Perth - Our thoughts after a month.
Discussion
t. Why do aussie politics focus so much on cars; is it really a big issue? 
There are a LOT of idiots on the roads here. We live just a few minutes walk from the west coast highway at Hillarys and every Friday and Saturday night we hear them "hooning" around the place. I dont really mind the sound of a nice V8 accelerating up the road but you only have to look at the road surface the following day to know they try and go round anything remotely like a corner at 45 degrees.
Made me laugh yesterday though - There are some tyrs marks starting in a side road from a burnout which then turn into a drift..... which then go right into a big kerb! - Looks expensive.
All over the place you see pairs of black lines wiggling up the middle of a straight dual carriageway.
I spent a fair amount of time in the UK on tracks and doing occasional drift days. I'm not against people enjoying their cars but there is a time and a place for it.
Made me laugh yesterday though - There are some tyrs marks starting in a side road from a burnout which then turn into a drift..... which then go right into a big kerb! - Looks expensive.
All over the place you see pairs of black lines wiggling up the middle of a straight dual carriageway.
I spent a fair amount of time in the UK on tracks and doing occasional drift days. I'm not against people enjoying their cars but there is a time and a place for it.
In my area it’s more the motor bikes we hear. We have country roads with a couple of straights, & gentle bends near by. On still nights we often hear bikes a couple of miles away winding out through the gears.
The sound tells you they are not small bikes, & I wonder just what speed they must have got to, after 40+ seconds or more of full throttle.
My son was one of those impressed by big V8 Falcons, shredding tyres. I gave him that quote of Fangio’s when asked by a lady reporter how he put his car into a slide. Fangio “Madam I spend my entire time on the track preventing slides, not initiating them”, but it did not impress him that much. Telling him we set Bathurst lap records by maintaining traction, not breaking it, had no more effect.
It took him a couple of years to grow out of the idea that tyre smoke, & lots of it were a sign of driving ability.
Did you not have the same fools back home, or is it just their engines were too small for these stupid games?
The sound tells you they are not small bikes, & I wonder just what speed they must have got to, after 40+ seconds or more of full throttle.
My son was one of those impressed by big V8 Falcons, shredding tyres. I gave him that quote of Fangio’s when asked by a lady reporter how he put his car into a slide. Fangio “Madam I spend my entire time on the track preventing slides, not initiating them”, but it did not impress him that much. Telling him we set Bathurst lap records by maintaining traction, not breaking it, had no more effect.
It took him a couple of years to grow out of the idea that tyre smoke, & lots of it were a sign of driving ability.
Did you not have the same fools back home, or is it just their engines were too small for these stupid games?
Edited by Hasbeen on Monday 18th February 05:46
The choice of cars back home that could actually be used for on-street drifting is fairly limited. Nissan 200SX being pretty much the only one that would fit the bill.
Then there is insurance. Insuring anything RWD at an age of less than 25 will be hugely expensive.
I do wonder if the local's passion for drifting and burnouts is because there are very few roads where you can actually enjoy driving around here? Not sure what it's like in QLD / NSW but here in WA, even the country roads are dull.
I see a fair few Toyota GT86 around and wonder why people have bought them?
Then there is insurance. Insuring anything RWD at an age of less than 25 will be hugely expensive.
I do wonder if the local's passion for drifting and burnouts is because there are very few roads where you can actually enjoy driving around here? Not sure what it's like in QLD / NSW but here in WA, even the country roads are dull.
I see a fair few Toyota GT86 around and wonder why people have bought them?
That's a joke! That would be a fine of ridiculous proportions! That's stupid even for Australian government. What if some local politician (such as that Deputy mayor of somewhere or other with the ferrari) got nicked? "Oh no, he's not a hoon"? There would be uproar. Ill considered garbage, first strike!?
They should look to build more tracks / days for driving enthusiasts etc to get them off the road. More tracks, easier access to retired airfields etc means more track days at affordable prices, advanced driving days, car limit days etc, means people off the roads.
...or they could just ban cars completely....in fact thats it don't know why they have not thought of it. /sarcasm
They should look to build more tracks / days for driving enthusiasts etc to get them off the road. More tracks, easier access to retired airfields etc means more track days at affordable prices, advanced driving days, car limit days etc, means people off the roads.
...or they could just ban cars completely....in fact thats it don't know why they have not thought of it. /sarcasm
Yes, similar around here, but we do have the Qld, NSW boarder ranges, with some nice twisty but slow motoring. It is spoiled a bit by extended stretches of double lines, where you could overtake easily & safely in a quickish car
It was different in my younger days, when we had a 100MPH limit. On one occasion Jim Palmer, [the Kiwi, who was my co-driver in the 68 Bathurst 500 for the Holden Dealers team], & I, in a couple of Bathurst Monaros, averaged 80MPH from Surfers to Sydney, down the New England highway.
We weren’t hooning, just cruising quickly in convoy. You can imagine how boring that trip is today, with modern cars, much improved roads, bypassing the towns, & a 100Km/H speed limit.
I think I would have got into sailing much younger, if we’d had these speed limits when I was a kid.
Have you tried the boating scene over there?
It was different in my younger days, when we had a 100MPH limit. On one occasion Jim Palmer, [the Kiwi, who was my co-driver in the 68 Bathurst 500 for the Holden Dealers team], & I, in a couple of Bathurst Monaros, averaged 80MPH from Surfers to Sydney, down the New England highway.
We weren’t hooning, just cruising quickly in convoy. You can imagine how boring that trip is today, with modern cars, much improved roads, bypassing the towns, & a 100Km/H speed limit.
I think I would have got into sailing much younger, if we’d had these speed limits when I was a kid.
Have you tried the boating scene over there?
WeirdNeville said:
I'm a bit split about the whole "hoon" laws debate.
Half of me says "Drive like a dick and you get waht you deserve". Honestly, if people who do burnouts or drag race on public roads get their cars confiscated I really don't care. Likewise if you run a straight through exhaust. It's just antisocial.
BUT I do hate the militant zero tolerance over policing of the roads here. It feels like a police state.
THey have no annual safety check and yet complain road deaths are high? The preach the speed kills mantra and everyone has a 4 litre engine? I just don't get it. It's part of the reason we're getting a 4x4. No temptation to speed on the road, and you can have your fun off road where it's allowed.
I got letter of the month in Motor magazine with these^^ exact points. In 1997. Half of me says "Drive like a dick and you get waht you deserve". Honestly, if people who do burnouts or drag race on public roads get their cars confiscated I really don't care. Likewise if you run a straight through exhaust. It's just antisocial.
BUT I do hate the militant zero tolerance over policing of the roads here. It feels like a police state.
THey have no annual safety check and yet complain road deaths are high? The preach the speed kills mantra and everyone has a 4 litre engine? I just don't get it. It's part of the reason we're getting a 4x4. No temptation to speed on the road, and you can have your fun off road where it's allowed.
I'll be back in a month and will restrict myself to a chooky (ok, KTM supermotard) for the commute and a 100 Series Cruiser for the weekends.
Taking people's car for a subjective report of antisocial driving, in the name of safety, with a comedic driving test system, no annual safety check and roads that are like ice when wet, is so mind-numbingly short sighted and parochial, I no longer devote any thought to it. It used to make me piss blood.
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