The Chief

I have spoke countless times to the GF about my passion for driving - yet she does not get it and never will. She'd be quite happy if i smoked about in a 1 litre Corsa for the rest of my life

Lets face it - performance cars are a finacial nightmare and money pits - but why do we drive them?

What makes driving so special and why are you so passionate about it???

For me its a few things...

The first time i drove my Subaru i was on a country road and i floored it past 3 dawdling cars in one hit, it was so effortless and safe yet felt so feckin' naughty at the same time.

I drive quickly but safely, having said that i can even be just trundling and enjoy the experience, The Noise, The smell, the grip as you feel the tyres loading up and then firing out of a bend and feeling the acceleration - maybe its the extreme assault on the senses in something that you are in control off.

The first time you take someone in it and they cry '****' when you floor it for the first time.

Maybe pootling along knowing you have loads of power in reserve to zip past mainstream cars at will.

If you drive something exotic or eye catching, is it the sense of occasion as you trundle through a town and everyone points at you, or maybe a Scoob or an Evo where you feel as if your an Outlaw who is part of a select group of people driving cars that can embarrass most things on a point to point road.

So what does it for you? lets face its better than p***ing it up the wall seven days a week.

I'm sure i can think of more

Discuss.

Snazy

Passion for driving thats a tough one.

In general its the sense of freedom, ability to be an individual, and make my own decisions about travel.

The actual experience, especially in a powerful (ish) car, is the thrill, the rush of the acceleration. A nice twisty country road is where im at home. Love going out and going down lanes I dont know. Learning new roads, being on edge, keeping my senses ultra alert.

Feeling connected with the car is important to me. A car with no feeling is not a pleasure. Working with the car, making the right decisions etc.

In the past few years it appears helping others and being there for people when it most counts has also played a major role, hence carrying lots of gear in the boot for the next accident I come across.

Shark Man

Always been with me. Since a small child. Maybe because it was my Dad who had fancy cars and used to take me to various f1 GP as well as the European Touring car races. And countless moto-GP. Not forgetting our once great local speedway track.

Add that half my family runs a vehicle repair business, its kind of in the blood.

Had a bike from the age of six, drove karts from the age of ten.

Comming of age, the first fast car I had was a 130ps XR3i. Then working for the family business saw me driving all sorts from A to Z, from AMG mercs, Bentleys, to Westfeilds.

Give me an empty open road and I'm loving it - no matter what car (although the more raw, potent, and challenging, the better)

Sadly, I don't enjoy driving anymore (especially in the UK).

Modern performance cars don't drive like they should (inluding Imprezas) - no where near involving or reponsive enough with chassii that numb the senses not evoke them. And the roads we drive are far too delapidated and overcrowed.

The last time driving put a grin on my face was hitting a mountain pass full of bends, hairpins, straights, cliff drops and not another car insight. Bizzarly the car I drove in was a pug 207 1.4Hdi which was a horrible pathtic car. But pushing its gutless, lardy sesnsation-less chassis though such a wonderful road did re-kindle what I have missed in my part of the UK for the past ten years or so, where I can't go down a country road without getting suck behind a meadering 4x4, Micra driven by a cotten bud or a beardy bloke in a Prius.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Don't drink much anymore never smoked, driving is one of the things left I enjoy. Nothing like a quick blast in the impreza with some cheesy tunes playing to releive stress

NACRO

I get off on it.

To expand I love the way cars look, their ability to allow me to travel at will, the joy of driving them, the visceral thrill of speed and danger and rather sadly the status they infer.

stilover

I blame it on watching the "Dukes of Hazard" as a kid.

Yeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaa

STi-Frenchie

Great smooth roads, twisty alpine passes with the music of a boxer engine to tune in to, a sense of freedom and fantastic scenery, what's not to be passionate about?

