Wot is with push button car starting? we had a 1939 Ford V8 2 door sloper back in 1948 that had this feature which I think is better than key start.

Having the Start circuit on the key makes it more difficult to steal the car because you have to pick or break the key mech to operate it without the key.

If it’s on a button (on an old car), you only need to get power to the coil and you’re away.

Cars used to be ridiculously easy to steal…

From memory you still had to put a key in and turn it on before you pushed the button.

You don’t on the new ones. Just have to have the “key” somewhere in the vicinity of the front of the car and the button will work. Have had a couple of push button cars on work trips in the last week or so.

One was a hybrid Camry. The push button combined with not being able to hear the car start was a bit disconcerting.

A lurking chemist said:

The push button combined with not being able to hear the car start was a bit disconcerting.

A night out with a road rescue crew:

Jaws of life – $25,000
Truck – $250,000
Uniforms, helmets – $3,000
Realising that the car is still running 15 minutes into the extrication job – Priceless.

8-)

How awesome would our cities be if all the cars were that quiet though? Completely different atmosphere in a city with no road noise.

A lurking chemist said:

How awesome would our cities be if all the cars were that quiet though?

I think we would quickly discover how much other noise there is and that would give us the shits, too.

Noisy things, humans.

A lurking chemist said:

How awesome would our cities be if all the cars were that quiet though? Completely different atmosphere in a city with no road noise.

then you’d just have all the trucks and buses

sydney buses are designed to inflict hearing damage

you see the posers sat infront of bus stops sipping their lattes whilst buses full of wage slaves are whisked off to work. the noise is deafening yet still they sit there.

wookiemeister said:

A lurking chemist said:

How awesome would our cities be if all the cars were that quiet though? Completely different atmosphere in a city with no road noise.

then you’d just have all the trucks and buses

sydney buses are designed to inflict hearing damage

you see the posers sat infront of bus stops sipping their lattes whilst buses full of wage slaves are whisked off to work. the noise is deafening yet still they sit there.

The thing that I used to notice about the Sydney buses is that the exhaust blows onto the footpath, instead of the middle of the road. Presumably this is because they were designed in Germany or somewhere and when they switched over the steering, they didn’t think about the exhaust. I have been gassed many times by Sydney buses. I wonder if it is still the same?

>>Realising that the car is still running 15 minutes into the extrication job – Priceless.<<

Mr buffy said, when I read that out to him……“The first thing I do at an accident is get someone to disconnect the battery – if they can get to it”. This is a longstanding thing he has done. This also disables/minimizes risk of any sneaky airbags that might whack you by going off without warning.

buffy said:

>>Realising that the car is still running 15 minutes into the extrication job – Priceless.<<

Mr buffy said, when I read that out to him……“The first thing I do at an accident is get someone to disconnect the battery – if they can get to it”. This is a longstanding thing he has done. This also disables/minimizes risk of any sneaky airbags that might whack you by going off without warning.

but would the fun be if there wasn’t the threat of personal harm and psychological injury?

buffy said:

The first thing I do at an accident is get someone to disconnect the battery – if they can get to it”. This is a longstanding thing he has done.

Yeah, as cars have progressively included more electric control / movement systems (seats, windows, door locks, boot releases, sun roofs) the playing field has changed. We now need to exclude the need to use the electric system (for rescue benefit) before disconnecting it.

As an element that could potentially create smoke or sparks, it’s a CFA responsibility in Victoria. Unfortunately, like anything technical or unusual, they’re bloody hopeless at it (as an organisation). They desperately need training to bring them up to scratch. As it stands, they’re little better than general public in shiny clothes.

buffy said:

This also disables/minimizes risk of any sneaky airbags that might whack you by going off without warning.

In most vehicles, yes – The key being ‘On’ is one of the conditions for the active safety systems (airbags, seatbelt pre-tensioners, roll-over protection bars) to operate. The key being ‘Off’ disables them after a time: between 20 seconds and 90 minutes. A better hazard control measure is to employ the 30-60-90 Rule – Never work within 30cm of a curtain bag, 60cm of a steeringwheel bag or 90cm of a passenger side dash bag.

That’s a very brief version of a training presentation that usually last for about 2 hours.

A lurking chemist said:

How awesome would our cities be if all the cars were that quiet though? Completely different atmosphere in a city with no road noise.

They’d still make tyre noise.

It’d make the doof doof doof sound even louder