267 replies to this topic

[Bench Racer]

At least the girl posts have taken the Blues out of this Forum thread.

[Danica Davison]

At least the girl posts have taken the Blues out of this Forum thread.

 

Some may just have blue balls now instead.

[38bfast]

You know Jim, INDY PR might have it all sorted to give her a win. Indy car needs a boost. Her winning would get them free PR that they would certainly enjoy. Not saying sports has ever been fixed. 

 

I am in for a $1 too. 

[38bfast]

Oh and I agree with you on her skill and accomplishments, She has never proved to be at the very sharp end of the stick. Close but not there. But a blind squirrel can sometimes find a nut. 

[LarryKing]

 

You know Jim, INDY PR might have it all sorted to give her a win. Indy car needs a boost. Her winning would get them free PR that they would certainly enjoy. Not saying sports has ever been fixed. 

Exactly how do you get 32 other primary sponsors who have put 1-2 million into each of their cars to go along with "letting Danica (or any driver) win?"

[Bench Racer]

The girls net value is $60,000,000.00. When you businessmen have a combined net value anywhere close to that, please holler. For a side question, how long would it take for any of you to equal her speed in an Indy car? 

[Caveman-kwebb99]

The girls net value is $60,000,000.00. When you businessmen have a combined net value anywhere close to that, please holler. For a side question, how long would it take for any of you to equal her speed in an Indy car? 

 

How do we go about getting her to drive one of my cars for an SM race?   I have always said she would be tough to beat in an SM! most scoffed and said it would take her at the least a few weekends to be competitive. 

[Bench Racer]

How do we go about getting her to drive one of my cars for an SM race?   I have always said she would be tough to beat in an SM! most scoffed and said it would take her at the least a few weekends to be competitive. 

Kyle, are you attempting to suck me into something? Ya, the same thing has been said about Loshak.

[Caveman-kwebb99]

Kyle, are you attempting to suck me into something? Ya, the same thing has been said about Loshak.

I would be willing if the experiment could be arranged.

[Parity]

The girls net value is $60,000,000.00. When you businessmen have a combined net value anywhere close to that, please holler. For a side question, how long would it take for any of you to equal her speed in an Indy car? 

East Street is worth twice that.

[Tom Hampton]

She can get in the backseat of my SM, anytime!  Oh wait...

[Jim Drago]

The girls net value is $60,000,000.00. When you businessmen have a combined net value anywhere close to that, please holler. For a side question, how long would it take for any of you to equal her speed in an Indy car? 

Now there is no arguing those facts. 

 

I would say not as long as you think.. not for us old guys.. but younger guys.

Kaiser is an SM guy and in his first year at the brickyard he is VERY close and not in the same equipment. he was a good SM driver, but not a stand out. 

[38bfast]

Exactly how do you get 32 other primary sponsors who have put 1-2 million into each of their cars to go along with "letting Danica (or any driver) win?"

Money

[LarryKing]

And NASA never landed on the moon, and JFK is hanging out in the tropics with Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa.

[SaulSpeedwell]

It's not tribalism to want to be a good steward of the environment. Why should we not reduce our personal consumption? We are supposed to be world leaders. The greatest nation on earth, which we've recently, inexplicably, abdicated our role. Is it possible to get to a "per capita" usage like China? Sure! Arguing it won't make a difference doesn't help anyone. "Ah, it doesn't effect me so why bother" is a weird position to take. Should we continue to push for greater fuel economy, yes. There are challenges to that lead to diminishing returns. Electric cars will outnumber gasoline engines within 10yrs, possibly even in the next 5 if Elon Musk can get production kinks worked out.

 

The biggest gains we can make are simply re-organizing and better utilizing existing technologies. Using peaker grid systems to avoid over producing power is huge. Using solar/wind to supplement with battery storage to smooth peak demand times also works. Necessity breeds innovation, that's the role government regulation needs to play. "Meh, regulation is bad!" Well it's better than continuing to kick that can down the road and let the next generation clean up after us. 

 

Many small changes can add up to big gains. My house generates between 300-600kWh every month. This month I've generated 58% of the energy my home uses. I am also limited by the local power authority to having only 16 panels (4.6kW grid), I could have an additional 24 on the roof (6.9kW) but then I wouldn't need the power company at all. I also live in NC where we have 265 days of clear sun and the rear of my house faces south. But so what if the panels were on the front of the house? If everyone has them, how can it be a deterrent or value reducing? Tesla makes solar roof cells that look like tiles and/or standard shingles. Cost is prohibitive right now, but cost will come down. We installed solar on my house last year for $15k (<10yr payback), in 2013 the cost was $28k. 

