Why buy a "high performance" vehicle

[kentauros]

if you're not going to make it perform when you get the chance?

I don't know how many BMUUs I was behind on the way home tonight (it was at least five) that were either poking along well below the posted speed limit, or braking on a wonderful freeway exchange curve I know and love. I rarely get to take that curve the way I like in my little Civic (which doesn't have nearly the kind of handling of your average BMUU) mainly because I'm usually stuck behind beaters taking it at or below the posted 40mph. While I know they likely can't go very fast for fear of shaking their cars apart, I really hate being behind those that have bought some 'fast' or 'high performance' car.

Of course, I've learned in the decades since I learned how to drive that Americans are, in general, afraid of the curve, or seemingly so. Sit at a light and someone asks if you want to race and you say "Sure, I'll take you on the cloverleaf" and expect either shock or questioning looks. They just don't get it.

Even the affluent that can afford the likes of a Ferrari don't understand how to drive a curve. My favorite example of that is back when I had my father's old 1964 MGB to drive, and being stuck behind a Ferrari 308 on a wonderful decreasing-radius cloverleaf. The idiot was taking it at 20mph when I regularly took it at 55. Of course, the moment he was on the straightaway, he was gone.

Really, can we require a cloverleaf test before people buy these cars? It might help some of them become better drivers...

[triguy46]

1. Casting nasturtiums, are we?

I'm ready for the test. When and where? I luv racin' :evilgrin:

[kentauros]

2. Well, I wasn't behind any that looked like that!

They were all sedans. But maybe it's mostly Texas drivers. Too dumb to realize they have these great cloverleaf curves everywhere and only smart enough to "put the pedal to the metal" when it's nothing but a flat straight away :P

I wouldn't race anyone that actually understood curves with just my little Civic to use, only the dumb ones qualify :evilgrin:

[triguy46]

3. The opposite of this issue is....

the guys in pickups who drive like maniacs into the turns as if those vehicles had any semblance of handling.

[kentauros]

4. Fortunately, I don't see much of that in Houston,

where pickups are equal in number to everything else.

It's just that Houstonians are some of the wimpiest drivers I've ever seen. Which is odd, considering the number of astronauts and crazy NASA personnel that live here ;)

[rrneck]

5. I don't know about cars but I used to love to feel that footpeg touchdown. nt

[kentauros]

6. You see, I've never fet that.

But I have felt the thrill (and g-forces) of barely keeping the car on the road around a great curve, without power-sliding :D

[guitar man]

7. I love high performance

Straight, curves, it's all good to me. This is my old beastie, don't let the size fool you, she's surprisingly nimble since I ditched the air suspension and mounted it on coil springs :evilgrin:

only problem is now my wife drives it most of the time :(

[kentauros]

8. You know, I don't doubt that there are plenty here on DU that understand.

The problem is in my everyday driving among the 2 million other Houston drivers is that I feel like I'm the only one that understands not only how to have fun, but where all the corners of my car are at, how much I can push it and how much I can handle. The rest seem to just be sleep-driving through it all. And getting in my way when I'm upon a really great freeway curve (or taking a corner.)

So far, the majority of Houston drivers that have vehicles built for this stuff are completely clueless about, well, all of it. Next time, y'all (as in my "fellow" Texas drivers) buy a Lexus, you'll be happier

[guitar man]

9. It's the same here

Cloverleafs and freeway on ramps, they just don't get it, it's like it just triggers some kind of slow motion enzyme or something. And I get really aggravated because I'm stuck behind some petrified jackass when I've got better than 300hp just waiting to break loose :(

[jobycom]

10. Jobycom Highway Axiom Number 1: The more expensive the car, the worse the driver.

And if you think Houston is bad, come to Austin. At least you have 1-10. That's a gas if you catch it just before it gridlocks, going west from downtown to Katy. There's something spiritual about breaking around an F250 and cutting off a Lexus in the middle of that curve, and watching in your rearview as redneck and yuppie alike curse you. :)

[kentauros]

11. I always take 290 to Austin

(my parents live in Dripping Springs) and there's a wonderful reducing-radius turn at Brenham. That one I get to take fast about half the time, but usually not so for the opposite curve on the way home. Then it's clogged with Houstonians plodding along home. Usually I get on those curves and they're a quarter mile behind me before they're onto the road again.

