Anyone else falling out of love with driving a 'fast' car?

[voyds9]

I do 20-25k each year and have chosen comfort over power.

The thing is when you get comfort there is often enough power for eating miles easily what they don't do is accelerate quickly even compared to a hot hatch

But it is still the best compromise for my travelling

[jhonn]

I was never in love with driving a fast car; I've owned a couple of swiftish cars (Impreza turbo, 3.2 TT) and had them above the ton a few times, but never really enjoyed it.
On a twisty road it just felt like too much mass and potential for things to get out of control; coupled with the potential for other road users/wildlife, etc and their unpredictability I never felt comfortable. I'm fully aware that my lack of Driving God skills could be the main factor.

I'd like a fast car again, but it would be more about the low-speed acceleration and potential for safe overtaking.

Funny though, I'm perfectly comfortable on the motorbike at high speeds.

[TorqueDirty]

I think is particularly true for cars that are very fast and yet not that entertaining to drive UNLESS you are driving them fast. I'm starting to hanker for a more involving sports car that is fun to drive even at sub warp factor speeds.

I love my 5.0 XKR but I'm beginning to wonder if something like a Cayman S might be more entertaining more of the time.

[anonymous-user]

I would agree. I had a stage 2 tuned Audi S3 four years ago. Over the years the traffic has become worse. I put it down to more new drivers pass each year... Roads becoming clogged easily. All it takes is one accident on a major artery and it can result in hours of delays. Certain routes are more popular than others. Sat navs often default to fastest routes. We don't have car pool lanes and the bus lanes are in operation during rush hour. I found more and more that I couldn't stretch the S3's legs. I slowly fell out of love with it. I made the switch to an NA engine over the years... Same situation in terms of not being able to enjoy it. Having a 325i sees me 23 mpg avg in London traffic. I drove a diesel last month and took the plunge on a 320d. It's not rapid by any means but in the London slog (or should that be smog?) it feels very capable and hits low 30s mpg. I have been considering a weekend car now... A search pointed me to an amazing list on the PH forums. As it happens I have always wanted a SL55 or SL600. I think we could enjoy this on A/B roads on a weekend and drive it as it should be driven.

[fausTVR]

This whole thing is an increasing problem as we know. We like a fast car and as such it aught to be fun to use, but cars have developed to such a degree that the fun has largely been engineered out, or at least the fun factor has moved up into the highly illegal speed zone which cannot now realistically be accessed. The modern comforts of the cabin have actually insulated us from that all important visceral experience of driving which we now find ourselves hankering for, frustratedly.

This is why I don't buy moderns any more, the fun is there with the right choice of steed, it just needs to be an occasion to walk upto it, enter and fire up, burble away modestly into the chaotic maelstrom of over furnished and strangled streets. The enjoyment can still be there if you chose carefully.

[V8RX7]

I was - then I went to Silverstone Sunday Service - 7am on a sunny but icy morning meant the roads were deserted.

We deliberately chose B roads all the way - followed by 30 mins on track - the best fun I've had in years.

Having to constantly watch for speed traps / cameras and knowing you could get a ban does take the edge off the enjoyment which is why we chose B roads.

Edited by V8RX7 on Saturday 26th March 08:27

[Speed addicted]

The roads near my house look like this ( the one in the photo is a couple of hours away, closer ones are less photogenic but just as fun). The problem is not the car but living near too many other people.

[Hitch78]

I lived in London for a few years and used to love wizzing about in a Clio I had then. I now live in a rural area and whilst there's lots of great driving to be had I don't see the point in anything over about 200bhp. I've had a couple of 300bhp+ cars but rarely used the additional power. Plan now is to move to smaller lighter cars with revvy engines to get that visceral experience back.

[grumbledoak]

I think the OP is falling out of love with London, is all.

Cars have only got better, but the endless war on our freedom of movement is making our cities very car unfriendly.

[SidewaysSi]

I live in SE London and find plenty of places to push my cars pretty hard

I do think however that most modern cars have too much grip. You need something older or a Caterham /Lotus.

Edited by SidewaysSi on Saturday 26th March 08:51

[Negative Creep]

Not that I even have a remotely fast car, but I still feel your pain. Endless roadworks (taking them nearly a year to rebuild a roundabout near me, and it's going from a 40 to a 30), potholes, millions spent on cycle lanes that I've never once seen used........it's pretty depressing really

[johnwilliams77]

Speed addicted said:

The roads near my house look like this ( the one in the photo is a couple of hours away, closer ones are less photogenic but just as fun). The problem is not the car but living near too many other people.

Early alarms essential in Scotland...the dizzy crowd aren't usually on the road to go to church or leaving their b and bs till 9-10

[BIRMA]

It is down to where you live, down here in deepest Hampshire there are countless roads where both my cars get to blast out the cobwebs and as long as I have a pulse I'll be there at least a couple of times a week.
I do agree with you 100% about cities being very car unfriendly, I'm a country hick and have had the displeasure of chauffeuring my daughter to a few events into a couple of cities/towns and it came as a surprise to me just how car unfriendly they seem to be. At least I have the option of keeping away from such places.

