Motoring: Modern Britain

[paradigm]

It's for this exact reason that I'm not particularly bothered if my next car is a "lesser" powered model. Even if the costs and the punishments weren't prohibitive, the fact remains that the roads are that full that you couldn't ever really "open up" on a public highway anyway.

Something for wafting in comfort and relative economy, and something to play with on the track or at weekends is most definitely the appealing option.

 

[Fusion]

Interesting post. I think now is a time where we're going to be looking at fun cars that don't break the bank- hot hatches, MX-5's, coupes, lightweight cars. Vehicles today are far too heavy, and as a consequence need a shedload of power to move quickly. I feel that driver enjoyment will always be satisfied in a modern car, but we'll probably find that things start moving backwards in terms of sheer BHP and towards more sensible options. It's happening already- with BMW announcing that they are abandoning their 3-litre 6-pot petrol to focus on a turbocharged 2 litre 4-pot which is less powerful than the 3-litre but, you've guessed it, better on fuel and lower on emissions.

It's been obvious that this moment would come- we'll all aware of the finite nature of oil and the massive challenges facing the car industry to make motoring more sustainable. These changes aren't optional, even if you think global warming is a load of bunkum.

I have to ask the question of whether you really need as much power and performance as some people talk about anyway. Is a sub 5-sec 0-60 time still sought after, can it be adequately exploited on our crowded roads? Don't get me wrong, I love performance, but some modern vehicles really do offer extremes which we would all find it difficult to utilise on our roads (the track is another matter).

 

[Gaygle]

I'm going against the grain in this thread and whilst i see people's points about the hammering the motorist gets, i can't say that my opinion of driving has changed much. I still love driving, and for now, i'm willing to pay the price for this. Right now, the absolute joy of driving outweighs the hammering i get from the Govt. for the car i drive. Perhaps it's because i'm still young?

But it was just this weekend when i was reminded of how much i liked driving when i was in the Suffolk countryside. There are some absolutely fantastic roads out there and i could not imagine driving along them having the windows down, and hearing a clattery 2.0 diesel engine that kicks out a plume of black smoke every time i accelerate.

Driving is the one thing i truly love doing and i'm not going to let the save-the-children crew, the Government, the Police or anyone else take that from me.

 

[Gaygle]

I also strangely seem to enjoy driving for its own sake, even through 30mph zones. Nice car, Recaros to sit on, some choonz on the stereo, life's good...

This too. It makes me feel good driving a car that i love and the things there are things that would go first, before i considered considerably downsizing my car ie:

- New tech stuff (tv's, laptops etc)
- Less holidays
- Less going out (for drinking, cinema, meals etc)

 

[[TW]Fox]

I think even with the fuel prices driving now is more affordable than ever.

Go back 20 years and really how many of us would be driving the sort of cars we drive now?

I might have to pay £1.30 a litre to fill up my car but I spent less than £10k on it at just 4 years old. The same car in Australia at the time was $60,000! Even now, at 9 years old with interstellar mileage, it would cost more to buy in Australia than I paid for it all those years ago.

Our high fuel costs are offset by how much cheaper our used cars are.

 

[DRZ]

I think even with the fuel prices driving now is more affordable than ever.

Go back 20 years and really how many of us would be driving the sort of cars we drive now?

I might have to pay £1.30 a litre to fill up my car but I spent less than £10k on it at just 4 years old. The same car in Australia at the time was $60,000! Even now, at 9 years old with interstellar mileage, it would cost more to buy in Australia than I paid for it all those years ago.

Our high fuel costs are offset by how much cheaper our used cars are.

It isn't just the costs though is it? It is the attitude towards the motorist (and especially those that like to have fun) that is killing it.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Again, its hardly that bad over here is it?

 

[DRZ]

Again, its hardly that bad over here is it?

The potential for prison sentences for simply enjoying your favourite road is going to take the edge off your fun, isn't it?

 

[cooljimy84]

I love driving, tho i don't ahve to go far for work (about 5 miles) but have to drive the car there in case i get a call out.

Driving is still fun, but a lot more risky, but that can add to the thrill !! now i not saying i break the speed limits, but i get to the pretty ******* quick at times.

i remember getting to and from collage on 5 quids with of juice, now i'm lucky to get to and from work on 5 quid. Does seem a little unfair, but then i coud always down scale the car...

 

[[TW]Fox]

The potential for prison sentences for simply enjoying your favourite road is going to take the edge off your fun, isn't it?

