And that, my friends, is the mentality which explains why the ricer movement exploded in popularity....

 

Another vote for lunacy. For normal daily driving, I'd take a slower car with a stick than a faster car with an auto any day of the week. Driving an auto around town just isn't fun for me...I want the car to do what I want, when I want it!

 

I think that can be true too, as long as the car is entertaining ... and Miatas are; if he was talking about an Aveo, not so much. A "slow" car like a Miata has very approachable and fun limits to play around with and explore, with relatively minimal risk. But try exploring the limits on of a ZR1 on the streets and not only are you well into illegal territory, you're also putting your car, yourself, and other people at considerable risk.

 

That's more as to what I was getting at. The Cobalt is a bit of a stretch also considering that I despise FWD. Let's substitute something in the 200-300hp range and some sort of refinement vs an auto CTS-V.

 

Driving a manual around Dallas sucks during rush hour. That is the part of a manual I don't miss.

 

I dont know if its been talked about, but when you go to caddy's site, click on the V series section, click on CTS-V, it says "Tremec TR6060 Manual Trans" in the highlights.

 

Nah, I don't buy that at all. The ricer mentality was more a belief that a kid's hand-me-down piece of crap could all the sudden become fast and cool with a huge exhaust and a wing. Some slow cars are fun to drive.

Cars like the ZR1 are great for terrorizing onramps, but not really good in most of kinds of traffic.

 

How can I put this delicately?

Being alone and fantasizing about a beautiful woman may seem fulfilling, but the real thing is where the fun begins...

 

My experience in heavy traffic with the two works out to something like this:

Manual -> Work the clutch every once in a while
Auto -> Constantly keep your foot on the brake and modulating it, because the car keeps moving otherwise. Basically, as much or more work as a manual.

Both suck in traffic, but when the traffic clears, it's manual all the way for me.

 

Who cares what he drives, he is right.

It is always much more fun to drive a car at or near its limit than somewhere far below the limit.

One can be called a test of driver skill, the other could be called commuting or running errands.


Sort of related:

Once I had to make a back and forth cross-state Pennsylvania run in a rental Aveo. Let me tell you something, running I-80 through the mountains at 80 - 90mph in that Aveo was vastly more exciting than it would have been in my car.

 

thats a matter of opinion.

 

So driving at less than 100% of the capability of a car is more fun than driving one at 100%?

Elaborate on that opinion please.


I'll do the same.


Let's say I hustle a <insert POS econocar here> around an autocross course at some elapsed time. I'm flogging the thing and driving for all I'm worth. Working the wheel, squealing tires, sliding around, missing the cones by millimeters.

Now let's say you drive a <insert supercar here> through the same course at exactly the same speed and therefore exactly the same elapsed time. However, now it's a total snooze fest. You didn't even scratch the surface of the car's or your own abilities. Heck, I'll go one better. Let's say you do drive the car faster and turn a faster time than my POS but you still don't even get near the car's potential (or yours).

Who had more fun?

You puttering around in the supercar or me driving the econobox for all it's worth?




What makes driving fun is exploring your personal limits as a driver as well as those of the car. If you don't agree with this then you've never gotten near either one.

 

Driving any car to white knuckle levels will lead to a bad incident. It's fine on a closed circuit if you have bottomless pockets.

I take the notion that the fellow's premise is that he feels a fast car CAN'T be driven to the point of fun but a slower car allows doing so without risk. That isn't true.

I caution anyone from attempting to drive any vehicle at ten tenths on the street. Regardless of how fast or slow the car is.

Let's not confuse excitement and fun.

I always have more fun in a fast car as opposed to one that's shorter on thrust or handling, and brakes . Smooth is fast, and faster and better handling is far more conducive to being smooth.

I have had the opportunity to drive a few full out race cars, some worth more than a million bucks. They weren't mine so I wouldn't dream of trying to go ten tenths. Despite that they were as much fun as one can have with one's clothes on.

The difference in two or more car's performance is magnified in any sort of competition scenario. Nothing sucks quite as much as driving 110% and being walked by the competition. It's not exciting, just tiring. No exhilaration. Just an intense desire to take a sledge to the dog assed junk you have had to drive.

I get the notion that it's fun to drive a challenge. I'll still opt for the faster more capable ride as delivering the biggest smile.

Flogging some POS does not make me a skilled driver. It just means I'm inclined to push my luck in something that might kill me.

As for me? A Z06 at 90% is way more fun than a Miata at 100%. For that matter, a Z06 at 10% would be preferable.

 

who says you have to push a car to 100% to have fun? i've had lots of fun in my camaro...even once in my mustang and i wasn't going anywhere near the limit in either car.

and to drive ten-tenths on the street is stupid imo.

 

I've joked with him and several others on the local board about me taking my truck out the next time they hit the track. They questioned if track management would even allow that. To me that would be about the same thing. Sure, it's a big slow understeering brick, but at 9/10s it would probably be fun for a couple laps. If I just upgrade the swaybars, then it could actually be comparable to their lighter but MUCH lower powered FWD cars. It may weigh 70-80% more, but it also has 150% more power.