Drive By The Seat of Your Pants, Literally, With the Toyota FV2 Concept
The Tokyo Motor Show is always good for an unusual transportation device or two and this year’s show looks to be no exception. Toyota will be debuting the FV2, which appears to be a cross between a leaning trike, a jet ski and a horse. That’s right, a horse. The FV2 is supposed to connect the driver physically and emotionally to the driving experience and it is controlled by the rider’s body motions. Shifting the driver’s body will cause the vehicle to move forward, backward, left or right. Toyota sees the driver and FV2 developing a relationship similar that between a rider and a horse, with the FV2 learning the driver’s behavior. The vehicle even uses voice and image recognition to analyze the driver’s mood and suggest destinations.
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- Lou_BC I've had my collision alert come on 2 times in 8 months. Once was when a pickup turned onto a side road with minimal notice. Another with a bus turning left and I was well clear in the outside lane but turn off was in a corner. I suspect the collision alert thought I was traveling in a straight line.I have the "emergency braking" part of the system turned off. I've had "lane keep assist" not recognize vehicles parked on the shoulder.That's the extent of my experience with "assists". I don't trust any of it.
- SCE to AUX A lot has changed since I got my license in 1979, about 2 weeks after I turned 16 (on my second attempt). I would have benefited from formal driver training, and waiting another year to get my license. I was a road terror for several years - lots of accidents, near misses, speeding, showing off - the epitome of youthful indiscretion.
- Lou_BC Jellybean F150 (1997-2004). People tend to prefer the more square body and blunt grill style.
- SCE to AUX My first car was a 71 Pinto, 1.6 Kent engine, 4 spd. It was the original Base model with a trunk, #4332 ever built. I paid $125 for it in 1980, and had it a year. It remains the quietest idling engine I've ever had. 75HP, and I think the compression ratio was 8:1. It was riddled with rust, and I sold it to a classmate who took it to North Carolina.After a year with a 74 Fiat, I got a 76 Pinto, 2.3 engine, 4-spd. The engine was tractor rough, but I had the car 5 years with lots of rebuilding. It's the only car I parted with by driving into a junkyard.Finally, we got an 80 Bobcat for $1 from a friend in 1987. What a piece of junk. Besides the rust, it never ran right despite tons of work, fuel economy was terrible, the automatic killed the power. The hatch always leaked, and the vinyl seats were brutal in winter and summer.These cars were terrible by today's standards, but they never left me stranded. All were fitted with the poly blast shield, and I never worried about blowing up.The miserable Bobcat was traded for an 82 LTD, which was my last Ford when it was traded in 1996. Seeing how Ford is doing today, I won't be going back.
- Jeff S I rented a PT Cruiser for a week and although I would not have bought one it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Pontiac Aztek was a good vehicle but ugly. Pinto for its time was not as good as the Japanese cars but it was not the worst that honor would go to the Vega. If one bought a Pinto new it was much better with a 4 speed manual with no air it didn't have the power for those. Add air and an automatic to a Pinto and you could beat it on a bicycle. The few small cars available today or in the recent past are so much better than the Pinto, Vega, and Gremlin. A Mitsubishi Mirage, Nissan Versa, and the former Chevy Spark are light years ahead of those small cars of the 70s.
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Dear car makers, Here is the thing about controlling a car through gestures rather than a wheel or stick, your arms are going to get tired, and you might wreck when threatening your children.
I wonder what sort of action you'd get out of a furious humping motion.