Do you actually use your car's performance?
Discussion
I've been in many cars with many people and friends over the years and lots of them petrol heads of one kind or another. But it amazes me how easy many of them are on their cars, rarely using even a fraction of it's performance, let alone all of it.
I understand some cars are difficult/illegal to exploit on the public roads. But do many of you actually really drive your cars hard?
And I don't just mean WOT from 3000rpm to red line in a single gear. I mean tyre smoking, wheel spinning starts, power shifting and hitting the red line in as many gears as possible while cornering past the levels of your tyres adhesion hard.
For example, a good friend of mine used to go out for a "spirited drive" and really "thrash" his car (his words), when I asked them how often they hit the red line they said they never went above 4000rpm
To me this is not "pushing" a car and making use of what it can do.
I understand some cars are difficult/illegal to exploit on the public roads. But do many of you actually really drive your cars hard?
And I don't just mean WOT from 3000rpm to red line in a single gear. I mean tyre smoking, wheel spinning starts, power shifting and hitting the red line in as many gears as possible while cornering past the levels of your tyres adhesion hard.
For example, a good friend of mine used to go out for a "spirited drive" and really "thrash" his car (his words), when I asked them how often they hit the red line they said they never went above 4000rpm
To me this is not "pushing" a car and making use of what it can do.ewenm said:
That's what trackdays are for. Too many unpredictable variables on the road. Most of the time I probably drive at 5/10 normally, on a spirited road drive in the Caterham perhaps 7-8/10, more than that is saved for the track, where getting it wrong has better defined consequences.
This, but sadly substitute Caterham for Peugeot.Besides, wheel spinning starts, revving the tits off it, etc all make you look like a retard. That's not "making full use of your car's performance". That's being mechanically unsympathetic, and a good way to f
k up your clutch, CV joints, wheel bearings, suspension joints, engine mounts, and wearing tyres.
Are you 17 years old and wear a baseball cap backwards, 300?
k up your clutch, CV joints, wheel bearings, suspension joints, engine mounts, and wearing tyres. Are you 17 years old and wear a baseball cap backwards, 300?
(ZT190 is kinda of a sporty car i guess )
I reckon I drive mine quite hard, just because you aren't hitting V-Max on every journey doesn't mean to say you aren't driving quite hard.
In general though:-
I don't wheel spin or dump the clutch - tyres and clutches are expensive, and its rather anti-social. However, I will pull off at just below the limits of grip on a regular basis.
I will fully extend the car in 1st and 2nd at every available opportunity. This does not mean in a 30 limit. However, on an NSL or motorway, I will do it. Sometimes even 3rd, and maybe even 4th, on a private road, of course.
I will quite regularly corner at the limits of grip on a well sighted roundabout or corner, maybe even slightly beyond the levels of grip. I will NOT do this on a poorly sighted or busy road. In other words, I quite enjoy getting the tyres squealing on a roundabout or big corner.
Given all of that, you could say I'm not going to the absolute limits of the vehicle, but I am driving it pretty hard.
Its also worth mentioning that I only drive a Clio 172 so the limits of this are going to be a fair bit lower than many other cars on PH.
In general though:-
I don't wheel spin or dump the clutch - tyres and clutches are expensive, and its rather anti-social. However, I will pull off at just below the limits of grip on a regular basis.
I will fully extend the car in 1st and 2nd at every available opportunity. This does not mean in a 30 limit. However, on an NSL or motorway, I will do it. Sometimes even 3rd, and maybe even 4th, on a private road, of course.
I will quite regularly corner at the limits of grip on a well sighted roundabout or corner, maybe even slightly beyond the levels of grip. I will NOT do this on a poorly sighted or busy road. In other words, I quite enjoy getting the tyres squealing on a roundabout or big corner.
Given all of that, you could say I'm not going to the absolute limits of the vehicle, but I am driving it pretty hard.
Its also worth mentioning that I only drive a Clio 172 so the limits of this are going to be a fair bit lower than many other cars on PH.
300bhp/ton said:
And I don't just mean WOT from 3000rpm to red line in a single gear. I mean tyre smoking, wheel spinning starts, power shifting and hitting the red line in as many gears as possible while cornering past the levels of your tyres adhesion hard.
I was trying to remember what that paragraph reminded me of and have finally got it - sprint competitions! Enter those and find out if you are really driving your car hard and fast.I hate replacing clutches, so I tend to be gentle with them (except in the MX5 when I was wearing them out ever 3,000 miles). Other than that if my car is warmed up and it's safe to do so it gets used properly.
If I didn't use the performance I'd just have bought slower cars instead.
Although I can understand buying something amazing and enjoying owning it, rather than enjoying using it. Certainly I've never used 100% of my bike's performance, because I don't got the skillz.
I also suspect that the more valuable a car is (to driver) the more gently it gets driven. I use much more mechanical sympathy with my Elise than I did with my £50 E30, and I'm really gentle with other people's cars because of the guilt.
If I didn't use the performance I'd just have bought slower cars instead.
Although I can understand buying something amazing and enjoying owning it, rather than enjoying using it. Certainly I've never used 100% of my bike's performance, because I don't got the skillz.
I also suspect that the more valuable a car is (to driver) the more gently it gets driven. I use much more mechanical sympathy with my Elise than I did with my £50 E30, and I'm really gentle with other people's cars because of the guilt.
In the short time I've had my current car I have found myself to be driving it fairly hard. Most of my driving is over A/B roads with very little motorway / dual carriageway work at the moment. Engine wise, I probably take it from 3-5 rpm on average in each gear (obviously, not beyond 4th gear either). But yes, when accelerating it's usually foot hard down.
My car isn't especially powerful though, so it's kinda fun to drive and you can stretch it a bit without getting into law-breaking territory.
My car isn't especially powerful though, so it's kinda fun to drive and you can stretch it a bit without getting into law-breaking territory.
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