5 Joys Of Driving A Non-Performance Car
1. There's no pressure or obligations
Unless it’s a sleeper or understated hot hatch, when you have a performance car, everyone knows it. And that means that there’s always someone egging you on to be silly, or a local boy racer challenging you to beat him away from the lights.
Even if you find it easy to ignore these distractions, they still become rather tiresome. In something more understated no one pays you any attention.
2. Hustling becomes all about you
Some cars just don’t enjoy being driven quickly, but it’s exactly at this point you discover how good you are behind the wheel. Loading up suspension and tyres that were designed to be calmly caressed can result in you and your motor getting to know a ditch a little too well. Instead, you’ve got to learn to be smooth and conserve momentum wherever possible; when you nail a quick section it’s all the more rewarding.
3. Sometimes it's nice to just chill
Don’t get me wrong, I love a stripped out road racer as much as the next guy, but sometimes there’s nothing more enjoyable than falling into a comfy chair and loafing about in comfort. I’ll probably get lynched for saying it, but there are days when 120bhp and an automatic gearbox are all I need.
4. You can hone your driving skills
When you’re to driving fast there’s a lot to take in, and things can go wrong very quickly. By slowing things down you give yourself more time to think and analyse your technique. For example, I taught myself to heel and toe in my old diesel Passat, which was easy because even when I messed up I had time to correct it.
5. Foot to the floor doesn't result in jail time
It’s great to put your foot to the floor. Mashing your right boot into the firewall is a pleasure that’s becoming less and less frequent thanks to our overcrowded roads now. But here’s the thing about slow cars: you can put your foot down everywhere and never get in trouble!
Comments
I never drive fast in town. Speeding in town just boy racer things. Grown up man/woman speeding in track only ONLY.
What about empty mountain roads tho ? You wont endanger anyone, but empty highways are the safest places to go fast in my opinion.
Who said you need a performance car to be petrolhead? Kei-car can be fun if you know how to push it to the limit ;)
I have a 3pot 800cc Daewoo Matiz….it has about 50bhp and hits 60mph (as per manufacturer) in 17.5 seconds. The roads round here (Cornwall) are twisty, up and down valleys etc. I have fun zipping around at 50. Sometimes slow is great!
Main reason why I love little 4 bangers.
Spinning Tires of a friends granny A-Class in the City is ridiculousy funny! :D
Honda civic ex, its slow, but with suspension and tires, its enough fun to put a smile on my face.
I run a 2003 BMW E39 530i sedan, auto. Non MSport, and I totally understand the adage. There are days you just wanna blast thru the hills, and there are days I set the cruise control at 110 km/h and see how long I can carve the mountain roads before tapping the brakes.
Aaaand fuel economy!:D
It’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow!
Exactly what I like about what I’m driving right now. Would I prefer a 6 speed M3 or Genesis coupe? Yes. But this thing does it’s job, has good AC, comfy seats and Bluetooth and doesn’t attract unwanted attention. As they say, it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow, and I totally agree.
The fun isn’t the speed, the fun is to try at maximum chase your and your car limit