Losing your passion for motoring??
Discussion
I changed jobs and went from only ever driving my MX-5 for fun, to driving it hundreds of miles each day for work. I clocked up over 30k in one year - in a Mk1! It almost completely ruined the car for me - knowing what it could do, but either not being able (working) or too tired (after work) to properly drive it.
I changed jobs and now drive vans all day - perversely satisfying to try and drive them quickly, but after a day stuck in traffic in the van I still can't motivate myself to go out and hoon in the car. For as long as you're in the queue at the lights or stuck waiting for an overtake, it's the same s
t different vehicle. Plus it's so bloody expensive!
I sat my Advanced test just for the challenge (perhaps the wrong motivation) and still try to keep those skills up - but we get regular driving assessments to a similar level at work and whilst I'm far, far from being the model driver it's almost at the point where it's easy to churn out a good drive.
In the end it clicked one day that having spent (and seriously, seriously enjoyed
) two harsh Scottish winters with a light RWD car, nothing on four wheels could match that level of enjoyment for the rest of the year when there is a consistent excess of grip - at least not safely. I'm not willing to push that line on a public road - certainly not now that I've grown up a bit and depend on my licence for a living.
So I did my DAS and bought an apparently rather dull motorbike - and instantly rediscovered the challenge of being a complete novice at absolutely everything. It's turned my driving 'career' if you like, completely upside down, and I love every second of it. I can't see the day where biking becomes boring (too many people trying to squish you) - but if it does it's either time to call it quits or look at getting my HGV/PSV/Tank/Tractor/Trailer/something_peculiar licence just to throw another challenge in there again.
I changed jobs and now drive vans all day - perversely satisfying to try and drive them quickly, but after a day stuck in traffic in the van I still can't motivate myself to go out and hoon in the car. For as long as you're in the queue at the lights or stuck waiting for an overtake, it's the same s
t different vehicle. Plus it's so bloody expensive!I sat my Advanced test just for the challenge (perhaps the wrong motivation) and still try to keep those skills up - but we get regular driving assessments to a similar level at work and whilst I'm far, far from being the model driver it's almost at the point where it's easy to churn out a good drive.
In the end it clicked one day that having spent (and seriously, seriously enjoyed
) two harsh Scottish winters with a light RWD car, nothing on four wheels could match that level of enjoyment for the rest of the year when there is a consistent excess of grip - at least not safely. I'm not willing to push that line on a public road - certainly not now that I've grown up a bit and depend on my licence for a living.So I did my DAS and bought an apparently rather dull motorbike - and instantly rediscovered the challenge of being a complete novice at absolutely everything. It's turned my driving 'career' if you like, completely upside down, and I love every second of it. I can't see the day where biking becomes boring (too many people trying to squish you
) - but if it does it's either time to call it quits or look at getting my HGV/PSV/Tank/Tractor/Trailer/something_peculiar licence just to throw another challenge in there again.BigRichi said:
I've always loved driving....I think I still do, and I used to love sticking 20 quid of petrol in and disappear away and explore some of Scotland's great driving roads.
But I find myself doing this less and less nowadays. I think more and more about the costs of motoring and find other stuff to do instead. My journeys feel like just getting from A-B rather than the enjoying getting from A-B.
I am thinking about chopping in my MR2 Roadster and found myself looking at Vectra bloody diesels tonight!!!!
Am I the only person feeling like this?? or is it more common than I think??
Get a motorcycle. You may never look at cars again...But I find myself doing this less and less nowadays. I think more and more about the costs of motoring and find other stuff to do instead. My journeys feel like just getting from A-B rather than the enjoying getting from A-B.
I am thinking about chopping in my MR2 Roadster and found myself looking at Vectra bloody diesels tonight!!!!
Am I the only person feeling like this?? or is it more common than I think??
BigRichi said:
I've always loved driving....I think I still do, and I used to love sticking 20 quid of petrol in and disappear away and explore some of Scotland's great driving roads.
