A Few Storms That Bring Back Memories

What's your vehicle of choice during a storm chase? I'm guessing most by car, other by plane, maybe other by boat. For a few years during High School and my first few years in College my vehicle of choice was a bike. I'm not talking motorcycle, I'm talking human powered bicycle. Since I got my Mercury Grand Marquis I converted to a faster and safe method of storm chasing. This past evening I threw safety to the wind and took off with one of my bikes.  Mobile technology has advance enough so that I can track the storm w/ my cellphone and stay relative safe, but that's not why I chase. Watching the storm form over the horizon as it runs through it's many life cycles. A golden sunset casting it's rays over a darkened rain shaft from the base of a storm. Energetic bolts of lightning skirting across the base even once and a while striking the ground below. It's in those moments where I'm glad I chose this path in life. Keeping the desire to understand storms, understand their interaction w/ the roadways, cars, and such. That holds true even in the so call less glamorous winter time blizzards, white-outs, and deep freezes. I'm glad I'm a meteorologist I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Quick Snap shot of the Minneapolis Autoshow

Getting back on to the main road after a little side trip. Here's a small collage of a few pictures I took at the auto show the number is down from years past, but also it was more crowed this time around than in years past.

Here is a link to the Album.

AutoShow 2010

-DK

Week off as of right now.

With spring break coming up in a week I have a few tests to study for and I'm teaching during the latter part of the week so as of right now there will not be a spotlight or a post on tires. Next week I'll try to get everything back up to speed since I'll have some free time.

Also to note the next spotlight will be a car from the Minneapolis Auto Show So a poll will go up probably later on today with some possible choices. The top 5 cars will be chosen as spotlight vehicles for the coming weeks.

-DK

Tires?

After sitting in a tire shop a week ago, waiting for an oil change, I found myself walking through the ties that they had on display. One display for a performance/premium tire talked about the how parts of the tread increased grip on different surfaces. This got me thinking. There are many different tread designs, rubber compounds, sizes, etc... How much does the average person know about the 4 points of contact their vehicle has w/ the road? In other words, how much do people know about tires? Over the next couple of weeks I'll cover different topics relating to tires from the design of the tread, the compounds used within them, different tire ratings, sizes, along with a few other topics.

The first topic I'll be covering will be the tread design, which should be posted in the next few days.


-DK

P.S. Make sure to vote in the poll on the side for the next spotlight of the week.

Spotlight of the week

I'm starting up a new section that should be updated on a weekly basis. In general, it's going to delve into some of the cars currently on the road and some classics. In these spotlights, I'll look at the specs, an overview of the design of both the exterior and interior. Plus I'll discuss the technology that was found on these cars and how much they cost then and now. Along with the basic discussion of the car, I'll throw in my two cents on my general impression of the vehicle so that you can see where I'm coming from.

I'll post my view on the cars, but I'm also looking for your insight on some of the cars I'm discussing and possible ideas for future. Post your comments in the comment box below and check out the poll for your input on what car I'll discuss the coming week.

-DK

How did we get to where we are today?

I read a article over on jalopnik about Beige Bites Back: Is Toyota Paying The Price For Building Dull Cars?. In there they talk about how things that use to be called quirks are now considered huge issues. Ex: Prius abs issue. This kinda got me thinking, consumers have been driving cars for over 100+ years. Why is it seem now that people are helpless when it comes to driving without things like ABS, Traction Control, and Stability Control systems. Whatever happened to the dynamic driver? Is adjusting driving styles for changing weather conditions a thing of the past?


I honestly hope not!

Technology as useful as it can be isn't perfect and at some point will fail. That's when the driver must know what to do or how to react. Grant it ABS, Traction control, and Stability Control have done wonders at reducing the number of accidents on the roadways when the conditions are slippery. At the same time they aren't essential to driving in adverse weather and should only be a backup if equipped. We didn't always have these car technologies. Some have been around since the 1970's while others are fairly new with the incorporation of more sensors built into cars nowadays. To most people in this current day and age a RWD car without ABS or other traction systems installed would be almost taboo to use in winter. I would argue the opposite view. Having experience in both technologically stripped cars and technologically advanced cars, my preference seems to drift to the one with less technology. That said, there are numerous benefits to technologically advanced cars, but at the same time there seems to be a disconnect between the driver, the car, and the road. The systems that control the cars response to a situation does provide some feedback to the driver (dashboard light, rumbling pedal etc...), but in a sense all these systems do is covers up the drivers mistake. Drivers that understand how to be dynamic can enter in adverse weather conditions and effectively make choices, since they understand the limitations of their car, that will get them though safely.  Drivers that believe the car will take care of everything and all they need to push the pedals and steer will be the ones in the ditch or in a accident.

