Are you a pistonhead if....

[DaMasterMind]

You don't really give a dam about power to weight ratios or any other technical jargon but love driving the best car's life has to offer?

[Killer2005]

What a silly question, of course you are

[Jasandjules]

Yes. Driving is the key for me - but understanding and appreciating the sheer beauty of cars (well, not all cars of course) is also a major factor.

[ging84]

epic start of a troll thread
i'd say no, does living in a nice house make you someone who has any interest in property ?
there are many aspects about cars that you can take a keep interest in to make you a pistonhead, but if you have no real interest in any of them you cannot claim to be a piston head no matter how many nice cars you've had

[DaMasterMind]

Jasandjules said:

Yes. Driving is the key for me - but understanding and appreciating the sheer beauty of cars (well, not all cars of course) is also a major factor.

Hmm Thinking about it i do appreciate the beauty, engineering and refinement top of the range cars offer over run of the mill stuff and i guess you can't appreciate these leading edge aspects of the cars without acknowledging them so i guess you learn as you do just that, acknowledge them so actually i guess i do have an interest in them

Im just not a fan of getting my hands dirty but i also appriciate the people who enjoy doing just that because without them i wouldn't have such cars to drive.

[falkster]

DaMasterMind said:

You don't really give a dam about power to weight ratios or any other technical jargon but love driving the best car's life has to offer?

I think people that take technical info too far are commonly known as 'bellends'

[Ari]

DaMasterMind said:

You don't really give a dam about power to weight ratios or any other technical jargon but love driving the best car's life has to offer?

Sadly it seems for most the over riding concern is to be seen in a car that projects the right "image".

Hence all the threads like "I want to buy an XYZ Turbo but is it a girls car/what will my mates think/etc etc.

[FreeLitres]

No. V8 or GTFO.

[Ozzie Osmond]

In my experience many people are far more interested in boasting at the pub than actually driving their cars. That includes everything from shiny accessories to pretty tyre tread patterns to rock-hard suspension, magical chips, remaps and rolling road results.

A lot of it is nothing more than bhp. Bullst horsepower.

http://gearheadrants.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/when-h...

I'm much more interested to get in the car and drive!

[Ozzie Osmond]

Ari said:

Sadly it seems for most the over riding concern is to be seen in a car that projects the right "image". Hence all the threads like "I want to buy an XYZ Turbo but is it a girls car/what will my mates think/etc etc.

^^^^ This.

[ging84]

DaMasterMind said:

Im just not a fan of getting my hands dirty but i also appriciate the people who enjoy doing just that because without them i wouldn't have such cars to drive.

There are plenty of people like that on this forum on many other forums like that, i don't really understand it, i would have though people earning that much money to be able to afford new 50k+ cars would have much better things to do that chat about them on the internet and show up to meets where they can stand by them, like driving them and mostly earning the money to pay for them. But they really do show up to meet with these cars so it's not all 15 year olds talking st

you will find forums for all the car brands where people have endless circle jerks about what option packages to get when they trade in for the latest model and which main dealer gives the best handjobs, i don't really see the point, but i'm sure if you care that much about option packages you're still obsessed with your cars as much as someone that goes to track days or changes their own oil

[soad]

The answer is yes, OP.

[Ferg]

My view is that you don't have to get all technical, but if you can't see that the cheapest of cheap cars CAN be as brilliant in their usage of techniques to make them best in class as throwing endless development cash at a supercar, then you tend to be drifting away from PistonHead towards StatusHead or FashionHead.
Anyone who says, "The 599 (or whatever) is my favourite top end car and the Mazda 2 (or whatever) is my favourite town car" is OK in my book.

[TomN94]

You are a "pistonhead" if you are a "petrol head" Simple.

[DaMasterMind]

Ari said:

Sadly it seems for most the over riding concern is to be seen in a car that projects the right "image".

Hence all the threads like "I want to buy an XYZ Turbo but is it a girls car/what will my mates think/etc etc.

The same way i appreciate the beauty in architecture or landscape gardening i appreciate the beauty in motor vehicles also so the same way i don't want to live in a house that looks like a skip with a overgrown garden full of stinging nettles and brambles i don't want to drive a car that looks like a skip with wheels.

I don't see anything wrong with this at all seriously given the choice who would choose to drive a skip with wheels over something that looks amazing?

However i do agree that if you have to ask the opinion on weather a car is good looking or cool from anybody that ain't cool.

Edited by DaMasterMind on Tuesday 1st January 17:37

[Ferg]

Where do you stand on a beautifully painted and detailed car that has been ignored mechanically apart from the effort to get it through an MOT. Or a lookalike Supercar on an MR2 chassis? Or filling the rear wing on your Maserati with filler rather than welding in a panel?

[strudel]

I think if you enjoy driving cars enough you'll probably start to look at the "jargon" a bit more.

[DaMasterMind]

Ferg said:

Where do you stand on a beautifully painted and detailed car that has been ignored mechanically apart from the effort to get it through an MOT. Or a lookalike Supercar on an MR2 chassis? Or filling the rear wing on your Maserati with filler rather than welding in a panel?

I guess it depends what your priority's are, its like living in a house that looks beautiful on the outside but inside its a st heap, in that case i would rather have a house that was beautiful on the inside but st on the outside but given the choice i would have beautiful inside and out.

[Ferg]

Exactly.
Function over form. It's the way forward.
Personally I want different things from different vehicles, but I would never compromise the actual performance of a vehicle for it's looks. I sit inside all of my vehicles apart from the Triumph when I drive them and can't see the outside. I care ENORMOUSLY about the power to weight of the Libra because I want it to go round corners fast. This means it's lightness is important for handling, so no boat anchors. In doing so I only have 176bhp to use, so I eek that out with a car that weighs 730-odd Kgs and a pre-Christmas body that weighs 70kgs

[Ari]

DaMasterMind said:

The same way i appreciate the beauty in architecture or landscape gardening i appreciate the beauty in motor vehicles also so the same way i don't want to live in a house that looks like a skip with a overgrown garden full of stinging nettles and brambles i don't want to drive a car that looks like a skip with wheels.

I don't see anything wrong with this at all seriously given the choice who would choose to drive a skip with wheels over something that looks amazing?

However i do agree that if you have to ask the opinion on weather a car is good looking or cool from anybody that ain't cool.

Edited by DaMasterMind on Tuesday 1st January 17:37

Appearance and image are two different things.

I totally appreciate an attractive car.

But I don't appreciate the "MINIs are girls cars/SLKs are hairdressers cars/BMWs are reps cars/Bentleys are footballers cars/Audis are driven by cocks" bullst that is constantly spouted on here by the hard of thinking.

It's all about the "image" for most people. Tragic.