Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[81MC]

That’s like, my dream, man.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by pylon

Bad Luck? I picked it.

They handed me one that ended in 662, and I asked them to go further down the pile to give me that one.

Beast car...number of the beast plate it is.

Having GG and 666 on your license plate is a sweet combo for a car like that.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Having GG and 666 on your license plate is a sweet combo for a car like that.

Depending on how you look at it, but thanks for pointing it out. Never connected those dots. LOL

A lot of people are going to accuse the owner of a car like this of having a micropenis. So it can be a good or bad thing.

BRB.... getting a new plate.

[81MC]

Why do men who enjoy machines have to endure this penis insult thing? Like, seriously, it’s really bizarre that in 2022 that #### is still a thing.

Also, what the hell is with people touching things on a car. Brand ####ing new, showing it to wife’s family...####ing finger across the paint, touching the display, purse leaning up against the door, shoes on the threshold trim etc etc. FFS man

[pylon]

Originally Posted by 81MC

Why do men who enjoy machines have to endure this penis insult thing? Like, seriously, it’s really bizarre that in 2022 that #### is still a thing.

Also, what the hell is with people touching things on a car. Brand ####ing new, showing it to wife’s family...####ing finger across the paint, touching the display, purse leaning up against the door, shoes on the threshold trim etc etc. FFS man

Haha. If it's my F150, I don't give a crap. I bought that thing to tow, renovate, dump run, collect firewood and camp. I might use it 3 times a year without a trailer/boat attached or load of junk in it. It's got a few battle wounds, and I couldn't care less. I mint truck just isn't a proper truck to me.

As far as my toy cars, I'm lucky as my wife is as big a gearhead as me. She has a Golf R she absolutely babies. And we both work in the Car biz. She knows the rules. Look don't touch. No automated washes. One finger door handle pull to avoid door cup scratches. No rings on your fingers if your driving it. And the most importantly, the tap your shoes together to remove dirt, elevate your feet and swing them over the door jamb move.... and I love her for it.

My family also knows the rules too as I've always had cool cars and gave them the education over the years.

[PepsiFree]

I’ve never heard of someone who won’t wear rings specifically while driving. Does it mess up the steering wheel or something?

[pylon]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I’ve never heard of someone who won’t wear rings specifically while driving. Does it mess up the steering wheel or something?

Depending on what you got it can snag, scuff or scratch controls and surfaces, touch screens. Mainly steering wheels, or cars with piano black surfaces.

Don't get me wrong, if I'm driving around my work demo, or truck, I don't care. But when I'm driving my, or someone else's 'special to them' or 'exotic' I always take my ring off. It has a couple sharp edges on it, and the last thing I want to do is put a gouge somebody's $600 carbon fiber shift knob or suede steering wheel. I'd be furious if someone did that to my car, and I treat everyone's car as if it was my own. My wife took a chunk out of the steering wheel on my Corvette a few years back with her engagement ring. If it's between diamond and leather... diamond always wins.

[81MC]

Just thought I’d take an opportunity to remind everyone, (aka brag) winter tire seasons is coming quick. The supply and service issues plaguing many industries is likely to rear its head with tire supply.

Get on it early, I’m hearing rumours of 20% increase in base costs for some lines.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I’ve never heard of someone who won’t wear rings specifically while driving. Does it mess up the steering wheel or something?

The worst one is the spot behind the driver's door handle on the door panel. I always see tons of scratches here from people wearing rings with stones on them on their left hand.

[btimbit]

I normally take the Corvette for this cruise, I got bored and decided to take the new car for a round trip of the Highwood pass. Even though it's the slowest car I've ever owned, I still enjoyed my morning and appreciate that these views are just 45 minutes away from my driveway. And the old man side of me at least appreciated that it didn't cost much in gas, even though that's a depressing thought

Spoiler!

[PepsiFree]

That looks really nice btimbit, I don’t know if I’ve done that drive. I’ve done the parkway and the stretch from Lake Louise to Jasper, but always find myself eager for a new scenic drive that doesn’t take more than a day (as in Calgary back to Calgary within 8-10 hours or so with some stops).

What are some drives other people enjoy?

[Sliver]

Not at all what you're looking for (I'll leave that to pylon, WhiteTiger and some other guys that get out there more), but one of my favourite little twisty sections in Calgary is when you're coming north on Deerfoot from Douglasdale, then exiting onto Anderson/Canyon Meadows. The part where you turn onto Anderson has this big sweeping curve you can really push it on. It's so fataing fun.

Not even just that spot either. Transitioning from Canyon Meadows onto Anderson is awesome, too. It's just a great interchange.

Edit: I think every time I wrote Canyon Meadows I actually meant Bow Bottom. I always fata that up.

[btimbit]

Highwood pass is a great one, 10/10 views just like Lake Louise to Jasper is, but you can do a round trip to and from Calgary in just a few hours (I left at 7:00am and was home by 11:00am). I know it's popular with cyclists as well. Plus grab some jerky in Longview on the way.






One I'm curious about is doing the same thing,3-4 hours ish but checking out the badlands and hoodos instead of the mountains. Anyone have a good route for that? Or is that more of a whole day thing?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Highwood pass is a great one, 10/10 just like Lake Louise to Jasper is, but you can do a round trip to and from Calgary in just a few hours. I know it's popular with cyclists as well. Plus grab some jerky in Longview on the way.

One I'm curious about is doing the same thing but checking out the badlands and hoodos instead of the mountains. Anyone have a good route for that?

Yeah I'd love a good route in the badlands. I did get fataed over following Google Maps to Drumheller at the end of July, though, where it routed me onto some POS gravel road. That's actually the second time it has happened to me.

But when you think how far the badlands stretch, there has to be some sick roads there somewhere. I love the area around Dinosaur Provincial Park (which is by Brooks in case you don't know...some people think it's by Drumheller, but it isn't).

[btimbit]

Yeak trouble is it seems like such a smaller area. More suited to a hike than a drive I guess. Not much of a highway pass through there, the good views only last maybe 15 minutes unless there's some secret highway I've missed

[PepsiFree]

I haven’t found a consistently good one going the Drumheller direction yet. It’s a #### load of flat prairie stretches (though the dips into Hoodoos around the Red Deer river can be pretty great).

The drive around Tolman can be nice (though some of the roads are insanely broken) and the 575 that curls out of Drumheller and past Nacmine is cool. But there are sometimes 10-20 minute stretches tops (or less) that take over an hour to get to.

[Fuzz]

I really like the Cowboy Trail south of Chain Lakes.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

south of Chain Lakes.

Chain Lakes Road is the best part IMO, and the rest is decent, but just not quite as good.

It's rare to have something so twisty, with such light traffic, no houses/kids around, and such good visibility for wildlife dangers. It's surprising to look down at the speedometer on that road sometimes.

[btimbit]

It's a shame the highway west of chain lakes isn't paved because that's even better other than the fact that it's gravel. But it was a work truck the last time I went that way, so I had fun anyway

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

That looks really nice btimbit, I don’t know if I’ve done that drive. I’ve done the parkway and the stretch from Lake Louise to Jasper, but always find myself eager for a new scenic drive that doesn’t take more than a day (as in Calgary back to Calgary within 8-10 hours or so with some stops).

What are some drives other people enjoy?

Sibbald Creek, to Smith Dorian loop on my bike is a treat.