Passion

[slowinfastout]

Come on guys. Over the weeks we have seen advanced driving forum being subdued in stuff we really aren’t about. So lets get some joyful words for Christmas about engines singing, with wheels set and control to 100%. Fully in focus, the car and its surrounding. Come on we can all think and remember what glorious drives we have all had in various cars all over the world. Over to you. Lets enjoy and share our passion.

[Ordinary Bloke]

My Mum's Fiat 126, 650cc twin, 6000 rpm and just about to explode, nothing beats the sound of an over-revved italian stallion...

PS: How did I do?

[BertBert]

so, it's the wrong forum, but I am having a fab time in my new to me GT3RS. It's 3 years old, was essentially a mint-collectors-car when I bought it a couple of months ago (5k miles, not a mark on it, washed and polished on top AND underneath - I kid you not).

It is fantastic to drive and doesn't have to be driven quickly. You feel completely connected to your surroundings - every bump in the road. It demands attention and respect (of the driver) so I drive it with a much higher degree of awareness and concentration - there's the advanced driving connection!

Great car and great for driving and driving skills!

Bert

[SamHH]

BertBert said:

It is fantastic to drive and doesn't have to be driven quickly. You feel completely connected to your surroundings - every bump in the road. It demands attention and respect (of the driver) so I drive it with a much higher degree of awareness and concentration - there's the advanced driving connection!

Great car and great for driving and driving skills!

Bert

In that regard, how does it compare to you Caterhams? I would have thought that the lighter car will give you more of a feeling of 'connectedness' thereby forcing you to pay attention, but on the other hand I suppose a (relatively) heavy, big car will be more scary to control than a light, small car.

[henrycrun]

Ragtops

[Hooli]

henrycrun said:

Ragtops

MOTORBIKES

[BertBert]

SamHH said:

BertBert said:

It is fantastic to drive and doesn't have to be driven quickly. You feel completely connected to your surroundings - every bump in the road. It demands attention and respect (of the driver) so I drive it with a much higher degree of awareness and concentration - there's the advanced driving connection!

Great car and great for driving and driving skills!

Bert

In that regard, how does it compare to you Caterhams? I would have thought that the lighter car will give you more of a feeling of 'connectedness' thereby forcing you to pay attention, but on the other hand I suppose a (relatively) heavy, big car will be more scary to control than a light, small car.

Sam, very good question, it's atually very caterham like which convinced me. I have had to stop being a caterham owner after about 11 years and 4 caterhams (too many cars for the space I have).

The GT3 has *exactly* the same directness and feel as the caterham (even down to the tramlining). It is of course heavier and much more planted and (realistically) not as chuckable, but the essence is the same!

When I test drove porsches to get a view of what worked for me, I started off with the 996 Turbo (felt just like a subaru but not as alive as my P1), the standard C2 was better, but the GT3 instantly grabbed me.

And as I said, I feel much more in-touch and alert with my driving than I was with my prev daily car (TVR Tamora).

Bert

[WeirdNeville]

ok,

me, my 200sx and some nice roads with light traffic in the Forest of Dean. A nice flowing drive, a couple of overtakes and general smooth progress (my missus was passengering, so it was 5/10ths at most).

I felt really keyed into the road, nice and alert and couldn't spot any errors in my own drive. Lovely!

[A - W]

Driving my first car, a B reg 1.0l Nova.

Basic doesn't even come into it, but so much fun in the snow and ice.

[Flintstone]

Days when I'm on the ball, anticipating a few moves ahead, gear changes flow, everything going as it should, 'making progress' without tearing the arse out of things.

Love it.

[slowinfastout]

Thanks guys for your input but it looks as though 'we' advanced drivers either have no passion or don't wish to share our experiences.

I would just like to wish everyone a safe, fun and enjoyable driving new year.

[ipsg.glf]

I sometimes liken advanced driving to getting your hair cut. It is something you have to do do and share with another person out there on the road, rather than chatting about it on an internet forum.

[gdaybruce]

slowinfastout said:

Thanks guys for your input but it looks as though 'we' advanced drivers either have no passion or don't wish to share our experiences.

