Is there any point having a fast road car?

[srichards]

Reading this thread reminded me how much I miss my Lancia Delta Integrale A car all about acceleration and grip and FUN!

Driving a Volvo V70 T5 now which is probably quicker in a straight line, but nowhere near the fun of the Lancia and driving should be fun!

Integrales are fun and with the added Russian roulette of wondering whether you'll arrive at your destination with a new mysterious noise or not!

Mine is currently stuck in the garage as its suddenly lost all power to everything. I think the main earth has decided to fall off :-/

 

[onomatopoeia]

Integrales are fun and with the added Russian roulette of wondering whether you'll arrive at your destination with a new mysterious noise or not!

Mine is currently stuck in the garage as its suddenly lost all power to everything. I think the main earth has decided to fall off :-/

Easily tested with a multimeter. Or a bulb and bit of wire.

Italian vehicle electrics though ... I adore Italian cars. Would be terrified of actually owning one

 

[LCPete]

My daily work car is a £1500 diesel mondeo with 175k on it! My fun is my Honda fireblade! 0-60 under 3 seconds and the limiter doesn't hit until 14k! Love the thrill a bike gives you!

Clarke.

I love bikes too got a Z750 awesome when you open her up in third
To me a car is just a tool (mines a yaris ) but do understand people who get a nice sports car really don't get big four wheel drives tho

 

[srichards]

Easily tested with a multimeter. Or a bulb and bit of wire.

Italian vehicle electrics though ... I adore Italian cars. Would be terrified of actually owning one

Hazard lights no longer work so it is something fundamental. Will have to stick an arm into the rat's nest of wiring and wiggle things until they either work or I hear a bzzzzzttt...

Italian cars just need competent maintenance most of the time. I have a good garage so most issues are sorted quickly or don't become a problem as they already the signs of major problems. It takes a lot of the hassle out of it. The great irony is the dodgy electrics in later cars are actually made by Bosch!

 

[Neilc28]

I've just recently sold my E36 M3 Evolution, it was all polybushed and had coilovers and 350mm CSL brakes, lovely machine and had no speed limiter.

Unfortunately, as this thread states, there is no reason to own such a car now unless you do track days, the acceleration was amazing but I have been pulled by the police for getting to the speed limit too quickly before.

It had to go and I am now looking at a Golf GT TDI PD130, far more economical, cheaper tax, cheaper insurance and hopefully less likely to get me in trouble!

But ultimately I will miss the 'Instant-joy' pedal and steer from the rear characteristics of my old M3.

Neil

 

[Yves Geza]

anyway it's only slow drivers who need fast cars! ... Thrill as lots of them post in this thread!

I was right!

I couldn't live with a slow car!
It's not just the fact it goes fast. I hate passing cars in a slow car! I just find it dangerous. A fast car last you safely pass, with the risk of oncoming traffic, or needing a mile long run lol.

I find the greatest pleasure and satisfaction is the skill of covering 35 miles in half an hour uphill, down dale and round corners in a vehicle that has a top speed of 75mph.

I hardly ever see anyone who is able to overtake anyway no matter how fast their car!

I'd be surprised if anyone that's had a fast car says they don't miss it!!

Me!!

But I've never owned or driven anything faster than a Reynard 89D!

 

[Cobra]

anyway it's only slow drivers who need fast cars! ...

I was right!

I would suggest it just the fact that we don't admit to trying to break the
land-speed record around every country road we find
(straight line driving as you know is boring as hell
thats why God created the cruise control )
Or test the breaking point of the tyres in the same scenario

BTW I had to Google Reynard 89D, pretty cool

 

[ozyboyross]

On today's overly busy roads I don't think there is any point!!! I've thought long and hard about several performance cars and I alway decide that no matter how fast my car is ill still be doing the same speed as the car infront...

For that reason I opted for a 150hp sri diesel vectra and I love it! Cheap ish to run for it's size and a bit of grunt when you want some fun or to overtake!

I think fast cars are for the tracks these days as you simply cannot use them on the roads anymore! And the cost of petrol is astonishing!

It's a diesel life for me!

 

[Iris]

...
OK Hands up all those that have set the cruise control at 70 on a long motorway journey and realised just how erratic other drivers speeds are?
Passing some, and then having them pass you, further down the road ?
.....and so the "game" continues

My car mpg gets pretty good if I set the cruise control at 77mph but the inconsistencies of other drivers mean I don't use it very often

I used to drive a 2.8 Audi Quattro and I could easily shave 30 minutes off a 2 hour journey.

My new car isn't really super-fast with its 2.2 Diesel engine but its nice to know that if I do put my foot down it'll shift (it's an SUV)

 

[onomatopoeia]

But I've never owned or driven anything faster than a Reynard 89D!

Not much room for shopping in one of them!

Curiously, I've never been tempted anything of that ilk..

 

[terrysphotoz]

Had a Noble GTO3R for a few years, did not use it much as I work from home, sold it to a person off Pistonheads who wanted it, went to a Renault Clio, missed having something with some life in it, changed a few weeks ago to a Megane 265 cup, it is not all about the top speed, I love the acceleration through the gears. To me it was worth going back to a quick car, they can still be driven hard under the right circumstances.

 

[DTS]

as far as im concerned you dont need to break the speed limit to have fun - if you get to that speed limit really quickly, and feel the turbo kick in and throw you into your seat, you can have a huge cheshire cat type grin on your face at 40 or 50mph

 

[Yves Geza]

BTW I had to Google Reynard 89D, pretty cool

... owned by way of trade or business and raced properly by someone else. My own outlap at Snetterton and inlap at Snetterton was about six hundred quidsworth plus new underpants! Bloody scary thing!

The reality of driving a pukka wings and slicks single seater is akin to hanging a plank over the windowsill of a third story window ... now walk out along the plank as far as you can without overbalancing!!!

 

[Cobra]

. akin to hanging a plank over the windowsill of a third story window ... now walk out along the plank as far as you can without overbalancing!!!

Erm Pass, thanks all the same

 

[Byker28i]

Fast cars, fast bikes. The roads aren't as congested as you all seem to think. Yes I commuter time they are but most of the time there's the opportunity to make progress, which doesn't mean you break speed limits. I bet many on here claiming they don't need a fast car aren't always within speed limits in a 30 zone.

I commute by motorbike. Halves my journey time compared to the car as I don't get held up. As for the fast car, I've got one of those too. Sometimes it's about owning and driving a nice car that you like. Not every sports car is always driven at excessive speed, although some people seem to think thats true.

 

[Cobra]

Not every sports car is always driven at excessive speed, although some people seem to think thats true.

Very true, at least while "someone" is watching anyway

 

[TheNissanMan]

These days fast cars can be relatively cheap, an mr2 turbo with track tyres can be had for a little over 2k allowing a sensible second car (or various company cars in my case) and still allow you out on track regularly to let loose.

We've paid easy track 1k for ten track days which then makes them cheaper still...