Can you fail this student?

Apparently new generations are not as much into cars as the 20th century vintage. It's just not really a thing for them.

 

Funny to see this thread come back up. Just today, someone asked me if my car was a Charger or a Challenger. As in, she wanted to know which of the two it was, because she thought it was one of them.

Pretty sure that tops the time someone asked me if my car was a Mazda 6...

 

I just find it really strange that being invested or interested in your car is a rare thing these days. Regardless of whether you think of it as a tool from getting to point A to B and that's that, most people are still driving on a daily basis. You'd think they'd put some care into what they drive. It's the same concept of having a nice mattress. It baffles me that most people couldn't care less about something they use every day.

 

^

If you were to create a list of all possible pasttimes and rank them according to how 'socially acceptable' they are, "car enthusiast" and "racing fan" would rank only slightly above phycotic axe murderer and slightly lower than financial fraudster.

At my last job, we once had a department meeting where the VP thought it was a good idea to start off with everyone stating what they did in their off time for fun. ~50% were "working in the yard" or "working on the house", ~40% were watching football or baseball. Most of the rest were church or kids.

When I said "autocross and track", I was looked at with shocked horror, and the VP quickly moved on, so the docial deviant didn't get too much of the spotlight

 

Did they think motocross?

 

It would seem that with the general public's view on the rotary engine, RX8 owners would be more along the lines of masochistic than hipster .

 

Agreed.

And it's worse for cars than it is for mattresses because automotive ignorance makes things worse for everyone, even enthusiasts.

 

That's the view of my auto enthusiast friends, too.

 

Take this quiz and wait until you get to the question about transportation. Pretty fitting considering this thread.

Are You a Hipster? | Hipster Quiz

 

HA! That's amazing!

 

10% hipster

**** me! I need to take a long drive off a short pier.

EDIT:

I have no problems with hipsters, my cousin is one sort of. But just disliking something because it is popular is just re re. I hate everyone equally until they prove me wrong. I have a special place in my colon for hipsters though.

 

guess that would make me the first construction worker hipster?

 

So a hipster is an independent person that thinks critically?

Wowo!!

I've been one all my life.

 

anybody take the quiz and notice the one answer choice





edit: didn't fully read supergoat's post

 

To be sure, a hipster does not drive a vehicle that gets 9 mpg on short trips down the block, 12 mpg downtown, 15 mpg on the freeway, and 19 mpg driving across the United States.

Everyone has a different perception of handling feel and prowess, whether one favors subjective or objective measures. In my mind, the rx8, being a 2+2, grand touring class, sporty features yet significant body roll and a high driving position... I'm still trying to mentally figure it out after 9 years of ownership, on its 3rd engine. It's more like... giving a middle finger to every other car out there. Some are more pure being sports coupes, some have more power, some have better handling, some have more room, some have better interiors, almost all have better fuel economy "smiles per mpg". I just don't care. Least of all some worthless students uninformed opinions. It's just a damn bastard rotary car that everyone hates, no big deal.

I wish gearheads would understand 3 things

1. You are not your car.

2. You are not your job.

3. You do not talk about cars with non-car people.

When people see me in black leather suit and inquire as to my ride, I tell simple lies like I have a "little black moped" or just a regular "small black Mazda" or just tell them I took the bus that morning. If its 100 degrees outside I tell them, no I actually went for a jog. Seldom are people actually interested in hearing you talk about cars, they just need a quick "break the ice" question excuse to speak with a cool person such as yourself. If you find them interesting, transition into another topic, ideally within your first two sentences in reply. Otherwise, walk away. If they are truly the rare ignorant car enthusiast and won't stop pestering you, maintain a cool head and act like you're not into cars much. That is like a drop kick to the face.

 

Whew. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with numbers like that.


Well obviously I disagree strongly with the idea that my student is worthless. Other than that, I agree. Well said. The bolded part resonates with me particularly well.

On the car's characteristics, I honestly think it's more of a sports cars than most nominal sports cars these days. A lot of them are muscle cars masquerading as sports cars IMO...

 

Don't forget about the difference between a sports car and a sport's car.

Ken

 

This