Just caught up with this thread. Where to begin - I've loved driving since before I was 17 and would persuade my Dad to let me drive on old airfields. I'm now 56 and that's an awful lot of driving "passion" under the wheels! Looking back, outright speed has little to do with it; it's all about feel for the car and the road and pushing on while staying in control. One highlight was a road rally in about 1974 when it came on to freeze hard and the wet Oxfordshire lanes turned to ice. I nearly retired because I was certain I'd bend the car (a 1275cc MG Midget) but as we carried on I started to anticipate the slides and really to enjoy the sense of being on the edge of control. One bend stands out in my memory - a fairly open 90 degree right with a nice wide verge on the outside. I braked and turned in about 20 yds earlier than would normally seem correct, putting the car sideways into the bend. The outside rear tyre then met the verge and with power on we tracked round the bend with a half turn of opposite lock and never feeling like we were about to lose it.

Now to a properly talented rally driver this would be kids' stuff but to me it was a revelation and poetry in motion; the sense that the car was sliding but balanced and in control. We came nowhere in the results but we did finish and without any damage which, in my book, was brilliant. Moreover, I learned more about car control in that one night than in years of normal driving.

There's been plenty more highlights since 1974 (thank goodness!) but that's my 2p worth of driving passion!

Here's a couple of pics from the event:

[BertBert]

ipsg.glf said:

I sometimes liken advanced driving to getting your hair cut. It is something you have to do do and share with another person out there on the road, rather than chatting about it on an internet forum.

Mmmm, that's sure some passion! Where did the "glf" in you go to then?

C'mon man, advanced driving is fun, it's interesting, it's full of derring do. It's not in the remotest like a haircut!!!

Bert

[ipsg.glf]

BertBert said:

ipsg.glf said:

I sometimes liken advanced driving to getting your hair cut. It is something you have to do do and share with another person out there on the road, rather than chatting about it on an internet forum.

Mmmm, that's sure some passion! Where did the "glf" in you go to then?

C'mon man, advanced driving is fun, it's interesting, it's full of derring do. It's not in the remotest like a haircut!!!

Bert

Bert

You misunderstand. The advanced driving bit is the fun, the chatting about it isn't so much so. It can sometimes be like trying to explain heel and toe in words - A demo would be so much more effective.

The GLF is very much alive and well.

[Get Karter]

gdaybruce said:

Just caught up with this thread. Where to begin - I've loved driving since before I was 17 and would persuade my Dad to let me drive on old airfields. I'm now 56 and that's an awful lot of driving "passion" under the wheels! Looking back, outright speed has little to do with it; it's all about feel for the car and the road and pushing on while staying in control. One highlight was a road rally in about 1974 when it came on to freeze hard and the wet Oxfordshire lanes turned to ice. I nearly retired because I was certain I'd bend the car (a 1275cc MG Midget) but as we carried on I started to anticipate the slides and really to enjoy the sense of being on the edge of control. One bend stands out in my memory - a fairly open 90 degree right with a nice wide verge on the outside. I braked and turned in about 20 yds earlier than would normally seem correct, putting the car sideways into the bend. The outside rear tyre then met the verge and with power on we tracked round the bend with a half turn of opposite lock and never feeling like we were about to lose it.

Now to a properly talented rally driver this would be kids' stuff but to me it was a revelation and poetry in motion; the sense that the car was sliding but balanced and in control. We came nowhere in the results but we did finish and without any damage which, in my book, was brilliant. Moreover, I learned more about car control in that one night than in years of normal driving.

There's been plenty more highlights since 1974 (thank goodness!) but that's my 2p worth of driving passion!

Here's a couple of pics from the event:

Fantastic pics. Really atmospheric.
I have been a pax in a 1973 MG Midget on gravel lanes in an estate...similar controlled rear end sliding round corners. Loved it.

I think there is a theme here (apart from the GT3)...and that is, most of our best memories relate to lower performance cars.
My theory is that you can go 'faster' at slower speed in a lower powered car. So thrills are available well within speed limits.

The thirst (by many) for ever more power is misguided imho.

[BOF]

From the top post, and maybe not too exciting...

""Fully in focus, the car and its surrounding.""

Taking an 18 year old up and down the same twisty B road for too long...trying to get him to match speed to vision...getting him down from 24 use of brakes on the first drive to 3 a while later.

Seeing the smile on his wee face (not a word spoken between us) when he got the message...an old battered Corsa flowing...nice?

BOF.