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I've always been passionate about cars, from an early age I just loved being in them and when I wasn't in a car I was playing with a toy one. I had one of those plastic stick-on dashboard kid's steering wheels that I used to use whenever I went out with my Dad in his car. I always used it like I was really driving and took it extremely seriously, I gained immense pleasure from doing it correctly and couldn't wait until I was able to drive a real car

At the age of 10 I read the handbook for my Dad's BMW from cover to cover and 'learnt' how to drive the car whilst sitting stationary in a car park. Unfortunately the big meanie wouldn't let me start the engine and drive it for real

My Dad is also a car enthusiast and has generally had nice cars, for me as a kid growing up my favourite places to be were in his cars, I used to spend hours in them just sitting on the drive listening to the 8-Track and pretending to drive

I learned to drive as soon as I was old enough and have loved being behind the wheel ever since. I LOVE driving and don't think I'll ever get bored of it. I even derive pleasure from a mundane trip to the supermarket I'm trying to think why it is that I love driving so much but don't know, I'll think a bit more and get back to you

My single biggest regret in life (after not becomming a fast jet pilot) is not following a career as a professional race or rally driver

astraboy

"It's not the contest between racers that really matters, but the abstract dialogue between the soul of a racer and his machine."
Racer x said that, an unnamed street racing type, I'm not sure of his nationalility.
Personally, I happen to agree with him.;cool:
astraboy.

bootsy

for me its the thrill of the drive,the look of cool cars and the wow factor some cars have e.g scoobs,evos,skylines,Ferrari's.but to me its more important to have a car that handles well but not over fast. than really fast car that doesn't handle well.most of my week day driving is done in a 106 rallye on sh*t roads but still lots of fun

dunx

iTrader: (3)

As a kid cars were REALLY slow, then my cousin bought a classic "Sweeney" Jag.... As he opened it up thro' the "End-of-speed-limit" (Honestly !) signs the straight six howled up to about 100 mph, and I was hooked !

My uncle taught me engineering by re-building an old Daimler, every component stripped and re-built.

ASAP passed my test and bought an Imp... just loved the freedom of running away into the countryside, not speed just the freedom.

Then learnt to mod it.... Argh !

1997 got a "Catalunya" No.141, kept till offered a "crazy" deal on a bug-eye STI that I still have today.....

As Scoobychick said I even enjoy the 4 mile drive to work.... and home if it's quiet !

DunxC

speedymonkey

Good question Carl

For me its the freedom a car offers, the acceleration + speed+ sound, and the playing of music (that i am also very passionate about) on a decent system

Love driving out somewhere, tunes blasting out, especially at night, i just love it and always will, just you (and the missus sometimes), some tunes and a nice long open road to blast down

skoobidude

We drive them for the buzz! And let's face it, most love the speed of a decent car. But speed is so frowned upon here in UK.
On a decent road in Italy you can nail it (within reason) without any bother from the law.

Nick

Leslie

I have always loved to control any kind of machinery starting from motor bikes up to cars and others things as well. The feel of balancing the car in a corner and making the necessary corrections to keep it all on the island as well as coordinating the use of power is hard to beat. I personally find that more enjoyable than sheer speed along the straight bits.

Not really possible to enjoy yourself on the public roads these days and I found that the years I spent racing were unforgettably great and wish I could still afford to do it. The learning how to pare fractions of a second off lap times were so satisfying and also removed the need to try to prove it all on the roads. Most of the other drivers I knew as good friends felt the same way. We saved it all for the track.

I am looking forward to the track day that my sister has bought for my birthday present later this year

Les

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I've been thinking about this a lot and it's pretty much as Les says, it's the control of the machine that I really enjoy. I drive sensibly on the road but like to make progress where I can see that it's safe to do so and derive immense pleasure from the simple things like hitting the apex spot on, getting my lines right, using the right amount of throttle & brakes and keeping the car balanced and smooth. In particular there's once stretch of A road up in the Dales which twists and turns and goes up and down but where you can see for a few miles, I often take myself up there just for the thrill of driving it

Leslie

Can't say fairer than that scoobychick.

Les

jonc

I got asked the same question as to why I didn't stick with the 1.0 Micra. So I asked her why does she need to keep getting poncy handbags and shoes, fancy hair and beauty products etc that will only get used a few times in its lifetime and why not cheapo alternatives that will do the same thing....she shut up after that!!

