Danoff
Premium
- 33,003
- Mile High City
There is something frustrating about driving a fast car on the road (and let's face it, that's where road cars belong. Track cars are a different animal). There's something great about it too. The ability to just think about touching the accelerator (such as in a Tesla) and already be at the speed limit is wonderful at times. But at other times, when you don't just want to get from A to B quickly, and you really want to drive it doesn't feel so great. It feels like you're spending all of your time cruising at the speed limit.
A similar effect can be noticed in the turns. If you have fantastic tires and 500 hp, you're up to speed for the next turn instantly, and you've got just unending amounts of grip that let you fly through the turn at break neck g-forces. And that can be fun for sure. But it can also be fun to truly pilot a car through a turn at a much slower speed but closer to the limit of the car's abilities. Such that you're really working the car.
James May goes on about this during The Grand Tour at one point (which I haven't found), about how driving a slow car with skinny tires and poor acceleration, but whose limits can be approached on the street is more fun and engaging than driving a monster fast car.
Doug DeMuro talks about it in reference to the M3 and the M5 (which I consider to be a little faster than what I'm talking about) at these points in his video.
Electric cars, which are all the rage at the moment (and rightfully so), get rid of so much that is really engaging about driving. Engine noise, pushing the car, low weight tossability, manual transmission (for some). They're still absolutely fun, and bonkers fast. But there was something about driving a slow car fast that's... gone.
I think that's it really, that experience (on the street anyway) is just gone. Cars of every lineup rocket down the road with limits that are absolutely miles past what you can really wring out on the road. My minivan is not my slowest car, but it is the least fun.
What cars did/do you love that capture slow-car fast? Do you know what I'm talking about, and do you agree?
A similar effect can be noticed in the turns. If you have fantastic tires and 500 hp, you're up to speed for the next turn instantly, and you've got just unending amounts of grip that let you fly through the turn at break neck g-forces. And that can be fun for sure. But it can also be fun to truly pilot a car through a turn at a much slower speed but closer to the limit of the car's abilities. Such that you're really working the car.
James May goes on about this during The Grand Tour at one point (which I haven't found), about how driving a slow car with skinny tires and poor acceleration, but whose limits can be approached on the street is more fun and engaging than driving a monster fast car.
Doug DeMuro talks about it in reference to the M3 and the M5 (which I consider to be a little faster than what I'm talking about) at these points in his video.
Electric cars, which are all the rage at the moment (and rightfully so), get rid of so much that is really engaging about driving. Engine noise, pushing the car, low weight tossability, manual transmission (for some). They're still absolutely fun, and bonkers fast. But there was something about driving a slow car fast that's... gone.
I think that's it really, that experience (on the street anyway) is just gone. Cars of every lineup rocket down the road with limits that are absolutely miles past what you can really wring out on the road. My minivan is not my slowest car, but it is the least fun.
What cars did/do you love that capture slow-car fast? Do you know what I'm talking about, and do you agree?
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