An Automotive WTF.

[Marcus Telcontar]

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5809890%255E401,00.html

I've heard of crotch rockets before, but this one takes the cake. My dad has a Yamaha that I dare not use, for the damn thing has an ungodly amount of power and I'd kill myself. Would rip the Ducati he had. But this thing in the link... this is just plain wrong. Totally wrong. I like lots of power, but not like this.....

[Taylor Millard]

I saw that...I like the double front wheels. Kinda reminds me of hte Batcycle from the Batman the Animated Series.

Depending on the price (and if they release it) I might investigate into it.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

Yeah, just saw that also. I got another image of it around here

I still think my plans for a 2 wheel car (Enclosed Motercycle) which uses a Gyro to stabalize and is controled with a yoke/joystick electronics would work. The gyro would be powerful, allowing you to turn on a dime.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Straight line capability of Tohmahawk = huge

Cornering capability = zero. How could you lean such a thing? And there is no way that it would corner upright, center of gravity is totally wrong. Any type of sideways G and it would tip. Nice bit of automotive masturbation admittedly. But completely useless. How the hell could you hang on at those speeds it's quoted to be capable of? The wind blast would be extreme

[Sejah Haversh]

Sheer insanity, mainly from a financial standpoint.

It could never be sold, it is far too dangerous. It cost a lot of money to develop such a fabulously worthless pipe dream, and I am quite mad at that company for spending the millions they did on it instead of making their current lineup better.

I am all for more power in sports vehicles, but not when it far overcrosses the line of any form of reason as it has with this monstrocity of poor judgement.

Utterly worthless.

[Marcus Telcontar]

For us that have a clue about cars and bikes, yes. We know how stupid it is. However... it's all about marketing. Image cars sell bread and butter models. And lets face it, unless you are a Ferrari, Porsche or Holden (heh, jingoistic!) your not out to sell cars because they are automotive perfection with handling, looks, brakes and power to die for, your in it to get Joe Six pack to buy your crappy mass produced conveyance. When 85% of drivers have no idea if they are in a front or rear drive car, when auto is thought of as better and the CD player is more important than the number of pistons in the brake calipers, what does the car maker care if it makes sense. If it gets bum into showrooms, that's all they want! I bet the development costs are made up with all the publicity they got as a result.

For an example, Holden in Aust have a car called the Monaro. In the 70's this car was a legend, but it was kileld by high petrol prices. In 1998, Hiolden shocked the Aust public by displaying a hertro unknown two door Commodore that was drop dead sexy. It got front page on every damn paper and every news bulletin lead with it. You cant buy that type of publicity. The Monaro nameplate came back in a blaze.

Hey, wht did you revheads think when you heard The Pig, the Pontiac GTO was coming back? It's a Holden Monaro I might point out. But it's fairly big news if you know what a GTO is, right? It's goign to be expensive, but it will be an image leader and sell crap cars by the truckload. Image and marketing, that's what the Tohmahawk is about.

PS - I will add the Monaro GTO is in fact a damn fine car. You USA revheads are goign to find out why Aussies have always thought of Camaros and Mustangs as bad jokes.

[Sejah Haversh]

Well, I know those truths to be just that. I remind you that I did help to design a 600 HP electric car that was all-wheel drive and darn close to perfection with a body I've dreamed of. I won a multi-state competition through the Crysler Corperation, and have since seen a few of my ideas come out on other cars in their lineup.

Image does sell, but the image of the Tohmahawk is not a good one. The sheer fact that it has four wheels is enough to displease any motorcycling enthusiast, or even remote motorcycling fan. It also looks hideous, even more so than the Corvette--which it thankfully getting a beautiful redesign in 2005, I might add.

I'll agree with you on the Camaro; since 1970 is has been worth jack, and the Mustang comes close to that range, but has redeemed itself in the last two years in my book.

[Taylor Millard]

Originally posted by Marcus Elessar
PS - I will add the Monaro GTO is in fact a damn fine car. You USA revheads are goign to find out why Aussies have always thought of Camaros and Mustangs as bad jokes.

you know I've been wanting one of those for a long timenow.

Cameros...BAH! I say BAH! Never liked 'em.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

4 wheels on a bike can work. And be designed to be just as stable. When inside a curve, the inside wheels lift up, allowing the G-Force of the turn rest on the outside wheel. The entire bike will tilt in effect. Yet, it is impractical, when a 2 wheeled bike could do the same for a tenth of the price.

Edit: Camaro's had a good run, let them rest in piece.
Just like an person, the Camaro started out strong and got weaker with age.
Impala still running strong, now that is a Car to drive around with friends.

[Sanis Prent]

Impala? Are you insane?

[Jared Mriad]

Hell, with that Tomahawk bike there yer better off buying a Dodge Viper 2003 model. Same v10 engine and helluva lot safer to drive... plus that nifty cover for an extra 69$...

[Marcus Telcontar]

Imapa? Blech!

Dyzm, you are wrong. The whole centre of gratity is too high and will shift too much to make it practical or safe. The whole point of a lean is to keep the centre of gravity within the a certain area - and it only works for two wheels. four, even in a close design, ruins the way the shift of centre of gravity works, which makes two wheeled fast cornerign possible. And that's not also including centrifical forces, which musht be directed through the centreline of the tyre. Simply put, if it could work, Biomda or or another exotic bike maker would be doing it right now.

[Morgan Evanar]

The new Impala is FWD and has no SBC V8 from a Corvette.

... its not an Impala. Learn you some cars and then talk. The current Impala is a disgrace to the cars previous that bore the badge.

Impala, as defined by anyone in their right mind: big rear wheel drive car with some solid stock get-up and go. Some serious upgrade potentional, but also a very capable cruiser, if thats what you want to do.

