Yes, wish you could get a simple edition of cars & trucks without all the extrasOriginally Posted by Drew Wiley
Yes, wish you could get a simple edition of cars & trucks without all the extras
When I drove my wife's 2018 Subaru Forester (manual trans, thank goodness!) to our local dealership for scheduled service recently, I borrowed a loaner for the day - which happened to be the latest model of Outback. Upon getting the new car out onto the highway, I began to notice that the car had a mind of its own - jerking the steering wheel this way and that...felt downright dangerous!
Long story short, I managed to pull off into a rest area, and figured out how to disarm the "safety driver assist" function...thank goodness!
But truly, I simply do not understand how these new features can purport to make vehicles "safer." Seems to me the more features added to insulate drivers from the act of driving will only make folks who utilize these features worse (less safe) drivers!
Agree 100%. Present driver is an Acura RDX. 360 degree and backup cameras are great, no blind spots. Lane Keeping Assist, Road Departure, and Adaptive Cruise Control are all turned off. I find them either distracting or in the case of the Cruise Control find myself disengaged with driving. The SportShift Paddle Shifters I use all the time especially when slowing down. Reminds me of downshifting in my '79 Beetle to slow down (VW noted in the 1960s "to save on brake wear"). Touch pad control gets time to get used of using, but prefer it to a touch screen control. Choice of driving modes great... "Snow" mode great for winters in New England. "Sport+" mode a joke, hey it's a midsized SUV. IMO: With some of the new features turned off it makes me a safer driver.
Back in my day, 60's and 70's
I rode a lot of motorbikes anywhere and everywhere, meaning no roads
2 of my favorite motorbikes had no speedo, ride at reasonable speeds, no distractions!
I had another with no lights, which I often rode in my small town late at night to dawn. That trick was to be where cars are not, be prepared to jump
No lights, no brake light on lawn only was good for observing riots and not getting captured, scouting
I used to practice jumping off a bike up to 40 MPH, that skill saved my life, tuck and roll
Tin Can
If this awful smoke doesn't lift in time for an end of Sept backpacking break in the high Sierra, I'm contemplating a run over toward the corner of Utah for some quality 8x10 dayhiking instead, once flash flood risk diminishes toward the end of Oct. But I have to plan strategically, because covid escapees are also going such places in record crowds, especially the RV set. I know some relatively quiet areas, so am somewhat optimistic. But just a few days ago a young couple pulled into a beach parking lot in a big Benz rig much bigger than an ordinary camper or Sprinter, while distinctly smaller the a typical motorhome, and with huge all-terrain tires. Curiously, it didn't have any secondary Motorhome brand or logo on it. I didn't want to bother them asking its fuel consumption or purchase price, but a hundred grand wouldn't surprise me. Looked like something that could get around better than most comparably sized options, though not on narrow roads. But for those kinds of prices, I could probably just buy a cabin or two in the region.
I wonder if it was a Unimog? Those, like the Pinzgauers, and famed for over the top off road prowess, and are popular for "expedition" conversions. They're also insanely expensive.
Bingo. Now that you've mentioned that, I remember seeing Unimog somewhere on the vehicle, but of course everything atop looked like either a scaled-down motorhome or oversized Sprinter setup, certainly well built. They could maneuver it into tight spaces easily, and no doubt get around far more efficiently than a motorhome. And yes, it did look terribly expensive. And there would be one of those damned Benz mandatory scheduled maintenance contracts - buy hey, if they can afford all that (probably in lieu of purchasing a house), why not? They looked like young outdoorsy techies. Quarter million? Can't even buy a doghouse around here these days for anything close to that amount. So in their case, it might have made sense even financially. That would amount to just a year of combined income, or maybe two with all the optional amenities.
Note what I just wrote in my previous post about techies living in such things on the streets of Palo Alto and so forth. That kind of rig is still small enough not to raise the ire of local residents trying to ban street parking of motorhomes per se. Reasonable compromises have been made for Sprinters, vans, and campers, and other sensible options including this size thing. And they park along safe boulevards, beside other techies near nice restaurants and parks. They had bicycles in back, and weren't driving a motorhome the length of the Queen Mary towing a Jeep, with a speed boat also in tow like dominate-the-road types.
But I don't personally know anyone with that kind of lifestyle. I do know quite a few individuals who have converted midsized construction flatbed trucks into their personal digs or portable offices quite affordably by doing it themselves, sometime far more luxuriously than the factories. It's amazing what skilled cabinet makers can sometimes do, whether it's a personal camper or a home brew gorgeous hardwood ULF camera. I have a backpacking pal and fellow photographer who did his own really deluxe conversion, which they call their portable ski lodge, for around 40K including the vehicle purchase itself (slightly used) - no more than the cost of a garden-variety SUV these days, but with a lot of shop time involved. Decent gas mileage - another distinction from motorhomes.
Drew, if it is indeed a Unimog, then as I understand for the USA, you cannot purchase these new and most are imported from Europe, primarily Germany and are at least 25 years old. In that aspect they are cheapish, but not cheap compared to many of the home grown USA trucks.
In Australia the current Unimogs, all cab chassis only, start around $220,000 AUD, I know this as I priced them almost three years ago as I was seriously thinking of purchasing one. That is, until I saw the price.
In short around $500,000 to $750,000 AUD is the rough going rate for a finished ready to roll, live in forever, Unimog in Australia.
This will be with a living compartment starting around 4m through to 6m in length, with many running around 5m in length.
Not the greatest floor plan as there is quite a bit of wasted space, but this should give you an idea.
https://unidan.com.au/portfolio-item...rtfolioCats=67
Mick.
I just noticed that these are being used by the Swiss as mountain rescue vehicles. - sorta the Swiss Army knife of winter road-based rescue. Surprised a little flask of brandy is not attached to the front bumper via a leather collar.
The one I saw looked brand new, though it might have been only lightly used before. People get lucky. My brother purchased cheap a mint condition classic old Benz car with only about 5,000 miles on it from an old lady who almost never drove it, used it on his honeymoon, and then resold it afterwards at a huge profit (the fuel mileage was awful). Of course the Unimog I saw was a conversion, and a luxurious looking conversion, and probably that portion occurred here. They obviously had plenty of money to spend. I've have heard other people describing the cost of acquiring relatively pristine ones. Just like classic old enlargers I guess; many are battered, but pampered ones turn up sometimes too. There are obviously folks who know how to make vintage vehicles look and perform as if new for a sufficient price - not necessarily my neighbors, though they try! One just completed an exceptionally cool looking deluxe dune vehicle; but he won't pamper it for long - he rides.
I was just back from the trail and still had an hour and a half casual drive ahead of me taking mostly pretty backroads, but did need get back and get certain chores done before my wife got back from work, so didn't want to stand around and chat with the Unimog couple. Besides, they were probably intending to take a late afternoon walk before fog socked everything in again; and I didn't want to interfere with that. I'm not an RV type myself, nor budgeted for one. Most of the back roads where I come from, or now might use to get to quieter mountain trailheads, are simply inaccessible to anything wide like a Unimog or even Hummer.
Last edited by Drew Wiley; 1-Sep-2021 at 11:44.
There are always a number of German/Swiss/Italian survivalists/tourists who drive those unimogs onto the ferry to Iceland and wind up here. I passed several today. I always find them a bit funny, but they probably are the perfect way to see the country without needing to stay in a hotel. No typical caravan can handle the backroads here, let alone the highlands. Still, I can only imagine the fuel consumption they must have, as well as the environmental impact...
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