Utilising the power on a VERY powerful car...
Discussion
Having driven/owned quite a mix of cars and bikes, you can never have enough power really in my opinion.
If you've got it, then the option is always there to open the taps, but if you haven't then you can't!
My 911 Carrera irritates me sometimes as it just doesn't have enough power for my liking. I need a Turbo ideally. A friend has a 997 Turbo with Techart upgrades (approx 550bhp) and that puts a smile on my face
My mate has an Evo IV RS Lightweight with a dyno verified 600bhp fully forged engine and it's probably got enough power to weight for the road, but even he says he would like a bit more!
The guy with the 997 Turbo I mentioned also has a Gallardo, but both me and him think it's too slow really and the 911 is more fun.
As others have said, the throttle is a dimmer switch not an on/off switch...
If you've got it, then the option is always there to open the taps, but if you haven't then you can't!
My 911 Carrera irritates me sometimes as it just doesn't have enough power for my liking. I need a Turbo ideally. A friend has a 997 Turbo with Techart upgrades (approx 550bhp) and that puts a smile on my face
My mate has an Evo IV RS Lightweight with a dyno verified 600bhp fully forged engine and it's probably got enough power to weight for the road, but even he says he would like a bit more!
The guy with the 997 Turbo I mentioned also has a Gallardo, but both me and him think it's too slow really and the 911 is more fun.
As others have said, the throttle is a dimmer switch not an on/off switch...
Power corrupts. I'd like another 150 on top of the 400 I have now, but that isn't going to happen, and would be pointless for me 99% of the time. I like low end acceleration and mid-range punch as I rarely go into licence losing speeds as there is no point in these modern times what with all the camera's, police and dash cams around.
I'll stick with 400bhp.
I'll stick with 400bhp.
It's not black and white, even at an individual level.
We're all different. Some want the perfect car. Others need lots of cars.
I enjoy thrashing something as much as I enjoy having a respectable amount in reserve. There have been particular combinations which for me, personally, haven't worked.
If I'm in my own little world my ideal car would be something with a more exotic layout but a lowish capacity. Some of the old 3~4 litre V12s from the 1960s with rorty carburettors would be great. Something reasonably revvy but needed to be worked hard and made lots of noise doing it.
That's perfect right up until you come up behind a modern diesel which is "well driven" in that rage-inducing manner of driving at the speed limit on the straights but slowing gently and early to speeds which remove any sensation of lateral G from corners. When you catch one of these, they will DEFINATELY ruin your drive, and you need to overtake although on the sort of roads you're likely to be on opportunities may be on the tighter side and you need grunt to get past. Whereas something like an MG Midget was great fun up until this point, the drive is now completely ruined and there's no hope of redemption because someone in front is controlling your speed.
Thus for commuting I prefer something with power.
I suppose I'm the opposite of a proper PHer. I could think of little more frustrating than having a powerful car locked up in the garage whilst crying all the way home in a low powered hatchback stuck behind some prat "unwinding" in my time.
The answer for folk like me is therefore lots of cars with lots of diversity. And once again I'm off to shop for cheap V12s in the classifieds...
ETA: having said all that - I did watch that LaFerrari video when it first came out of the car being tanked down a rural road and think to myself "that just sounds frustrating". Having a vocal engine that you can't wring out can be annoying. There's only so much satisfaction to be gained from knowing you have it. Even a lowly TVR can frustrate this way through being traction limited through first gear in all UK weather, second gear through most of it and third gear for a bit of it. The opportunities to hold WOT through its 7,000rpm peak power and up to its 7,500rpm limit without being completely illegal are extremely rare. Although the flexibility of having so much grunt is great, sometimes you just need to feel everything it's got - and that's difficult to do. Probably impossible in practise for seriously powerful cars.
We're all different. Some want the perfect car. Others need lots of cars.
I enjoy thrashing something as much as I enjoy having a respectable amount in reserve. There have been particular combinations which for me, personally, haven't worked.
If I'm in my own little world my ideal car would be something with a more exotic layout but a lowish capacity. Some of the old 3~4 litre V12s from the 1960s with rorty carburettors would be great. Something reasonably revvy but needed to be worked hard and made lots of noise doing it.
That's perfect right up until you come up behind a modern diesel which is "well driven" in that rage-inducing manner of driving at the speed limit on the straights but slowing gently and early to speeds which remove any sensation of lateral G from corners. When you catch one of these, they will DEFINATELY ruin your drive, and you need to overtake although on the sort of roads you're likely to be on opportunities may be on the tighter side and you need grunt to get past. Whereas something like an MG Midget was great fun up until this point, the drive is now completely ruined and there's no hope of redemption because someone in front is controlling your speed.
