capmaster Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Today I had a definitely unique experience: I was passenger in my own car during my son's first trip ever without driving instructor. It was a 19.8 kilometers drive after his test from the driving school to the garage where he's educated. I have to say I felt safe and gave him very few comments only despite of some difficult winter conditions. He complimented me as a convenient assistant driver which honestly made me happy - I wouldn't have expected that since I think I'm a kind of my own in this respect. Being in his second year as an apprentice in automotive mechatronics, he has a lot to do with driveaway and manoeuvring all day long, so handling the pure technical aspects is not a real problem for him. Into the bargain, he is educated on cars of same brand as mine, so he knows instruments and controls very well, too. That having said, I hope he will always drive safely, in particular when he will receive his first car in early March. We already bought it some weeks ago, there are some things left to be done, but both vehicle inspection and exhaust control certificates are part of the deal. Next week the winter tires for that car will arrive, too. I once owned one of the related car model built from 1986 to 1990 with that particular engine version. In my opinion, it's one of the best spark ignition engines ever built with far more power and same time far less fuel consumption than specified, all without modification, and throughout the entire series - it's my all-time favorite up to now. Although my present car is superior and more comfortable, I have to admit I'm a bit jealous... Anyway, he will start his next drive of 12.0 kilometers with me and my car in less than two hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 In my opinion, it's one of the best spark ignition engines ever built with far more power and same time far less fuel consumption than specified, all without modification, and throughout the entire series - it's my all-time favorite up to now. Hmmm....this could describe the 1.8 litre engine in the Mercedes 190E series? I had one. Best car I ever had, even more than 2 BMWs (1802 and 2002 Touring). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 First - I'm happy that you and your son are happy. Your post does remind me of what different worlds we live in. I cannot remember not driving cars and other vehicles. My first probably was when I would have been five or six, on a home-made "cart" with a lawnmower engine. By the time I could reach the pedals in cars in the mid 1950s, I was moving cars in the repair shop and "car lots" and parking areas, as well as driving a farm tractor and riding motorcycles. I was also working on engines and overall "motor vehicle" maintenance and repair from about age 10 with Dad - and sitting in with literature and history classes at a university with my mother on weekends. Rural life in the U.S. in the 1950s was a paradise for a kid who wanted to do and learn everything. For what it's worth, I also don't recall when I began being involved in informal firearm shooting sports. That was probably around age five or seven... again... very different worlds separated by time, space and cultures. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Hmmm....this could describe the 1.8 litre engine in the Mercedes 190E series? I had one. Best car I ever had, even more than 2 BMWs (1802 and 2002 Touring). In my case, it's about the Ford CVH 1.6 litre engine with reduced 8.5/1 compression ratio, regular fuel use (95 Research Octane Number), and controlled three-way catalytic convertor, using a Bosch KE Jetronic fuel injection system. They were rated 66 kW but all of them put out 75 to 78 kW. Fuel consumption was specified around 7.4 litres per 100 kilometers, but they consumed only 6.3 instead. The like never happened again to me or the two of my friends who owned one then with any other car or engine. Here's a pic from the Polish Wikipedia: I once had it in a red limousine, my son will soon drive one of these meanwhile rare cabriolets in white. The picture of the red RHD version is taken from the English, the blue LHD from the German Wikipedia: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 First - I'm happy that you and your son are happy. Your post does remind me of what different worlds we live in. I cannot remember not driving cars and other vehicles. My first probably was when I would have been five or six, on a home-made "cart" with a lawnmower engine. By the time I could reach the pedals in cars in the mid 1950s, I was moving cars in the repair shop and "car lots" and parking areas, as well as driving a farm tractor and riding motorcycles. I was also working on engines and overall "motor vehicle" maintenance and repair from about age 10 with Dad - and sitting in with literature and history classes at a university with my mother on weekends. Rural life in the U.S. in the 1950s was a paradise for a kid who wanted to do and learn everything. For what it's worth, I also don't recall when I began being involved in informal firearm shooting sports. That was probably around age five or seven... again... very different worlds separated by time, space and cultures. m Thank you very much, Milod. Interestingly, I didn't drive any motorized vehicle until age 19 at the driving school. My son, however, began driving motor carts on a private estate at about age nine with his cousin aged eight then. He never drove a car before he started his apprenticeship though. My parents had no interest in driving motorcars before I broke my right upper arm at age seven. This accident of mine made them learn driving since an uncle of mine who casually appeared had to drive me to the hospital. There were no ambulance vehicles these days, and the only two telephones in the village were in the parish and the municipal offices. The latter wasn't availabe, too, since it happened on 17th June, 1966. 