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The Ultimate S.U.V.
Max the Merciless writes: "Take one part KITT, one part 007, one part Unimog, throw in a whole lot of high technology and you get the MaxiMog, perhaps the ultimate SUV! The MaxiMog is a go anywhere, do anything 'expedition system'. The vehicle (and trailer) runs a total of 7 separate computers, a high speed network and a google of different communications devices. I enquired as to the operating systems, and apparently "real time and safety related systems control run under QNX, scheduling and communications management under Linux, and there are a few apps that run under OS9/OSX and WinNT (hate the NT stuff, but some of the communications software is yet to be ported to anything else)". However, my favourite feature is the "High Intensity Air horn system - two air horns producing 137dba at 15 feet in front of vehicle. Note -- Due to high sound pressure levels only for use off road when no personnel are nearby!"
There's something weird about driving around in a car that has this many interconnected computers. One bug, and who knows what might happen. Fault tolerance should be zero on this thing
The point of this is not like the Soccer Mom SUV's sold in America. This is a real expiditionary vehicle that is designed for real work uses. This particular SUV was designed to transport useful scientific equipment to where it needs to go, which are usually places that cars and regular SUVs can't go.
I agree, most people don't need SUVs. Hell, most SUVs hardly ever have a drop of dirt on them. But this is slightly different.
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
Hold on while I masturbate furiously in anticipation ... :-(
One guy decides he just has to have one of these things. Now he's using 1052 gallons of gas/year. To keep the total amount of gas used constant (and in the grand scheme of things, there is a fixed amount of gas in the world), the other three guys would only get 182 gallons each. They would each have to find a car that gets 54 MPG and suffer the safety and performance penalties.
Since it costs so much more to make a car that gets that kind of mileage, the government will develop a program to subsidize the three guys' new cars at taxpayer expense.
Net result: one guy gets a self esteem boost every time he runs down the block to pick up a package of diapers. Three guys have to drive pokey little shitboxes to compensate. The taxpayers foot the bill.
i want to agree, but i'm not sure if i can. china tends to have more people working close to where they live, i believe. i commute an hour to work at 60 MPH. this would take a day or two on bike.
america is just obsessed with going great distances to do pedantic things, like go shopping. this is somwhere between cause an effect as to the death of the corner drugstore. there's a tremendous essay here, there really is.
fFor now we'll just say: people will buy this thing, not because they need a monser truck to get to work, but because they want a cool toy. i predict these will sell very well in rural areas where people have lots of room to roll around the "backyard", and in the academic and celebrity circles of people who use machine-guns to go hunting - because they can.
this thing represents at once everything that makes america great, and everything that makes america a fFoul shithole.
Why is it people are making comments about this thing making VERY clear that they did not read the site's FAQ or even visited the site?
The vehicle is not for sale, another one could be build if you have enough money. But i bet that there won't be alot of these things sold.. if people just look at the site they would have found out that this truck, bike, UAV, powerboat etc, was entirely build for EXPEDITIONS ! It isn't meant to be used as a recreational vehicle.
Standard equipment should include a bumper sticker that says I'm changing the climate. Ask me how!
My word processor was written by Stanford Professor Donald Knuth. Who wrote yours?
What the hell is it about driving and cellphones that everyone is freaking out about? I agree that most people can't drive and use a cellphone, but I also believe that most people can't pick their nose and drive, either. I get this continual bitching that I talk on my cell (with headset) while driving. Does this also mean I should stop smoking while driving? Eating? Drinking coffee? Changing radio stations? Changing CDs? God forbid if I sneeze!
Can we agree that it is not the actual activity but generally the person who is to blame?
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
The vehicle is not for sale... if people just look at the site they would have found out that this... was entirely build for EXPEDITIONS! It isn't meant to be used as a recreational vehicle.
SUV's in general (Jeep, Range Rover) were originally meant for expeditions and military use - not recreational or personal use. But they are now a menace to drivers everywhere. So... uh, what was your point again?
By publicizing yet another outsized vehicle, they are doing their part (even if it's only a small one) to accelerate the disturbing trend of using these wasteful and dangerous "cars" as family vehicles. Even if this vehicle isn't for sale, there's little doubt that it will stimilate a few Unimog sales at least. Publicity works.
Does this also mean I should stop smoking while driving? Eating? Drinking coffee? Changing radio stations? Changing CDs?
Eating? Jeeezus H. Christ, why do so many people have such a thick skull about this? When you're driving there is one top-priority task at hand - driving. Those other things are stupid distractions. I don't really care to end up as a grease spot because some asshole like you dropped his stupid CD on the floor.
Can we agree that it is not the actual activity but generally the person who is to blame?
Uh, when the actual activity is "being preoccupied with a Big Mac when I should have been driving?" Yeah, sure the person is to blame - they were eating when they should have been paying attention to the road. We hold a person responsible for driving drunk, too, you'll notice.
How would you feel if you got on a Greyhound bus and discovered that the driver was trying to EAT while he drove? Would that give you a warm, cozy, safe feeling?
Just the act of owning an SUV you are being disrespectful to your fellow man though.
1. Its next to impossible to see around the average SUV, creating problems when someone is trying to maneaver around you, but you probably have never experienced this, so you wouldn't know.
2. You waist gas. Just because you have the money to pay for a lot of gas, doesn't mean we should suffer the environmental inpact of you consuming it. Agreed if you have several people in your car, the benifits of car pooling start to outweigh the problems, but you should try to rarly drive it by yourself, that is such a waist.
The thing is, there are already laws that cover this stuff. Ever heard of reckless endangerment? That's what you get is you get in a wreck while you are trying to change a cd, eat a burger, whatever. We don't need more laws when existing laws work fine.
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
Full size Ford vans can be ordered in four wheel drive format.
My parents have one, just a little higher than the normal econoline(sp?), extremely practical for a family living in/near the mountains, frequently taking the children and their friends on ski trips. A lot more storage space and leg/head room than any SUV.
And excursions are just plain scary. If you need that much room, get a van.
Ok, I probably should have qualified that statement. The places I have problems with SUVs visually.
1. When I get in the mid turn lane to turn left and some SUV comming in the other direction get in their turn lane way too close to me, and I can't see, and don't know if any cars are comming, but they just sit there, forever, sometimes expecting me to go first.
2. Parking, not to mention that fact that most SUV drivers don't know how to park them. Often it becomes very difficult to back out of the spot if there is are SUVs next to me, and I can't see what cars are comming around the SUV when I'm trying to back out of the spot.
I know there are a few other examples, but those 2 are the most frequent, and most 18-wheelers atleast know how to drive. I really don't have a problem with large vehicals for commerical purposes, but when people purchase large vehicles for no good reason, and don't know how to control them, and don't understand when people can't see around them. It really urks me.