FWIW, no one is forcing anyone to use EZPASS, and I doubt toll booths would ever go to an all-electronic setup. EZPASS exists because people are tired of stopping all the time to pay, want the feature, and aren't paranoid about it being abused by someone. If you don't like it, keep stopping to pay the tolls, it isn't going to affect you.

How did we make this gigantic leap into Orwellian politics in this thread? Over EZPASS???

 

Heh... yeah I know what a PITA it can be. We don't have tolls here in Wisconsin, but Illinois has it's fair share. When I have need to drive on the Illinois freeways, I'll occasionally miss the basket (vette sits kinda low) and have to throw in more coins (they didn't teach us to play basketball in school in England when I was growing up ). Oh well... it's an annoyance I can live with.

 

Sorry bout that. my bad. I get all worked up over that crap.

 

Well, sorry to tell you but the evils of EZPass, OnStar, and other electronic communications devices have already been realized and are being used. A friend of mine who drives on the NJ Turnpike daily for his commute to and from work got a strange letter in the mail about a year ago. It was a speeding ticket for about $200. It turns out that his EZPass recorded him entering the Turnpike at whatever time, in whatever car, in whatever lane, at whatever speed, and recorded the same information at every toll he went through that morning. EZPass can be used to mail speeding tickets judging by how quickly you get to the next toll. If the toll is 10 miles away and you get there in 6 minutes, you must have been speeding.

As for OnStar and other electronic communication devices, law enforcement has been experimenting with ways to remotely shut off your car to avoid, or end, a high speed chase using your onboard computer. The technology has been in development for almost a decade. Do a search on the internet and you'll see.

So embrace these new convieniency inventions my friends and don't forget to take your Soma

"Slowly, very slowly, like two unhurried compass needles, the feet turned towards the right; north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-south-west; then paused, and, after a few seconds, turned as unhurriedly back towards the left. South-south-west, south, south-east, east. …"

 

a bunch of grown men acting like ***** farts! quit bitchin like children about simple ****... if you dont like it, DONT BUY IT! life can get a lot worse than someone knowing if you have **** stains in your underwear because you have onstar.

 

ok, this thread started about cool new cars and it seems some are tied up about about new tech pieces!! keep your 57 studabaker, and let some of enjoy new things!! they are called options for a reason!!

 

About the new "American Revolution".

I think the new C6 looks pretty cool. The nose is a little Miata like with the headlights taken from a Ferrari 575M but otherwise a real nice lookin car. The SSR looks badass! Once they hit dealerships I'll take one out for a spin. I hear they'll have about 300hp stock. It's nice to see the car manufacturers building higher HP cars again. Only took 30 years to bounce back from an oil crisis and smog laws lol

 

I read more about sport utilities,mini-vans and cars that are not affordable for the average joe in that line of b.s. Sounds like GM is still ignoring us.

 

My whole family and most of Jersey and surrounding states are having problems out of the crappy Easy Pass....but that vette is badass!

Joe

 

The new Vette is sweet...

Now what about the other 99.99% of Americans that want muscle without having to sell off their firstborn son to get it?

GM is lost in space. Until they understand what "musclecar" means, they won't see one red cent from me.

Tell GM to go back to posting about Malibus and minivans on WWW.SOCCERMOM.COM ( if it exists ).

 

Scott,

Thanks for being there for us, past, present and future…I know I'm looking forward to a new F-body.

I'm an old fart (my first new car was a 1973 Formula 400) and I've owned a few other F-bodies including my 2000 Z28 so I've obviously seen the changes over the years. That said, as some others have expressed here, I would like to say that out of any new F-body model line, I hope there will be one model that leaves most of the "tech" stuff behind…if it doesn't make it go faster and/or handle better I'd just as soon not have it.

I for one would like to see a model that is all about performance with very little given over to comfort, and convenience and I'm willing to pay a premium for it.