You have to be driving in a proper bonkers fashion to go to prison for a motoring offence in this country.

If you want a country where Motoring is far less fun than it could be, I'll again cite Australia, where the speeding fines are completely ridiculous, the limits pathetic...

 

[DRZ]

You have to be driving in a proper bonkers fashion to go to prison for a motoring offence in this country.

If you want a country where Motoring is far less fun than it could be, I'll again cite Australia, where the speeding fines are completely ridiculous, the limits pathetic...

Not really difficult to hit 100+ mph on an NSL road is it? Even you yourself have hit triple figures when overtaking (on a racetrack whilst dreaming ofc )

I found myself at the top end of 3rd yesterday without really "trying" and I could easily have slipped it into 4th and gone faster still but the thought that I was already on for a pounding from North Wales plod meant I didn't.

 

[Jez]

TBH its better here than most other places in Europe as far as i can see? We are not alone on this side of the pond wrt high fuel prices. We have it incredibly easy in the scheme of things. Look are ireland for example - what a joke!

Even in the states it isnt that great, their insurance permiums are quite high from what i can see and tell from people there, certainly no better than ours. Then you have the state of their used car market which is by no means as "good" as ours when it comes to used performance bargains.

All over europe they have tolls, mega taxation on guzzlers.

The UK is a comparitive haven for the motorist by all accounts as far as i can see

 

[At The Gates]

The North Circular, South Circular, Blackwall Tunnel, Westway and the 360 degree infinite roadworks on the M25 are why driving now is about as much fun as being punched in the face by an airbag. If there aren't roadworks ongoing till 2046 then there are pedestrian traffic lights every 10 yards making the average driving speed about 6 miles an hour. I can't drive to S London because of the Blackwall Tunnel being blocked, or the A3 being blocked, or the A201 being blocked, i can't get to near friends in Walton/Weybridge because the M25 is always blocked, the North Circular is always blocked so it takes me 2.5 hours to drive from Stratford to Harrow.

I can't even drive down the road because the Olympics has closed the A12 link to Hackney so i have to drive down Homerton Road, which also has roadworks..45 minutes stuck there for about 500yards..

This is how bad it is - It's quicker (and far less depressing) for me to drive from East London to Harrow through the centre of one of the world's busiest capitals, then up Edgware Road, than it is to go via the north circular, the orbital road specifically designed for that type of journey. I can only assume that anyone who drives around there in rush hour is pumped full of Prozac and uppers.

Has it always been this bad? I don't think so no. It's always been busy, but over the last few years it's definitely started to get worse.

 

[Fusion]

I think even with the fuel prices driving now is more affordable than ever.

Go back 20 years and really how many of us would be driving the sort of cars we drive now?

I wouldn't say it was "more affordable than ever". Think of the mid-late 90's, when petrol was 55-60p a litre, used cars were still cheap yet wages were still decent. It was this period when fuel prices were at their lowest adjusted for wages (which haven't more than doubled in 12-15 years like fuel has).

 

[Gaygle]

The potential for prison sentences for simply enjoying your favourite road is going to take the edge off your fun, isn't it?

You'd have to be doing 120mph+ to even be considered for a prison sentence on an A road i should think. And quite rightly so.

Not really difficult to hit 100+ mph on an NSL road is it? Even you yourself have hit triple figures when overtaking (on a racetrack whilst dreaming ofc )

I can only think of one A road around here that i think would be safe for 100mph. Even then, it's not an "enjoyable" road, it's just a really straight, wide road - the only type of road in which 100mph would be safe on. By deduction then, the only roads you can do 100mph on are ones that aren't fun to drive. On A roads, i think the maximum i can get up to is around 80 without thinking "ok, this is getting stupid" - even then, 80 is PLENTY quick enough for me.

I can't think why i'd ever need to travel 100mph on an A road? Going fast isn't fun, accelerating and going around bends is fun.

 

[Howard]

I'm going against the grain in this thread and whilst i see people's points about the hammering the motorist gets, i can't say that my opinion of driving has changed much. I still love driving, and for now, i'm willing to pay the price for this. Right now, the absolute joy of driving outweighs the hammering i get from the Govt. for the car i drive. Perhaps it's because i'm still young?

But it was just this weekend when i was reminded of how much i liked driving when i was in the Suffolk countryside. There are some absolutely fantastic roads out there and i could not imagine driving along them having the windows down, and hearing a clattery 2.0 diesel engine that kicks out a plume of black smoke every time i accelerate.

