Today's news

[straycat]

Couple of things in the news today caught my eye.

First off, what has been described as the world's costliest road crash - ok so part of me is definitely glad that cars like this exist.

But I really don't believe that something which approaches the power of a Formula 1 car should be on the road. And to put one in the hands of some pillock who'll do 100mph in a 40 limit (especially in the pouring rain) - well - said pillock needs to be shot (at dawn, or otherwise - I'm not fussy) Lucky no-one was killed or seriously hurt.

On a slightly more surreal note, is the news that Serbian vampire hunters, in an effort to make sure that Slobodan Milosevic does not come back from the dead to haunt the country, have gone to his grave to drive a three foot stake through his heart. Um. Has April 1st come early this year?

(quick note: since they were clearly too lazy - or sensible - to actually open up his coffin, I'm not sure how they can state with any confidence that they actually succeeded. Maybe it's the thought that counts)

[TurboTomato]

Originally Posted by straycat264

But I really don't believe that something which approaches the power of a Formula 1 car should be on the road. And to put one in the hands of some pillock who'll do 100mph in a 40 limit (especially in the pouring rain) - well - said pillock needs to be shot

Not just approaching, but a decent amount more than an F1 car Personally I don't think the car had much to do with it - I'll wager said pillock would have been able to have the same crash in a £6k Impreza or Evo. The Veyron, in fact, would have far more safety nets in terms of stability and traction control than your average car. It's the engineering brilliance that created the Veyron that pushes the boundaries of road car development. If we were to ban the Veyron then we should have banned the McLaren F1 and let's not even get started on superbikes

[Mythical]

My gods, that was costly...I'm dissapoionted, though - in the pictures in the sun, it doesn't look that bad! Shame it was a hire car and not the guys p+j!

This one caught my eye today.

[Little Yellow Fish]

Originally Posted by TurboTomato

Personally I don't think the car had much to do with it - I'll wager said pillock would have been able to have the same crash in a £6k Impreza or Evo.

Exactly, its the driver who is the danger not the car. My brother has a BMW CSL, which is a 200mph car (if BMW didn't limit all their cars to 155 that is - including mine ). Just because he has this car doesn't mean that he would go 2 and a half times the speed limit on a wet road. However, I'm sure given the same car and a different person the results wouldn't necessarily be the same.

My top news story of the day... Some poor man "fell" out of a window in a block of flats near my house. Uh huh... I'm thinking it was more than likely to be an assisted "fall" given the fact that 2 other men were involved and there was a lot of police there last night! I could be wrong, I guess I'm just cynical Oh, the poor chap is in a critical, but stable, condition in hospital

Vicki xx

[Trousers]

If I had the very boring choice of owning a car that was limited to 70 but it did 150 miles per gallon

well I'd be boring and take it!
(ok I'm already Half boring and drive a Volvo (but not a flat cap or a pipe))

I'd save about £80 a week on dancing alone!

Where is all the research on that then?

[Little Yellow Fish]

Originally Posted by Trousers

well I'd be boring and take it!
(ok I'm already Half boring and drive a Volvo (but not a flat cap or a pipe))

I thought that said cat flap - not flat cap

I was a bitty confused for a second there!!

[Gav]

Originally Posted by Little Yellow Fish

I thought that said cat flap - not flat cap

I was a bitty confused for a second there!!

D'uh, it's a Volvo, it's got a Whippet door as standard!

[TurboTomato]

Originally Posted by Little Yellow Fish

I thought that said cat flap - not flat cap

I was a bitty confused for a second there!!

I've got a cat flap in my Rover

[Gav]

Originally Posted by TurboTomato

I've got a cat flap in my Rover

I thought they ran on hamsters? or is that an upgrade?

[Little Yellow Fish]

Originally Posted by TurboTomato

I've got a cat flap in my Rover

Ok... Am I being dim again? Does your cat regularly travel with you?

To add to my earlier post about the manny that "fell" out of the window... He had been stabbed several times before this fall. So maybe, on the roasting hot evening it was last night, he had his window open and just had the misfortune of being stabbed several times THEN fell out of his window THEN suffered a heart attack. Uh huh, I'm still being cynical and sayig he was pushed!

