In article <1991Jan17.192051.9…@grape.ecs.clarkson.edu>, cunni…@clutx.clarkson.edu (The Man Upstairs,8B14 Woodstock,2684375,6173346269) writes:

|> I have noticed that whenever I pass a Ford (especially trucks, but the newer cars
|> as well) my eyes almost begin to hurt because of the intensity of the light.
|> sometimes when I flash my highbeams to alert the other driver, they flash their
|> mega-highbeams and cause me to lose sight of everything else altogether.
|> Altho the brightness of the lights may be nice for the driver of the Ford,
|> they are generally so bright that I have to guide my car by trying to figure where
|> the car going the other way is headed.  Sometimes I can still make out the double
|> yellow lines, but that is not a very safe way to drive a car, either.  IMHO,
|> Ford Headlights are much too bright.

If you have trouble making out the double yellow lines – how in the hell can
you tell it was a Ford.

Dean

In article <1991Jan21.043905.29…@wpi.WPI.EDU> acool…@wpi.WPI.EDU (Aaron P Coolidge) writes:

> My ’91 Jetta GL gets about 38MPG at 75 MPH, about 34MPG at
>65 MPH, and about 32 MPG at 55 MPH. This I cannot explain,
>except to note that as a German import, from where fuel is three times
>as expensive as here, and people drive faster, it may have been
>engineered that way.

Weird, but possible. Your engine could be more efficient at the higher revs.

                                                -g

> But in the San Francisco Bay Area, the lights are set for approximately
> *ZERO* MPH.

And who can forget those memorable signs around Cambridge and Somerville
(in MA):

        "Lights timed to require frequent stops"

In San Mateo county things seem a little better planned.  I once made it
from Millbrae to Redwood City (about 18 miles) on El Camino Real (a long,
two or three lanes per direction, 35mph road with lots of traffic lights,
usually at least one every half mile, often more) without a *SINGLE* red!

This was about 8pm, and my speed ranged from 30 to 44-ish.

Dave Simson
dsim…@oracle.com

From what i’ve been reading it seems this stuff may all become
irrelevant in the future.  These laser speed guns i’m hearing about
sound pretty  sick plus undetectable.  I don’t know how much these cost
though and therefore how excessable they are to smaller police

         Charlie

In article <4…@male.EBay.Sun.COM> geo…@purplehaze.EBay.Sun.COM

(Geoff Miller) writes:
>In article <4…@vela.acs.oakland.edu> bbes…@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Brent H.
>Besler) writes:
>>The generally accepted wisdom is that as the cars speed increases, air
>>drag starts to go up with the velocity, then as the velocity squared.  

>    I believe that drag increases as the *cube* of velocity; *lift*
>    increases as the square of velocity, at least when you’re talking
>    airfoils.

Gee, where are the *real* aerodynamicists in this group?

I always understood that drag (lift, downforce, etc.) always increased
as the *square* of speed.  Since drag is a force, the amount of power
required to counter it goes up as the *cube* of speed.

Total drag on a vehicle is aero drag plus mechanical friction. I
believe the mechanical drag is linear with speed (i.e. power increases
as the square of speed).

I think.

 – Chuck Fry  Chu…@Charon.ARC.NASA.GOV  …ames!ptolemy!chucko
Working for RECOM Technologies at NASA Ames Research Center,
neither of whom is responsible for this message.
These opinions subject to change without notice.

Hi-

I have to use my mom’s car for a while (mine is in the shop), and thus took
along my older radar detector which we leave "loose", so that it can go in any
car we want. (IE, it is not permanently installed like my "Bandit-95" by
Uniden.)

So I was driving up I-91 in CT today, near a usual microwave source (non trap),
and the detector was in the seat next to me, face down. To my surprise, it
started beeping, and did so at the exact same moment at which the beeping
starts with my other detector(s)! Later on, further north, at a common speed
trap on I-91 (just south of CT-190 in Enfield), the detector, still in my seat,
went off, about 1/3 of a mile before the trap.

