AirSpeed VW Community Forums
General Forums => Air Speed Lounge => Topic started by: Cameron on June 17, 2005, 10:25:10 AM
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From today's Province newspaper:
Vehicles play big role in your grin factor
Keep it small and green to push up Smiles-Per-Hour figure
Keith Morgan
The Province
Friday, June 17, 2005
The most cheerful driver on the road is female, aged 24 or less, driving a green VW Beetle on a sunny day, listening to Bob Marley, while chewing sugar-free gum and looking forward to a date.
That is according to the latest research conducted with 900 drivers by the U.K.'s RAC Foundation for this year's National Smile Week.
Apparently, young women in general have the fastest Smiles-Per-Hour figures, with those under 24 smiling on average once every two minutes. Young men smile much more than older or middle-aged men, but nothing like as much as most women.
The most miserable are drivers over the age of 66, who find little to smile about, only managing to \"crack their faces\" every six to seven minutes.
Middle-aged people with kids don't smile as much as their younger or older counterparts.
According to the organization, a smile can also be the driver's No. 1 tool in avoiding road rage and confrontation on the highway.
\"A smile is a perfect non-verbal appeasement gesture that one motorist can give to another when they have made a mistake . . . hand gestures can be misinterpreted, but a smile is always a smile,\" said Conrad King, the foundation's consultant psychologist \"As well as a way of calming other motorists down or apologizing for a driving error, when we smile we release endorphins, which are the body's naturally produced opiate into our system, giving a feeling of calmness, happiness and well-being.\"
Research into the role of the grin in modern driving found that the fewer seats and doors in a car, the more SPH. That's good news for sports-car and Smart-Car owners, bad news for those with mini-wagons and big 4x4s.
The fewer the seats, the more likely drivers are to be alone, \"allowing them the ability to express their emotions freely and do what they enjoy in the car.\"
Some cars appear to have \"happy\" faces on their hoods, examples cited are the VW Beetle (old and new), the new Mini, the Mazda Miata and the classic E-Type Jag.
Apparently, the cars that don't smile much are the Mercedes E-Class estate, the Nissan X-Trail and the Volvo S60.
Colour makes a massive difference in SPH, with green cars being the most \"smile-itious,\" followed by red, metallic blue and silver.
Earlier research showed green car drivers are least likely to suffer depression. Yellow and lilac produced the worst SPH figures, with normally depressive black battling it out with white for occupation of the middle-smile ground.
Music plays a big part with reggae, '60s oldies tracks and '70s \"West Coast rock\" making for the some of best SPH figures and rap/heavy rock music making miseries out of drivers.
Nostalgic, feel-good music makes people smile and puts them in a good mood. Rap and rock tend to pump listeners up and induce serious faces because heart rate and blood pressure rise. Generally, the higher the heart rate and blood pressure, the less people smile.
Sad songs or those that evoke sad recollections, while dropping blood pressure and heart rate levels, can also cause a drop in serotonin, thus making listeners want to cry.
What makes your rate of Smiles-Per-Hour rate rocket while driving?
Send your ideas along to kmorgan@png.canwest.com. I'll reach into my auto goody bag and reward those contributing the best offerings.
Driving Concerns is an occasional column on motoring matters by Driving Editor Keith Morgan.
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SMILERS TOP 10: FEEL-GOOD MUSIC
1. Three Little Birds (Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing) -- Bob Marley.
2. Don't Worry, Be Happy -- Bobby Fearon.
3. Music Sounds Better with You -- Stardust.
4. Energy 52 -- Cafe Del Mar.
5. Summertime -- DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.
6. Come Up and See Me, Make Me Smile -- Steve Harley.
7. Man! I Feel Like a Woman! -- Shania Twain.
8. Good Vibrations -- Beach Boys.
9. Walking on Sunshine -- Katrina and the Waves.
10. Don't Stop Me Now -- Queen
FROWN ABOUT TOWN: FEEL-BAD MUSIC
1. Stan -- Eminem.
2. Ace of Spades -- Motorhead.
3. My Immortal -- Evanescence.
4. Adagio for Strings -- Samuel Barber.
5. Coma - Guns N' Roses.
6. Everybody Hurts -- REM.
7. Tears in Heaven -- Eric Clapton.
8. At Seventeen -- Janis Ian.
9. Don't Let It Bring You Down -- Neil Young.
10. It's Too Late -- Carly Simon
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James listens to #7 on repeat
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Apparently, the cars that don't smile much are the Mercedes E-Class estate, the Nissan X-Trail and the Volvo S60.
It's true, money doesn't make you happy. I think rich dudes should ditch their Benzes and get a bug (or a bus!)
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i prefer kill-ometers per hour.
cigarrete in one hand, coffee in the other, steering with my left knee, heavy right foot, horn duct-taped in \"on\" position, high beams flashing on the guy in front of me, periodic lane changes without using turn signals, and music so loud that the retinas in my eyes are jiggling.
recommended soundtrack...
grinder - judas priest
people = s#!t - slipknot
f@#k the world - insane clown posse
move b!#ch - ludacris featuring mystikal
happy motoring. :rockon:
:lol:
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first thing the rich people should not ditch the fancy cars and buy a bug or bus... because there will be less of them for us to buy,
techno is always great driving music, turned up loud enough to make your hair tickle :) foot to the floor in a stock bug cruzing south fraser way in abby,
windows open, airspeed shirt on, nothing but smiles