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The Pub For General Automotive Related Talk |
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06-01-2015, 05:29 PM | #91 | |||
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Quote:
or do you just simply want all the lhd cars to be available to us here in NANNA land (soon to be, we cant compete on a global scale land, but, the powers that be don't care anymore, land) |
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06-01-2015, 07:28 PM | #92 | |||
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Since cars are heading in a totally electric direction I simply see the innevitability of it because electric servo systems with closed loop systems are vastly superior in terms of control, with the sensory feedback being outputted to whatever control system the designer wishes to avail himself of. We already have adaptive cruise control and when linked with a GPS lane aware system could easily form the basis of a very effective collision/drowsiness avoidance system that utilises car steering systems and throttle control for example. ECU controlled steering could effectively compliment the ABS system to manouvere a slippery corner on a mountain road making precise corrections in nanoseconds thereby not being reliant on driver reaction times. Just a couple of potential adaptations that I can think of, am sure there are plenty more. |
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07-01-2015, 12:14 AM | #93 | ||
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We already access global LHD cars just that they are made in RHD format for our market and others. That's why they are global platforms. Incidentally the Australian new car market is one of the most open and competitive in the world so the cries about accessing more models seems to me to be whinging for the sale of having a whinge. As for that guy's argument about tourists..please!
Perhaps American car makers could get with the program and produce global platforms (Mustang S550 anyone?) instead of expecting others to change an entire regulatory scheme and infrastructure network to suit their products. It cuts both ways, something the LHD brigade overlook.
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Fords I own or have owned: 1970 XW Falcon GT replica | 1970 XW Falcon | 1971 XY Fairmont | 1973 ZG Fairlane | 1986 XF Falcon panel van | 1987 XFII Falcon S-Pack | 1988 XF Falcon GLS ute | 1993 EBII Fairmont V8 | 1996 XG Falcon ute | 2000 AU Falcon wagon | 2004 BA Falcon XT | 2012 SZ Territory Titanium AWD Proud to buy Australian and support Ford Australia through thick and thin |
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07-01-2015, 01:11 AM | #94 | ||
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Maybe we could start a list of cars that are LHD and not available here that if they were would actually be a sale success and not just a niche market.
That may put things into perspective for the grass is greener on the other side crowd. |
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07-01-2015, 09:46 AM | #95 | ||
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People are buying a few F series class vehicles from Performax International and from companies like VDC, its in the few hundreds per year now.
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07-01-2015, 10:07 AM | #96 | ||
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I think Samoa recently flipped from driving on the right to driving on the left. Apparently to access cheaper Japanese cars.
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___________________________ I've been around the world a couple of times or maybe more....... |
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07-01-2015, 11:54 AM | #97 | |||
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I took issue with: 1) being called a brain-dead rock-ape and luddite that wouldn't have been able to handle or understand the 'new technology' of power steering, had this discussion occurred in the fifties, promptly followed by 2) being called a three-letter-ancronym-loving w&nker for mentioning a widely accepted machinery/system/component rating, that just happens to be designated 'SIL1', 'SIL2', 'SIL3' & 'SIL4', dependent upon meantime to failure, as a function of repeated operations. Two pieces of advice; Watch yourself and save the snide comments for around the water bubbler. Over and Out
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FG Falcon Ute Daily: E-Gas 4.0 I6, 3 seat 1 tonner, 2300kg Tow Pack, Carryboy, XR6 rims. 6 Stacker, Sat Nav, Reversing Camera, Sunnie Holder, XR dash & St Wheel - thanks Mr FPV! Jaguar XJ-S: Eaton S/C, I/Cooler, Haltech, DB7 rims, 1:15 Wakefield. Jaguar XJ6 Wife's daily :2006 Quartz Metallic, FORD Duratec 3.0 V6, ZF 6sp Previous relationships: FG GT, FG XR8 (+BA XT 5.4, BA AU, EF, EB, EA, EA & XF work cars) Jags XJ12 & XJ6, BMW E39 Wagon, BMW F11 M-Sport wagon, 20 of GMH FC-HQ |
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07-01-2015, 06:40 PM | #98 | ||
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On a Tv show like top gear they showed a asian state [Myanmar ?] that changed to Drive on the Right but uses RHD cars.--the program showed it worked fine except the busses and the Tram like bus stops in the center of heavy traffic.
I have driven several times in the USA on holidays, about 20 000miles. the complication is turning right from a one way street. The americans are smart, round about not very common. I would prefer a lience driving test method to allow modified or non standard vehicle. I have a lience to drive a crash box truck-know of people that have lience to drive from home to a destination. Rego for older cars-In metro areas of NSW the average age of vehicle would show up that a 15 year old-[I thought it was 30], would only be used by collector and not a daily transport.. In my area of NSW average age of private owned cars would be 15-25 years old so these cant be blanket allowed to be classed as collectables. I think lot of the crap that goes with this show that authorities are not serious. Going by some of the news bulletons I get I think that there is little thought going any place. Garbage trucks and street sweepers have to be the most stressfull vehicle on OZ roads bar road side mowing and over sized loads. After being used for the job the driver has to swap back to the RHS to transport back--any B/S about safety and spacial judgement has gone out window as this is the preffered position. . would it not be safer to buy an off the shelf unmodified LHD truck that was made in a factory to be driven safely. Drive By wire-I have driven and service medium size joy stick controlled vehicles-until they make the road control most the vehicle position on road then they should not be on the road with out restriction.
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07-01-2015, 07:55 PM | #99 | |||
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We'd rid the roads of at least 85% of Australian drivers. Maybe then we could open the speed limits up as well.