Is this normal? I’ve always read/heard in car magazines, etc., that you should
mount it in the center of the windshield for optimal performance, and that
placing it elsewhere substantially degrades its range. Yet my detector seemed
to work fine in the seat, and my mom’s car is a Volvo 240, which (I’m sure
everyone here knows), is a boxy car with LOTS of metal below window level,
ie, heavy stuff to protect you from accidents.

If I get the same reception (or almost the same) by leaving it in the seat,
I’ll keep it there, since you don’t want to have to worry about troopers
coming by and looking in your car to see if you have a detector. (In CT they
don’t care that much, in VA it seems to be worse…)

-Doug

dreu…@eagle.wesleyan.edu
dreu…@wesleyan.bitnet

<<<
<   Most of the lights I see use the buried coil type of
<   automobile sensor….it appears that the engineers and
<   installers like to place these such that the light always
<   turns red just as you and the 500 cars behind you on a main
<   street approach an intersection with a minor street where
<   there is a single car…
———-
Sensor controlled lights do perform this very anti-sync
function. If you stop for a light and then go, the space
in front of your car will be free of traffic. When this
dead zone hits the next sensor light it will decided after
a few seconds that a major earthquake has destroyed your
street and that it can let the side street go through.
This generally happens when the lead cars are at top
speed and 1/2 block from the light. Slam on brakes and
stop for this one.

This will be repeated again at the next light and all
others that follow it. Unless you can catch the tail
end of the traffic that turned onto that street you
might hit every light red.

John Eaton
!hp-vcd!johne

In article <2…@risky.Convergent.COM> t…@pase60.Convergent.Com (Tri Tran) writes:

>I have a 1987 BMW 635 CSi which is due to get some new tires. Presently the
>car has Michelin TRX 220 55VR/390 tires on stock alloys. I want to look
>into changing both the tires and the wheels to somthing like Pirelli P7′s
>in 225 50ZR16 in front and 245′s in the rear, with Racing Dynamics wheels.
>The wrims themselves cost something like $340.00 per wheel. Any suggestions
>on where I can get tires and rims for cheap? Has anyone aby them through the

Racing Dynamics wheels will never be cheap. IMHO it is a good wheel.
I have a 530i w/ 15×7 rims and 225/50s on all four, works great.
I got my rims in Los Angeles while I was down there, there were cheap.

My brother had a 6 series with 16x8s in front and 16x9s in the rear.
I assume you will be using something similar. Remember with tires and rims
that wide you will need to roll the lip on the fender, that is, unless
you like the sidewalls of your tires cut up.

>mail?

I and my brother have done mail order.  Just order w/ a credit card.  If
something is wrong and you order w/credit card.  If you can’t solve the
problem let the credit card people.  They will solve it.

>Are these the best tires for about $140.00 each at this size?

At Price Club and Costco they sell the Yokahoma A-403 in the sizes you
want for the price you want.  I think the A-403 is a better tire for
several reasons.
1. It is Z-rated the Pirelli is V-rated (P-Zero is the Z-rated tire).
2. They handle better in rain. I’ve driven on both on the same car.
   P-7s first and then they were replaced by A-403s when they wore out.
   This is my opinion, others may differ.
3. The A-403s last longer.  BTW neither will last 40K miles the rubber
   compound is just toooooooo softttttttttttt.

>TIA,
>trit

–
/*  -The opinions expressed are my own, not my employers.    */
/*      For I can only express my own opinions.              */
/*                                                           */
/*   Kent L. Shephard  : email – kl…@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com   */

OK, already!
So many people have asked for the list that I decided to post it…

But first a little disclaimer:
* I have NO CLUE HOW ACCURATE THIS IS!  I just downloaded it from a local BBS
     and I don’t know the person who put it there.  However, I do regularly
     drive past one of the spots mentioned on the list and I saw SOMETHING
     behind an exit sign which could have been the device in question.  This,
     and the fact that I have heard of both the existance of Photoradar in CT
     and about the existance of A list of the sights, leads me to assume that
     this is indeed an accurate list.

