I'm bored with driving..
Discussion
Ordinary Bloke said:
CivicMan said:
I'd suggest using your speedometer and try looking at it like advanced drivers do.
Contrary to popular belief, BMWs do have them. Just the other side of the steering wheel...next to the rev counter.
The more time you spend looking at those things, the less chance there is that you'll see what's happening in front of you. Is it too early in the evening to call you a tw@t?Contrary to popular belief, BMWs do have them. Just the other side of the steering wheel...next to the rev counter.
t
t 
IAM is not the be all and end all.
Attitude is the key - knowing when to open it up or not.
Unfortunately in the UK these days there isnt much opportunity to have fun responsibly.
Fun can be had at lower speeds as it is all about driver involvement.
But the track is probably the only sure fire way to have responsible safer fun on a regular basis in the UK
Ordinary Bloke said:
It would be useful to have buttons for 30/40/50/60/70 which limit your speed (+9% of course), it'd be dead easy to do as well. Your choice if you press it.
I too think that is an excellent idea- but it should be over-ridden if the throttle is floored, for accelerating out of danger- a brick wall limiter would be, IMHO, dangerous.Re: the OP- I think that the car is just too capable for today's roads. with the previous cars, it sounds like you were driving them fairly hard, but were able to have fun within the limit. With the new one, the fun threshold has gone above the limit.
I found this when I was learning- my Instuctor's car was a Turbo Diesel Corsa, while my car is a Hillman Imp. The Imp is good fun at 30mph, and hilarious at 60, but the Corsa felt 'dead' at anything less than 65.
james
I've got one car which is very very loud and lairy, and one that just gently potters along quietly and comfortably no matter what the driver does. There's no point trying to push it, it will never be a fast car, so I have set myself other goals to keep my interest up. I try to get the maximum possible fuel economy, which means driving with constant throttle, no high speeds, and avoid using the brakes. This requires a lot more anticipation than just latching onto the car in front as I would have done in my lazier days.
Another game I play is to try to avoid steering corrections, get the perfect 'racing line' (within the width of the carriageway that I'm prepared to use) through every corner and apex them perfectly while keeping the steering angle and rate-of-change of steering as low as possible, with no more than one change in the direction of steering input per corner and never using more than about 0.1G - roughly the grip available on snow. This is probably the hardest one to get right because it requires fine judgement of where the road goes, which is easier to do when the tyres are squealing but I find very hard when the car is barely moving. Good practice for reading the road though when I'm back in the 'other' car.
Yet another game is to try to smooth out the throttle, brake and gear changes so that the changes in acceleration are imperceptible and again the peak acceleration stays very low. Curiously, this is the only thing that my passengers have commented on.
There's no particular point to any of these games, but they keep me entertained and give me the feeling that in some small way I'm improving my car control skills. I suppose it's a sort of driving minimalism, the less I do the better it works.
Another game I play is to try to avoid steering corrections, get the perfect 'racing line' (within the width of the carriageway that I'm prepared to use) through every corner and apex them perfectly while keeping the steering angle and rate-of-change of steering as low as possible, with no more than one change in the direction of steering input per corner and never using more than about 0.1G - roughly the grip available on snow. This is probably the hardest one to get right because it requires fine judgement of where the road goes, which is easier to do when the tyres are squealing but I find very hard when the car is barely moving. Good practice for reading the road though when I'm back in the 'other' car.
Yet another game is to try to smooth out the throttle, brake and gear changes so that the changes in acceleration are imperceptible and again the peak acceleration stays very low. Curiously, this is the only thing that my passengers have commented on.
There's no particular point to any of these games, but they keep me entertained and give me the feeling that in some small way I'm improving my car control skills. I suppose it's a sort of driving minimalism, the less I do the better it works.
Ive just stumbled across this post. And i have to admit i think im similar to the OP.
Ive been driving now for about two years.
The first year, and during learning, i was very slow and careful, and just liked the freedom of driving, and driving safely (boringly, according to me friends).
- I was driving my dads car for the first year.(1.6l 306)
- Once i took it upto a half decent speed on an empty dual carrage way just because I wanted to, once.
- But really very gentle, careful, reminding myself how bad it would be if it went wrong. etc.