I'm not a speed-demon, I just like the curves :D

[jobycom]

13. I know that curve.

Now when I wreck on it, I'll blame you for making me curious. :O

[MiddleFingerMom]

12. One of my FAVORITE cars was my little '79 Honda Civic 1300cc...

.
.
.
...that I bought on a close-out sale because they had
determined that it was underpowered and the 1500cc engine
got better gas mileage -- probably the last NEW car in
the U.S. for under $3000 (I think maybe another DU'er
showed me ONE model that was less than the $2995 that I
had paid).
.
SUPERB corner-handling -- tight like a go-kart. If you like
cornering and you're down South and hear of a road in the
area call The Trace -- seek it out. In the South, a Trace
generally follows closely all the twists and turns of the
river it runs alongside or nearby. FANTASTIC.
.
Near the Kentucky/Tennessee border is where I found mine.
I had taken it in a friend's Porsche 911 and a friend's
Triumph Spitfire and both were a blast and ate up the road...
but that little Honda was probably my favorite because of
its cornering abilities.
.
Fast? Nah. I commuted about 40 miles each way to work and
on the way home, there was a stretch of remote State highway
that had NO place for the police to lurk -- absolutely open
land and a straight long steep downhill run. Took it flat OUT
every night on my way home. Once... and only once, with a
very stiff tailwind, I hit 99 mph. You shoulda seen me... hell,
I woulda loved to have seen me humping that car behind the
steering wheel -- trying to WILL it to go ONE MILE FASTER!!!!!
.
.
Didn't happen.
.
.
But DAMN... what a fun car.
.
.
.

[kentauros]

19. What a great story!

And I knew someone that had one of those little Civics. He joked about having gotten rear-ended three times and painting a target on the back. Even so, it still continued to run, with the rear hatch bashed all the way in.

The fastest I've gone was on a similar road where the cops had no easy waiting spot because it was a six-lane roadway, divided by a huge drainage ditch down the middle and curbs instead of shoulders. There was a stretch of a couple of miles that I knew by heart (it was my route to college for several years) including all the bumps, dips and holes. No, not a well-kept roadway, but once you know it, you know it ;)

I took my father's MGB up to 110, and that was pushing it, too! I didn't keep it at that speed for long, worried more about the engine than anything and dropped back to a reasonable 70mph soon after. But at least I can say I've gone fast in a straight line :D

Like a Triumph, that was a fun car, too :)

[madrchsod]

14. i have a need for speed......

my dream car is the new 150mph turbo V6 ford sedan....

[JCMach1]

15. Trust me you DO NOT want the opposite of what you say...

People driving overpowered cars in insane ways on bad, overcrowded roads. We have that in the UAE and too many people die.

I have seen more dead people here in car accidents than any place ever for any other reason. You don't want your morning commute to constantly turn into what looks like a warzone with casualties everywhere.

[kentauros]

17. That isn't what I'm saying.

I said I know what my car is capable of, where the corners are, and how to take a curve without losing it. And I'm in a little Honda Civic, outdoing people in BMUUs (my semi-insulting term for "Beamers" :P) and other cars that are built for cornering and handling.

The problem is that people don't have those skills and don't even attempt to get them. It's all about being seen in their "performance" car. If it wasn't about that, then that idiot south of here wouldn't have driven his Bugatti Veyron into a lagoon at low speed! That car doesn't belong on US roadways anyhow. It's way too fast and our roads are, for the most part, too rough for the likes of a "supercar". Take to the real Autobahn, where they understand smooth and low uphill grades.

