Did you really drive *that* quickly 'back in the day'?
Discussion
I remember at 18 taking my then girlfriend for a day out in London. From North Yorkshire. Left London about 11pm and got back up to NY in 2hrs 15, averaged 92mph over 210 miles in a 1.2 corsa.
That was before the advent of managed motorways, gantry cameras and average speed camera zones that stretch for 15 miles. Nowadays cars are safer and could comfortably cruise much faster than that, but I rarely get above 80 on the motorway as there are just too many hidden cameras - don’t need the stress and so need my license.
That was before the advent of managed motorways, gantry cameras and average speed camera zones that stretch for 15 miles. Nowadays cars are safer and could comfortably cruise much faster than that, but I rarely get above 80 on the motorway as there are just too many hidden cameras - don’t need the stress and so need my license.
smifffymoto said:
I live in rural France and potter about without a care in the world.Driving is a lot less stressful when you don’t have a schedule to keep.
That is one of the plus points about driving in France (except perhaps for the Paris peripherique) itd traffic density is so low compared to the UK, and the 80mph dry road motorway speed limit a sensible one, that exceeding limits is not really necessary for good long distance progress to be made.Even the rural roads are virtually deserted compared to UK equivalents, which again makes exceeding the limits not particularly worth doing.
smifffymoto said:
I live in rural France and potter about without a care in the world.Driving is a lot less stressful when you don’t have a schedule to keep.
I thought id drive like crazy when i got here, some of the roads are sublime! I rarely do though.. i prefer a warm evening cruise back from a restaurant with the top down, restaurants are closed and i dont have an open top anymore though 
(soon to be rectified mind)Its a funny thing having beautiful empty roads and fast cars, once theyre empty you enjoy the road more than the speed.
I certainly used to cruise a lot faster on the motorway, but the OP's point about the capability and comfort of modern cars is spot on. Wringing the last drop out of my first car actually achieved bugger all compared to what can now be done without any drama in any cheapo hatch. I think that point was brought home to me years back when I test drove a MkIV twin turbo Supra more or less back to back with a 4.0 TVR Chimaera. My car at that time was a ST165 GT4 Celica ... not very quick but a comfortable GT. The Supra was comfortable, quiet, and obviously had a bit of poke, thought I as I guided it carefully along some B-road just getting a feel for it. And then I glanced at the speedo and had a vision of losing my license in a matter of days. In comparison the Chimaera roared and the air whistled past it at anything above walking pace. There is no way on God's good earth that a TVR is going to fail to warn you that your license is at risk. So I got the TVR.
smifffymoto said:
I live in rural France and potter about without a care in the world.Driving is a lot less stressful when you don’t have a schedule to keep.
I drive like my arse is on fire whether I am in a rush or not. Sometimes I realise I'm going to be wildly early for an appointment but I still can't slow down.
ATG said:
There is no way on God's good earth that a TVR is going to fail to warn you that your license is at risk.
Maybe, but I doubt that a 17 year old version of me would have heeded any warning, far from it just an opportunity to go a lot faster than whatever we drove back then. I don’t think it is about how modern cars feel more cosseted but about how as youngsters we drove. In the hands of a young car enthusiast any car is easily capably of license revoking speeds, a TVR would be insanity in their hands!
yes. sense of knowing the potential consequences heightens as you get older but i used to do a fair bit o speeding back in the day. thankfully i could only afford low powered stuff but tht just meant I was maxxing out my mini's and mk2 escorts and cavaliers etc.....well the Cav id max from the lights but never really exceeded a ton in that even though it probably could.
the minis were driven fast down single lane roads with high hedge sides with abandon.......nuts now when i think back. imagine being the poor sod coming the other way having to slam on.
the minis were driven fast down single lane roads with high hedge sides with abandon.......nuts now when i think back. imagine being the poor sod coming the other way having to slam on.
When I was 17/18 I sometimes ragged the hell out of my car. Floored it all the time, up to the Rev limiter, etc.
