What kind of 'car enthusiast' are you?

[superhans88]

It may sound like a strange question but I'm sure that amongst this forum's contributors there are wildly varying personalities all united by a common appreciation of the motor car. It'd be nice to be able to understand different people's reasons for their interest in anything automotive.

Of myself, I would say that I'm more of an engineering enthusiast than a car enthusiast, at least I think that's where my interest in cars stems from - an appreciation of good engineering. It is this philosophy that allows me to appreciate cars as diverse as the Bugatti Veyron and Issigonis Mini. In fact, one could justifiably say that many mass produced cars represent a greater technical achievement than some outlandinsh supercars, simply because of the financial constraints placed upon the engineers and designers and the inherent necessity for compromise.

Anyway, enough of my thoughts, let's hear some of yours...

[harryowl]

I like lightweight and simplicity - aircon is for pussies!!

[TotalControl]

I'm a pussy.

[ewenm]

It varies for me - simple and light for my fun driving and track work, big and powerful for the classic cruising, toys and aircon for the daily driver/family car.

Edit: I like things that are a bit different to the normal run of the mill. The horsepower wars of the German triumvirate I find tedious - I'd rather the money was spent on removing weight than adding power. Fantastic cars, no doubt, but just leave me cold.

Edited by ewenm on Monday 16th August 19:59

[CatfishCKY]

I appreciate decent, quick cars. I will acknowledge an RS4 Avant, or even an Alpina D3, but I have grown up around cars my whole life and will appreciate any special/classic/historic/fast/beautiful car happily. My dad used to work on all sorts of cars, for instance.
I'm just fed up with the fact people find it hard to believe a woman is a car enthusiast, and wished I got acknowledged in an MX5 more often!

[Vvroom]

Good question.

Tough one to answer and there are always exceptions, but I look at the engine/ride quality and then the design. I think.

[v8will]

99% of cars are mostly full of components manufactured with the sole purpose of making money for the global corporations behind them.

We all know there's much more to it than that!

I love the engineering behind it but I have as much appreciation for anything mechanical, a good clock for example as I do a Buggati

[anonymous-user]

I'm more of an 'all in one' enthusiast. I want some thing I can enjoy driving but can also use every day.

Speed isn't everything to me, I would be more happy in a big 4x4 than a small two seater sports car.

[RobM77]

I come at it from so many different angles

I guess the primary one for me is simply driving - I absolutely love driving. For me, perfection is a car where steering, brake and throttle are all light bur positive, whilst being linear and progressive. Laggy DBW throttles are out, as are stupid variable ratio steering racks like Porsche use, or jumpy over servoed brakes like Audi use. Lotus get it right better than most, other than the brakes, which I simply adore in modern Porsches. The ride and handling is also a big part of driving for me; I like to feel the wheels in contact with the road as much as possible through perfectly tuned damping; Lotus have this completely perfected in most of their cars. Balance is not hugely important to me; I find old 911s and Clio V6s just as interesting as well balanced cars such as Caterhams and BMWs. Interactive handling is important to me though; if I back off by a few millimetres in a corner I want to feel the nose tuck in, and if I accelerate by a few millimetres I want to feel the nose nudge a little wide. Front wheel drive is out, as is four wheel drive. Turbochargers annoy me due to the weird engine response they have. Motoring nirvana for me is my Elise S2 111S or a Honda NSX, or probably an E30 M3 or 968CS, although I've never driven either.

Apart from the driving I also love engineering. I like to see simple, effective and solid engineering. The Mclaren F1 is bang on for me in this respect. Sound is important to me too, and I have varying tastes there - inline 4, V6, V8, V10, V12 - you name a configuration and there's an engine that I absolute adore Styling is also important to me, a car should look good, although I don't like flashy, just aesthetically pleasing.

I think a marriage of all of these things is the Mclaren F1 - non assisted linear controls, with an amazing V12, understated and neat styling and an awesome sound. I'll never afford one though

[otolith]

I like cars not to be ordinary.

[Dracoro]

otolith said:

I like cars not to be ordinary.

Which is a paradox in a way. If all cars were "different" then what is "ordinary"? To be different, there must be the ordinary to distinguish the "different".

Maybe you mean you like cars that are not ordinary?

Anyway, I like driving and can appreciate many many cars (even if I would not buy any of them myself). Some cars are just rubbish imo. The last 2 hire cars I had for example:
1. VX Insignia - hated it, rubbish car for me - was V glad to get my Omega back, a far better car.
2. Fiat Panda hired in Italy last year - great little car and fun to drive, would never have one mind but that's not the point.
Ask me before trying either car which I think I would want/like the most I would have said the VX. Moral is, take one's own preconceptions out of the mix and you end up opening your eyes to many great cars and driving fun.

Back OT, I think we're all a mix of car and driving enthusiasts, some the former more, some the latter.

Maybe a poll is required
1 thru 10
1 is total driving enthusiast (loves driving - not to concerned about individual cars as long as they have something that gives them driving pleasure, prob never cleans their car etc.)
10 is total car enthusiast (would never go on a track day, likes to pose around, do up their car, keep a minter a minter etc.).

What are you?

A low number can be your regular track day goer, doesn't care if their car gets the odd mark here and there. They can be poor running some track slag, they can be rich running around in a GT3 with semi slicks
A high number will be your nice flash shiny clean (often low mileage) Ferrari, Aston that never see's a hard life but also your max power kev who loves a "cruise"

There's no shame in being a 1 or a 10 (or whatever inbetween). I love to see some Gent in his Bentley out on a summers day as much as chatting to some 7esque owner getting covered in oil under the bonnet at a trackday. They both have the right to call themselves enthusiasts, just different types.

Edited by Dracoro on Monday 16th August 21:04

[Alfanatic]

The less interference between me and the road and the mechanical bits the better. I like a car that's always telling me what it's doing. I don't care if that makes it noisier or more tinny, and I'd rather have unassisted steering that's a bit of a pain to park than any power steering system I've used yet. That means it has to really be rolling on fairly narrow tyres though - or has to be very light. I also prefer a car that rolls around a little on its suspension because that makes it easier to play with the balance of the car, to put the weight where I want it, and while I enjoy a bit of power I'm not interested in the car's grip for cornering and so on. I'm not bothered about feeling g-forces on the road.

So I want a car that's relatively light, has excessive body roll by modern standards, isn't particularly quick around corners, has no power steering or army of electronic brains monitoring all the controls, etc.

I guess all that makes me a classic car enthusiast.

[deadalfa]

Apart from just driving, I like the noise, the smell, and the sense of occasion messing about with interesting cars can give. I like clocks and bridges and other such clever curiosities, and I like seeing such ingenuity applied to the automobile. I like a car being 'just right', especially after it's been 'not quite right' previously, and even when being 'just right' is in spite of tolerable flaws!