I was also mainly driving with other people in the car, taking mates or brother/sister somewhere, or with my parents even. Which helped.
But since i bought the car off my dad, ive had a bit more of an experiment with the handling/power.
- The odd section of fast running on dual carriageways, etc.
- And all the odd bit of silliness round the odd empty roundabout and the like.
But now its becoming practically the norm, even though im desperately trying to drive sensibly.
- Im doing miles every weekend on my own, two and from places, and driving like a right tit half of the time.
- Which is really bad, for me, my peace of mine, and the car. Not to mention the altercations as/when it will inevitably go wrong. And it plays on my mind all the time afterwards. Its just such a buzz for that short moment, just at the exact time.
Im currently, semi-seriously, looking at buying seven of some form, possibly a bike engined machine. And im quite concerned has to whether this will make it better or worse. And whether i should go ahead with it or not simple on that reason. Let alone an other reasons to get it or not.
- If i did, i would definitely aim to got to a few track-days each year. But also to drive it on the roads any time its nice out. But, maybe i should learn to curb my karting-style outbursts before buying anything fast than a high mileage hatchback?
Daniel
Ive been driving now for about two years.
The first year, and during learning, i was very slow and careful, and just liked the freedom of driving, and driving safely (boringly, according to me friends).
- I was driving my dads car for the first year.(1.6l 306)
- Once i took it upto a half decent speed on an empty dual carrage way just because I wanted to, once.
- But really very gentle, careful, reminding myself how bad it would be if it went wrong. etc.
I was also mainly driving with other people in the car, taking mates or brother/sister somewhere, or with my parents even. Which helped.
But since i bought the car off my dad, ive had a bit more of an experiment with the handling/power.
- The odd section of fast running on dual carriageways, etc.
- And all the odd bit of silliness round the odd empty roundabout and the like.
But now its becoming practically the norm, even though im desperately trying to drive sensibly.
- Im doing miles every weekend on my own, two and from places, and driving like a right tit half of the time.
- Which is really bad, for me, my peace of mine, and the car. Not to mention the altercations as/when it will inevitably go wrong. And it plays on my mind all the time afterwards. Its just such a buzz for that short moment, just at the exact time.
Im currently, semi-seriously, looking at buying seven of some form, possibly a bike engined machine. And im quite concerned has to whether this will make it better or worse. And whether i should go ahead with it or not simple on that reason. Let alone an other reasons to get it or not.
- If i did, i would definitely aim to got to a few track-days each year. But also to drive it on the roads any time its nice out. But, maybe i should learn to curb my karting-style outbursts before buying anything fast than a high mileage hatchback?
Daniel
Edited by dhutch on Friday 23 November 12:04
Yeah, i would like to do that and will have to sort out whats avalable.
- Ive looked at doing a days course somewhere, but just not actauly gone and done it yet.
In the mean time, i dont actaully drive that fast, like doing 80 down a country road or anything as i dont really see the point as im not even in a rush.
- Its just certain corners and that, that i will accelerate round with a bit of light sideways movement. Rather than slowing down for them.
- But clearly while fine on a track, is massivly inappropreate on the roads, even if ive always stayed within my lane so far.
But i will have look at some days outi could do.
Thanks, Daniel
- Ive looked at doing a days course somewhere, but just not actauly gone and done it yet.
In the mean time, i dont actaully drive that fast, like doing 80 down a country road or anything as i dont really see the point as im not even in a rush.
- Its just certain corners and that, that i will accelerate round with a bit of light sideways movement. Rather than slowing down for them.
- But clearly while fine on a track, is massivly inappropreate on the roads, even if ive always stayed within my lane so far.
But i will have look at some days outi could do.
Thanks, Daniel
On most bends speed is limited by vision rather than by cornering grip. Always remember that you have to be able to stop in the distance you can see will be clear when you get there. So imagine someone just beyond the limit point (the limit of your view) is overtaking a cyclist towards you, and make sure you could stop taking account of the surface and that you will be braking on a corner.
Forgive me if this is teaching granny to suck eggs.
Forgive me if this is teaching granny to suck eggs.
Vipers said:
waremark said:
Forgive me if this is teaching granny to suck eggs.