But it was a 1.0l with 65bhp. You could drive like a madman and still not go that fast.
I remember getting excited because I hit 92mph on the motorway once. Reality was hitting 92 in that thing required serious commitment, and it felt very fast at the time.
In a modern car with reasonable power, it’s obviously a completely different ball game. Without effort you’re easily going a lot faster than my first car could ever manage. So if anything today, I probably drive faster - I’m just a lot more relaxed doing it.
But it was a 1.0l with 65bhp. You could drive like a madman and still not go that fast.
I remember getting excited because I hit 92mph on the motorway once. Reality was hitting 92 in that thing required serious commitment, and it felt very fast at the time.
In a modern car with reasonable power, it’s obviously a completely different ball game. Without effort you’re easily going a lot faster than my first car could ever manage. So if anything today, I probably drive faster - I’m just a lot more relaxed doing it.
Only ever spun one car on public roads; the mighty Triumph Dolmite 1500 HL was spun three times. Ragged the hell out of it. Max speed was circa 90 mph.
On one of these occasions, it was a long downhill stretch, with a chicane over a railway bridge. I had a home made unbraked trailer on the back ( leaf springs, no shocks) with a 500cc yamaha onboard. We exited the chicane trailer first . Only suffered minor damage to one rear wing of the Dollly. If we had hit the stone bridge we would have been dead.
There but for the grace of some God go I.
On one of these occasions, it was a long downhill stretch, with a chicane over a railway bridge. I had a home made unbraked trailer on the back ( leaf springs, no shocks) with a 500cc yamaha onboard. We exited the chicane trailer first . Only suffered minor damage to one rear wing of the Dollly. If we had hit the stone bridge we would have been dead.
There but for the grace of some God go I.
I probably drove 'harder' and thought I was pushing cars closer to their limits, but not necessarily covering ground much quicker than my more sensible older self who has learnt to be smoother and read the road better.
A few trackdays also taught me just how much higher the limit is when you have space to really push hard in a more controlled environment.
Speeding wasn't enforced as strictly as it is now so I used to go a bit faster on main roads than I do now, but I think I always kept most of the fun for quiet back roads - as a young bloke in small-town NZ with an interest in rallying, a whole lot of sideways gravel road fun was had. Still is at times, but with more responsibility and awareness of other road users now.
I had some very close calls and near misses before I learnt to show the proper respect to blind corners and crests...
For example - opposite lock sideways around a blind corner on a gravel road to find a car right in the middle of the road on the exit. Who instead of doing the smart thing and pulling left panicked and stopped in the middle of the road. IIRC I scrubbed off some speed then got back on the power and went around them still sideways with the outside rear wheel in the ditch, thinking it was great driving skill to avoid them... in hindsight it was very stupid driving to be in that situation to start with. Safe to say I didn't stop for a chat!
A few trackdays also taught me just how much higher the limit is when you have space to really push hard in a more controlled environment.
Speeding wasn't enforced as strictly as it is now so I used to go a bit faster on main roads than I do now, but I think I always kept most of the fun for quiet back roads - as a young bloke in small-town NZ with an interest in rallying, a whole lot of sideways gravel road fun was had. Still is at times, but with more responsibility and awareness of other road users now.
I had some very close calls and near misses before I learnt to show the proper respect to blind corners and crests...
For example - opposite lock sideways around a blind corner on a gravel road to find a car right in the middle of the road on the exit. Who instead of doing the smart thing and pulling left panicked and stopped in the middle of the road. IIRC I scrubbed off some speed then got back on the power and went around them still sideways with the outside rear wheel in the ditch, thinking it was great driving skill to avoid them... in hindsight it was very stupid driving to be in that situation to start with. Safe to say I didn't stop for a chat!
Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 27th May 01:23
Johnnytheboy said:
smifffymoto said:
I live in rural France and potter about without a care in the world.Driving is a lot less stressful when you don’t have a schedule to keep.