It takes time to learn how to become a dynamic driver and overtime will make you more aware of your situation and overall a better driver.

-DK

Step out of reality for a bit

I talk quite frequently about the technology in cars and future technology coming to them to my readers on here and many of my friends. When you think about it, it's kinda mind-numbing with all the technology we are immersed in on a daily occurrence. I'm going to pick on gamers for a while, more specifically racing simulation gamers. I'll admit I fall into this category of gamer over any other gaming genres. The question I pose is, "Does playing simulation (sim) racing games in turn adjust driving behavior in the real world?" In addition, does it make a driver more situationally aware of their surroundings?

In my personal experience I would say it does have a impact and it does produce a more defensive driver. My hypothesis goes with the "condition", if you want to call it that, that they are using the racing sim for improving driving skills. The games lately that have been labeled as sim racing games include GTR (PC), Race On (PC), rFactor (PC), Forza (xbox 360), GT5 (PS3) and Dirt 2 (cross platform). All of these games allow a driver to attach a steering wheel and pedals to make it more life like. Along with the true to life physics makes the cars feel life like as they go around the digital track.  I'm just barely scratching the surface about these games, but I want you to chime in. Do think sim racing games do have any benefit to a real life commuter or is this some digital smoke and mirrors.

-DK

Australian Transportation Accident Commission 20 years of Commercials Montage

If a group wanted to drive home the point for Drunk Driving, the Australian Transportation Accident Commission hits a critical nerve with their commercials. They drive home the point very well by incorporating different consequences a driver can experience if they choose to drive drunk. This is NOT for the faint of heart. About half way through it gets very graphic, and it's a eye opener. Please don't Drink and Drive!

-DK

What is "The Long Winding Road"?

For anyone who really ends up falling upon this site you probably are wondering, “What’s the point.” There are thousands of car blogs on the internet, some better than others and some update far more frequently than others do. So what's the point of this blog? The Long Winding Road is a really best described as an insight into how weather affects one of the increasing forms of transportation in the world. The automobile and the roadways they populate. This will also blend technology found in classics, modern, and future cars by discussing the advantages of some technologies along with their sometimes-cloudy disadvantages. At times, I'll add my insight in from personal experiences and I might diverge into different topics. Take it for what it's worth; you might learn something you never knew. My Pen Name is DK and I want to welcome you to The Long Winding Road.

-DK

What tech do you want in a car?

Like it or not automobiles are starting to become more and more en-warped in technology. Evolving from the old horseless buggies to the modern sedans, cars are rapidly becoming the canvas for extravagant "car tech."  Seat belts, to airbags, to even laser guided cruise control to tell the car to speed up or even come to a stop are just some items that fill safety tech. A/C, to voice command, to even cars that can park itself are a few items that float up with creature comfort technology. The list could go on almost forever if you look at the option lists on a newer vehicle.

So what do you consider important tech in a car? If you ask 20 people you'll get 20 different answers, so I want to poll my readers what do you think?

-DK

P.S. I'll chime in a few days from now w/ my list of car tech I like to see on cars.

Random Question 1

Random question... ok not completely random, but you could argue it... anyway...


What car fits your personality the best?

I'm not looking for your favorite car I'm looking at what car do you think best fits with your personality/driving style/tastes for a better description of it.

For example my favorite car is a 1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbo-coupe, but a car that fits my personality would more be along the lines of a Lincoln Mark VIII or Lincoln LS.

Drivers ed... Do we need to learn that?

Take a step back for a second and think. What did you really learn in drivers ed? For some of you that might be somewhat fresh in your mind and others, well that was a long time ago in a galaxy far away(JK). I'll admit a fair amount of time has passes since my time sitting in the classroom or behind the wheel of the horridly fake simulators. So what about driver ed? During your time in the classroom you become familiar with the interior of a car, basic driving skills, and also learn a few what to do if this goes or that goes out. Then you also learn what to do if the road has water on it, ice (depending on where you live), snow, etc. In other words you probably learned that your driving style changes with changing road conditions.

Well why do driving ed instructors teach that? Should it really matter how you drive in different kinds of weather events? Aren't cars/trucks/SUV's loaded with enough technology to keep any car on the road no matter what the conditions.

I'll give you my view in a few days, but I want to hear your side should young people still learn how to drive in different weather conditions or is that a thing of the past if so why?