Good sound advice, which some seem oblivious to. Oh and the car could be ON YOUR SIDE which has slowed because he cant overtake a cyclist, just before someone points out the one in your scenario should not overtake a cyclist on an approach to a bend!
Hooli said:
Vipers said:
I find that with cruise control, I have little chance of exceeding NSL by much. Once up to speed, I just put the cc on and forget it.
The other one, which I saw in a BMW in Dubai, not sure if they do this now, but every car there had to have an audiable warning fitted which used to go off when the car exceeded 70mph, not loud, but enough to warn you.
Why dont manufacturers, or after sales make a gizmo which could be set by the driver himself, say set at 75-80 for motorways.
Could save drivers creaping up as we do.
they used to have that years ago in XR4is so it cant be hard to do.The other one, which I saw in a BMW in Dubai, not sure if they do this now, but every car there had to have an audiable warning fitted which used to go off when the car exceeded 70mph, not loud, but enough to warn you.
Why dont manufacturers, or after sales make a gizmo which could be set by the driver himself, say set at 75-80 for motorways.
Could save drivers creaping up as we do.
Edited by Shropshiremike on Saturday 24th November 21:54
Second time lucky, because my internet timed out as I tried to post!
I was in a similar position, but not quite as bad.
In June I bought a Seat Toledo TDi to do high miles associated with a new job. The Seat is a great motorway mile muncher but not exactly exciting. I became bored of its very grippy, but slightly soggy, safe handling and started taking greater risks to keep driving interesting. It got to the point where my fuel consumption had deteriorated from frequently seeing nearly 60mpg to not infrequently only getting high-40's. I was aware my driving was getting worse, but hadn't done anything about it.
3 weeks ago I bought a Fisher Fury. I had been intending to get a kit car for a while, but in the preceding weeks a friend had taken it upon himself to try and lure me onto a motorbike, he even offered me his CBR500 for virtually nothing. While I can see the attraction of bikes, I'd rather not become an organ donor by anything other than choice and it was the perfect excuse I needed to justify a kit car! But that is beside the point; I have found that it has transformed my everyday driving.
I was aware of the need to observe ever damp patch, change in surface, manhole cover etc. which previously I'd have just driven passed; picking this up wasn't a problem. Not only has this transfered to my everyday driving, but suddenly the Toledo is in such a different league of fun that it isnt even worth trying to make progress in it. Motorway jaunts have become relaxed affairs at a comparatively legal 75 (where & when appropriate), and when traffic backs up you'll find me in lane 1, the stress of being tailgated, barged in upon etc. simply doesn't seem worth the 2 or 3mph gain of being in lane 3 or 4. Almost overnight my driving went from something I was becoming increasingly frustrated with to something I am very happy with, there are as always things that need improvement, but suddenly the attitude is right again. It remains to be seen whether it will remain this way, I suspect it will be related to the amount of use the Fury gets.
What I'm trying to get across is the value of having 2 cars, a boring motorway hack for the weekday, and a toy for the weekend and track.
I was in a similar position, but not quite as bad.
In June I bought a Seat Toledo TDi to do high miles associated with a new job. The Seat is a great motorway mile muncher but not exactly exciting. I became bored of its very grippy, but slightly soggy, safe handling and started taking greater risks to keep driving interesting. It got to the point where my fuel consumption had deteriorated from frequently seeing nearly 60mpg to not infrequently only getting high-40's. I was aware my driving was getting worse, but hadn't done anything about it.
3 weeks ago I bought a Fisher Fury. I had been intending to get a kit car for a while, but in the preceding weeks a friend had taken it upon himself to try and lure me onto a motorbike, he even offered me his CBR500 for virtually nothing. While I can see the attraction of bikes, I'd rather not become an organ donor by anything other than choice and it was the perfect excuse I needed to justify a kit car! But that is beside the point; I have found that it has transformed my everyday driving.
I was aware of the need to observe ever damp patch, change in surface, manhole cover etc. which previously I'd have just driven passed; picking this up wasn't a problem. Not only has this transfered to my everyday driving, but suddenly the Toledo is in such a different league of fun that it isnt even worth trying to make progress in it. Motorway jaunts have become relaxed affairs at a comparatively legal 75 (where & when appropriate), and when traffic backs up you'll find me in lane 1, the stress of being tailgated, barged in upon etc. simply doesn't seem worth the 2 or 3mph gain of being in lane 3 or 4. Almost overnight my driving went from something I was becoming increasingly frustrated with to something I am very happy with, there are as always things that need improvement, but suddenly the attitude is right again. It remains to be seen whether it will remain this way, I suspect it will be related to the amount of use the Fury gets.