I drive like my arse is on fire whether I am in a rush or not. Sometimes I realise I'm going to be wildly early for an appointment but I still can't slow down.
‘Back in the day’ with a touch of gallic flair...
https://youtu.be/hmdR6B1DPac
The audio on screaming V12 and tyre squeal is dubbed, but apparently the race through Paris is genuine.
https://youtu.be/hmdR6B1DPac
The audio on screaming V12 and tyre squeal is dubbed, but apparently the race through Paris is genuine.
I used to drive much faster when younger and part of it I think is that the cars I owned then were so much narrower. There was one particularly lane near our house that where I once touched 80MPH in my Cinquecento Sporting. Driving down the same road a year ago in my Insignia, even 50MPH felt too fast, because my car was too big for that particular road. So I wonder in fact if our older smaller cars did allow us to drive faster on certain roads.
greenarrow said:
I used to drive much faster when younger and part of it I think is that the cars I owned then were so much narrower. There was one particularly lane near our house that where I once touched 80MPH in my Cinquecento Sporting. Driving down the same road a year ago in my Insignia, even 50MPH felt too fast, because my car was too big for that particular road. So I wonder in fact if our older smaller cars did allow us to drive faster on certain roads.
I can relate to that, my first cars were minis then an MGBGT, all of them pretty slow to 60. But down some of the local lanes you could thread the needle quite effectively and over take dawdlers were you might not want to in a wider car, it also helped that I had less sense of potential danger in my early twenties! I’ve been in the OPs shoes not so long ago. Driving a road I drove a lot as a youth and thinking ‘I used to hammer it around here’, before looking down at the speedo of my 300bhp Alfa Guilia and thinking ‘nah, no way my E30 316i was going this quick.’
That said, I’ve (fond) memories of summer evenings with friends on the A77 southbound between Kilmarnock and Ayr, on the the west coast of Scotland - long before the average speed cameras were around. That stretch was like something from the Fast & The Furious - everyone heading to Ayr shore, ‘cruising’. Not something I’m into nowadays but it was a great time. I could do that route faster today no doubt, I own faster cars and I’m a better driver than I was back then but would I bother? - no chance. Speed cameras ended that idea but more importantly, I’ve no interest in driving like that nowadays.
Looking back it was shocking the things we done in cars, how none of us became a statistic, I’ve no idea. There are a few situations that I wince at when they pop into my head.
That said, I’ve (fond) memories of summer evenings with friends on the A77 southbound between Kilmarnock and Ayr, on the the west coast of Scotland - long before the average speed cameras were around. That stretch was like something from the Fast & The Furious - everyone heading to Ayr shore, ‘cruising’. Not something I’m into nowadays but it was a great time. I could do that route faster today no doubt, I own faster cars and I’m a better driver than I was back then but would I bother? - no chance. Speed cameras ended that idea but more importantly, I’ve no interest in driving like that nowadays.
Looking back it was shocking the things we done in cars, how none of us became a statistic, I’ve no idea. There are a few situations that I wince at when they pop into my head.
Edited by ColdoRS on Thursday 28th May 21:35
Cars were different. Back in the 80s a Supercar had 350bhp, and that was untouchable by a road car that normal people can afford. So no, people might have gone flat out, but that probably wasn't that fast compared to the capability of cars these days. I mean, a 308 GTS made 153bhp. That's hardly eye popping.
MarJay said:
Cars were different. Back in the 80s a Supercar had 350bhp, and that was untouchable by a road car that normal people can afford. So no, people might have gone flat out, but that probably wasn't that fast compared to the capability of cars these days. I mean, a 308 GTS made 153bhp. That's hardly eye popping.
True. I found myself following a DB5 along a B road that I know quite well in my MX5 (sorry). He was giving it the beans but I had no problem keeping up, and could have gone much quicker around the twisty bits. I checked the spec when I got home and was surprised to find that the MX5 is slightly quicker to 60 - but is still disparaged by those not in the know.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff