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
What is heel and toe ? (I’m german)
Braking and blipping the throttle with the same foot.
That’s why i love to drive my SLK.Despite the angry “Kompressor” badge on the side, is all but a funky or aggressive car to drive.The ride is excellent, and drive it slowly with the automatic gearbox, with the wind through your hair and the sun shinning, without nothing to prove, is quite and experience for me.
I learned to drive a manual transmission on a 90bhp Chevy Sprint. Fun car, weighed next to nothing and had skinny tires so you were on the limit at very low speeds. Great way to learn.
anyone that thinks a fwd civic isnt fun probably never owned a cheap first car.
I only got 105hp (even less i bet) and I still get to have fun and not get to worry too much about something breaking hence reliability
Love driving my wifes corsa. Call me crazy but driving flat out everywhere is a lot of fun and I’ll most likely end up in jail if I don’t curb my enthusiasm driving my ST. There’s a certain charm to low powered cars. Something I occasionally miss when I’m cruising along politely at 100mph with my foot halfway down.
I like to drive my fiancée Mazda2 (1.3 4cyl. and 84hp with vvt-i) on windings roads
I definitely feel #1 sometimes. There are times I don’t want to be the center of attention with looks and loud exhaust.
I love to drive my Punto ELX with just 80bhp fast.It has a selespeed gearbox, sport-suspension and I am going to improve the HP a little by using a better airfilter, and exhaust.
I know a lot of cars are faster as my Fiat, but I don’t care to try it anyway.
Put it in First and just smashing the accelerator and let the Rev-Limiter do the Job is the best feeling I have ever had in a car, driving anyway.
It feels so fast, and it is rather safe to do too.
By improving the suspension, and ‘High-End’ tires/tyres I take corners feeling like a racecar driver.
I rather drive my ‘slow’ car fast, as any ‘fast’ car without reaching its limit.
Just put high end tyres on the Corsa. Been ripping round corners in it. Think I’m going to knacker the suspension components though. What did you use?
I would have to say my favorite is just a slow cat on a nice canyon cruise. Just enough hp to gwt in trouble but learn how to get out
Exactly my thoughts! I occasionally grab my moms volvo s60 2.5, it has enough spritz in it to ga fast but thats not what it wants to do. Driving that car across the netherlands over windy dykes is also very relaxing. Quite the opposite of blasting those
Same.roads with 180kph
“…the thing about slow cars: you can put your foot down everywhere…”
So true. I’m a student driver practicing on a 5 door diesel Ford Focus and that thing doesn’t know what acceleration is, so I have to floor it pretty much all the time.
But you get the speed up and hold the line it’s all the same!
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