Friends lack of car knowledge

[Shominy]

Now, I'm no car expert. I have never done any of my own spannering or anything like that but it really shocks me just how little all of my friends know about cars. I know my EP3 from my FN2 and my 197 from my 182 which isn't really saying much when compared to most people here I'm sure but it really does seem like your average Joe knows next to nothing at all about cars.

Allow me to furnish you with some quotes from the last week or two from various different people I know:

Whilst browsing the internet for the exact details on how much horsepower her BMW 118i has. Bear in mind this person knows they drive a petrol car.
"what's the model? it's a 'd' isn't it"

When comparing different cars with my friend.
"yours is a 1.2, mine's a 1.3 so mine is probably as quick as yours even though it's older."
Me: "what model/trim level is yours exactly?"
"I dunno, it's just the 1.3"

When discussing with a friend what car he may get next.
"I think I'd probably go for a Golf, they're roomy, I love the look of them and they're fast"

Is this the level of comprehension amongst everyone else's friends group?

[Shominy]

Jayho said:

I'd imagine you're friends with them as you have some common interests and their lack of car knowledge should just become null and void as that's not your shared interest. I also find it a lot easier when someone claiming stuff I know to be false but I realise it's not their forte of knowledge I would just bite my tongue and smile.

I have many interests and friends with different interests. In each one of my friend groups I probably have lack of knowledge in our shared interest as I like to surround myself with people better than me to learn from.

Example, I have many really musical friends who are incredibly musically talented. I however suck at the guitar in comparison, but we share love for music and I really hope the think any less of me for my lack of ability.

And in all honesty I really doubt there's many of my friends who have complete car knowledge. The car industry has so many variations that unless you're rain man I doubt you can spout heaps of trivia about every car / type of car. Again, I have friends who are completely into fast fords and probably know far too much trivia about zetec engines etc. On the other hand they probably know very limited amount of information on Rovers and the k series engine.

I find it a lot more tranquil and relaxing to find out the shared or common interests and encourage conversation on that. Eff it, I even have some friends where the only reason we hang out is because we're both barking mad and find the same silly stuff hilarious.

Absolutely. I don't care that these friends have no knowledge of cars, I'm just surprised, almost, that your average man or woman knows so little about them. I will openly admit when I know nothing about a subject and will usually keep quiet for fear of embarrassing myself yet with cars it seems that a lot of people seem to think they know a lot about them when they know nothing. As mentioned by someone else, a classic is the belief that anything German and premium is definitely faster than anything by Ford/Vauxhall/Renault etc.