Last night, the streets and highways around our Santa Monica offices were a mess. A truck driver had a medical emergency at the wheel and plowed into 18 cars on the 405 Freeway. On the other side of the same highway, there was yet another pileup. Surface streets were clogged as a result and I was stuck in the Mazdaspeed 3. Back in March, I noted how I disliked the MS3's touchy clutch, but I'd like to revise my position on this particular subject.
Chalking it up to acclimation or muscle memory, I've made peace with the Mazdaspeed's clutch takeup. Having the engagement point so close to the floor proved an asset in bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper traffic. It meant that my leg didn't have to travel as much to nudge it forward and the effort itself was fairly light in this range.
It took me about two hours to travel the 7 miles to get home. That made it the third worst commute, behind the President's visit back in August and when a massive crane fell across the same stretch of the 405 back in 2007. Next time, I'm taking a motorcycle home.
Then again, it's still not as bad as some of the traffic snarls in China or Moscow. The picture to the left looks like the place automotive journalists would be sent off to in Dante's Inferno.
Mark Takahashi, Associate Editor
moar_revs says:
12:30 PM, 10/28/10
2 hours in 7 miles?!? Yuck. Why don't you just bicycle to work? You could do all your driving evals by going out to lunch everyday, and probably save money on the difference of gas saved vs. food eaten. You could even train for a half marathon, twice, every day, by running/walking that. You'd kick butt on race day.
kurticus says:
12:49 PM, 10/28/10
I don't know how you Cali guys deal with traffic like that regularly. Is that 10 lanes across per direction? Sheesh!
7driver says:
12:50 PM, 10/28/10
Oooh, time for some math fun. :-)
7 miles = 36,960 feet.
2 hours = 7200 seconds.
That means you were traveling about 5 feet per second. You're about 6ft tall so you probably move about 3-4 feet per stride and take 2 strides per second. That commute was indeed slower than walking.
mcd0234 says:
01:03 PM, 10/28/10
Wow, 2 hours for 7 miles.... Its hard for me to get my head around that, I used to complain about NYC traffic when I lived there but although it was solid cars everywhere they still seemed to move most of the time some how. 2 hours for 7 miles is way beyond the point that I would start thinking about moving, getting a new job, creative work hours, well - just about anything at that point would be better. I would maybe do something like that once and never, ever again under any condition. I've moved when I was sick of 45 minutes commutes, which should have taken 25 minutes. LA, its like a different country!
hesotriflin says:
01:09 PM, 10/28/10
i like my clutch engagement close to the floor for the very reason you outlined. makes driving in stop and go traffic a breeze and also its very easy to go from a stop light when you are on a hill without having to use the e-brake method.
I recently bought a new car which has the engagement point of the clutch near the top of the pedal travel. I'm still trying to get used to it and am continually spinning my tires from launch by accident.
I wish this could be adjusted on a driver by driver basis.
audisport says:
01:41 PM, 10/28/10
Blue mood lighting...???
bryan__t says:
03:42 PM, 10/28/10
You must have taken the absolute worst route at the absolute worst time. I work across the street from Edmunds, have a 13-mile commute, and dealt with the seriously crappy traffic last night as a result of the wrecks. Still, it took me about 50 minutes to get home, not 2 hours.
thejoshdude says:
04:06 PM, 10/28/10
Interesting. The clutch in my MS3 is nowhere near the floor. It's much higher up in the travel. I actually like that for the same reason, though. I can nudge forward in traffic without having to move my leg too much.
liquoredonlife says:
04:33 PM, 10/28/10
Despite it being, yes, relatively easy to take this car home in meddling traffic, that's not what I imagined when I took ownership of the MS3. You get behind the wheels of a "fast" car for the first time and you kind of forget the realities of driving in Los Angeles.
I actually feel bad for the car when I have to nudge it through traffic, given that the car seems to have a penchant for hooning. Thankfully I have a beater for typical work commutes. But yeah, 7 miles in two hours? Jesus Christ.
This morning there was an Escalade & BMW 330 making out on the 405N around Crenshaw exit. 10 mi (7 mi of freeways) commute took me nearly an hour. Damn the 405.
sharpend says:
04:41 PM, 10/28/10
Touchy MS3 clutch?
Here's the solution for hatchback driving on traffic clogged LA roads: GTI DSG
Here's the solution for hatchback driving on empty back-country LA roads: GTI DSG + APR Stage 1
desmolicious says:
05:36 PM, 10/28/10
Maybe all you lot who are stunned by his commute missed this nugget:
"A truck driver had a medical emergency at the wheel and plowed into 18 cars on the 405 Freeway."
notabigdeal says:
07:56 PM, 10/28/10
that looks shitty.... Do what i did.. move within 10 minute biking distance to work.
stovt001 says:
08:39 PM, 10/28/10
I think if I lived so close to work I'd keep a bike at the office for just such an occasion.
bai2 says:
09:49 AM, 10/29/10
you get used to it