As I said before, Americans love speed, fast and straight. Curves scare the hell out of them so they take them at well below the posted limit, even if their car is able to handle them at twice the limit. They kill themselves easily enough on the open roads, as if speed is the only thrill to get in driving. And they kill themselves and each other by the worst thing of all: inattentiveness.

[JCMach1]

24. That about describes it... Americans don't know how to drive BMW's anyway

:)

Serious waste...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. There are no curving roads in Texas, haha

I've driven there. All the roads are straight.

But, there are "high performance" vehicles, and strange customs. A typical freeway with two lanes in each direction has secret "bonus" passing lanes that the rest of us would call "shoulders".

Great fun!

:hi:

[kentauros]

18. Oh, there are curvy roads,

but they're well off the beaten path, and usually called "FM" roads (Farm to Market) and only two lanes total. Those are found mostly in The Hill Country, and you still aren't guaranteed a fast drive around the curves. Too many tourists and suburbanites from Houston and Dallas clogging them all up, now :P

:hi:

[GoneOffShore]

20. Here's a link for you to look at - Gymkhana course

http://www.wimp.com/impressivedriving/

[EnviroBat]

22. That was more like "flying" a car than driving one...!

That was some impressive work!

[kentauros]

23. They had him on Top Gear

and while that's some pretty fun stuff, you can't do that on your drive to and from work ;)

I'm just frustrated at always being behind people in "performance" cars that have no clue what performance truly means. They'd probably ruin my dash with their fingernail marks riding with me :P

"Excitement" to them is getting a high return on their investments :eyes:

[GoneOffShore]

25. I feel your pain - I drive a Saab 9-3 and often follow

people like you describe.
Argh!

Glad you liked the gymkhana link.

[kentauros]

26. Well, I finally got to watch it with sound

and I don't really understand what kind of engine that is to make that kind of sound! :o

Still, a fun video and you can tell how much fun he's having doing it :D

Thanks for posting it :hi:

[EnviroBat]

21. This is my little rocket...

I don't know what it is about this car, but it is the most fun to drive of any car I've ever owned. I really like the adrenaline rush you get when the turbo spools up and you get pinned in the seat. It's all-wheel drive and sticks to the road like melted gum. I decided one day that if I have to spend time sitting in a car, it might as well be a fun one!

[flvegan]

27. Is that the full monty?

WRX STi?

Good car. I was playing with one on the way home from work last Friday. We both had a damn good time.

[flvegan]

28. First off, the avg BMW is NOT a "high performance" vehicle.

Unless said BMW has either a GT (5 series) or an M (well, all of them) or a 7 series numbered at or higher than 750, it is NOT any sort of high performance*

Most modern BMWs are bought by folks impressed by a badge. Sadly the same goes for the modern Mercs. Even more sadly, the same goes for far too many Lambos and Ferraris.


*Dinan and other likely modded rides aside.

[kentauros]

29. I know they aren't, but to most Americans, they are,

however wrong they may be. Remember the comment from the teen recording the Veyron as it went into the lagoon? He thought it was a Lamborghini! :eyes:

Maybe I did use the term in the wrong way, yet most Americans wouldn't know the difference to begin with. I only meant it to convey those cars that at least have a design-background in performance that is then carried over into the final product, however little that ends up there. But enough of that better design does end up in the final product such that they can handle better than your average Civic, Focus, Camry and so on.

And you're right about how they are impressed with the badge. My car is the epitome of the worker's sedan, gets you from point-A to point-B, efficiently and with low emissions. And yet, I can drive it better than these yahoos in better-designed vehicles.

That was my point: getting stuck behind people that have bought the "badge of performance" and don't have the skills to match.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

30. And WHY for God sakes

Would you buy a Porsche with an automatic transmission?

If you don't know what a line is buy a minivan for crissakes!

[av8rdave]

31. The ones that get me are the Caddys with the Northstar engines that have the governors on them

They can't go any faster than 35 MPH.

What a waste!