Being a car enthusiast in Vancouver *rant*
 

I think ICBC, the provincial government, traffic police, the mayors, Translink and the environmentalists all fasten their 12-inch strapon into position ready to ass-fuck anybody who wants to have fun behind the wheel.

Even outside of town on more desolate driving roads construction, those spandex cycling packs and other forces try to really suck the joy out of it.

I think Vision Vancouver feverishly ejaculate all over each other's faces every time somebody says, "fuck it, I give up," and starts riding in one of their mostly-empty bike lanes.

And sadly there's no sympathy for anybody who has to pay 1.50+ for a litre of 87 octane, because people who can't afford to live in Vancouver and have to commute from Abbotsford and beyond are somehow supposed to ride the imaginary bus into town or get up at 2 AM and ride their bike???

For now I say you can pry my V8 6-speed manual from my cold, dead hands. But it's getting mighty tempting to be one of those Evo/Car2Go hipsters and abstain from car ownership altogether.

Excuse my rant, that's my brain after wearing out half my clutch from construction zones where they close lanes, dig a hole and stand around doing nothing and "traffic calming" BS lol

Move to the Island. Plenty of open roads.

I don't know much about politics, but I feel like NDP is trying to turn BC into Europe when it comes to driving, like the red light speed camera and the high gas price with the carbon tax. I think it really won't be hard for Liberals to win people back in the next election.

Anyway, as an occasional cyclist, I actually support bike lanes. At least it keeps the slower bikes in a separate area so they don't slow the cars down, and it's also safer for cyclists. Like I have mentioned in another post, I have ridden on Shelbourne street in Victoria, and it's sketchy as fuck trying to ride on the rightmost part of the road as cars zoom by me.

I drive a stick shift as well, and yeah, constructions suck but expect more as summer is coming and the weather is clearing up. That's when they can remotely even get something done.

Unless they are old or uni students, it's kinda boring living around here.

I miss the good Chinese food in mainland...

Can I get the road infrastructure from Germany, along with the taxes?

:)

If only area 27 was closer. I really don't wanna drive 6+ hours to do a few good laps. If I had Elon Musk money the first thing I'd do is get Vancouver a proper motorsport venue ala shanghai or any of the new f1 places.

just insured my camaro first fill up was $110 :(

A racetrack close to Vancouver will never ever get approved regardless of how much money you throw in. Mission has a track, and even for a small city as that, they’re constantly skirting the line of noise complaints and trouble from the residents and the city.

OP has some pretty vivid thoughts of politicians wearing strap-ons and having orgies :gayfight::Pbjt:

sorry this reeks of entitlement...you want to argue about it from the basic necessity of life I will agree but getting your panties twisted because pelotons are also trying to enjoy their hobby like you are? What's one of the first things you learn from the driving manual? Share the fucking road. You might be contributing more to road maintenance but you don't own it. Do you also get mad when a small group of ducklings are crossing the country road because it's taking away from your canyon carving experience?

be grateful our authorities are relatively lax on car modifications..many other jurisdictions have annual inspections and will even enforce on stock radios to cut down on distracted driving

I've already accepted that our city won't improve drastically to meet the growing population and the congestion that comes with it...city planning was doomed from the start and new infrastructure can't keep up...so load up on some audiobooks and podcasts for the commute cause it aint getting better

be thankful we're not at this stage...yet

https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEA...ZjA5NWNjNg.jpg

We already do...

It's called Stanley Park.

Want a drag strip? George Massey.

:nyan:

That used to be true. Those speed bumps they put in killed the park for me.

Port Kells is back to being pretty empty of cops these days during night time. Maybe it's time to bring that back...


:whistle:

The best place for drag racing before was deltaport causeway before deltaport itself exploded into a frenzy of a port. 2am in the morning it was like Tokyo underground

Car scene wise, Vancouver is the Dubai of Canada lol. Then again I assume most exotic owners are status climbers rather than legit enthusiasts,

But don't worry, everything will reset when the 'big one' comes :troll:

They actually do a lot of racing in Dubai. I think the worlds fastest GTR is now from Dubai.

