u/pepeneverknew

I carpool with a colleague who's in his mid-30s. He's chechloslvokian, drives a Porsche 911 GT3, and is very proud of it. He loves driving fast, and he's always been very confident about how quick his car is.

We normally just take turns driving. One day he drives his porsche and I'm the passenger, the next day I drive my gr86 and he's the passenger. That's just how we've always done it.

I've told him more than once that driving a yota does something to you. He never really understood what I meant.

My gr86 actually is actually a bit lighter than his but that's not really the point. It's the feeling of knowing the power is there without feeling the need to use it. You can just cruise along quietly, comfortably and ridiculously relaxed. No drama, no engine noise, no need to prove anything

Then one day, I asked him if he wanted to drive The GR86.

We had barely been on the road for a few minutes when he looked over at me. He had this almost glassy look in his eyes and said

"Now I understand what vou mean."

The fast Porsche guy finally understood

You don't have to drive fast just because you can.

I just watched the 96 Blazer get destroyed by a modern Blazer in the partial overlap crash test. I had one of those and I’m assuming the crash test dummy would have “died”. OMG. I used to think airbags were good enough, but now? I don’t think I would buy anything less than 10 years old. I feel that’s when all the safety structure tech and software came together.
Remember, some of us are transporting family (say that Vin Diesel style).

I go crazy hearing people say millionaires drive 20 year old civics. Some do, but some drive corvettes. Some broke college kids drive a 20 year old civic, some stupidly drive a vette. It’s not about the car, it’s about the balance sheet at the end of the month. Why do we always obsess about what it is instead of what it costs the person? A BMW 3 series isn’t a status symbol if you have Bentley money. A corvette makes sense to a middle class person who has had a life long car hobby and saved cash for his dream. It doesn’t for someone who impulsively bought a “cool” sports car one day with 18% interest and 0 down. You wouldn’t know any of that from looking at their driveway. Same car, one person is responsible.

Skip the obvious - hyper and super exotic and current legends. What will get all the stares at cars coffee and robots in 20 years that gets no or little love now?

And a better stereo, but what a great road trip car. Future classic.

Example, if the sign says xx miles per hour, I add XX for my sports car and xx for my commuter.
I’m not asking what your car can do, what do you think is safe for public roads? I was once told the military demands they engineer the main roads to be able to handle +15mph but that could be BS.

I just saw the AI corvette club dance video. Too good. Made me glad I didn’t get one. Any other stereotypes this strong?

Im assuming most don’t care. I think it’s a good gauge of overall performance of very powerful vehicles. On a track. But more of a curiosity than anything. It’s crazy how much time and effort manufacturers put into that lap time. I do like however that everyone has to run the same course. I just think this might not be the right one for the average sporty car driver. Too fast. I have no idea what track would be good tho.
My car did better than I expected around the ring. But nothing special.w

Feels like it to me? It’s the Miata’s big fat brother ;)
Edit: slow car fast means, driving a slower car fast can be funner because you can access more of its capabilities on the street every day.
Edit: Honda fit (manual) is the perfect slow car fast.

I struggled until I thought of it like a sequential on a motorcycle. Instead of up and down it was right and left. Made all the difference.
Edit: we already know there is no sub for a clutch pedal. Save it.

What car you should you buy? Half say slow car fast (Miata - gr86) but the other half say get max performance per dollar (c8 maybe GTI). When does it get too slow to be fun, and when does it get to be too fast to be fun on the street and just plain scary? No track car answers. Show answer in hp/ton example:
Mustang GT 262hp/ton
Miata 155hp/ton
Gr86 162hp/ton
Cayman s 221hp/ton
Justify your answer.
My answer is the Miata is too slow and most modern performance v8s are too fast to use flat out on public streets. Somewhere around the cayman I would imagine? - never driven one. 220hp/ton
Edit: what’s the “sweet spot” or range for you - for the”there is no answer” answerers

My friends high output Camaro was the end all back in the day. Now a Hyundai SUV would blow its doors off. The world seems the same but so different all at the same time. Not sure how I feel about it. But I feel old.

It was the size, had all the features, got the mileage and had the horsepower you like. But………
It’s ugly.
Maybe it’s just your least favorite color, maybe it reminds you of your mother in law, but what would you put up with looks wise if it was perfect in every other way. Would you drive your favorite car if it was riddled with hail dents? What if it drove like a rolls but looked like a Datsun b-210? Interior too, that almost matters more, you look at it more.

I feel like I see more overlander trucks with campers on top in city traffic than I do when I’m camping or in the mountains. Are they the new jeep parking lot princess? I know people actually use them, people actually use jeeps too. I always start to wonder how many people thought it sounded cool and never go. I like having my tent separate from my car. Allows me to hike in sometimes with my small tent, which is where it’s really at. Or car camp with my big tent that I can stand in. Don’t have to find a flat place to park, don’t have to climb down a ladder to pee in the dark. Can leave camp with car and resupply or just sightsee without tearing down. For a fraction of the cost. I do kinda want one tho. It does sound romantic and cool. But so does a jeep.

You hear more of the exhaust, experience more of the scenery and connects you to the drive more. Today’s convertibles have engineered out most of the stiffness drawbacks, and packaging and materials have made livability easier - blind spots go away. GR86 v Miata - z4 v Supra - M440i Conv v coupe. Is a few tenths of a second and a couple hundred pounds worth losing all the emotion and drama? Canyon carving is beautiful as it is fun.

I like a good sports car, but I really love a GT. It is sports car DNA with a layer of luxury built in. I love top down road trips through the mountains, that’s what a GT is made for. So, how many doors, how sporty till it’s a sports car and how comfy till it’s a luxury car. How cheap till it doesn’t make the cut. The GT badge gets thrown on everything, but so little deserve it. Two good examples that do - Ferrari 512 and Bentley Continental GTC.

Listening to cars leave cars and coffee, a lot of the older cars almost sounded like the newer cars but I don’t know how to explain different. Have you heard the brabus 4x4 squared v8? It sounds like a 1969 Chevrolet big block perfectly tuned. Thumpa thumpa thumpa. Not that it matters, but cars have changed so much in the last 30’years. Or 50.

Now a stalker on the web thinks I have a z4 because I watched an episode of top gear. I’m here to see if the Japanese fans have more of a sense of humor than the Beemer fans.