Which is sexier?

 

Or:

 

 

If you had asked me a year ago, I’d have said the Ferrari.  Sure, as a status symbol of one, a fast car is king.  But it serves no greater purpose and is of course a money sink at the same time.  So while I won’t have the funds to buy a Ferrari or have access to a local High Speed Rail service anytime in the next 10 years (CAHSR supposedly will open for service in 2018ish) I much prefer to drool over the beauty and potential that is modern heavy rail: the status symbol of region.

 

*Note:  This choice is more difficult when you substitute a Tesla for the Ferrari.

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16 responses
Isn't owning the 1st one more of a status symbol? How many ppl in the world can boast "I OWN A BULLET TRAIN" ? That's a deal-sealer!! Imagine the pick up lines that you can pull!
— S-A-N-N-Y
Well, generally when _I_ use that line, the ladies presume (perhaps correctly) that I'm referring to something else.
— Mark Rampton
So... which one do you like more, the pointy one on the left, or the more blunt one on the right?
— diego
I totally agree that i would take the high speed rail service over a ferrari, but which is sexier? the ferrari by far.

And while the high speed rail vs tesla comparison is tougher since both are good for the world, there's not a whole lot of "sexiness" in the Tesla besides the Lotus body they are using. It's a heavy, misbalanced car with a 1 speed automatic. Sure it's fast, but fast gets boring after 2 speeding tickets :)

— Sachin Agarwal
Nah, the Ferrari is like a beefed up jock that's all muscles and no brain.  The Tesla is like a slim and witty Euro party boy.  I'll take the Euro party boy any day.
— S-A-N-N-Y
oh man, the ferrari has so much "brain." It's basically automotive perfection. But in terms of performance and handling, driver enjoyment, being one with the car.

The Tesla saves gas :)

I understand there's a stigma that Ferraris are driven by d bags. But also, you'll see a bunch of Ferraris at the racetracks driven by auto enthusiasts who love driving and love cars

I might be proven wrong as more Teslas hit the road, but I dont think:
a. many serious auto enthusiasts will buy one
b. you will ever see one at a race track or other environment where good balance and handling matter

I guess in all this what it boils down to is these are completely different cars filling totally different needs. I'm not even sure a comparison works here :)

— Sachin Agarwal
Yeah it'll be fun to drive them side by side and compare.
— S-A-N-N-Y
I think the problem is that the sex appeal for each is obvious but of a fundamentally different nature. For me, the sex appeal of the HSR is on a regional level (i.e. given 2 regions equal in everything but the fact that one has HSR and the other has a Ferrari waiting for you -- the region with HSR comes out on top) -- this infrastructure is an improvement to the region as a whole.

I can't imagine, however, choosing one location over another location simply because the one makes for better driving in my badass car than the other. I mean, sure, if I *really* liked to drive, I don't think I'd live in either NY or LA, and I could see myself having much more fun driving through the hills vs the straight flat roads that exist in the Midwest. But the sex appeal of the car comes down to this: how hot does it make me look (or is it "feel"?).

Of course, if you have to drive (and most people in this country DO have to currently) the Ferrari would be one hella a way to commute. I'd still feel that buying a Tesla serves more purpose, however (funding for future innovation towards an electric future -- not to mention its green benefits). No doubt it's a less fun car to drive, though.

— Mark Rampton
As much as I love driving and motorsport, auto racing is rapidly becoming a d-bag sport, and driving a ferrari that gets <10mpg

We have to (and will) find ways to have racing fun while keeping the environment in mind. Tesla vs. Ferrari is an unfair comparison, but with some refinement Teslas could make for an interesting spec racing series.

I think the most important thing about the Tesla was to show how electric cars could be cool. Because the first Prius was decidedly... uncool.

— diego
Prius - incredibly uncool. agree
Tesla - incredibly cool. agree
 
BMWs are known to be both incredible cars and also fairly responsible on the gas front. Sure it's no hybrid, but they won't sacrifice performance. You think they aren't trying to solve this problem too? Of course they are, and they will, and when they do it will be awesome. I'm just not willing to sacrifice performance for fuel economy.
 
"auto racing is rapidly becoming a d-bag sport" - I'm sorry, what does that mean?
 
"ferrari that gets <10mpg>t hate the player.
— Sachin Agarwal
Sorry, part of my other post was cut off somehow. What I meant is that burning tons of fossil fuels for fun is rapidly losing its appeal. How can you justify it?

The incomplete sentence about the Ferrari was that it's akin to buying mink fur coats; once a luxury item, later a planet-destroying one.

If you don't agree that we're approaching a global catastrophe then it'll be hard for us to agree on a point of view. I hate the player that wears a baby white tiger fur coat, and I hate the player that drives a Ferrari (or Escalade or whatever).

— diego
"burning tons of fossil fuels for fun is rapidly losing its appeal"

"paying pro athletes tons of money to be bad role models is rapidly losing its appeal"

"stealing music and other media online is rapidly losing its appeal"

don't you have *any* hobbies or activities that, you know, might *mildly* affect the rest of the world in some negative way? Or are you saying everything you do everyday is totally 100% "go world"?

I own a BMW that gets 30mpg. Not bad. Definitely best compromise for performance and fuel economy. With every new BMW release, they increase performance and increase (or at least maintain) economy.

One day at the track burns about a tank of gas. And most people might do this a few times a year. Ferrari owners don't put 12k miles a year on their cars like normal people, they are hobby cars for occasional drives and occasional fun. I'm guessing the net impact to the environment is negligible.

Look, if you want to charge gas guzzling cars more because of their impact to the environment, go right ahead. You want to increase the cost of gas, or other taxes? Go right ahead. But claiming that car enthusiasts are doing something wrong because they are pursuing something they are passionate about is just wrong.

Do you drink Starbucks coffee? You think it's free trade? There are many places everyone in the world can be "better"

— Sachin Agarwal
I don't see why you can't claim something to be wrong simply because there are other wrongs occurring elsewhere. That's like a criminal being acquitted because while he was stabbing someone, another person a block away was downloading porn illegally -- they're both wrong.

In any case, Ferrari's are awesome. BMWs are also awesome (I happen to know all 3 of us own one). But that doesn't change the fact that other than returns towards self image, all other returns are diminished when purchasing a car as expensive as a Ferrari; and the current trend is taking us to a point where these purchases will widely be seen as selfish and wasteful -- at least with a tesla you're investing in a new (albeit precarious) future.

Anyway, I really just say screw (owning) cars. I'm selling mine and moving towards biking and public transiting more -- and falling back on using my gf's civic when I need to.

— Mark Rampton
I'm not saying it's ok to do something wrong because there are other wrongs. That's not my point at all. My point is simply that it isn't good to judge other people based on what you subjectively think is right.
I would actually never buy a Ferrari. That is crazy. But dissing motor-sports as a whole? Come on now...
I'm back in SF now and driving my $3,000, 2500lb, 130hp, 28mpg Miata and I fucking love it.
— Sachin Agarwal
But global warming is not subjective.  Neither is wastefulness that contribute to global warming. 

I wonder how we'll look at car racing a few decades down the line.  Would it be an old-timer but classic event enjoyed by a small group of ppl, like horse racing, or would it be denounced as an unnecessary and despicable form of entertainment, like dog fighting?
— S-A-N-N-Y
The impact of motor sports to global warming is subjective.
And why are motor sports any worse than someone traveling for pleasure? Getting on a plane to travel to a foreign country, or driving in their car to road-trip to other parts of the US?
— Sachin Agarwal