[StokeBloke]

Originally Posted by straycat264

But I really don't believe that something which approaches the power of a Formula 1 car should be on the road. And to put one in the hands of some pillock who'll do 100mph in a 40 limit

Not sure that this is really a valid argument, as most cars will do 100mph and that was the speed he was travelling at (alegedly). A 2CV will do 85mph on a good day with a tail wind. The most dangerous part of a car is the nut behind the steering wheel As this case seems to prove. If this turns out to be what happened, I hope he gets banned for a few years

[TurboTomato]

Originally Posted by Gav

I thought they ran on hamsters? or is that an upgrade?

That was an option that mine wasn't fitted with

Originally Posted by Little Yellow Fish

Ok... Am I being dim again? Does your cat regularly travel with you?

rofl Have some rep. Cat flap = flat cap (well it will for me now on). I love cats but don't have one at the moment If I did I might just have a cat flap installed in my car

Originally Posted by Little Yellow Fish

To add to my earlier post about the manny that "fell" out of the window... He had been stabbed several times before this fall. So maybe, on the roasting hot evening it was last night, he had his window open and just had the misfortune of being stabbed several times THEN fell out of his window THEN suffered a heart attack. Uh huh, I'm still being cynical and sayig he was pushed!

Sounds very much like he had a 'Sopranos' style fall out of that window...

[straycat]

Originally Posted by StokeBloke

Not sure that this is really a valid argument, as most cars will do 100mph and that was the speed he was travelling at (alegedly). A 2CV will do 85mph on a good day with a tail wind.

Well - there is the argument that it's good to have a fair amount of spare power which you can use to get yourself out of trouble in emergency situations. I do agree with this one, especially as I've had to use it a couple of times. BUT... the amount of power that car has is ridiculous... and I just don't trust other drivers enough to like the idea of them having it at their disposal. I wouldn't even trust myself with it...

Originally Posted by StokeBloke

The most dangerous part of a car is the nut behind the steering wheel As this case seems to prove. If this turns out to be what happened, I hope he gets banned for a few years

No arguments there.

[TurboTomato]

Originally Posted by straycat264

Well - there is the argument that it's good to have a fair amount of spare power which you can use to get yourself out of trouble in emergency situations. I do agree with this one, especially as I've had to use it a couple of times. BUT... the amount of power that car has is ridiculous... and I just don't trust other drivers enough to like the idea of them having it at their disposal. I wouldn't even trust myself with it...

Is it really worth getting worried about given that only 300 were produced, and I think there may be 10 or 15 in the UK? As I said before I would be more worried about Joe Bloggs bike rider who can go and buy a Yamaha R1 with a higher power to weight ratio (that's a better indicator of performance IMO) than a Veyron (1000bhp per ton without rider , Veyron is about 530bhp per ton) and that will accelerate as near as dammit as quickly, off the shelf, for about £9k. A bike can do almost as much damage as a car in an accident after all.

[Barry Shnikov]

Originally Posted by Trousers

(ok I'm already Half boring and drive a Volvo (but not a flat cap or a pipe))

I used to drive a pipe but I gave it up 'cos I was worried about passive speeding...

[straycat]

Originally Posted by TurboTomato

As I said before I would be more worried about Joe Bloggs bike rider who can go and buy a Yamaha R1 with a higher power to weight ratio (that's a better indicator of performance IMO) than a Veyron (1000bhp per ton without rider ,

Yep - I agree totally - let's ban them too.

[AllanMcC]

That's one of the great things about motorbikes. You can enjoy tremendous performance without spending enormous amounts of money. As opposed to high performance cars that most people can only dream about.
Not that I actually want an R1. I recognise my limitations and have a less powerful bike. But it's still supposed to do 0-60 in less than 4 seconds.
Allan

[under par]

Originally Posted by TurboTomato

I've got a cat flap in my Rover

Is just me that thinks ROVER should have a dog flap??

[under par]

Originally Posted by AllanMcC

. I recognise my limitations and have a less powerful bike. But it's still supposed to do 0-60 in less than 4 seconds.
Allan

I am also a Volvo owner and my version does 0-4 in 60 seconds far fewer whiplash injuries

[ducasi]

Originally Posted by under par

I am also a Volvo owner and my version does 0-4 in 60 seconds far fewer whiplash injuries

Last time I was in a Volvo, its acceleration was so fierce I felt like I was in astronaut training. The turbo-charged V6 engine (IFRC) in it might have been a factor...