Driving is the one thing i truly love doing and i'm not going to let the save-the-children crew, the Government, the Police or anyone else take that from me.

This is pretty much my view on the matter, too. Granted, I'm going to be going back to just one car soon, but that's more to do with my circumstances/wanting to save money. As long as I have at least one car that I can have some fun in, all is well


As for the speeding aspect.. Well you've always had to use your discretion if you so desired to 'push the boundaries'.. Nothing new there, in this country or elsewhere.

 

[DRZ]

You'd have to be doing 120mph+ to even be considered for a prison sentence on an A road i should think. And quite rightly so.



I can only think of one A road around here that i think would be safe for 100mph. Even then, it's not an "enjoyable" road, it's just a really straight, wide road - the only type of road in which 100mph would be safe on. By deduction then, the only roads you can do 100mph on are ones that aren't fun to drive. On A roads, i think the maximum i can get up to is around 80 without thinking "ok, this is getting stupid" - even then, 80 is PLENTY quick enough for me.

I can't think why i'd ever need to travel 100mph on an A road? Going fast isn't fun, accelerating and going around bends is fun.

There are absolutely loads of roads where you can get to 100mph whilst them still being twisty and whatnot. I can't remember which roads I was dreaming about on Sunday but I wasn't using 2nd much at all - which means I wasn't really dipping below 50 all that often.

Even on the A640 from the car park to the walled bends you can pretty much keep your foot in for the whole way - 100+ easily by the time you need to get on the brakes for the tighter stuff.

I guess this all depends on the car you drive, the type of roads you are experienced on and your ability/confidence.

 

[Gaygle]

There are absolutely loads of roads where you can get to 100mph whilst them still being twisty and whatnot.

I said there aren't many twisty A roads where you can get to 100mph+ SAFELY. The only ones i've seen are just wide and straight - which is boring.

Even on the A640 from the car park to the walled bends you can pretty much keep your foot in for the whole way - 100+ easily by the time you need to get on the brakes for the tighter stuff.

I'm sorry, but if you need to get your kicks from driving 100mph+ on A roads, then i suggest you find smaller roads where lower speeds are just as fun. I'm not some speed campaigner but exceeding 100mph on a twisty A road is just....stupid and unecessary and gives everyone else that just wants to go for a "hoon" a bad name.

I guess this all depends on the car you drive, the type of roads you are experienced on and your ability/confidence.

My car is more than capable of these speeds, i have quite a lot of experience driving A-roads in all types of conditions and at all types of speeds and i still think 100mph on these roads is mental. I'm not arrogant enough to believe that i'm a driving God, because even if i was, the amount of unknowns on an A-roads is infinite and the number of things i've seen "around the next bend" is ridiculous (tractors, large animals, small animals, kids, cyclists, giant pot holes, accidents that have literally just happened, mud on the road, people parked in the most idiotic places).

Bottom line - exceeding 100mph on most "twisty A-roads" is silly

 

[lordrobs]

I can see where Housey is coming from. I get cheesed off with running my car day to day when for 90% of the time the equivalent TDi with soft suspension and balloon tyres would be the better tool for the job.

I don't think my next car will be a performance variant. I'd rather try and run a second car, something purely for fun. Something like a Spitfire or MG where you can get you kicks and still be well within the letter of the law.

 

[Fusion]

I said there aren't many twisty A roads where you can get to 100mph+ SAFELY. The only ones i've seen are just wide and straight - which is boring.



I'm sorry, but if you need to get your kicks from driving 100mph+ on A roads, then i suggest you find smaller roads where lower speeds are just as fun. I'm not some speed campaigner but exceeding 100mph on a twisty A road is just....stupid and unecessary and gives everyone else that just wants to go for a "hoon" a bad name.



My car is more than capable of these speeds, i have quite a lot of experience driving A-roads in all types of conditions and at all types of speeds and i still think 100mph on these roads is mental. I'm not arrogant enough to believe that i'm a driving God, because even if i was, the amount of unknowns on an A-roads is infinite and the number of things i've seen "around the next bend" is ridiculous (tractors, large animals, small animals, kids, cyclists, giant pot holes, accidents that have literally just happened, mud on the road, people parked in the most idiotic places).

Bottom line - exceeding 100mph on most "twisty A-roads" is silly

All true. Too many variables to do that sort of speed safely. Even if you've got the car and the reflexes, you still don't know what's round that next corner.