What I'm trying to get across is the value of having 2 cars, a boring motorway hack for the weekday, and a toy for the weekend and track.
I'll fess up now - I haven't read all the thread so sorry if repeating anything.
Get another micra. If it's anything like my 106 it'll get you back on the straight and narrow in no time. You'll have to plan 5 mins in advance for an overtake, you'll cringe at the thought of stopping at a roundabout and you'll almost never actually make it to 96mph!!
Seriously, small slow cars force you to be a better driver. And they're f***ing good fun because you can get close to the car's limits without going too far over the speed limits.
Get another micra. If it's anything like my 106 it'll get you back on the straight and narrow in no time. You'll have to plan 5 mins in advance for an overtake, you'll cringe at the thought of stopping at a roundabout and you'll almost never actually make it to 96mph!!
Seriously, small slow cars force you to be a better driver. And they're f***ing good fun because you can get close to the car's limits without going too far over the speed limits.
bitwrx said:
I'll fess up now - I haven't read all the thread so sorry if repeating anything.
Get another micra. If it's anything like my 106 it'll get you back on the straight and narrow in no time. You'll have to plan 5 mins in advance for an overtake, you'll cringe at the thought of stopping at a roundabout and you'll almost never actually make it to 96mph!!
Seriously, small slow cars force you to be a better driver. And they're f***ing good fun because you can get close to the car's limits without going too far over the speed limits.
Er no, Mrs. WG's K12 Micra 160SR is a very capable machine.Get another micra. If it's anything like my 106 it'll get you back on the straight and narrow in no time. You'll have to plan 5 mins in advance for an overtake, you'll cringe at the thought of stopping at a roundabout and you'll almost never actually make it to 96mph!!
Seriously, small slow cars force you to be a better driver. And they're f***ing good fun because you can get close to the car's limits without going too far over the speed limits.
When I drive it I can upset others in machines they think are much more "maccho".
Such that they just have to get past.
Mrs WG is more than capable too, just she thinks them others are prats.
That's the male versus female thing of course.
Micra 160SR, with a few additions, would make a brilliant Road Rally car.
I had a similar driving style to dhutch, except that I never started off driving well, I drove recklessly from the day I passed my test (well, at least I'm honest!)
I have calmed down, but similar to the OP, it took several speed camera vans and cops with radar guns to make me change. I didn't actually get caught for any of them, my observation has always been quite good (though I know it could improve more), and on each occasion, I spotted the cop or van and hit the brakes quick enough to lose speed before they were aimed at me.
But I could have quite easily got anywhere between 6 points and a full ban if the police had just been aiming a little further up the road.
I haven't "give up" with driving now, but I'll admit that it's become much more of a chore. I'm still paying attention, but I have just lost any desire to enjoy driving I think. I couldn't help but laugh when I had a Micra flash at me a few days back because I was doing 30 in an area which shouldn't really be a 30 limit, but is. I could have gone faster, there was plenty of vision, no pedestrians, but is there ANY point? I'll just be breaking the law.
I had looked at doing IaM a while back but the attitudes of some of the instructors made me think twice, I was classed as a 'young lad with a modified hatch' before I even started any course really.
A lot of people have suggested track days, but to find a car physically up to doing one that I can drive to a track adds up to quite an expensive sum.
I think I'll just take up stamp-collecting as a hobby instead...
I have calmed down, but similar to the OP, it took several speed camera vans and cops with radar guns to make me change. I didn't actually get caught for any of them, my observation has always been quite good (though I know it could improve more), and on each occasion, I spotted the cop or van and hit the brakes quick enough to lose speed before they were aimed at me.
But I could have quite easily got anywhere between 6 points and a full ban if the police had just been aiming a little further up the road.
I haven't "give up" with driving now, but I'll admit that it's become much more of a chore. I'm still paying attention, but I have just lost any desire to enjoy driving I think. I couldn't help but laugh when I had a Micra flash at me a few days back because I was doing 30 in an area which shouldn't really be a 30 limit, but is. I could have gone faster, there was plenty of vision, no pedestrians, but is there ANY point? I'll just be breaking the law.
