"Careful sir, this is a very powerful car!"
Discussion
SpeckledJim said:
Captainawesome said:
^^^^^ This, taking people who have never been a properly quick car is absolutely hilarious. I think we on PH sometimes take it for granted.
I love hearing the screams when all you are doing is accelerating in a straight line......then the silence and occasional squeak in the corners....and then the shaking when they get out.
It's all about your fast car 'level'.
Reminds of the guy I met a few weeks ago who was telling me his 1.2 polo was a 'proper little rocket'. No mate, no, it's not.
This is exactly what I mean. I love hearing the screams when all you are doing is accelerating in a straight line......then the silence and occasional squeak in the corners....and then the shaking when they get out.
It's all about your fast car 'level'.
Reminds of the guy I met a few weeks ago who was telling me his 1.2 polo was a 'proper little rocket'. No mate, no, it's not.
Believe it or not, a salesman who doesn't know you from Adam isn't going to be impressed with this on a test drive. He'll probably be scared.
Since there's a small but real chance you're about to kill him, that's understandable.
shake n bake said:
Yup, I agree with this. Also, for every actual buyer you may get for a reasonably fast car, you'll have 29 idiots who think the 2.0 golf is a rocket ship and they can demo it as hard as possible just so they can tell there mates.
It's not always fun Being the other side of the desk!
Fortunately my idiot alarm has sharpened over the years!
To a lot of people a 2.0 golf is fast though. The average UK car is probably a base spec Focus or Fiesta so a 2.0 is probably a fair bit above average.It's not always fun Being the other side of the desk!
Fortunately my idiot alarm has sharpened over the years!
Mind you an owner of a diesel Skoda I do occasionally find people think they need to show me what fast is, but always seems a little slow to a biker...until you get to a nice grippy corner, we're not used to sideways G forces
Indicative of what a sound bunch of lads the folks at Ariel are that they not only opened the factory to accommodate me for a test drive but also never uttered any word of warning as they let me a drive a 300. Having said that they may have felt such a warning was unnecessary as my friend who had went out first got out of the car without saying a word or even taking his helmet off or acknowledging anyone and proceeded to lie down staring straight up at the sky for a good 5 minutes.
Captainawesome said:
^^^^^ This, taking people who have never been a properly quick car is absolutely hilarious. I think we on PH sometimes take it for granted.
I love hearing the screams when all you are doing is accelerating in a straight line......then the silence and occasional squeak in the corners....and then the shaking when they get out.
It's all about your fast car 'level'.
Reminds of the guy I met a few weeks ago who was telling me his 1.2 polo was a 'proper little rocket'. No mate, no, it's not.
A girl at work was utterly, unwaveringly convinced that her car was faster than my bike because the engine in her Corsa was a 1400cc whereas my Fireblade only had 1000cc.I love hearing the screams when all you are doing is accelerating in a straight line......then the silence and occasional squeak in the corners....and then the shaking when they get out.
It's all about your fast car 'level'.
Reminds of the guy I met a few weeks ago who was telling me his 1.2 polo was a 'proper little rocket'. No mate, no, it's not.
I think you'll find it's more about the car you turn up in, than the one you want to buy.....
(turn up in a saab, and they'll just assume you are an architect and just lob you the keys without comment, but turn up in a barry'd hot hatch with a boomy exhaust and they will assume you drive like a t**t and you'll get the lecture........)
(turn up in a saab, and they'll just assume you are an architect and just lob you the keys without comment, but turn up in a barry'd hot hatch with a boomy exhaust and they will assume you drive like a t**t and you'll get the lecture........)
Had a similar experience in a Honda Dealer earlier this year. I was looking at an S2000 but had to wait for the only salesman allowed to take the car out to be free - he was easy to spot because he was wearing his Honda Racing coat...
Before we could go out though, I had the big talk about how powerful it was and how it would be so much quicker and more of a handful than anything else I've driven. This was after he'd asked if I'd driven anything RWD and me mentioning I'd just tested a 350Z and spent a few days driving a v12 E-Type and XKR around the Cotswolds!
Didn't buy it from him - he strangely forgot to mention the missing tonneau cover, toolset, brake discs & pads which were in desperate need of replacement, etc.
Before we could go out though, I had the big talk about how powerful it was and how it would be so much quicker and more of a handful than anything else I've driven. This was after he'd asked if I'd driven anything RWD and me mentioning I'd just tested a 350Z and spent a few days driving a v12 E-Type and XKR around the Cotswolds!
Didn't buy it from him - he strangely forgot to mention the missing tonneau cover, toolset, brake discs & pads which were in desperate need of replacement, etc.
Captainawesome said:
...then the silence and occasional squeak in the corners....and then the shaking when they get out.