But I find myself doing this less and less nowadays. I think more and more about the costs of motoring and find other stuff to do instead. My journeys feel like just getting from A-B rather than the enjoying getting from A-B.
I am thinking about chopping in my MR2 Roadster and found myself looking at Vectra bloody diesels tonight!!!!
Am I the only person feeling like this?? or is it more common than I think??
Get yourself down to Northern Spain/South of France/Italy/Switzerland. SPend a week hooning around down there & you'll want to move there, not give up driving ! But I find myself doing this less and less nowadays. I think more and more about the costs of motoring and find other stuff to do instead. My journeys feel like just getting from A-B rather than the enjoying getting from A-B.
I am thinking about chopping in my MR2 Roadster and found myself looking at Vectra bloody diesels tonight!!!!
Am I the only person feeling like this?? or is it more common than I think??
AUDIHenry said:
Get a motorcycle. You may never look at cars again...
Bizarrely I find driving my MX5 more fun than riding my bike on the road. I pretty much stopped doing so and just use the bike on track now. You just can't get near the capabiities of a sportsbike on the road whereas the MX5 is fun at licence friendly speeds. I spend all day driving an 18 tonne Daf so it's always nice to get back in a car. Even if that's just for the 20 minute motorway blast home. I keep thinking that I need a kit car in my life, enjoyment to build and then drive.
I've done the bike thing and actually had the most fun just cruising about at 60-70 and exploring various places.
I've done the bike thing and actually had the most fun just cruising about at 60-70 and exploring various places.
stevensdrs said:
I concur with the OP. It just isn't fun anymore and costs the earth to go any distance. The roads are so overcrowded and full of f****its that there is no enjoyment in it. At least I had the priviledge of being able to drive in the 70s when you could go as fast as you liked and no one bothered. You could also go out for a modest drink and take the car without feeling like one of societys lepers. Sadly all behind us now. 
Stevensdrs in the 1970's
Still find plenty of opportunity to have some fun. Having purchased an MX5 it's going to be interesting to see how it compares to the Tuscan on the fun front.
marshalla said:
Maybe it's because 20 quid only gets you to the end of the street and back ?
Twenty quid would pretty much fill my tank.It was suggested by someone one here that having a Caterham as an only car and driving it every day would take the shine off the "experience" and make it dull, boring and annoying.
I am happy to report that that is b
ks. I still regularly turn my short journey home from work into an impromptu hoon; seeking out some favourite local roads and just driving for the hell of it. Or get up early on a Sunday morning and go further afield for a good run.If I ever stop doing this, you have my permission to take me to the vet's and have me put down.
Sifly said:
I find myself trying to drive everywhere at 60 MPH and trying not to waste enery braking! Dare I say I am finding it quite amusing, and I'm getting quite good at it!!
This is a top game. Make sure you drive with the air con off and the windows up, regardless of how hot it is. T0MMY said:
AUDIHenry said:
Get a motorcycle. You may never look at cars again...
Bizarrely I find driving my MX5 more fun than riding my bike on the road. I pretty much stopped doing so and just use the bike on track now. You just can't get near the capabiities of a sportsbike on the road whereas the MX5 is fun at licence friendly speeds. 
I sure have lost my passion for driving, I passed my test a month ago and haven't driven since. That isn't too much of a problem in itself, but it is likely to be at least 6 years before I will be able to get behind the wheel again, by which point fuel will be ruinously expensive and driving for pleasure will be banned because it hurts the sky and kills millions of children. I genuinely fear that the blast I had the day before my test may well have been my last and that I have missed the boat on driving for fun.
but enjoyed it so much.Never really lost my passion I would say I go out less due to costs.
This weekend I have been out for a blast in this lovely weather.
Didn't get stuck behind one cyclist,oap,tractor pure bliss
this was 5 in the afternoon btw
So for those odd drives like the one I just mentioned it's worth it
This weekend I have been out for a blast in this lovely weather.