17th June has been the official West German national holiday until 1990 in memoriam of the victims of the Uprising in East Germany on 17th June 1953. My sister didn't drive for 28 years after her test but now does since four years. My brother never did and I guess he never will. Different folks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Cap... I think also that people think about driving motor vehicles differently, depending on where they live. My second mother (my biological mother died in a car accident just after I turned 15), never learned to drive. She was raised in New York City and cars were not part of her family's life. She knew the controls, but never drove by herself. My grandfather, born in 1873, never learned to drive. He was a horseman always. His sons or daughters would drive him places when needed. That was somewhat common for his generation where I live. But now? I do not know anyone above age 14 who does not know how to drive. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 In my guess, the economy in lots of countries depends on private motorization to a large extent nowadays, in particular in rural regions. Most villages here don't have groceries anymore. Public transport is not an option in most cases. It's reliable but expensive, connections and scheduled times are thinned out in a way which allows use for pupils, but not for going to work or shopping in a realistic manner. The situation in big cities is completely different, but living 35 km away from Munich definitely means countryside, including all of the ups and downs along with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 This is what mine looked like in general, but the one pictured already has the later model script version and includes a towing hitch (picture also taken from the English Wikipedia): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 19 kilometers is what? Like 12,238 miles or so? I shoulda paid attention in 1975. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 19 kilometers is what? Like 12,238 miles or so? I shoulda paid attention in 1975. rct 19 kilometers are circa 11.80605 miles. He drove 19.8 + 12.6 = 32.4 kilometers today, thus 20.13243 miles. I had to smile when I saw the comma in 12,238 miles in your post. It looked very familiar to my eyes since compared to English, the meanings of dot and comma used with numbers are inverted in German. The USA joined the International Meter Convention in 1878, Great Britain in 1884. Imperial and US miles were unified and redefined on 1st July 1959 as exactly 1609.344 meters. Survey mile and nautical mile are slightly respectively very different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 But nautical miles (knots) are tied to the theoretical distances of the globe... and also are standardized at about 1 minute of lattitude per hour. It always seemed an odd coincidence to me that the Romans' thousand paces were so close to that sort of distance. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 19 kilometers are circa 11.80605 miles. He drove 19.8 + 12.6 = 32.4 kilometers today, thus 20.13243 miles. I had to smile when I saw the comma in 12,238 miles in your post. It looked very familiar to my eyes since compared to English, the meanings of dot and comma used with numbers are inverted in German. The USA joined the International Meter Convention in 1878, Great Britain in 1884. Imperial and US miles were unified and redefined on 1st July 1959 as exactly 1609.344 meters. Survey mile and nautical mile are slightly respectively very different. In school they told us we would be all standardized metric like the entire rest of the civilized world by the end of the Bicentennial Year, and since you aren't American and you aren't Britishian, that woulda been 1976. No, don't ask, I'll do it for you: "How'd that work out for you guys?" rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 In school they told us we would be all standardized metric like the entire rest of the civilized world by the end of the Bicentennial Year, and since you aren't American and you aren't Britishian, that woulda been 1976. No, don't ask, I'll do it for you: "How'd that work out for you guys?" rct The only universal units are these, but hard to handle since they would have up to more than hundred positions in the everyday life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_units#Base_units http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_units#Derived_units Very useful if it's about the Big Bang though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 thats great. i miss my kids being that age. enjoy it. good moment. my 1st drive without a instructor, i was 13. my parents were out of town for 5 days. my sister was at work, so i took the keys and went for a nice long drive with the family car. everything was going great until i had the great idea on doing donuts and burnouts in an otherwise quiet neighborhood. some lady called the cops. my folks came home 3 days early cuz all they were doing was fighting with each other. at least they were in town in time to pick me up at the police station... lol. ahhh, I had a great time being a kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Great job Capmaster and I'm glad you both enjoyed it! Sounds like he is predisposed to be a good or even great driver. My 3rd solo outing in my brothers VW in 1976 resulted in me not stopping soon enough and rear ending someone at a stop sign. He still brings it up until this day. My little brother wrecked my car 3 years later. We were not predisposed. Maybe by a factor of 3,000 (or is it 3.000?) 😀😎👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Congratulations Capmaster! I wish Your son 100 billion miles of accident-free driving! Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Great. You now have your own personal chauffeur, the next step is the groupies. Once you've got that down, I'll show you how to completely trash a hotel room! This is all before the sound check you understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Great. You now have your own personal chauffeur, the next step is the groupies. Once you've got that down, I'll show you how to completely trash a hotel room! This is all before the sound check you understand. Well, in this case there might be more hope for the excesses to happen than for the scheduled soundcheck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 With ya all the way!! LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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