Thus for commuting I prefer something with power.
I suppose I'm the opposite of a proper PHer. I could think of little more frustrating than having a powerful car locked up in the garage whilst crying all the way home in a low powered hatchback stuck behind some prat "unwinding" in my time.
The answer for folk like me is therefore lots of cars with lots of diversity. And once again I'm off to shop for cheap V12s in the classifieds...
ETA: having said all that - I did watch that LaFerrari video when it first came out of the car being tanked down a rural road and think to myself "that just sounds frustrating". Having a vocal engine that you can't wring out can be annoying. There's only so much satisfaction to be gained from knowing you have it. Even a lowly TVR can frustrate this way through being traction limited through first gear in all UK weather, second gear through most of it and third gear for a bit of it. The opportunities to hold WOT through its 7,000rpm peak power and up to its 7,500rpm limit without being completely illegal are extremely rare. Although the flexibility of having so much grunt is great, sometimes you just need to feel everything it's got - and that's difficult to do. Probably impossible in practise for seriously powerful cars.
Edited by jamieduff1981 on Wednesday 26th November 07:23
Robert Elise said:
It's not B&W, and less powerful cars can certainly be heaps of fun.
Although I always found that going on country hoons in the mk1 MX5 was made slightly frustrating by the lack of oomph for overtakes.I still think having enough grip to spin the wheels at silly speeds is about right. Ergo, cars like the 458 Speciale and other traction limited monsters are good fun. Or perhaps a C63 AMG fitted with spacesavers.
epom said:
Jimmy No Hands said:
paulmnz said:
This. I drove an F12 earlier this year thinking 'no big deal, how much faster can it really be' after having driven 458's and a F430 scuderia in the past and not been amazed by the feeling of acceleration.
The F12 was on another planet to the 458.
Yup. They are terrifying. The F12 was on another planet to the 458.
In my personal opinion anything above 400BHP is really getting on for a bit much. Some may disagree but I just found myself (475BHP Supercharged M3) just driving at very, very silly speeds in the dry and driving like miss daisy in the wet.
Now drive a 354BHP as my daily and enjoy it far more.
Now drive a 354BHP as my daily and enjoy it far more.
bennyboysvuk said:
Robert Elise said:
It's not B&W, and less powerful cars can certainly be heaps of fun.
Although I always found that going on country hoons in the mk1 MX5 was made slightly frustrating by the lack of oomph for overtakes.I still think having enough grip to spin the wheels at silly speeds is about right. Ergo, cars like the 458 Speciale and other traction limited monsters are good fun. Or perhaps a C63 AMG fitted with spacesavers.
My preference is for a mixed garage, and i agree that a C63 would be on my list. As would a 458 Speciale when then come down in price....
My Skunk has around 430Bhp/tonne. It is running an R1 engine, but is heavily geared down. On the bike you'll hit 90mph in first, whereas on my Skunk, first runs out at 60mph.
Do I use all the power? Pretty rarely to be honest and by rarely I mean maybe a handful of times a year. It's a combination of not needing it, not having the traction and it simply not being appropriate. On traction, I only have one driven wheel, and it is running a road legal slick. With anything other than a dry warm road full throttle at >7Krpm just equates to a lot of wheelspin.
Would thee car be as much fun with less power?
Absolutely not.
Do I use all the power? Pretty rarely to be honest and by rarely I mean maybe a handful of times a year. It's a combination of not needing it, not having the traction and it simply not being appropriate. On traction, I only have one driven wheel, and it is running a road legal slick. With anything other than a dry warm road full throttle at >7Krpm just equates to a lot of wheelspin.
Would thee car be as much fun with less power?
Absolutely not.
I have a fairly powerful motorcar, but it's not frustrating around town as 1) it makes a glorious noise, and 2) the power delivery is so smooth and progressive you can potter around keeping up with traffic quiet happily.
In fact, the more powerful the car I drive the more likely I am to rigidly stick to 30 or 40 limits rather than just tailgate the car in front at whatever speed it is doing, also Traffic Light Grands Prix are not worth entering into as you can win if you wanted to. NSL zone = Fair Game though
I'm perhaps lucky that there is a piece of NSL dual carriageway on my commute that often allows full power exits from a roundabout, so I do get to use the power occasionally.
