Did you really drive *that* quickly 'back in the day'?
Discussion
I was out the other day with Mrs Iroc and I commented in passing that the me in my 20's would have driven down this stretch of road like my hair was on fire, then I looked at the speedo and wondered if that was actually true. I was by no means speeding but the sense of speed was missing due to the fact of the car being just streets ahead of the clapped out, old pile-of-poo I used to drive around in 30 years ago in terms of NVH and performance. I may have driven faster down that road as an irresponsible idiot - or it just may have felt like that as the cars then didn't cosset you in the same way...
I know when you're in your late teens/20's you're immortal and so are more inclined to take risks (plus the down-side of binning your car whilst financially painful is nowhere near as painful as stacking the new car many people now have) so I guess stupidity is a given in our younger days but I do wonder if (on the whole) we were quite as stupidly fast as we thought...
I know when you're in your late teens/20's you're immortal and so are more inclined to take risks (plus the down-side of binning your car whilst financially painful is nowhere near as painful as stacking the new car many people now have) so I guess stupidity is a given in our younger days but I do wonder if (on the whole) we were quite as stupidly fast as we thought...
When I first started driving in the early ninties, I drove as fast as I could everywhere but the cars were slow compared to what I drive now. From A to B, if I caned it in my mums MG Metro, I'd probably still arrive later than I would just cruising briskly there in the Cayman now for instance.
There was a particular drive of 40 miles over open rural roads which I used to try to do in 40 minutes. Never managed it back then, inevitably I would get stuck behind something and not have the power to overtake, though I reckon I could have just about done it without traffic. I did eventually do it some years later in a hot hatch. It wouldn't be particularly difficult to do it now, with any of my cars, except that there wasn't really any speed enforcement back then and I expect that changing speed limits would require greater liberties to be taken.
I drove down a windy A road years ago in an E46 330ci sport.
I would have been in my late thirties maybe, the thing was I used the road a lot when in my early twenties I used to blast down it in a 2.8i Capri.
The thing was, in the Capri I could drive this road much much faster.
Pretty sure it wasn’t the car
I would have been in my late thirties maybe, the thing was I used the road a lot when in my early twenties I used to blast down it in a 2.8i Capri.
The thing was, in the Capri I could drive this road much much faster.
Pretty sure it wasn’t the car
Drove like such a 
in me late teens and early 20s.
Drove speeds on certain roads I am quite ashamed to admit.
My first track day made me realise I wasn't as good a driver as I thought I was and I was probably quite lucky to not have killed myself.
The more time I spent on the track, the more I learnt and the better I became - and when I began racing and was really learning to push cars to the limit, it completely changed how I drove on the road.
These days, I pretty much stick to the speed limit and often just sit at 60 on the motorway which I find so much more relaxing and stress-free than trying to sit at 80, getting annoyed about lane hoggers or people holding me up. I know what I can do in a car, I know what my car can do and most importantly I know exactly what I cannot do in a car and know it would be stupid to put myself into a situation where something I can't correct may happen.
I also know what can happen when something out of the ordinary happens - someone else hitting me, an oil patch, an animal jumping out etc. I have nothing to prove to anyone and nobody cares what I can or can't do in a car.
in me late teens and early 20s. Drove speeds on certain roads I am quite ashamed to admit.
My first track day made me realise I wasn't as good a driver as I thought I was and I was probably quite lucky to not have killed myself.
The more time I spent on the track, the more I learnt and the better I became - and when I began racing and was really learning to push cars to the limit, it completely changed how I drove on the road.
These days, I pretty much stick to the speed limit and often just sit at 60 on the motorway which I find so much more relaxing and stress-free than trying to sit at 80, getting annoyed about lane hoggers or people holding me up. I know what I can do in a car, I know what my car can do and most importantly I know exactly what I cannot do in a car and know it would be stupid to put myself into a situation where something I can't correct may happen.