To be fair, that's not always due to the power of the car. I've reacted like that after being in some pretty slow machinery driven by people who have either no idea of braking distances or are confident that god will preserve them.In the case of the original quote, it wasn't so much that he was calling the car fast, it was that he seemed to think it was so fast that I needed an enormously power brake servo despite the fact that I'd turned up in a vehicle with three times the power to weight ratio and no servo at all.
Had he said "it needs to be over-servod because it weighs as much as the moon" I might not have found it quite so daft.
Interestingly, I've only had such comments when test driving relatively slow family cars. I've turned up to test drive a 911 GT3 in an 8v Punto and was just given the keys and told to have fun.
Had he said "it needs to be over-servod because it weighs as much as the moon" I might not have found it quite so daft.
Interestingly, I've only had such comments when test driving relatively slow family cars. I've turned up to test drive a 911 GT3 in an 8v Punto and was just given the keys and told to have fun.
Max_Torque said:
I think you'll find it's more about the car you turn up in, than the one you want to buy.....
(turn up in a saab, and they'll just assume you are an architect and just lob you the keys without comment, but turn up in a barry'd hot hatch with a boomy exhaust and they will assume you drive like a t**t and you'll get the lecture........)
Indeed (turn up in a saab, and they'll just assume you are an architect and just lob you the keys without comment, but turn up in a barry'd hot hatch with a boomy exhaust and they will assume you drive like a t**t and you'll get the lecture........)
when I went to look at my E46 328i, I got a lift there in my housemate's tidy black Volvo S60. I'd deliberately worn a shirt and some decent shoes, and as a result I was given the keys with some advice about the nearby speed camera locations - "I'll be in the office when you're back"!Had I rocked up in a stanced Corsa wearing massive trainers and incorrectly oriented headgear, I don't feel I'd have been afforded the same trust..
A few years ago I was driving a fully marked up Police S60 T5 past a garage when I spotted a Focus ST on the forecourt. I had a look at the spec, realised it was exactly what I had been looking for, for 4 months (high spec, low mileage, one owner) so I quickly popped in and made an appointment to test drive it after work. The salesman walked me back to the T5 and I got in and drove off.
Go back for the test drive and the SAME SALESMAN asks me if I've ever driven a quick car before as I was quite young and my own car was only a diesel Honda so very slow in comparison
I laughed and then test drove the s
t out of that thing.
Then, when the salesman could speak again, I bought it.
Go back for the test drive and the SAME SALESMAN asks me if I've ever driven a quick car before as I was quite young and my own car was only a diesel Honda so very slow in comparison
I laughed and then test drove the s
t out of that thing. Then, when the salesman could speak again, I bought it.
Turned up to buy my M6 in Leicester last year. Deposit was already given over the phone.
Salesman looked at me and was pleasant enough. Then he asked me what car I turned up in and I replied "a T-reg Passat diesel"
I'm sure he thought I was taking the p*ss until I pointed out "that one there, next to the black M5" and then he looked even more nervous!
Salesman looked at me and was pleasant enough. Then he asked me what car I turned up in and I replied "a T-reg Passat diesel"
I'm sure he thought I was taking the p*ss until I pointed out "that one there, next to the black M5" and then he looked even more nervous!
Many years ago I asked what the button by the hand brake was on a Focus 2.0 Ghia -"traction control sir, these things really shift" was his answer. On the test drive I thought the acceletator cable must be broken as it felt so slooooow! Bought the car and spent 3 years of happy motoring realising that at least it handled well!
Captainawesome said:
....and then the shaking when they get out.
I'm certain this is not a sign of speed as such I can drive extremely briskly and my passengers are usually egging me on (including my mum who hates going fast) if your driving style makes people feel comfortable they won't be scared.I have a friend who tries to drive fast and its scary as hell, he's previously been banned from putting his foot down with me in his car.
The thing with a demo is you've normally never driven with the customer, so you have no idea how well, or otherwise they're going to drive, so it is worth making the point, especially when the majority of people are not used to driving quick stuff. Usually I take the car out first, warm it up, then show the customer what it is capable of. This removes the challenge from the customer and also tends to make them relax more.
If you're making the salesman scream or be concerned generally it is your driving style which needs work, not the speed. Some of my fastest ever test drives have been the most relaxing, with people who are very very good and well up to the job. Some of the slower ones have been the scariest where the customer is trying too hard and their enthusiasm is far exceeding their talent.
If you're making the salesman scream or be concerned generally it is your driving style which needs work, not the speed. Some of my fastest ever test drives have been the most relaxing, with people who are very very good and well up to the job. Some of the slower ones have been the scariest where the customer is trying too hard and their enthusiasm is far exceeding their talent.
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