I had looked at doing IaM a while back but the attitudes of some of the instructors made me think twice, I was classed as a 'young lad with a modified hatch' before I even started any course really.
A lot of people have suggested track days, but to find a car physically up to doing one that I can drive to a track adds up to quite an expensive sum.
I think I'll just take up stamp-collecting as a hobby instead...
Shropshiremike said:
Hooli said:
Vipers said:
I find that with cruise control, I have little chance of exceeding NSL by much. Once up to speed, I just put the cc on and forget it.
The other one, which I saw in a BMW in Dubai, not sure if they do this now, but every car there had to have an audiable warning fitted which used to go off when the car exceeded 70mph, not loud, but enough to warn you.
Why dont manufacturers, or after sales make a gizmo which could be set by the driver himself, say set at 75-80 for motorways.
Could save drivers creaping up as we do.
they used to have that years ago in XR4is so it cant be hard to do.The other one, which I saw in a BMW in Dubai, not sure if they do this now, but every car there had to have an audiable warning fitted which used to go off when the car exceeded 70mph, not loud, but enough to warn you.
Why dont manufacturers, or after sales make a gizmo which could be set by the driver himself, say set at 75-80 for motorways.
Could save drivers creaping up as we do.
Edited by Shropshiremike on Saturday 24th November 21:54
leon_t said:
I had a similar driving style to dhutch, except that I never started off driving well, I drove recklessly from the day I passed my test (well, at least I'm honest!)
I have calmed down, but similar to the OP, it took several speed camera vans and cops with radar guns to make me change. I didn't actually get caught for any of them, my observation has always been quite good (though I know it could improve more), and on each occasion, I spotted the cop or van and hit the brakes quick enough to lose speed before they were aimed at me.
But I could have quite easily got anywhere between 6 points and a full ban if the police had just been aiming a little further up the road.
I haven't "give up" with driving now, but I'll admit that it's become much more of a chore. I'm still paying attention, but I have just lost any desire to enjoy driving I think. I couldn't help but laugh when I had a Micra flash at me a few days back because I was doing 30 in an area which shouldn't really be a 30 limit, but is. I could have gone faster, there was plenty of vision, no pedestrians, but is there ANY point? I'll just be breaking the law.
I had looked at doing IaM a while back but the attitudes of some of the instructors made me think twice, I was classed as a 'young lad with a modified hatch' before I even started any course really.
A lot of people have suggested track days, but to find a car physically up to doing one that I can drive to a track adds up to quite an expensive sum.
I think I'll just take up stamp-collecting as a hobby instead...
Yeah, ive been looking at track day options and the seven thing.I have calmed down, but similar to the OP, it took several speed camera vans and cops with radar guns to make me change. I didn't actually get caught for any of them, my observation has always been quite good (though I know it could improve more), and on each occasion, I spotted the cop or van and hit the brakes quick enough to lose speed before they were aimed at me.
But I could have quite easily got anywhere between 6 points and a full ban if the police had just been aiming a little further up the road.
I haven't "give up" with driving now, but I'll admit that it's become much more of a chore. I'm still paying attention, but I have just lost any desire to enjoy driving I think. I couldn't help but laugh when I had a Micra flash at me a few days back because I was doing 30 in an area which shouldn't really be a 30 limit, but is. I could have gone faster, there was plenty of vision, no pedestrians, but is there ANY point? I'll just be breaking the law.
I had looked at doing IaM a while back but the attitudes of some of the instructors made me think twice, I was classed as a 'young lad with a modified hatch' before I even started any course really.
A lot of people have suggested track days, but to find a car physically up to doing one that I can drive to a track adds up to quite an expensive sum.
I think I'll just take up stamp-collecting as a hobby instead...
Thoughts so far are.
- A) Sevens are not the cheapest option, although there good for what you get.
- B) Hiring a car for a track day isnt very cheap, considering buying a cheap car.
- c) I could maybe just about afford a seven, but then would be skint for anything else.
- D) The IAM course looks fairly cost affective, but not really quite what im looking for.
- E) Death.
Daniel
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