I also know what can happen when something out of the ordinary happens - someone else hitting me, an oil patch, an animal jumping out etc. I have nothing to prove to anyone and nobody cares what I can or can't do in a car.
Edited by TREMAiNE on Wednesday 20th May 11:47
This is the reason why I wanted to get back into small, lightweight hot hatches 4 years ago. I've drove big heavy V6 and V8 cars / sports cars for a number of years. They were fast and powerful yes. But you had to go like stink to get a feeling of speed out of them. It's even worse with overweight and isolated German cars. A LOT of automotive Youtubers desire a German car - then tune them to ridiculous levels - just to drive them at truly insane speeds on the public road. Which they have to - in order to get a buzz out of their overweight, numb and isolated car.
I get just as much of a buzz out of small lightweight hot hatch as any fast car I've owned / driven in the past. The difference of course is that small, lightweight cars with a reasonable amount of power can 'feel' quick at much saner speeds. You get a great feeling of speed and will never need to go over a license losing 100+ MPH for kicks.
LLF, Officially Gassed and the like are obsessed with big power and speed, and I'm pretty sure they've been in cars on the public road doing way north of 150 MPH on many occasion. They hardly ever talk about the handling balance or feel of a car. They do not review the cars per se. All they are interested in is the mods, and how much power it has. Then the buzz they need to feel by going break neck speed in such cars. The common theme is German cars - mostly bland, numb and isolated to drive. But hey, they've got huge power and can go really fast. FFS. LOL.
I get just as much of a buzz out of small lightweight hot hatch as any fast car I've owned / driven in the past. The difference of course is that small, lightweight cars with a reasonable amount of power can 'feel' quick at much saner speeds. You get a great feeling of speed and will never need to go over a license losing 100+ MPH for kicks.
LLF, Officially Gassed and the like are obsessed with big power and speed, and I'm pretty sure they've been in cars on the public road doing way north of 150 MPH on many occasion. They hardly ever talk about the handling balance or feel of a car. They do not review the cars per se. All they are interested in is the mods, and how much power it has. Then the buzz they need to feel by going break neck speed in such cars. The common theme is German cars - mostly bland, numb and isolated to drive. But hey, they've got huge power and can go really fast. FFS. LOL.
For me, it’s not so much the absolute speed but the attitude to overtaking opportunities. I don’t often drive along roads I used as a teenager, but on the odd occasion I do I quite often find myself thinking that there’s a decent overtaking opportunity coming up...but when I get there I realise it’s really not. And that’s in a car with not far off 6 times the power of my Fiat Uno 
I'm afraid so. My first car was a 60bhp Clio and I would use all revs through the gears and max throttle wherever I could. I remember going for a drive and decimating a pair of budget front tyres double quick. I came back and ran my hand over them to see how they were holding up and cut my finger on a stray steel wire. I spun it once. More luck than judgment but I didn't crash it properly or injure myself or anybody else.
Yes, most definitely. I’m ashamed to admit I used to drive like an absolute bellend. I was young therefore invincible. Back then I was earning well for my age so able to afford what were some fairly quick cars, ST185 GT Four, XR2i with a 2.0 conversion, MR2 Turbo’s and the like. I drove them like you’d expect an “invincible” 18-21 year old to.
These days I drive an E46 330ci and while it’s as capable as any of the above I rarely drive above the speed limit. I’m lucky to live in a nice part of the country(Herefordshire) so I’m happy to cruise around and just take in the scenery. Even on the motorway I’m happy to trundle along at 70mph as I can’t be bothered with the hassle of speed cameras, police and fines. I do have the odd blast to “clear its throat” so to speak but only if its very quiet.
These days I drive an E46 330ci and while it’s as capable as any of the above I rarely drive above the speed limit. I’m lucky to live in a nice part of the country(Herefordshire) so I’m happy to cruise around and just take in the scenery. Even on the motorway I’m happy to trundle along at 70mph as I can’t be bothered with the hassle of speed cameras, police and fines. I do have the odd blast to “clear its throat” so to speak but only if its very quiet.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff