the extra room b/c she has a kid). She's talking on a non-hands free cell phone about something, and is not paying much attention. Middle Age Man is driving behind her and pissed b/c she's doing 5 under the limit and slightly weaving. He starts tailgating her. Soccer Mom all of a sudden realizes she forgot to add the fabric softener or that she missed her turn, and w/o signalling, slams on her brakes. Middle Age Man slams on his breaks too, but is rear ended by someone else behind him, also following too closely. Now we all know Soccer Mom caused the accident b/c of her not paying attention, but Middle Age Man was IN the accident. Soccer Mom drives on, blissfully unaware of what she caused.

Git Em SteveDave

@Keebler:
I think men are more likely to be in single car accidents (rallying in the middle of nowhere) and are more likely to be driving an expensive car when they do, which increases the likelihood that they have full coverage insurance. We are more likely to total the car, too, and become significantly injured.

Women tend to get in a lot of little fender benders which often go unreported. I think women are more likely to strike a solid, non-car object than men are, and are more likely to be involved in accidents involving hazardous driving conditions. I think womens car accidents are usually at lower average speeds, too.

That said, i've never been involved in an accident where contact occurred at over 15mph. 2/3 some woman pulled in front of me, illegally, slammed on her brakes, the other one the guy ahead of me started to launch into traffic, i glanced left to see if i could make it too, but he changed his mind and stopped, and i neutral-coasted into his trailer hitch at like 2mph, clutch in, ready to drop the hammer.

nutbastard

Yeah great that's super.

Uh where's my star?

Oops she just came in hey honey...

strider_mt2k

I need one of these and a cheap metronome. Program "STFU", attach it to the metronome, and set on desk at work.

PeterPotamus

@nutbastard:
Good observation re: guys/girls being assholes/idiots at driving.

Another good question (that could probably never be definitely answers) is do guys or girls *cause* the most accidents?

Keebler

Looks like a cheap Spoke POV but would I need to be riding 15mph in order for it to work? If so, screw that I'm too lazy.

Boognish

@nutbastard: We can pitch in and get you a couple of these wands. If you can come up with some kind of LED light twirling routine to accompany your comments, I'm sure you'd make Star in no time. That's the best use of these things I can think of, especially given the amount of effort it takes to make the message readable.

Get Carpal Tunnel typing hundreds of comments or get Carpal Tunnel by vigorously shaking an LED light stick back and forth a few times. Choose your path to Gizmodo commentor fame and fortune!

CColdsmoke

@Git Em SteveDave:
and strider was on curves page complaining he didn't have one next to his name - he won star commenter AND commenter HOF. all i have is one COTD and 3rd place COTY.

:(

nutbastard

@Git Em SteveDave:
yeah wtf is up with the stars? who decides who gets 'em? WHO DO I HAVE TO SUCK UP TO?

jesus im reacting to the Star thing like dethklok did to the banana stickers...

nutbastard

@nutbastard: OK, I searched the internets, and used the Google, and found this about the stars:
[gizmodo.com]

Git Em SteveDave

And I really don't want to encourage "fans" but I can see these being used at sporting events. At first it would be "Go Team Go", but would quickly degenerate into insulting, cursing, and threatening the referee.

Gary_7vn

This would be great for trade shows, the booth babes could wave them around. Of course this would cause certain body parts to "jiggle" perhaps distracting from the message.

Gary_7vn

@nutbastard: I saw one of the mods had one also.

Git Em SteveDave

@Curves: I think that men are in the most accidents, but that women cause them, and don't stick around. I once had a lady stop dead in the far left lane on the Garden State Parkway four cars ahead of me for NO reason(that's the fast lane in NJ). The truck behind her went down the embankment, and I tried to follow, but clipped the car ahead of me. So I was the accident, but she caused it. I find in my driving that women are the most inattentive drivers, while men are aggressive.

Git Em SteveDave

@Curves:
congrats on being a "star commenter", whatever that is BTW.

nutbastard

in car - 'honk for love'
/end of

Jakus

@Curves:
What I've found to be true, generally speaking is that bad male drivers drive like assholes and bad female drivers drive like idiots.

But like any generalization, it's subjective and probably has enough counterexamples that it's probably not really true : )

nutbastard

Requesting 'Free Bird' at a Daft Punk show.

Hiphopopotamus

@mizunoer: "Women should'nt drive?" I think all state adminstered drivers tests use the same criteria, regardless of sex. Insurance statistics tell us that men have a higher liklihood of causing an accident with damage or death than women, especially when they are swerving around waving some light stick at us. Or any other stick, for that matter.

Curves

Plays nice with Windows? What?! So you have to program it before you think of something to say? =(

RetepNamenots

This could be a great way to come out of the closet!
just walk in to thanksgiving dinner waving this around with the message "I'M GAY!"
I'm sure it leave a lasting impression with your family!

MacMasterShane

looks pretty awesome...!

Bash_

Attach it to the rear wiper on your car, and send obscene messages to the people you cut off in traffic.

Ni Tsu Alien

It could be used to communicate with other drivers, or an LED license plate with messages like this:
Turn Signals Are Good
Women Shouldn't Drive
Pay Attention
(they'll love this as you are swerving to show it to them, maybe the passenger can wave it)

mizunoer

sos messages from a deserted island

MrBlahBlah

That was pretty cool when it came out in 1981.
[www.handheldmuseum.com]
Now it's pretty lame.

The Brain

@nutbastard:
*TOUCHES NOSE TO FINGER*

Uh wait.....

Out2gtcha

they just cant

Arelar

women cant park either

Arelar

Stop fighting. I'll settle this:
A. Women can't drive. Proven. Admitted to (by women).
B. The above (A) is a generality in that it actually means MOST women cn't drive which means SOME women CAN drive.
C. Since SOME women CAN drive then logically it means ALL women CANT drive.
D. So there
E. P.S. Women cant park worth a shit either.

Arelar

@Arelar:
Wait, what?

Out2gtcha

"Since SOME women CAN drive then logically it means ALL women CANT drive."

you may want to check a dictionary for the word "logic".

nutbastard