Why bother with a 500bhp V10 if....

[Lost soul]

xRIEx said:

Schermerhorn said:

xxChrisxx said:

HertsBiker said:

Maybe I'm wrong, but if you can't afford to drive your 'fast' car as it was designed to do (legalities excepted) then you bought too powerful a car in error and are a poser. Better drive a mundane diesel and be able to thrash it than have to tip toe about with your super car.....

Well you can't fault the logic, of course based on legalities, that we should all only ever buy base model engines and drive them flat out.

You have missed the joie de vivre of owning very powerful motor. It's the knowledge that, should you chose to, you could give pretty much anything else on the road a damn good thrashing. As such, you never have to actually drive anywhere quickly.

It's slightly paradoxical that very fast cars can be most fulfilling when driven sedately, and slow cars most fun when driven quickly.

This. Just having that 'knowledge' is enough

I don't really care about giving other cars a 'damn good thrashing' - if that's a primary concern when choosing a car then I think HertsBiker was correct, it's been selected for its posing effect.

Rubbish , ownership is about more than thrashing the living daylights out of the car

[xRIEx]

Lost soul said:

xRIEx said:

Schermerhorn said:

xxChrisxx said:

HertsBiker said:

Maybe I'm wrong, but if you can't afford to drive your 'fast' car as it was designed to do (legalities excepted) then you bought too powerful a car in error and are a poser. Better drive a mundane diesel and be able to thrash it than have to tip toe about with your super car.....

Well you can't fault the logic, of course based on legalities, that we should all only ever buy base model engines and drive them flat out.

You have missed the joie de vivre of owning very powerful motor. It's the knowledge that, should you chose to, you could give pretty much anything else on the road a damn good thrashing. As such, you never have to actually drive anywhere quickly.

It's slightly paradoxical that very fast cars can be most fulfilling when driven sedately, and slow cars most fun when driven quickly.

This. Just having that 'knowledge' is enough

I don't really care about giving other cars a 'damn good thrashing' - if that's a primary concern when choosing a car then I think HertsBiker was correct, it's been selected for its posing effect.

Rubbish , ownership is about more than thrashing the living daylights out of the car

Well yes, I agree - I said I don't care being faster than other cars. I drive my car as hard (or as sedately) as I choose, rather than racing other cars to prove mine is faster.

[Sump]

Vladikar said:

I often get the 'why are you driving in the slow lane' look in my car, much to the annoyance of most white van drivers.

My car my business where I drive it fast.

Sure it ain't people checking you're not a cop?

[marcosgt]

I was talking to my son recently, who's learning to drive and told him I can still remember the first time I went on the motorway.

I was really excited and a little nervous, but by the time I reached the exit, I was bored stiff.

Motorways aren't exciting to drive on. If I had a 500 bhp V10 (or a 230 BHP rotary), I'd not consider them the place to enjoy the engine!

M.

[Pappagallo]

I got taken for a demo in a neighbour's 500bhp car on the weekend. He trundled along for 10 minutes at a very sedate pace (but still 70 on a motorway, not 55). Then we reached his favourite bit of road and we had 60 seconds of full-on nutter mode. Probably the fastest I've ever been on B-road. Definitely the quickest I've been round a corner. Then a gentle trundle home.

It was great, and demonstrated that he had nothing to prove. I don't know him well at all so didn't know what to expect. Could easily have ended up a session of tearing round town like an idiot.

Turned out he's had a lot of driver training as part of his job, but he didn't volunteer this information - I asked.

But back to the OP - 55mph cruising on the motorway is pretty sad in any car I think. Verging on dangerous if the traffic is light and flowing well.

[stephen300o]

marcosgt said:

I was talking to my son recently, who's learning to drive and told him I can still remember the first time I went on the motorway.

I was really excited and a little nervous, but by the time I reached the exit, I was bored stiff.

Motorways aren't exciting to drive on. If I had a 500 bhp V10 (or a 230 BHP rotary), I'd not consider them the place to enjoy the engine!

M.

It is simply rapid transit, what the motor way is designed for, nothing to do with enjoyment.

