Motoring: Modern Britain

Housey

Housey

Housey

Man of Honour
Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
29,598
It's not the fun it was is it? Over the last few weeks my mates and I have been discussing the 'joy' of motoring in these modern times and we all seem to be of the same opinion; it's not what it was and it's much less fun these days than it was only 5 years back. I think with our current petrol prices we have perhaps reached the threshold of what's acceptable, not least when you add in all the press reporting to focus your minds on it. I've put £500 of petrol in my car in 2 weeks. Think about that for a moment and I crap you not, that is 7 tank fills and it took my breath away. I was out on Friday with a group of friends for a couple of beers and some curry. Fair to say some of those people are worth a bit and have cars we see in dream car threads and all to a man/woman are saying the same thing. It's now got to the stage of taking the ****. Whilst I don't really want to spend £600 a month on petrol I can 'afford' to but I REALY resent it now, it really does get to me and my friends are all the same.

Also running epic cars as day to day tools is going to die I think. I've run TVR's, M's, GT3 and RS Audi's as day to day cars and I shall not run another car like this day to day. My way forward is a mile muncher, 20K maximum and ideally 50mpg as a minimum. I shall then have a weekend toy (GT3, Strad, Scud) that is through its depreciation curve and is just somewhere I rest money (when I have it to rest of course) and finally a track toy for track fun and racing. I have spent scary on cars in the last 10 years, scary when you see it like that and to me it's time to stop, wind my neck in and buy cars differently. The lads I am racing MX-5's with are all the same and all of them are 'doing OK' and have and had a number of epic cars but we have all started to change now. Worlds changing I think, we've reached the point now and when you add in the fact that such cars allow you to leave your house and in 15 seconds be at speeds that could see you sitting in the dock facing time it has simply got to the point where it's not worth it anymore, it really isn't. Odd thing is my mates have started to come to the same point without any of us discussing, it just seems to have happened and when someone mentioned it, it was like the lights came on and we all just said "me too". I feel for sorry for you young lot, you really have missed the boat on 'fun' motoring I feel and though you can still and will be able to access epic cars I really don't think you'll be able to enjoy them like we used to. They will become increasingly expensive to own and run and when you do get there you will be put in front of a firing squad for tickling the throttle pedal.

:(

Discuss.
 
sadly i think you're right.

Few are going to be able, or have the stomach to run cars like the Audi RS4 or other V8 engined exotica as daily drivers.

This is where i see electric cars having a place. Who here commutes more than 70 miles to work ? Not many thats for sure. Have your EV to take you to and from work, put it on charge when you get home.

Then have something nice and powerful in the garage to run for fun at a weekend.


Unlike the americans who all drive 6.0L pick up trucks to work every day.
 
I must admit petrol prices are really crippling at the moment. When they hit £1.50 a litre I will really consider getting a performance derv as my main car.
 
Housey said:
How old are you?
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Younger than you. It wasn't meant as a dead sarcy post honest. But like you I have seen petrol only ever get more expensive, and when it's more than double in price you step back go 'woah' and alarm bells ring in your head and you think it's time to wind your spending in. But at the same time, a pint has doubled in price, cigarettes (not that I smoke) must have doubled in the same time petrol has? I still go to the pub as much as I have before.

or

lifes too short, you love cars, so make that your one vice?

:)

But yes, none of this is helping the great enjoyment motoring in Britain once was, but there are still enough trackday threads here that people are still enjoying cars as much, no?
 
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I asked your age not because I necessarily disagree in whole with your point, age does change your outlook an unlike many on this forum I've done 'the special car' thing a few times so have a very different outlook but this time I don't think it's that simple. Some of my mates who share the same view of 15 years younger than me, most are late 30's early 40's mind and it's not a 'cash' thing it's a value thing and it's not just money, it's the fact that roads and traffic are not what they were and going for a Sunday morning blatt into Wales at 5am is not what it was as the camera vans and plod learn how to set their alarm clocks earlier. The consequence of speed is much bigger than it was and when added to the volume of traffic it's more difficult to find the quiet place where you can see for a mile and know that you are the only person there and feel confident there isn't a man with a camera hidden behind the post box 1/2 mile in the distance. Depreciation 'seems' worse than it was too. 10 years ago you could buy a 911 and sell it 3 years later for pretty close to what you paid. Now it's 20k down the pan as you drive off, worlds changed.
 
MilanoChris said:
I must admit petrol prices are really crippling at the moment. When they hit £1.50 a litre I will really consider getting a performance derv as my main car.
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Diesel is also going up so this won't really help, not as if the high performance diesels do 60mpg is it?
 
Cameras (security & speed) everywhere (albeit with a slight respite due to cut backs!)

High Fuel, High insurance, Claim culture society (Only in the past few years are us truckers warned to watch out for people deliberately making you ram them!)

More & More traffic with, it seems, increasingly slipping standards behind the wheel...

Ultimately though, I still hanker after something with a big engine / lots of power. Theres more to it than the sheer speed or if it does 20MPG or 40.....

