|
|
Post by rodge on Dec 19, 2020 18:18:10 GMT
Years ago, I worked with a guy who always referred to his Mazda 323 as his grandad. I asked him why and he said it’s because it’s his Ma’s Da.... Anyway, my second rental of the week was a CX-30. I’d booked an intermediate SUV with Enterprise, mainly because I had boxes of tools to bring back to the factory and didn’t want something like a pickup. It was easily big enough to carry all of the gear inside, and had leatherish seats which were very comfortable. The engine was decent though small. I’m guessing it was probably a 2.0 turbo and seemed to give me just under 29mpg according to the trip computer. not much in the line of fg in it either- Bluetooth, lane assist and a very active cruise control that I disliked as it kept breaking suddenly. For an SUV, I felt it was more like a hatchback, being similar in size to a Focus in every dimension. It had awd and handled well. I discovered this when I had to do an emergency lane change at 70mph when a truck decided to be in my lane- the gap beside me and the lane change assist came in useful very quickly. it didn’t give me confidence under acceleration though. I had someone stop their car, 2 cars in front of me in 65 mph traffic and I didn’t have the confidence to change lane and gun it, which is not a pleasant place to be, especially when you’re in lane 3 of 5. Thankfully the driver moved off again with hazards flashing and we got to continue without anyone getting into a crash of any sort. Would I recommend it? As a rental, yes, especially when compared to some of the cars that rental car bingo can throw at you. Would I buy one? No. My X5 might be much older than it but it’s a much better fit for me right now.  |
|
|
|
Post by ChrisM on Dec 19, 2020 18:53:51 GMT
Off topic but....... can you explain the USA licence plate system? Is it just a random collection of numbers and letters unless you chose your own? Is it the same in every state?
|
|
|
|
Post by rodge on Dec 19, 2020 21:03:38 GMT
Off topic but....... can you explain the USA licence plate system? Is it just a random collection of numbers and letters unless you chose your own? Is it the same in every state? As far as I know, they are assigned sequentially. Number, 3 letters and 3 numbers in California. You can get personalised plates if you want, so many people do, and they don’t cost a lot more. A guy I worked with had a 2010 mini and got the plate Mini 10. This month, the court ruled that offensive license plates can be issued now too, so I’m expecting to see plenty of rude ones in the coming years. Not sure how the other states operate. The Back to the Future license plates would have been illegal as “OUTATIME” has one letter too many. All plates are made by the inmates at Folsom Prison. |
|
|
|
Post by ChrisM on Dec 19, 2020 21:23:38 GMT
Interesting. Looking back, the rental car I had in 2018 also had a plate starting 8 (8DIN133).... but of course that was California too (hired from San Francisco airport)
|
|
|
|
Post by Roadsterstu on Dec 31, 2020 13:54:58 GMT
Off topic but....... can you explain the USA licence plate system? Is it just a random collection of numbers and letters unless you chose your own? Is it the same in every state? As far as I know, they are assigned sequentially. Number, 3 letters and 3 numbers in California. You can get personalised plates if you want, so many people do, and they don’t cost a lot more. A guy I worked with had a 2010 mini and got the plate Mini 10. This month, the court ruled that offensive license plates can be issued now too, so I’m expecting to see plenty of rude ones in the coming years. Not sure how the other states operate. The Back to the Future license plates would have been illegal as “OUTATIME” has one letter too many. All plates are made by the inmates at Folsom Prison. So you can literally put what you want, within the confines of how many letters/numbers are allowed? |
|
|
|
Post by rodge on Dec 31, 2020 17:48:11 GMT
As far as I know, they are assigned sequentially. Number, 3 letters and 3 numbers in California. You can get personalised plates if you want, so many people do, and they don’t cost a lot more. A guy I worked with had a 2010 mini and got the plate Mini 10. This month, the court ruled that offensive license plates can be issued now too, so I’m expecting to see plenty of rude ones in the coming years. Not sure how the other states operate. The Back to the Future license plates would have been illegal as “OUTATIME” has one letter too many. All plates are made by the inmates at Folsom Prison. So you can literally put what you want, within the confines of how many letters/numbers are allowed? Apparently you can now, just as long as someone else hasn’t used it. The letters on my car are ‘SNS’ which I reckon were picked specifically because it’s a BMW, and they stand for ‘Sorry Not Sorry’. |
|
|
|
Post by PG on Jan 1, 2021 20:03:10 GMT
Years ago, I worked with a guy who always referred to his Mazda 323 as his grandad. I asked him why and he said it’s because it’s his Ma’s Da.... I once had a huge language misunderstanding with an American who had an MX5. I asked her how the Mazda was and she looked at me as if I'd fallen off the ceiling. After a bit of to and fro she said, "oh, my Maaaarrzzda". |
|
|
|
Post by michael on Jan 1, 2021 21:27:30 GMT
So you can literally put what you want, within the confines of how many letters/numbers are allowed? Apparently you can now, just as long as someone else hasn’t used it. The letters on my car are ‘SNS’ which I reckon were picked specifically because it’s a BMW, and they stand for ‘Sorry Not Sorry’. Yes, you can largely put on what you like but some words are obviously still banned. For years there was a car belonging to a Brit in Massachusetts that had 'Bollocks' on the plate. The expression wasn't in common use so they got it through. In some US states you can even have different backgrounds on the plates and you buy these at extra cost. Quite often a specific background is dedicated to institutions and they get the money. It's a great idea for making and distributing resource. Something similar is done in Western Australia where the rural towns are given the rights to certain licence plates that they can then sell for the town. These are often the suffixes for that town or shire and generate money to the local economy.
Our plates are crap.
|
|
|
|
Post by ChrisM on Jan 1, 2021 22:23:16 GMT
.. and they're getting worse as they have to be capable of being read by ANPR cameras. Policing by absence and using cameras instead.... a cop-out (deliberate pun). Trouble is, the monitoring that should be going on, often isn't. Look at "smart" motorways where the cameras should be continually monitored to pick up on incidents and immediately operate the relevant signs. It's not happening. Many times from my own experience, signs are still on, limits lowered where there is no sign of anything unusual, and conversely often there is a broken-down car in lane 1 (or half on the lane, half on the verge where there is one) and no warnings at all. |
|
|
|
Post by michael on Jan 2, 2021 8:21:37 GMT
The smart motorways don’t just lower the speed limit for traffic incidents but also as a reaction to pollution levels.
|
|
|
|
Post by Big Blue on Jan 2, 2021 15:51:13 GMT
I’m waiting for the day when Smart motorways are equipped with lasers that cut the cars of miscreant drivers in half. I think I’ll have stopped driving by then so I’m all for it.
I seem to recall in TX you could have any word you liked on your plate in the ‘80s provided it was not obscene and unique in the state. Each state has its own DMV and when you move state you re-register, like moving town in much of Europe.
|
|
|
|
Post by michael on Jan 2, 2021 16:02:51 GMT
Although a lot of cars get dodgily registered in Colorado these days to avoid sales taxes.
|
|
|
|
Post by rodge on Jan 2, 2021 18:12:29 GMT
|
|