Actually, the biggest frustration around town isn't from too much power but that in driving a 'big' car you actually sit lower down than most of the other cars on the road, so this morning I had to sit like a plum at the entrance to a roadabout for a couple of minutes unable to see as I was dwarfed by 2 much taller cars whose door lines were higher than my eye-level, the vehicles in question? Ford Fiestas.
In fact, the more powerful the car I drive the more likely I am to rigidly stick to 30 or 40 limits rather than just tailgate the car in front at whatever speed it is doing, also Traffic Light Grands Prix are not worth entering into as you can win if you wanted to. NSL zone = Fair Game though
I'm perhaps lucky that there is a piece of NSL dual carriageway on my commute that often allows full power exits from a roundabout, so I do get to use the power occasionally.
Actually, the biggest frustration around town isn't from too much power but that in driving a 'big' car you actually sit lower down than most of the other cars on the road, so this morning I had to sit like a plum at the entrance to a roadabout for a couple of minutes unable to see as I was dwarfed by 2 much taller cars whose door lines were higher than my eye-level, the vehicles in question? Ford Fiestas.
Some years back a relative, worked for a well known Ferrari. Porsche, Maserati dealership, and would regularly turn up in something very nice. He called me one day to say he had a Testarossa, and would I like a go in it? I had to think for while, possibly as long as a nanosecond, but said yes.
We got to a quiet section of dual carriage way, and I asked if he minded me pulling into an upcoming lay by, so that I could check out the acceleration on a completely empty road. which I duly did.
after a few seconds we were WELL (WELL) into three figure territory. After we got back, I told him that a car like that would be a licence loser for me as I was struggling to keep my foot off the loud pedal for almost all the time I was driving it, and that it was probably true for quite a number of drivers. He s replied this is exactly what happens with many of their clients. They buy one of the `very nice' cars one week, and about a week and half, to two weeks later are back in the showroom, asking if the dealership would be interested in buying the car back, as they had lost their licence for a year. Of course the dealership was happy to do this, only not at the same price the punter bought it for, a week or so earlier! :
We got to a quiet section of dual carriage way, and I asked if he minded me pulling into an upcoming lay by, so that I could check out the acceleration on a completely empty road. which I duly did.
after a few seconds we were WELL (WELL) into three figure territory. After we got back, I told him that a car like that would be a licence loser for me as I was struggling to keep my foot off the loud pedal for almost all the time I was driving it, and that it was probably true for quite a number of drivers. He s replied this is exactly what happens with many of their clients. They buy one of the `very nice' cars one week, and about a week and half, to two weeks later are back in the showroom, asking if the dealership would be interested in buying the car back, as they had lost their licence for a year. Of course the dealership was happy to do this, only not at the same price the punter bought it for, a week or so earlier! :
Truckosaurus said:
I have a fairly powerful motorcar, but it's not frustrating around town as 1) it makes a glorious noise, and 2) the power delivery is so smooth and progressive you can potter around keeping up with traffic quiet happily.
This is a good one IMOA powerful car makes town driving/low speeds effortless and far more relaxing
Dover Nige said:
This is exactly why I sold my Z4M Coupe for an Austin A35 with optimised brakes and suspension, powered by a throbbing 1098cc putting 64bhp out. The little thing makes me grin like a fool every time I get behind the wheel.
It's so much more fun than the Z4M which only made sense at high speed.
I've not looked back since changing once.
Now that''s what it's all about. Awesome.It's so much more fun than the Z4M which only made sense at high speed.
I've not looked back since changing once.
k-ink said:
Using lots of power can be fun but it puts your licence at huge risk. For me it becomes a painful test of self control. I hate to say it, but vastly powerful cars are pointless now with so many cameras about. Still, fun can be had in smaller cars with decent handling and steering.
Can still lose your license in a small car.as you said, Control.
I recently had a week in a 991, not the fastest car on the roads by a long shot. However I found myself doing nearly 120mph on a local test track with 4 more gears to go, and wondering at the point. Other than the odd squirt down a slip road, making up lost speed on the motorway, or a blitzkrieg overtake I just didn't use full power it was mostly an exercise in frustration.
My own ~1000kgs/200bhp 41 year old 911 engages all of my attention at half the speed on the same roads, and yet is still faster than almost every other car I encounter.
SS7
My own ~1000kgs/200bhp 41 year old 911 engages all of my attention at half the speed on the same roads, and yet is still faster than almost every other car I encounter.
SS7
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