I think I have seen some of those vehicles in southern Indiana! It is good to have a laugh to keep me awake while a work. Thanks for the post.
Here at the nursery, we have an employee that violates at least two of those mods - he also has a long pony tail, a Charles Manson crazy eye and carries a long blade with him wherever he goes.
What's wrong with decals and A-pillar gauges? I wouldn't mind some real gauges in my car. Like oil pressure, oil temperature. Our Mini doesn't even have water temperature. No. What does my BMW have, MPG? Big deal.
My problem (pull up soap box and stand on) with A-pillar gauges is that they aren't really in your field of vision, especially when doing some intense driving. To have one eye wandering to the A-pillar seems like an recipe for disaster. Sure it only takes a split second to glace to the left, but still, there are more comfortable places to glance your eyes. Gauges, we don't need no stinkin' gauges. Listen to that engine hum, until the steam starts farting from under the hood, that is.
You shouldn't be staring at gauges during intense driving. In E36s I've seen gauges below the radio or where the ash tray is. Worthless AFAIC. I'd probably replace my radio and install gauges there if and when the time comes.
I can give a pass to gauge pods only for track-driven vehicles. Auto-x or only street-driven, nope. Decal/sticker overload, again on street cars, qualifies for "douchenozzle" status; a few, not so much. Low on the center console is a typical place for extra gauges in BMW's, but yes, they aren't in your driving field of vision - not ideal for immediate awareness of anything critical.
Those would fall under point #8. I was thinking along the lines of immediately knowing if your oil pressure dropped to zero or oil temperature suddenly zoomed into the stratosphere... vs. some pithy one-sentence speculation about cow farts and/or the amazon over the next 800-million years... for instance. I've always liked the ever classic bumper sticker: Forget whales and world peace... try using your TURN SIGNAL! (which comes to mind all too frequently with the observance of other's driving habits). One bumper sticker potentially worthy of consideration: *SLAP* a Pacifist - What're They Gonna Do?
Problem is that there are too many BMW owners that don't mod their cars and still send off the dochebag vibe through parking in two spaces, or their style of driving. I saw a photo of a red E92 M3 on Jalopnik earlier this week parked across two spaces and could not disagree with their characterization of the owner as a dochebag. (
About gauges and other distractions: A-pillar, dash pod, the dash itself, or the center console: When you are driving con gusto, con brio, your eyes will be on the road, period. That's why BMW developed its head-up display. But even with that, I can guarantee that when you're sailing off the cliff into the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca, you have absolutely no awareness of the head-up information. Race tracks have long straights so that you can remind yourself to breathe and check your gauges.
By the way, on a TSD rally, I have a driver's display right in front of me, telling me whether I am early or late, to a thousandth of a minute. But when I get into a um er well let's call it a Trick Drivin' situation, I can assure you that the only way I know anything is by the navigator telling me when we're back on time. That's probably another douchey affectation: a TimeWise rally computer blinking away when you're not on a rally.
Jalopnik uses the term "Asshat". I give the "Asshat of the year award" to this douch-nozzle - although it demonstrates the the M5 is a bad ass machine, it also demonstrates just how little people think about the people around them and the safety of others while trying to impress. Just warning, this movie made me computer chair motion sick just watching it. http://www.carthrottle.com/part-ii-the-most-reckless-and-addictive-bmw-m5-city-hoon-video-ever/ Just a few questions to take into consideration: 1.) Do you think the camera man needed a bribe to participate in this excursion? 2.) Do you think the driver was cussing the pedestrians under his breath the whole time? 3.) How worn out were the tires after this? 4.) Does this guy eat raw Jalapenos for breakfast and small children for lunch? 5.) Does it make you feel like you're at an arcade and just put some quarters in a driving simulation machine that never ends? 6.) Who do you think insures this lovely driver? 7.) How awesome is that color?
yeah.... that type of senselessly dangerous and utterly irresponsible behavior deserves far more reprobation than anything we might throw at him - with enough of that, someday something unexpected is destined to happen and he'll kill an innocent bystander, a few bystanders, another driver, any of who might be an expecting mother, or end up killing a kid or kids. He and the rest of the world would be lucky if he only ends up killing himself without taking anyone else out. There are plenty of appropriate places & ways to show off without risking the lives of everyone else in the process. One problem with our instant-media age is the propagation of stuff like that will undoubtedly have some other damn fool thinking that they can try that and successfully get away with it too - somewhere along the chain, someone's destined to be injured or killed. If nothing else, that guy needs to go get himself hired as a stunt driver where he can go play with less risk to others, & do it hopefully before he kills someone.
Agreed. That was disgustingly irresponsible and dangerous. He truly needs to go to jail for a very long time for that.