[Fox-]

Pappagallo said:

But back to the OP - 55mph cruising on the motorway is pretty sad in any car I think. Verging on dangerous if the traffic is light and flowing well.

I'd never do 55mph but how is it dangerous given it's pretty much what all the trucks are limited to?

[T0MMY]

Fox- said:

I'd never do 55mph but how is it dangerous given it's pretty much what all the trucks are limited to?

Because of the speed differential from the majority of other traffic.

As in... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_curve

[Zwolf]

Good job that 55-75 doesn't take very long with 500bhp and just a couple of tonnes to shift than the same with 40 tonnes would. One could suppose that's why they're limited.

55-75 is hardly dangerous in even a normal car if you can use a mirror, your eyes, the correct gear and your right foot. If you can't - you'll be equally dangerous in anything, 50bhp or 500.

Also, just typing that has made me realise L1 contains more power and torque than the other two combined most of the time, I bet.

[E65Ross]

Zwolf said:

Also, just typing that has made me realise L1 contains more power and torque than the other two combined most of the time, I bet.

Not a chance, there are 1 million cars in L2 for every 1 vehicle in L1

[Fox-]

T0MMY said:

Because of the speed differential from the majority of other traffic.

As in... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_curve

So what about all the trucks limited to 56 then?

[PanzerCommander]

Fox- said:

So what about all the trucks limited to 56 then?

Because its circa 80kph which iirc is the continental speed limit for HGV's. its a bit of comonality that helps our truckers avoid getting busted for speeding in France And the mass of the trucks mean the energy transfer if they have a crash at 70mph is substantially more than if they have a crash at 50-60mph. The difference in energy transfer in a car is still considerable but far less than that of a truck.

KE=1/2mv2 and all that (basic way of looking at it I know).

Edited by PanzerCommander on Wednesday 1st October 08:16

[Pappagallo]

Fox- said:

Pappagallo said:

But back to the OP - 55mph cruising on the motorway is pretty sad in any car I think. Verging on dangerous if the traffic is light and flowing well.

I'd never do 55mph but how is it dangerous given it's pretty much what all the trucks are limited to?

My thinking is that most people just won't be expecting a car to be doing that low a speed.

I thought trucks could legally do 60mph on a motorway.

[E65Ross]

I don't think going slow is dangerous, so long as it's not so slow lorries have to pull out to overtake you.... You tend to find (not always, of course) that lorry drivers aren't especially considerate when it comes to pulling out to overtake...

[braddo]

E65Ross said:

I don't think going slow is dangerous, so long as it's not so slow lorries have to pull out to overtake you.... You tend to find (not always, of course) that lorry drivers aren't especially considerate when it comes to pulling out to overtake...

Agreed. Hopefully your chap in the M6 is cruising at a minimum of 56mph so as to not force trucks to overtake - car drivers who do that are extremely inconsiderate.

[Midshipracer]

I find mostly it's car owners with something to provide with their car that feel they must go fast all the time.
I own a somewhat fast car which is going to be faster soon but I think it's relaxing to driving in lane 1... until I'm bored Just because you have high HP doesn't mean you have to drive like a lunatic.

Any rain, fog or traffic you'll find me in lane 1

[T0MMY]

Fox- said:

So what about all the trucks limited to 56 then?

What about them?

[JimmyTheHand]

Pappagallo said:

But back to the OP - 55mph cruising on the motorway is pretty sad in any car I think. Verging on dangerous if the traffic is light and flowing well.

and if traffic is averaging 55mph in all lanes on the motorway then trying to go faster is more dangerous as all it does is bunch vehicles with almost no braking space

[Fox-]

T0MMY said:

What about them?

Why is it fine for them to do 56 but totally dangerous if a car tries it?

[T0MMY]

Fox- said:

Why is it fine for them to do 56 but totally dangerous if a car tries it?

Is that a serious question!?

a) I never said it was "totally dangerous" for cars to do 56mph, I simply pointed out that there is a quite well known trend for accidents to be more likely when travelling faster or slower than average traffic speed.

and

b) Just because that is the case, does not mean it would be safer for heavy goods vehicles to be whipping along at 75mph