The Holden Monaro is verraaa nice. Still tho, the Vette probably handles better, even if you don't like the looks, the performance is impossible to dispute from either one.

Personally, I lust for a WRX, but thats cause I'm insane. However, wouldn't mind anything with four doors, solid handling and entirely too much power.

That motorcycle is stupidity. Horrible waste of monies, even from a development standpoint.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Ahhh, the Corvette..... well, now we're talking a different language. The early ones are phallic symbols on wheels, next door neighbour had a 76 that my dad helped put a vey brutal 454 in. Yeeehah.

I personally got into Vette's with the arrival of the LS-4 quad cam. And also seeing a 92 model rip a Marquee sport race apart with soem real handling. The Vette certainly can handle and has brakes, and usually looks reeeaaaalll nice. Considerign that the Monaro and Vette share the Gen III (and some Monaros get the Calloway treatement, as well as HSV, the special vehicles division of Holden), it would be interesting to see a comparision.

The Vett'es biggest problem however is structural rigidity. It's the way it's made, it's just not as tortionally rigid as the Monaro and does need to be stiffened up. A decent cage will do that. Stiill, it's the only modern US car I would not say no to.

Agreed witht he WRX, tho it would be an STI model I want. Maybe you might have em, considering that GM has a healthy stake i Subaru now.

Me, if i had my choice for a fun car.... mmmm.... Shelby AC Cobra. Le Mans version with the 7 litre motor. I've always wanted to build a kit replica.

[Vinny Red]

muscle cars are always great off the line.....Once you through in a turn or two though, their performace always drops. Hence why I go for all that import stuff. Better handling and overall performance. Through in the fact that they're fun to put some work into and build up and giddy up I'm sold :D

I like the WRX for it's performance, but bring back the old headlights!!!! PLEASE! I really don't like the new front ends that they have now...brutal

[Marcus Telcontar]

That's why Aussie muscle cars rule. They have to perform on the track, esp at a place called Bathurst. If they dont turn corners, they suck and dont sell.

Me, if I had the choice of a WRX, MY 2000 STI with a few Prodrive mods. I dont like the big Group A wing, but I know it works. But then again, with a Galant Vr-4 in the garage, I'm not worried if I dont get one. Turbo 4wds are just sooooooo much fun :D

[Lilaena De'Ville]

It looks pretty, but I agree ( although I know nothing about anything) with you guys. I mean....at those speeds if you bite the dust on a motorcycle you're just dead. Thats all there is to it.

That, and the cost alone is daunting.

[Sanis Prent]

If you can't take a curve in a vette, you've likely buried the needle, and attempted a 180, and killed yourself. Other than that, its a pretty awesome curve-hugger.

One of the reasons that I'd refuse to get a Viper, even in my midlife crisis, is that the thing has horrible performance in a turn. I don't trust things that fast and with so little control.

And of course, I'd love to have a 67 Shelby. Even a replica. I saw one this summer, and nearly swerved off the road in awe.

[Vinny Red]

That's the great thing about cars that don't seem to originate from North America....they can handle those turns at high speeds, and it's a lot more fun to drive them, i think. Unless it's strickly a show car that you have, that's different.

It's the same reason why I find Nascar boring. Anyone can drive around in a circle. Hell I could drive Nascar, you're only turning one way! Go watch F1 or any Rally drivers to see skilled drivers. At least in my opinion...

[Marcus Telcontar]

As a rally driver... my professional opinion is that NASCAR racing is actually one hell of a lot harder than what it looks. While the ultimate winner usually needs more luck than normal racing, the cars themselves are big, heavy, without real brakes, on smallish tyres and at 300+ kph. You cant allow the cars to slide, it's a very, very fine line to walk down to get one of them round the track really quick. Up to a point, sure it's easy. It's that last .1% thats bloody hard

Granted tho, it's pretty borign to watch.

F1 is very boring to watch too. Rallying OTOH.... well, what can I say? Excitement plus. If you dont believe me, you had better download Ari Vatenen at Pikes Peak. NOW. Automotive racing porn. The proof is in the watching, not what I say.

[Marcus Telcontar]

http://www.nmd.com.au/Download_detail.cfm?ID=1

Download. 66 mb. It's 100% worth it.

[Vinny Red]

Let me rephrase that about F1......on street tracks i love it. When they're on the ovals, i'm not a big fan either

don't forget though at the same time with Nascar, the suspension and the tracks are all geared to make the turns easier to prevent sliding and the <smallfont color={hovercolor}>-Censored-</smallfont> end swinging out.

You've got my respect as a rally driver. I've been in a couple, mind you only navigating, but it's pretty difficult. I've done some "unofficial rally" driving around on the course that we raced, and then on some other back roads, and it's pretty difficult. But sure as hell fun

[Sanis Prent]

There's a lot of nuance that goes into Nascar. True, they have generally the same environment to race in, and its repetitive, but because everything's the same, it becomes a game of inches, instead of a game of yards. Its not as boring as it would seem in a pass.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

Yes Impala! I am going off what I could afford and what is a Chevy! Anyway, it is almost a tribute to the 1962 Cherry Red Impala Convertible my dad use to own. Thanks to that damn gas crisis way back, he couldn't afford to operate that gas guzzling gullut anymore. He traded it in for a Pinto... A PINTO!!! He could of put it in storage! Moth Balled it! TRADED FOR A PINTO!!! Excuse me while I die!

Well anywho, my current car runs fine, just a bit slow.
A 4 cylinder truck which is owned by GMC, designed by the Germans, and built by a Japanese Company, my Pickup, and that is the real name: Pickup. Nice little long bugga, luckly, it a 3.8 liters, or I wouldn't be traveling anywhere at all in that extended cab and bed.