The Z06 is a good example of what I'm talking about…power windows, AC and a kick-*** stereo is about as "convenient" as I want…I'm much, much more concerned about flat out performance (in all performance categories) that whether I can call 911 through On-Star or get through a toll both quickly.

No doubt that for the "masses", luxury, convenience and high-tech gizmos are important considerations but I think there are enough of us who think like I do to make a true performance model a viable option.

Here's to the future!!!

Robert (Bob) Armentrout,
Nashville, Tennessee

 

I just wanted to remind everyone who is interested that Scott and pretty much the rest of the automotive industry is tied up for the Detroit Auto Show. You may not see much of a reply until things calm down.

 

Thanks Jason.

Cant wait to start getting the Emails again from Scott.

 

You know, after reading the initial post in this thread, and then seeing all the off topic replies, relating to EZ-Pass, Big Brother, taxes, government spending etc. I have come to realize that there are a bunch of whining, ***** *** ****'s driving around in f-bodies. WTF is that all about.

We have Sun-Pass here in FL probably just like EZ-Pass up north except we only have slow down to 25 I dont use it because I don't travel the toll roads enough to warrant it. Would I , Hell yes!!! would I fear of being scammed Hell No!! Speeding Tickets in the mail from ariving at a tool booth too quickly. Hmm not heard of that here yet. If you speed you will get caught, plain and simple, Speed is for the track not public highways. Please don't start a flame saying if you travel 10 over or whatever, no one around here gets a ticket for going 10 over the posted speed limit on the highway.

To the guy that thinks his IP address is not pointing to his location. You sir are way disillusioned. It may not point immediately to your street address, but it does point immediately to your ISP. A quick phone call is all it takes. Internet traffic is routed. Any traffic (packets) from your machine, contains a header with source and destination IP amonst a few other little details. I work with Cable Modem Termination Systems from Cisco. There is a command in the IOS called cable intercept that allows the Router to forward all packets from any subscriber to a monitoring IP address. This command can be used to comply with the United States Federal Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and other law enforcement wiretap requirements for voice communications. Although I have never had to use this in my systems, It is not difficult at all to initiate.

Now back on Topic, the new Vette looks Bad A$$ a little Ferrari but still resembling a vette. The SSR what can I say, Well.....its cool!!! kinda like the dodge prowler when it was first introduced a little risky but very unique.

 

(Wow, a "frog" with a "Potty-Mouth"...I guess ignorance IS bliss..)

(You two should get a room...)


Anyways, my point was that, IF I don't want "On Star", I should be able to buy my vehicle W/O it...for whatever reason...

Yeah, fear IS an effective "sales tactic" BUT, we should ALWAYS "fear" anything using "fear" to sell itself....

And yes, I know, and DON'T blame the product designers for their "Good Intentions", but it can and will be abused by "powers that be" under the New "Bills".

I guess I should stop "whining" about "stuff" getting trampled like,
"No Expose Facto Laws"(what's in the Constitution, can't be anulled by NEW LAWS.)(WTH does the "Patriot Acts do??)
"Aposycomatotus"...soon to be history..(military must be separate and not enforce domestic law...it's coming...SnkEatr, should have seen the Yugoslavian police"TROOPS" training in "sunny FL. in "ninja masks..b/c our troops won't fire on our citizens..)

ANYWAYS, Back on topic;
I like the direction GM is heading as a whole and understand it'll be getting some "tweaking" as it goes. I just hope they "Stay in touch with John Q. Public" as they do..

I'd like to see, the muscle car's rear suspensions "tweaked" for traction as in acceleration, or be easily upgradable to acomplish this.
I'd like to see more "turbo's available as optional power plants, especially on the more compact cars.
I'd like to see our compacts get away from the "cookie cutter" look of import labels.
And don't take a good looking car like a Grand Am and make ALL of the rest of that make's cars look like it....(No cookie Cutters)
I know there are restrictions dealing with "set platforms" but general shape similarities won't hurt anything, as long as you don't see the SAME "grills", headlights, tail lights, body moldings etc on all cars of a "make"...