* I do have a radar detector (for use up here in Mass. where the buggers are
     legal, of course) and it did not beep at all as I passed the device
     mentioned above.  This could mean that it was off, that it was not a
     photoradar installation at all, or that it is using Ka band radar.

* I have driven past that particular device many times and have never gotten
     a ticket in the mail yet…

* Radar detectors are ILLEGAL in CT and you will be pulled over for just having
     in the interior of the car.  The only safe place is in the trunk.  It is
     legal in CT for a police officer to hand out a ticket to a parked car for
     a radar detector, even if it is just on the back seat, in a box, etc…
     The penalty for a detector in CT is $50 and the confiscation of the
     device.

* All CT highways have a speed limit of 55 mph, sometimes slower.

* CT has left-hand on/off ramps!

* I have never gotten a ticket (or had an accident, for that matter) in the
     (admittedly short) 3 years which I have been driving, so the state is
     not THAT harsh!  Once, when I was younger and stupider, I was known to
     travel excessively fast (like, say, 3 times the posted limit around town
     or twice the limit on the highways) and I was never caught, even though
     I did not have a detector.

* Also, the CT police have LOTS of unmarked cars:  LTD’s being the favorite,
     with Mustangs, Grand Nationals, A GNX!, Mazda MX6′s, Caprices, etc…

* And a final note:  Do not let ME catch you being a jerk and driving
     excessively fast in MY state.  I won’t chace you and honk at you, but
     there are enough lousy drivers out there already.  If you must travel
     fast, do it, but do it SENSIBLY.  IE:  Not on the I-84 to I-91 interchange
     in Hartford like everyone else does.  And watch out for a little, red
     Accord in the center lane who believes in signaling and using the left
     lane for passing only…

And now for the list:

Connecticut is getting Permanent Radar Installations.

They operate 24 hours a day, take a photograph of your car and
the speeding ticket is sent to your home via the mail.

Their known locations (present and future) are listed below:

         CHESTER:  I-84  West & Marion Ave.

         COLCHESTER:  Rt.  2  East & Rt. 16 West

         ENFIELD:  I-91  North/South & Depot Road

         GUILFORD:  I-95  East & Mosehill Road

         GLASTONBURY:  Rt.  2  West-Exit 50 (1/2 mile sign)
                       Rt.  2  East-Commerce Street
                       Rt.  2  West & Wassue Road

         LITCHFIELD:  Rt.  8  North & Campville Road

         MIDDLETOWN:  I-91  South & Shite Street

         MILFORD:  I-95  West & West River Street
                   I-95  West & Naugatuck Ave.

         NEW CANNAN:  Rt.  15  North & Pokus Ridge Road

         NORTH HAVEN:  Rt.  15  North & Toelles Road

         NORTH STONINGTON:  I-95  East & Rt. 49

         OLD LYME:  I-95  East & Flat Rock Hill Road

         SOUTHINGTON:  I-84  East and West & Rt. 229

         STAMFORD:  I-95  West & Maple Street

         UNION:  Rt.  84  East-1 mile past Rt. 190

         WATERBURY:  Rt. 8  North & Nicholas Road

         WESTPORT:  I-95  West & Maple Street

         WINDSOR:  I-95  South & Pigeon Hill Road

                Courtesy of The Radar Busters Services

Later, all!
—
     "Only the meaning, never the message, matters at all."
________________________________________________________________
|        ___        |                                          |
|     /   ___ \     |        "And all God’s angels beware      |
|   /    P   ]  \   |          And all you judges beware       |
|  J    _P 1_    L  |       Sons of chance, take good care     |
| |    [_    ]    | |        For all the people out there      |
| |      I I      | |           I’m not afraid anymore"        |
|  7    _I I     P  |                              -Ian Curtis |
|   \  [___d    /   |——————————————|
|     \       /     |Stephe Foskett WPI Box 2289  100 Institute|
|        ~~~        |Worcester MA 01601 \8-} lan…@wpi.wpi.edu|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m in the market for a radar detector and would like some options on what is the
best one to buy.

Is a radar detector with Ka sensing capibilities necessary?

Thanks in advance,

Bob Cook
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003