I agree - the engine is sufficiently flexible to allow a lot of braking before a downshift becomes necessary. But here’s my issue with LFB - whether or not to do so seems to be conditional on the car you’re driving. Based on my earlier comments and your response, we can agree that LFB isn’t always appropriate in a…

Fair enough

Your left foot is hovering over the brake pedal when you’re merging onto the highway? At what point in this process would you be braking?

When I moved to the US and drove an automatic for the first time (had to have someone explain to me what “PRNDL” meant), the idea of “two feet, two pedals” seemed logical, but I quickly realized that that approach was for the birds - my left leg muscle memory was too well engrained to become a left foot braker. After…

but what about downshifting as you slow down? You’re approaching a red light, you brake, you downshift, so that if the light turns, you’re in the appropriate gear to pull away. Slowing into a bend, do you not downshift to be in the right gear to accelerate through and out of the curve? How is this done if your left…

My then-girlfriend/now-Missus bought me a 2 hr defensive driving class for my birthday once. The instructor had a smallish Volvo with hydraulic casters at all four corners, so she could unweight any/all the wheels and induce skids - learned how to control- and get out of - front/rear/all wheel skids. Emergency braking…

Most auto insurance policies carry uninsured motorist coverage which would cover this eventuality - such coverage is mandatory in some states, but you should have it anyway - it also covers against hit & runs, for example. However, apart from that, if the cyclist is in the traffic lane, which they’re legally entitled…

Car insurance protects your significant investment (your car), and protects the other road users and property that your car could damage (and a car has significantly more potential to cause damage/injury than a bicycle). What would cycle insurance protect? Most single bike crashes involve very little damage to the…

this leathern burrito of madness

That’s the kit for the Jagu-R-Us

And we* settled their damn’ teutonic hash for them, didn’t we?!

Agreed - if you’re in the E-Type demographic, over-priced frippery like this doesn’t seem quite so ridiculous. Parts for this cars ain’t cheap, and  a report tool kit is no exception.

No problem for me - this is the best time of the year to put on a jacket and blast the windy country roads in the Triumph. Any time I’m sweeping leaves out of the passenger compartment I know it was a good drive

I wouldn’t do that to any car of mine, but I’m happy that this little beast exists somewhere

I desire that streetka

Maybe, but in saying that, the online Subaru forum in which I participate has a subforum devoted exclusively to head gasket issues - I saw a relevant quote “with Subarus, its not a matter of if, but when the head gaskets go”. Even a non-car guy who I know through cycling said, when I told him I was doing a head gasket…

head gasket issues aren’t restricted to WRXs

I see plenty of idiots on the road, driving all sorts of cars, and their cars all seem to be working fine, so there’s a wide choice of suitable car models

My folks had two 127s consecutively - the 3rd and 4th cars of a straight run of 6 Fiats - 124 wagon, 128, 2x 127s, a Ritmo and a Regata. None of them ever broke down, despite my folks’ rather cavalier attitude toward preventive maintenance, and they were pretty sturdy cars. My old boss ran her Ritmo 75 into a Corolla…

I know what you said- I’m just disagreeing with you. The Golf came out in ‘74, the Ritmo in ‘78, the Starlet in ‘73, the Mazda in ‘77, the Fiesta in ‘76, the Chevette in ‘75, but all of these cars were in development for years before that (development of the Ritmo commenced in ‘72, for example). Rather than being the…