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Detroit, 7:30 PM
Sat Nov 21
14 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/20/09
08/20/09
Looks kind of like a Ferrari huh?
08/20/09
08/19/09
Set it to 650HP and break the switch off.
08/19/09
Okay, but only if the body matches the engine-turned dash.
Seriously-impossible to over-do engine turning. Charles Lindbergh might have been an anti-semite isolationist, but he knew that he only had one chance to make a first impression when he touched down in Paris, so he demanded-what else-engine turning!
The minute appliances are available in engine-turned stainless, I'm getting a new kitchen. End of story.
08/19/09
08/19/09
Meanwhile Tesla gets urinated on while shipping substantial numbers of actual cars to actual customers.
08/19/09
08/19/09
Corrected.
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
How do I come to that conclusion?
As a rough estimate, you can expect that for every ten thousand dollars, the monthly payment increases approximately $200. So, in a standard, 5-year payment cycle, the monthly payment on a $10,000 car would be in the vicinity of $200 (I think it would actually be about $180, but the sake of simplifying the math, I'm rounding to $200).
So, going by the rough estimations laid out above, a monthly payment of $350 would be about the equivalent of an $18,000 car. How many times does 18,000 go in to 332,000? About 18.5 times.
So then, we take the standard five years necessary to pay of an $18,000 car with a monthly payment of $350, and multiply it by 18.5, and we get roughly 92.5 years in Pauljones bullshit math.
08/19/09
08/19/09
=PMT(Rate,#_of_payments,Present_Value)
=PMT(0.059,700,331000) (5.9% rate, 700 month loan, $331,000)
08/19/09
08/19/09
I always used to piss off my math teachers in high school by spending so much time on a problem trying to figure out other odd ways that I could reason it out and solve it. They would always look at me in exasperation and ask me why I couldn't just do it the way they showed the class and be done with it. My response was that it wasn't any fun that way.
It also probably explains why I failed out of Calc II. It wasn't that I couldn't do the math, it's that I spent way too much time tinkering with attempts at alternative solutions to problems on tests, which isn't a good thing when tests are timed.
Oh well. It killed my future as an aerospace engineer, but at least it kept me amused in otherwise boring classes.
08/19/09
Huh? Thanks to pauljones BS math, you say? I do know about BS. Maybe I better up my monthly payments to $355.
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
I like the idea of power settings... if anything, just for a little warm up as I put out of the neighborhood and towards real streets. Then once I'm out of the no wake zone... I can just flip that little switch.
08/19/09
08/19/09
I was attempting, unsuccesfully, to make a joke about the use of the phrase, "based on need," here. Realistically, when are you going to "need" the power this car provides, even at it's lowest setting - apart from the track. These cars are essentially about enjoying their near-absurd performance. Clearly, you can have too much of a good thing and the enjoyment you experience can be overshadowed by the challange of too much power for a given situation. That was a reality I was purposefully overlooking, for comedic effect, and it failed. Rest assured, I'll give myself a bad grade for the comment.
08/19/09
@tek_nic: Having had the opportunity to drive a pre-production Saleen S7, I can wholeheartedly back up your statement. That car scared the living hell out of me, and probably contributed to my distaste for "super cars" in general.
A simple Camaro SS or Mustang GT has enough power for me to kill myself if I'm stupid. I don't need any more than that.
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
If the switch is not entirely obvious, it would be fun to put it on the low setting at the track and let a buddy take it for a few laps. Flip the switch before your runs, and amaze him at your ability to crush his time results...
08/19/09
08/19/09
If I want to see how close I can get a car's ass to the guardrails while sliding down highway 24... I would much rather do it in something like a miata than spyder.
08/19/09
08/20/09
08/20/09
08/20/09
My valet resume said something like: good driving record, good personal skills. I didn't mention my SCCA participation.
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
I'm terribly concerned about the apparent lack of cupholders. Maybe they're undergoing nanofabrication or wind tunnel testing, and will be installed by riding mechanics to your specifications, in a ceremony at Silverstone as you take possession of your new bolide.
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09