Being a car enthusiast in Vancouver is awesome. There are huge meets basically every weekend in the summer. Duffey loop, auto crosses weekly, track days at mission, 3 hours to pacific raceway and the ridge, enthusiasts everywhere, well maintained roads, great shops and a climate that allows us to drive our nice cars 9-10 months out of the year.
Sorry you can’t race your car to work every day, and gas costs you $80 more a month than Alberta, but maybe you should ride a bike to work and enjoy your car on your days off? Buy an economical daily if that’s not an option. It’s driving a fucking sports car, it’s not a human right.

^ that's basically the trade off. In the GVRD it's shittier on a day-to-day basis, but on the evenings and weekends you get much easier access to more automotive-based events. In the rest of the province there's less traffic and I can be on a back road very quickly, but aside from 2 AutoX events, a little bit of karting and now a few novice TSDs there's not much going on. Idk about meets though, because car meets/shows are the most boring thing on the planet so I haven't been to one in ages.

Come to Thailand, some people wait in traffic for over 3 hours a day. Gas prices are super cheap, but expect to pay $40K for a base model Corolla. We have it quite easy as a 1st world country, until you experience the super shitty driving conditions in other countries. You either live here super rich or super poor.. Vancouver ain't so bad, I appreciate what we have, there could always be improvements and for one I think our transit system should be at much higher standards. I mean the "skytrain" in Thailand is 10x better than ours, to the point I refuse to use our transit system, but wouldnt blink an eye to use the Transit in Thailand.

While I understand the basis of this rant, I am of the opinion that Vancouver really isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things.

The weather, overall, is pretty mild for the most part, and allows us to enjoy our cars a majority of months throughout the year. As mentioned by others, there are some nice roads to go for a drive, and we have some of the most beautiful surroundings that nature has provided us.

When you start comparing other cities or countries, there is always a trade off. Car enthusiasts are a minority compared to the masses, who use a vehicle/car as a means of transportation or as a tool, so city planners aren't going to design roads and infrastructure catering to car enthusiasts. I start to think how awesome SoCal is for cars enthusiasts, and then I remember that getting stuck on the 405 , merging onto the 10, and up the 101 is a serious pain in the ass, and you instantly lose 3 hours of your life siting in bumper-to-bumper traffic just to get to a race track, or having to deal with LAPD on Mulholland Drive baiting you to handout a fat ticket and fine to you. Yeah, no thanks.

And Toronto with North America's Best Transit System in 2017? :fuckthatshit: The infrastructure is a laughing stock compared to all the bike lanes (which don't exist) and TransLink is a God-send in comparison. We have it good in Vancouver.

My new Tundra has a 144 liter tank.
At $1.50/L I'm looking at a $216 tank.

:okay::okay::okay::fullofwin:

I thought California was hell for car enthusiasts due to their brutal emissions laws.

If you drive a bone stock 'vette, it's heaven. Been there, done that, loved it.

If you mod your car, then yeah, it's hell, since most mods are not legal there, and they actually have inspections to check them.

So no "brap brap brap pop *shoots flame* brap brap braaaaap" there.

UnknownJinX has it pat down.

Stock car, and you just want to cruise around, yes, it's great. But it still sucks ass.

Modified? :fuckthatshit:

What about driving the best of what the manufacturers have to offer?

I love my 6.0L g8 and my trd truck. A few simple mods, mostly stereo, lighting, basic suspension and exhaust. A nice set of tires. It makes what you have a little more personal.

Not like those ultra luxury folks. When I saw a modified Mulsanne in California, I lost my mind. Then I saw another one and I realized that even the ultra rich wanted to be unique. But a red Rolls Royce? It was just so damn gauche.

Yeah, rush hour traffic there sucks, big time. Outside of rush hour though, it's pretty great, especially with a convertible.

I think the exhaust is what will get you.

They are really strict about intake and exhaust mods. IIRC the mod has to be CARB certified to be legal in California, or the car can only be driven on the track and never on a highway.