[Fleckers]

2 years ago when we started to renovate the hours I sold my Jag and got a navara Pickup to save money on skips and deliveries and also to haul a load of rugby kit about as I am a coach

I miss the jag, but loving in SE London it became a pain
the navara is good fun and practical

the in laws in live in rural southern france the jag used to love those smoth empty roads

[Leins]

Luckily I gave up driving in cities a while back, and survive using public transport and on-foot. There are some really nice roads only a short spin south of where I live, and that's where I do most of my driving now, almost solely for recreational purposes

Got home late last night (no booze here in Ireland on Good Friday), and decided it was the perfect time to go for a jaunt down the road. Dry, salt-free, cold, car loving it, me loving it!

That's why I'll hopefully always have something I like to drive in the garage

[AH33]

Living in an overcrowded area will kill your love for cars fast. London is probably the worst place in the country for the enthusiast who enjoys pressing on. Is it worth the higher wages for the gridlock, heaving masses and £2k a month bedsit? Who cares if you can afford a ferrari if all you do is sit in traffic?

Come to Scotland. Or if you're proper london rich and that, get a second home up here and park it there. You can still exceed 100 regularly up here and the roads are great outside the hell of edinburgh.

[johnwilliams77]

AH33 said:

Living in an overcrowded area will kill your love for cars fast. London is probably the worst place in the country for the enthusiast who enjoys pressing on. Is it worth the higher wages for the gridlock, heaving masses and £2k a month bedsit? Who cares if you can afford a ferrari if all you do is sit in traffic?

Come to Scotland. Or if you're proper london rich and that, get a second home up here and park it there. You can still exceed 100 regularly up here and the roads are great outside the hell of edinburgh.

You can. But it's not worth the risk. Get something fun like a lotus or caterham as mentioned earlier and the sensation of speed is much higher.

[Sal Kar]

I think most of you here are old now. Sure traffic is probably a lot worse than it was a couple decades ago, but i bet some of you actually went out for a drive every now and then purely for the sake of it. Now you're a family man or whatever and the only time you drive is when you commute to work(do you really expect to have fun then?) or at noon on a weekend with the rest of the fairweather drivers.

Furthermore, you're all used to these modern engines making a few hundred horsepower, lots of you with turbodiesels or the new lazy petrols that make peak torque from tickover, its probably paired to an auto box and your 20 inch wheels and 1800kg weight and stability control and its completely stable at 155mph. And you expect to have fun in that?

I have a 1.2 nissan micra making (when new) 79 horsepower. And every time i drive it, without even wanting to sometimes, i obliterate 30 and 40 mph speed limits. It's not even rare that i double the limit with 79 horsepower. No st you can't touch the throttle for more than a few seconds in your 330d without getting to 100. To really press on in the micra, i have to take it to the red line through 2nd and 3rd, i double declutch down the box to make sure i'm always in the power band. There's no TC and it has comedy suspension so if you lift off in corner or ignorantly trailbrake you have oversteer. If you get it wrong, or you're lazy, you're stuffed. And that's the whole point, its what makes it fun, because you're actually driving the car.

Isn't that supposed to be the point of a sports car? It's not meant to be "point the steering wheel, step on the right pedal", it's supposed to make you be involved, and have fun in the road. It's not about absolute speed, because you can't go everywhere at 100. Save your paddle shifts and monster engines for the track. If you want to have fun on the road you need light weight, low power and feedback from the car. That's what a sports car is, in my mind, and its why i have a mk1 mx5.

During the day, when all the traffic is out, i bumble along as stress free as possible in a sensible car. When everyone else is in bed i go looking for some fun. Maybe its not as easy as it was in the old days, but i wasnt around then, so i make do with what we have now. If you really want to have fun driving, you'll find it.

[k-ink]

I am torn on this issue. As a regular guy, of course I am obsessed with anything with wheels. However the fantasy v reality comes into play.

The fantasy is opening the garage to a sleek gleaming sports car and heading off for a drive. I carve my way through endless miles of flowing smooth countryside tarmac. Pushing on, experiencing controlled forces, honing skills, buzzing from adrenaline.

The reality is turning out of our road and waiting in traffic. Finally the road opens up for some fun, but an appliance on casters is blocking progress. After a mile there is an opportunity to blast by, into a pot hole and the next load of rolling road blocks. Ok fun time is over. Time to enter the M25, set the cruise and try to ignore the thrusting tts. And breathe...

[PorkRind]

I'm in two minds about this, where i live in Wilts all the NSL turned into 50's. The dual lane bypasses are 50's when they could be 70's.. You either sit back and relax, take a country route - which others are seemingly cottoning onto using to avoid the congested main roads, or you get something with 350 brake plus where you can over take them all in one swoop.. I'm gong to go for the latter before i give up..