 

It sounds like tribalism when the comments are focused on the 4% tail here at home, with little or nothing to propose or say about the 45%+ dog.  

 

Most have agreed we should do what we can, but furiously bailing out our wing of the Titanic isn't going to be a solution.  Do you want a solution, or do you demand 100.0% agreement from those who are essentially already your allies? 

[Steve Scheifler]

And when you’ve answered that let’s move on to the topic guns.

[SaulSpeedwell]

We are working on the wrong problem. We waste most countries’ GDPs on our highway transportation system that is ridiculously expensive to build, maintain and replace. If we spent some real engineering and economic effort bringing three dimensional travel to our masses think of all the carbon credits we could save from the lack of traffic alone.

 

We are certainly working on the wrong problem, but I think we disagree with what the problem statement should be.  "Most countries" are entire orders of magnitude less acreage and less populated than the U.S.  Norway is the population of Houston, and sitting on so much oil that they can easily afford all the socialist dreams.  Canada is the population of California, but with far greater acreage and natural resources.

 

Comparing "countries" is like comparing families of 12 on farms to single people living in apartments. But when it is politically useful, political operatives will use whatever "statistics" suit them.

 

If we want to improve policymaking, perhaps we should first tone down the self-flagellating and logically misleading "benchmarks" and "statistics".  

 

I think it was Pat Bedard that did the math several years ago in Car/Driver about the efficiency of Feelgood/Soundsgood solutions like public transportation (buses, rail) versus if everyone was driving a Prius.  If I recall, the problem with the math is that the occupancy rate is rarely high enough to make the buses and trains make much of a dent, and rail is particularly expensive from an infrastructure standpoint.

 

Sure, maybe it works great in Norway … which, again, is about the population of Houston, on a plot of land about half the size of Texas.  Not very useful as a benchmark.

[SaulSpeedwell]

Bench, scientist claim to have created and enzyme that breaks down plastic. What does it turn it into??? The pacific ocean garbage patch is huge and needs to be addressed.
Turbine cars are not very practical. I'm trying to convince my wife to buy a model S.

 

Better yet, buy a Chevy Bolt or "recycle and reuse" a preowned Chevy Volt, and use the savings to feed the hungry, or help fund a climate project that has a chance of solving the problem.  Howard Hughes II seems a little too busy putting Lambo doors on SUVs, making flamethrowers, and shooting effigys into space, but I realize the Cool Kid Bonus Points of a Tesla are hard for many to ignore

[Sphinx]

Better yet, buy a Chevy Bolt or "recycle and reuse" a preowned Chevy Volt, and use the savings to feed the hungry, or help fund a climate project that has a chance of solving the problem.  Howard Hughes II seems a little too busy putting Lambo doors on SUVs, making flamethrowers, and shooting effigys into space, but I realize the Cool Kid Bonus Points of a Tesla are hard for many to ignore

 

If you've never driven an electric car, you have no idea what you are missing.  I've had 3 so far, Nissan Leaf, Chevy Spark EV, and a Model 3.

 

And there are some serious turds too - the Leaf is a soul sucking depressing car that should be only driven by people eager to experience depression.  The Spark is a crap can with hard seats and a terrible interior - but it makes up for it with 325 ft. lb of torque that makes it thoroughly entertaining to drive.  Roasted the front tires with only 18K on the car.  The 2014's had 400 ft. lb of torque (different battery suppliers) - car is a hoot to drive.  But both of commuting appliances at the end of the day.

 

And the Model 3 is just plain amazing - again 100% torque at 0 rpm is something you have to experience.  I drove a Model S in 2014 for the 1st time - it completely destroyed every assumption I had about EV's.

 

EV's are not only coming, but they are the proper car for the vast majority of use cases (think commuting appliances generally).  ICE cars will still have their place - I can't stand watching Formula E.  Racing and performance cars are still about the smell and sound.  But with millennials who don't bother getting their drivers' licenses, they don't care about cars the way a generation ago did.  ICE cars will be a relic soon - that makes me personally sad, but it is a reality.

 

And don't get me started on autonomous vehicles - that train is coming faster than anyone can imagine.

[Ron Alan]

Now there is no arguing those facts. 

 

I would say not as long as you think.. not for us old guys.. but younger guys.

Kaiser is an SM guy and in his first year at the brickyard he is VERY close and not in the same equipment. he was a good SM driver, but not a stand out. 

Kyle Kaiser if I remember my facts correctly would have been named 2014 SM Runoffs champion had he not had one bad relief cut. The only car in the top 6 that didn't fail the STR correct? For the 1 year he spent in SM he stood out...even if at times he was the guy to stay away from if you wanted to get your car home in one piece! I think he came to us from open wheel and went back...fun to follow a young successful driver!