Didn't get stuck behind one cyclist,oap,tractor pure bliss
this was 5 in the afternoon btw So for those odd drives like the one I just mentioned it's worth it
redgriff500 said:
Yes.
I thought about going for a hoon today.
But then I thought about the costs of fuel at 15mpg and the risks of getting a ban and decided I couldn't be arsed.
yes, absolutely the same here.I thought about going for a hoon today.
But then I thought about the costs of fuel at 15mpg and the risks of getting a ban and decided I couldn't be arsed.
i thought about taking one of the weekend cars to my mates bbq yesterday (i wasn't even going to drink anyway) and decided that a. its too much hassle getting out the garage, b. i'll look like i'm showing off c. the cost doesn't make it worthwhile and d. the risk of getting done speeding and losing your licence/job/income etc just isn't worth it.
motoring is not worth it these days.
ps saw a lambo murci yesterday in yellow and I was excited and pointed it out and everyone else I was with just laughed and it made me think that "the masses" just find nice cars stupid.
I suppose your priorities change as you get older but I've found myself buying slower and less sporty cars, firstly a diesel corsa, and now a MINI cooper, which I run with a CBR 600.
Its not just the price of fuel is it? Car insurance is hideously expensive, my MINI cost four times more to insure last year than my Calibra Turbo in 2001. I usually had two cars throughout the nineties couldn't even think about that now. At least bike insurance is still reasonable.
At least there'll be less cars/drivers on the road from now on, apparently more and more people are unable to or unwilling to take up driving, thanks to ridiculous insurance quotes and the high running costs involved.
Its not just the price of fuel is it? Car insurance is hideously expensive, my MINI cost four times more to insure last year than my Calibra Turbo in 2001. I usually had two cars throughout the nineties couldn't even think about that now. At least bike insurance is still reasonable.
At least there'll be less cars/drivers on the road from now on, apparently more and more people are unable to or unwilling to take up driving, thanks to ridiculous insurance quotes and the high running costs involved.
warch said:
At least there'll be less cars/drivers on the road from now on, apparently more and more people are unable to or unwilling to take up driving, thanks to ridiculous insurance quotes and the high running costs involved.
That's very true, I can think of an awful lot of friends of mine who simply aren't bothering about learning to drive, many of them still haven't applied for their provisional licences and plenty of those who have only use them for ID.I know what the OP means. I no longer use a car for work, but even so, can not justify what my current car costs, £700 insurance for a car that gets used occasionally on a weekend is just too much to swallow, and the high price of parts and potentially so-so reliability is a worry... and then there's the fuel consumption... yesterday I put £20 in and drove 60 slow miles and its gone, 20 - 25 MPG when taking it fairly easy. Super unleaded too. I don't use a car much and it still hurts.
I'm chopping my current car in for an MX5, sounds daft, but even though I much prefer the way my current car looks (MR2T) and its much, much faster, I don't have any more fun in it than I would in an MX5, yet I know I could have got 35 MPG doing yesterdays mundane stuff and all on standard unleaded, so its effectively twice as economical when I need it to be. Most parts cost half what they do, the reliability will be better and the insurance is half. And at least with that I can stick the roof down and get some fresh air, and still enjoy fun handling. In fact if anything the MX5 is more fun as you can drive the door handles off it and not get banned!
I'm chopping my current car in for an MX5, sounds daft, but even though I much prefer the way my current car looks (MR2T) and its much, much faster, I don't have any more fun in it than I would in an MX5, yet I know I could have got 35 MPG doing yesterdays mundane stuff and all on standard unleaded, so its effectively twice as economical when I need it to be. Most parts cost half what they do, the reliability will be better and the insurance is half. And at least with that I can stick the roof down and get some fresh air, and still enjoy fun handling. In fact if anything the MX5 is more fun as you can drive the door handles off it and not get banned!
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