You either have it "in the blood" or not, whilst I'm sure the prices will ciontinue to rise, I'm equally sure I'll carry on paying for my motoring "fix". :)
 
I was chatting about electric cars, Nissan Leaf thingy was the basis of the discussion and I remain to be convinced as to their value still, not at this stage in their development. You are still spending a lot of money for a basic car and the 2nd hand market for these cars is going to be awful due to their battery warranty or lack of it. I'd be more than happy to buy an electric car that had, say a 400 mile range and could be charged to 80% in 1 hour but I'd also want it to be warrantied longer than 3 years as it seems pointless buying such a car an not running it into the ground and batteries would be a BIG cost that bare little relation to the car cost due to the subsidies.

The point made on Top Gear a while back was bang on. We all need to consider our daily cars differently these days or else we will lose our toys and I'd hate that!
 
[TW]Fox;18456258 said:
Diesel is also going up so this won't really help, not as if the high performance diesels do 60mpg is it?
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Do they do more than 25mpg? Most cars I'm looking at will do that on the motorway, maybe a little better but not much. A high performance derv will do 40mpg, surely?
 
I've enjoyed driving a powerful car day to day, it really makes every journey easier as you can make progress nicely when others struggle if through little more than the sheer overtaking capability it provides. I'll miss that kick in the ass fell and also the genuine 'get out of my way' presence you do get in most situations in a well respected performance car. It removes the need (not that I would do this) to tailgate or drive aggressively in the main as such cars have a subconscious effect on many people who simply get out of the way usually due to the speed you can close a gap and the 'jesus where did that come from' effect, that will be missed when I go sensible but life is about compromise.
 
MilanoChris said:
Do they do more than 25mpg? Most cars I'm looking at will do that on the motorway, maybe a little better but not much. A high performance derv will do 40mpg, surely?
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Not like with like then is it? No diesel offers the performance of the sort of exotic machinery that does only 25 mpg on the motorway. Meanwhile stuff which does perform similarly, if 330i, 335i etc will do mid 30s...
 
Housey said:
I've enjoyed driving a powerful car day to day, it really makes every journey easier as you can make progress nicely when others struggle if through little more than the sheer overtaking capability it provides. I'll miss that kick in the ass fell and also the genuine 'get out of my way' presence you do get in most situations in a well respected performance car. It removes the need (not that I would do this) to tailgate or drive aggressively in the main as such cars have a subconscious effect on many people who simply get out of the way usually due to the speed you can close a gap and the 'jesus where did that come from' effect, that will be missed when I go sensible but life is about compromise.
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Heh yes - I do love the effect that bonnet bulges and wide arches have on the motorway :D.

I'm no longer commuting by car to work, and am thankful for it. I was spending a fortune on fuel, but never gave it a second thought before.

Driving is a lot more special now that I'm doing less of it. I will probably keep my M3 for a very long time now and go for something small and light to complement it next.
 
I see where you're at housey with the additional worries not just fuel costs. Say 15 years ago you could go to a cruise/car park meet with only a few boy racers troubling the mix, now its more chavs and boy wanabe racers making more of a bad scene.

More cameras don't make the open roads as open as they were either, annoyingly true!

For the people who draw their line on the sand and 'will stop when fuel reaches xxx.xx' I don't believe in this mentality as why not cut your losses and switch now and start saving already? The fast you haven't days you won't. I remember the news reporting the physiological barrier of fuel found over £1 a litre, or when I was in Oz over $100 a tank, its all rubbish because people will still pay as we ask know.
 
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Housey said:
I've put £500 of petrol in my car in 2 weeks. Think about that for a moment and I crap you not, that is 7 tank fills and it took my breath away.
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What does that work out to, ~1800 miles?

That sort of mileage is always going to magnify the costs of owning anything decent, both in fuel costs and depreciation. It's my biggest obstacle into justifying something really special day to day. I'm getting to a stage now where I could start ticking some life goals boxes, but it's a lifestyle thing for me. I'm monumentally sick of plodding up and down the motorway every day, and given the choice, right now I'd rather save/invest the money with a view to not having to do the commuting thing, rather than simply turning more heads on the motorway...

It's not so much the expense of it that bothers me, as much as the chore of doing it in the first place.
 
Housey said:
I've enjoyed driving a powerful car day to day, it really makes every journey easier as you can make progress nicely when others struggle if through little more than the sheer overtaking capability it provides. I'll miss that kick in the ass fell and also the genuine 'get out of my way' presence you do get in most situations in a well respected performance car. It removes the need (not that I would do this) to tailgate or drive aggressively in the main as such cars have a subconscious effect on many people who simply get out of the way usually due to the speed you can close a gap and the 'jesus where did that come from' effect, that will be missed when I go sensible but life is about compromise.
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That's just a motorway characteristic though, which is my issue. You can close a gap bloody quickly in a x35d, or XF DS, all with 40-45mpg (apparently) and an auto box to further simplify matters. Not my cup of tea, but it ticks the boxes for doing so many motorway miles...
 
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