Whats the point?
Discussion
Firstly let me say sorry for the following rant.
Yesterday while driving on some local A and B roads, I had to wonder is there any point in having a fun car for use on the public roads?
Now I have only got a mk1 mx5 so is economical enough but what you could call a fast car.
I found I spent the entire journey sat behind people who were sitting at 20 mph under the speed limit, and when the road did eventualy clear out I had no confidence to push on at all as I was concerned about cyclists being round every bend. Motorbikes however seem to have no problem flying round blind bends far to fast on the wrong side of the road.
So is there any point anymore of having something you can have fun and handles well or had we all may aswell just drive round in something dull doing 50 mpg?
Yesterday while driving on some local A and B roads, I had to wonder is there any point in having a fun car for use on the public roads?
Now I have only got a mk1 mx5 so is economical enough but what you could call a fast car.
I found I spent the entire journey sat behind people who were sitting at 20 mph under the speed limit, and when the road did eventualy clear out I had no confidence to push on at all as I was concerned about cyclists being round every bend. Motorbikes however seem to have no problem flying round blind bends far to fast on the wrong side of the road.
So is there any point anymore of having something you can have fun and handles well or had we all may aswell just drive round in something dull doing 50 mpg?
theaps to travel to our boring jobs so that we can spend our earnings on other things like... err.. other stuff we don't need.
sam6sic6 said:
... and when the road did eventualy clear out I had no confidence to push on at all as I was concerned about cyclists being round every bend.
Nothing has changed here, though - you've always had to go around bends at a speed from which you can stop if there is something stationary in the road. That's just part of driving. sam6sic6 said:
...I spent the entire journey sat behind people who were sitting at 20 mph under the speed limit...
This is the crux of the problem. There should be points "awarded" for driving too far below the speed limit and causing an obstruction. Just like the guy in the 10 foot wide Lex LS460 yesterday who was doing 32mph for maybe 15 miles of backroads (well, non-A roads), and who tended to wander across the white line whenever there were any straights for overtaking. You could almost lip-read him repeating the mantra "35 is fast enough for me, I am in no hurry, and you are not overtaking me".
Ah you have discovered precisely why I supercharged my 5.
A standard 5 is superb on the open road but hasn't got the power to get past lines of traffic in the typically short gaps you find.
Boost it to 200bhp and it's a different story.
However yes there are more dullards around than ever so to have real fun you must go out early or late or just take less popular routes.
A standard 5 is superb on the open road but hasn't got the power to get past lines of traffic in the typically short gaps you find.
Boost it to 200bhp and it's a different story.
However yes there are more dullards around than ever so to have real fun you must go out early or late or just take less popular routes.
i cant use the monaro on small twisty roads, id get wedged.
the fun is being taken out of driving in many aspects, the law, fuel prices amount of traffic. still worth having a car that isnt a 100bhp FWD generic euro hatch, even if its just for occasional track use. id rather blow my own head off than be forced to concide i dont really need any of my cars apart from my Stlio derv.
the fun is being taken out of driving in many aspects, the law, fuel prices amount of traffic. still worth having a car that isnt a 100bhp FWD generic euro hatch, even if its just for occasional track use. id rather blow my own head off than be forced to concide i dont really need any of my cars apart from my Stlio derv.
tucks said:
i cant use the monaro on small twisty roads, id get wedged.
You're right. The Monaro is far better suited to fast, cross-country A roads, with nice smooth, sweeping bends. The '40 everywhere brigade' are more easily dispatched!
And that's exactly where I was yesterday morning.
I agree for the most part. It's partly why I don't feel the need to spend money on upping the power or cornering behaviour of my car (beyond the set of springs I fitted a while back).
I'm already frustrated at speed limits, and drive as fast as possible around corners (only as far as you can see, etc). If I'm honest I couldn't go much faster with 500hp compared to the standard 170. I suppose the only thing that would be possible is passing 5-6 cars on a long straight rather than about 3 maximum!
Now, if you could have roads closed, it would be a different story - but driving on open public roads, even at 5am, I still can't stop myself thinking what if there's a stopped car just around the corner. (Or overturned tanker, or dead horse, etc)
However, I am deeply looking forward to a weekend's hooning in Wales with some similarly minded PHers at the end of this month!
I'm already frustrated at speed limits, and drive as fast as possible around corners (only as far as you can see, etc). If I'm honest I couldn't go much faster with 500hp compared to the standard 170. I suppose the only thing that would be possible is passing 5-6 cars on a long straight rather than about 3 maximum!
Now, if you could have roads closed, it would be a different story - but driving on open public roads, even at 5am, I still can't stop myself thinking what if there's a stopped car just around the corner. (Or overturned tanker, or dead horse, etc)
However, I am deeply looking forward to a weekend's hooning in Wales with some similarly minded PHers at the end of this month!
sam6sic6 said:
Motorbikes however seem to have no problem flying round blind bends far to fast on the wrong side of the road.....
Get a bike then!To be fair on the bikers, you can see a lot further into/around bends perched on top your rocket of choice.
I had a mk2.5 MX5 a while back and, as has been said, they just don't have enough grunt to get past stuff without a run up.
They are pretty carp on fuel too tbh. Still great cars though.
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