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07-01-2015, 08:19 PM | #100 | |||
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Quote:
You are a troll. |
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07-01-2015, 08:42 PM | #101 | ||
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It obviously can't be much of an issue if we have so many manufacturers selling cars here.
It is not worth converting a whole road network over to cater for LHD drive cars to save a few $$$ on a car. Especially since it has long been proven, that despite Aussies knowing they are getting ripped off on pretty much everything, they will still pay for it. |
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07-01-2015, 09:38 PM | #102 | |||
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you wont see a 100k+ $AUD taxi on my door, when I know they pay half (exchange rate converted) for some of the same cars a short flight across the pond...... |
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08-01-2015, 02:56 PM | #103 | ||
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08-01-2015, 04:09 PM | #104 | ||||
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Mercedes were going to introduce Steer-by-Wire a few years back but market research indicated motorists at the time wouldn't buy cars without steering columns. They put it on the back burner while looking at more palatable options until the technology became more acceptable.
A couple of older articles. Quote:
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http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/active-steering-comes-to-mercedes-benz |
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14-01-2015, 09:09 AM | #105 | ||
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Was watching a Top Gear episode the other day, where Clarkson was 'correcting' somebody who had an adverse opinion on RHD cars.
He said something along the lines of: "No, the steering wheel is on the Right side; yours is on the wrong side." And I'm sure he had no doubts whatsoever his belief was correct, of course. |
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14-01-2015, 04:55 PM | #106 | ||
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A few international contractor brought in for engineering job have told me off the cuff that it would be better if Australia was LHD because there is more personal symmetry[sp?] with a original design LHD compared to a converted to LHD post design.
I think it a load of crap that goes along with the its too hard to make a falcon LHD. When I worked at landrover the vehicle was made for both LHD/RHD the silliness is that some parts could easily be used on both but they chose to have two or three parts for the job. and at great expence items like the chasis body panels and some axle parts could be used for both. The LHD was far worse due to the insistence of fitting the throttle on the right jambed up on the trans tunnel.
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16-01-2015, 11:14 PM | #107 | |||
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In my paddock I have a shell of a vehicle that was LHD and then adapted for the Aus RHD market. I cut through it with a power cutting saw and discovered that there is extra reinforcing in the left hand chassis rail which would provides more structure for the driver in a LHD seating position. The chassis is a box profile with an extra layer whithin the box. The chassis is otherwise symmetrical except in the engine mount structure being a front wheel drive chassis. I am convinced that in a LHD collision the driver would be marginally safer whether by extra steel or intended collision dynamics. The vehicle is a Mitsubishi Galant sold in Aus as a 380. It was quite a surprise and something to think about. |
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17-01-2015, 01:06 AM | #108 | ||
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engine on a 380 is fitted on the right and provides more impact mass.so the left side would require strength.
Sale training claims it was to reduce production cost and reduce power [fuel economy] losses from the removal of the dummy shaft in all early mitubishi transmissions with engine on the left. But my guess it is for the tourque steer. most Japanese RWD have solid box chasis in the right hand side. this is explained in sales training manuals to improve steering. another claim was that the body should crush away from the driver as the steering tended to entude into the cab on older bodies.
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BF11 XT EGas Wagon-SY TERRITORY AWD GHIA- Land Rover 88 .MIDCOAST NSW.
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20-01-2015, 01:27 PM | #109 | ||
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From: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-0...nkedin.company
Ford CEO Fields Predicts Driverless Cars on Roads in 5 Years By Keith Naughton Jan 7, 2015 6:04 AM ET Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Mark Fields, chief executive officer at Ford, discusses the automaker’s approach to driverless cars, the future of automobile technology, and balancing shareholder dividends with increased investment in the company. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Brad Stone from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on “Market Makers.” Ford Motor Co. (F) Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields said that an automaker probably will introduce a self-driving vehicle within half a decade, but it won’t be his company, which is focusing on less expensive features that assist in driving. “Fully autonomous vehicles are a real possibility,” Fields said at a Jan. 5 dinner with analysts and journalists on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “Probably, in the next five years, you’ll see somebody introduce autonomous vehicles.” Automakers are racing to develop self-driving cars that safely transport commuters in congested urban areas. At the same conference, Daimler AG (DAI) CEO Dieter Zetsche unveiled the Mercedes-Benz F 015, a concept car that can autonomously move people. If Ford’s forecast comes true, consumers may someday be able to buy a vehicle without a steering wheel or brake pedals that would operate in auto-pilot mode, driving more efficiently and reducing traffic jams. In the meantime, automakers are seeking a piece of the $11.3 billion in factory-installed technologies going into cars this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. The F 015 Mercedes concept car has four seats, including the driver’s, that can face each other, rather than the road, Daimler said today in Las Vegas. Six screens allow passengers to monitor information about the vehicle and the outside world, using technology that responds to eye movements and gestures.
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FG Falcon Ute Daily: E-Gas 4.0 I6, 3 seat 1 tonner, 2300kg Tow Pack, Carryboy, XR6 rims. 6 Stacker, Sat Nav, Reversing Camera, Sunnie Holder, XR dash & St Wheel - thanks Mr FPV! Jaguar XJ-S: Eaton S/C, I/Cooler, Haltech, DB7 rims, 1:15 Wakefield. Jaguar XJ6 Wife's daily :2006 Quartz Metallic, FORD Duratec 3.0 V6, ZF 6sp Previous relationships: FG GT, FG XR8 (+BA XT 5.4, BA AU, EF, EB, EA, EA & XF work cars) Jags XJ12 & XJ6, BMW E39 Wagon, BMW F11 M-Sport wagon, 20 of GMH FC-HQ |
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