I have a nice car because I can and its one of those little things in life that I enjoy doing.

corradoboy

There's a corner, how fast am I going, where do I need to slow, if at all, down the 'box or a dab of brake, what's the weather like, is it slightly different mid-bend because of those trees, what's the surface like, smooth, rough, dirty, mud, gravelly, which way does the camber lie, how old ARE my tyres, what's oncoming, are there any Police about, will my passenger moan, sulk, laugh, or puke, what's around the corner, another I hope......and so it goes on.

As an aside, performance cars don't need to be money pits either. £9,200 for a car with 2 1/2yrs warranty left, plus a secondhand RARB, an air filter and intake (under £100) and a remap (£400 - the missuse thinks it was £250 ) with residuals which would make you guys weep, and I have outdragged Scooby's yet can get 60+mpg. Doesn't corner as fast, but all of the above still applies every time I get behind the wheel. I'd love another Scoob of course, but with fuel, taxation and the way the economy is heading, I'll use my head and come back to my heart when my head says that's sensible again.

Brit_in_Japan

I don't want to be a me too, but Les has summed it up quite nicely. I get enjoyment from making the car do what I want, reading the road ahead and controlling the car so I can apex the corner nicely. You just know when you've taken the perfect line and everything is in shape and you're in the perfect gear to power out of the corner. Any idiot can drive fast in a straight line, but making swift safe progress on a nice country road is very satisfying, especially if the acoustics are nice.

The same is true of competition, just with healthy extra dose of adrenalin

Brendan Hughes

I have a lovely house, a lovely wife, and I have fathered a beautiful daughter. I have sold my Impreza, have a dog-slow diesel jeepette and, as Clarkson says, I am now simply waiting to grow old and die.

Ms Gooner 1

Hmmm - I think being a girl (as I am ) growing up i was never one for hanging about with girls - I was quite a tom boy and used to hang around with guys who had cars - was always a bit of a petrol head from then. Passed my test and bought......... wait for it........ a Nova LMAO. God I thrashed the hell out of that and thought I was cool to be able to get it to about 50mph in 2nd gear LMAO - "never underestimate the power of the Nova" LMFAO.

Since being with Gooner though we've had the pleasure of owning some fantastic cars, 2 scoobs, 2 supras, the last supra was tt and was awesome and my favourite....... Mazda RX7.

I love now though just getting in the car and hearing that burbling noise that is SO distinctive to a scoob! Having the power where necessary and every now and again launching and accelerating SO quickly (just had a re-map) that you get butterflies. Being able to corner so precisley without worrying about losing the back end. Generally now we only drive our scoob at the weekends and to meets - but I love waking up Saturday morning and trundling round in her for a day - makes the weeks bearable when you know what comes at the weekends!! God I'm sad LMAO

Leslie

I have to say that made me smile Brendan. Have you got the furry zip up ankle boots from Clifford James yet?

Les

Suresh

Small things do it for me these days really, as I've gone all pipe and slippers like Brendan.

I love the thrill of acceleration and controlling the nose via the throttle to keep it on line through the twisties. I've got a front-driver now that spins its wheels at the slightest hint of dampness and getting cleanly away at the lights in such conditions is the goal of an otherwise uneventful daily commute.

Maxing it out on the autobahn is pointless and somewhat childish, but I just had 'V rated' winter tyres fitted so it would be rude not to!


My missus doesn't get it either.

Shark Man

Brake hard mid-bend. That should spice up your life

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Diesel? What about the sound though? Scoobs, V8's etc all sound amazing!

This is a strange one for me as my Dad was/isn't in to cars at all yet I am. As a kid I always wanted a R5 turbo, as a teenager it was a Cosworth & as a young adult it was always a Scoob! Never owned the Renault or Ford however have owned 2 STi's to date.

Cars over the years - Mk 1 Golf GTI, mk 2 16v Golf GTI, 306si, 306gti, Integra Type R (DC2), STi ver V, BMW 330d (minor blip!), STi Spec C now.

TX.

corradoboy

I do miss the burble, amongst many other things which are great about a Scoob. I don't miss the empty wallet however.