martin clark
pinko bodger
Absolutely this: 'speed', has very little to do with 'reward' / 'involvement' can be everything .. that makes you want to drive a car.
Sports car chat
- Thread starter Whaleblue
- Start date
boneman
pfm Member
One of the most enjoyable drives I ever had was in a '60s Alfa Spyder on the Amalfi coast. Nowhere around there could we drive particularly fast but wow what a fun car to drive!
Yeah anyone can squirt the throttle, mostly in a straight line, and make quick progress these days. You might not even have to stir the porridge to change gear either. The internet is full of driving heroes who see this as the be all and end all.
What a location too - it all adds to the experience.
Dowser
Learning to bodge again..
Genau, exactly this - I had more fun trying to punt my year 2000 Impreza around with ca 320ps, than I do with the 2011 Evo with 380ps. The active diffs and intelligent 2 stage traction control just make it so accomplished, throw it into a corner at almost any speed with stage 1 disabled and you’re almost guaranteed an exit with a modicum of ability - great if your showing off, but I had far more fun trying get the Scoob through corners fast, it was hard work!
This reminds me, I have never tried my Evo at full force with traction control fully disabled - my next post maybe from a ditch
richardg
Admonishtrator
And that is why they are nearly all blue!
richardg
Admonishtrator
With sports cars, I'm drawn mainly by looks to be fair, then is it rwd and where is the engine.
Whaleblue
Southbound
Depending on budget etc. you may also want to look at the Toyota Yaris GR. 4WD, and a homologation special that apparently shares only the ashtray (or similar) with the cooking models. They’ve just released a new one, which may appeal to you, or possibly make the outgoing model a little cheaper?
gez
pfm Member
On one particular car forum that I used to frequent, the topic of "making progress" came up in a thread (what a surprise huh?). One particular user stated that they took great pleasure in driving down country lanes straightening out the corners, by using the opposite side of the road when clear/safe etc, essentially their aim being to get down the road as quickly as possible.
My immediate reaction to their description was "why on earth do you attempt to make a drive down a country road as close to driving in a dead straight line as you can? The fun is in the corners!" Hence why even when roads are clear, I stay on my side of the road, even if the end result is I'm travelling slower overall.
gez
pfm Member
Ironically, for a Rally car that never was.
Whaleblue
Southbound
I’ve not followed WRC closely recently, but there was/is a Yaris GR Rally1/2 that’s done well, and inspired a couple of limited editions. Schoolboy to the fore again and I’d go for this one…
gez
pfm Member
I may have been confusing the original GR Yaris in that case.
The car that never was - timeline of Toyota's scrapped GR Yaris – DirtFish
WRC – Toyota's 2021 GR Yaris WRC is no more. From the car's first test to the abrupt cancellation of the project, David Evans charts its short-lived story
-alan-
pfm Member
Smoother transitions, better visibility on left-handers, a bit of assistance from the road-camber on the right-handers perhaps ? (all safety/road-conditions permitting of course ).
I don't use the other side of the road that often, but on a bike in particular the wider radius line can make a fair difference to your forward visibility - and anything that reduces or takes negative camber out of the picture entirely is very welcome.
(Just for clarity btw - on the rare occasions if/when I do ever venture over to the far side, it's more about keeping a nice rhythm and flow, not chasing madcap speed.)
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
By sheer coincidence, I had also driven the GR Yaris a bit earlier and almost ordered one.
The Type R is a bit more grown up, practical (more doors and seating/carrying capacity). In comparison, the GR Yaris feels a bit too much of a go-kart, fun though it was.
Whaleblue
Southbound
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
Blue and black too with Type R.Yebbut you can have a red/grey/white colour scheme on the GR
I knew. I've had an Accord type R followed by a Civic type R. Particulary the ATR was fantastic on curvy backroads and on track days. No electronic driver aids to switch off
Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
Interesting how other drivers react to what you happen to be driving. When I had my TVR Griffith 500, I had no one try to race me, and they seldom overtook, only when I was pootling along gently. The Lotus S1 Elise was a different story - everyone and his granny wanted a race, which became quite tedious after a while. My last car, a Lexus LC500, would get other drivers tailgating me to see what they were following & it got lots of attention, which I didn't enjoy. It's a bit of a relief driving my Honda Civic eHEV, which I'm very pleased with & I expect will see me out.I believe there's a whole set of behaviours and unwritten protocols around how close people drive to you.
When I used to drive my old E30 325i (which was quite a fast car for its time) I never really had any bother with people getting too close behind. On the other hand, anytime I borrowed my wife (then girlfriends) little Fiat Uno - the fkrs were always all over my back bumper. Same speeds, same driving style on my part, but it was as if the Uno was an affront to their virility: track position/ being in front and not stuck behind a poxy little shopping trolley of a car became all important to them - especially the thrusty aggressive executive types in their Audis and BMWs.
The most interesting one of all was how people reacted to my Exige - confirmed by a friend of mine who also had one. Driving along any road, the first thing that happened when a car appeared behind was it would more often than not close right up to your chuff to get a close look, check it out (read the badge perhaps) and then, invariably back off to a more respectful distance. They definitely seemed to afford you a measure of respect you wouldn't have got in an Uno 45.
The other interesting thing was no matter how much you slowed down, or how big a gap you left between yourself and the cars ahead when you were in the Exige - hardly anybody ever ventured to overtake. It was as if they seemed to take the view - well if that's all the speed he's prepared to risk, I'm not going to be daft enough to try to go harder, or maybe just a case of not having him think I'm having a go
Man I miss that car at times..
