BMW Simple concept car

[scotpens]

What is it with these damn devices that everyone clings to like they're sacred icons? They're just cars, learn to let go and move on already. Something new has to come along eventually.

And also give us auto-driving cars, because driving is damned boring.

Sacrilege, heresy and blasphemy!

The genie was let out of the bottle more than 100 years ago. Personal, privately owned, wheeled vehicles will always be around in some form or another. And it's likely they'll be powered by internal-combustion piston engines for many years to come, although they may burn something other than gasoline.

Besides, driving is fun. They can take my stick-shift Ford Focus when they pry my cold, dead hands from the steering wheel.

 

[Rett Mikhal]

Driving would be fun if there were no other drivers and all roads led to logical ends.

 

[Warped9]

The Simple is a fascinating concept as is. For the body I could see it being a tad less boxy and still doing every thing it's supposed to do.

The real point of the vehicle, as with many concepts, is to think outside of the box and push the envelope of technology and ideas. Often it's the mistakes and things you learn along the way that you didn't expect or foresee that help push things forward.

No, I don't see something like this become production anytime soon and certainly not for the mass market. It could be viable as a niche vehicle.

The M-B Smart car is a good example of a concept that can work in the real world. It's a concept that works for a niche of customers within the larger automotive market. Sure you can buy more car for the same money, but the Smart suits some folk's less tangible needs as well as practical ones. It's in much the same way that you can buy more car (more practical) for the same money as a Miata, but the Miata answers a need that isn't practical. Note that I'm not equating the Smart and the Miata as interchangeable in satisfying the same needs, but there is an emotional context that each answers.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

And also give us auto-driving cars, because driving is damned boring.

This. This. A thousand times this.

I long for the day when personal rapid transit becomes universal.

 

[scotpens]

Driving would be fun if there were no other drivers and all roads led to logical ends.

All roads lead somewhere, don't they? That's logical enough for me.

I'm a born-and-bred Southern Californian. I don't drive in order to get from A to B; I go from A to B in order to have driven!

 

[Rett Mikhal]

Driving would be fun if there were no other drivers and all roads led to logical ends.

All roads lead somewhere, don't they? That's logical enough for me.

I'm a born-and-bred Southern Californian. I don't drive in order to get from A to B; I go from A to B in order to have driven!

Massachusetts.

http://www.massachusetts-map.org/massachusetts-road-map.gif

Where is your road god, now?

 

[FordSVT]

Driving would be fun if there were no other drivers and all roads led to logical ends.

Do you happen to live in a dense, urban area?

 

[iguana_tonante]

And also give us auto-driving cars, because driving is damned boring.

This. This. A thousand times this.

Like sex, if driving is boring, you are doing it wrong.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I think it's more to give all those millions of engineers and designers something to do... and to eventually improve technology.

Problem is, as JustaFriend pointed out, car companies chicken out. Very few of these radical departures come to fruition. Look at the history of the airplane vs the car. The first airplanes were made of fabric and wire, with a prop driven by an engine that would be underpowered in a lawnmower these days. Now, they use advanced turbine engines and can cruise at supersonic speeds. The evolution of the technology is quite obvious.

Cars... are more or less the same. Yes the engines have improved, yes the safety has improved, yes the manufacturing and comfort and all that jazz has improved, but it still uses the same concept which was the same as the Model-T. What is it with these damn devices that everyone clings to like they're sacred icons? They're just cars, learn to let go and move on already. Something new has to come along eventually.

And also give us auto-driving cars, because driving is damned boring.

Concept cars are built to try out new ideas which may or may not someday make it into a production car. Very few concept cars ever become production models. Personally, I'd like to see something like the Hy-wire make it to production.

 

[Rett Mikhal]

Driving would be fun if there were no other drivers and all roads led to logical ends.

Do you happen to live in a dense, urban area?

Near and sometimes in Boston, yes.

And also give us auto-driving cars, because driving is damned boring.

This. This. A thousand times this.

Like sex, if driving is boring, you are doing it wrong.

I don't know what goes on in your life, but in mine an enjoyable sex session can't be ruined by fucking morons getting in the way or dumbass lights and signs placed by people who don't know how traffic actually works.

Also, driving doesn't feel like anything other than sitting and molesting a wheel (while I'm on it, why can't it be a joystick?), so I don't see this analogy working. Maybe I'm not Italian.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I don't know what goes on in your life, but in mine an enjoyable sex session can't be ruined by fucking morons getting in the way or dumbass lights and signs placed by people who don't know how traffic actually works.

Well, only if it's a good evening...

Also, driving doesn't feel like anything other than sitting and molesting a wheel (while I'm on it, why can't it be a joystick?), so I don't see this analogy working. Maybe I'm not Italian.

If you think of it, the steering wheel is nicely round and covered in tanned skin, if you get my drift... And you should see how I use my gearshift!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

And also give us auto-driving cars, because driving is damned boring.

This. This. A thousand times this.

Like sex, if driving is boring, you are doing it wrong.

The function of driving is to get from Point A to Point B. It is not supposed to be emotional.

 

[FordSVT]

Why not? Who decided it couldn't be emotional? We're emotional creatures, and there is nothing wrong with enjoying a curvy road or a drive on a sunny day or a road trip with friends. Emotional also does not equate with "impaired", so don't go there.

I get it that some people drive shitty cars in shitty areas, or only view them as appliances, I really do, but please don't tell me what driving "is" or "is not" like it's some kind of universal truth. I've loved cars and driving since I was a kid, and I'd rather the government not legislate one of my passions out of existence because people are too stupid or disinterested to drive themselves.

 

[iguana_tonante]

The function of driving is to get from Point A to Point B. It is not supposed to be emotional.

The function of eating is to take in energy. The function of talking is to exchange informations. The function of sex is to produce offspring. That doesn't mean you can't have fun while doing all of these activities, n'est-ce pas?

 

[FordSVT]

^Truer words have never been written. This morning.

 

[iguana_tonante]

It's been a long morning, tho.

 

[sojourner]

You need to hit closer to home.

The function of Baseball is to provide exercise.

 

[scotpens]

You need to hit closer to home. The function of Baseball is to provide exercise.

Or the function of swimming is to keep from drowning.

Or look at it this way: Personally, I hate cooking. As I see it, the purpose of cooking is to provide a reasonably good-tasting and healthful meal. I prefer to buy take-out food or convenience foods that only have to be zapped in the microwave.

But a lot of folks here on Trek BBS like to cook. Some people are passionate about cooking.

I happen to enjoy driving. Chacun à son goût.

 

[Rett Mikhal]

You need to hit closer to home.

The function of Baseball is to provide exercise.

You opened up a can of worms with that one. If that were true in this day and age, why would there be professional sports? Or ESPN? Or all this political bullshit with the teams like financing, trading, deals, contracts, budgets, projects, blah blah blah blah.

Humans bureaucrize all that they touch. Purpose is a fleeting idea.

 

[sojourner]

^Thankyou, I think you got the point!