eidolon said:
Why? You just can't use that sort of power on the roads and you've got to be a damn good driver to use it on track
The reason I got rid of the MR2 turbo was cos it was too powerful to get the best out of it. There are too many speed cameras around, too many other drivers and weather in the UK isn't the best. The Elise is perfect for me, it's quick enough (4.9 0-60/13.0 0-100) but the handling is so good that you can enjoy even a trip to the shops for a pint of milk. It costs pennies to run which leaves me plenty of money for my mortgage and plenty of holidays per year, both of which are far more important than any car (to me anyway)
Sure the Mustang allows you to wave your willy around with figures like 500BHP, 20" alloys etc. but personally I think you can have much more fun with much less power.
Hi there
Maybe it does come from my past of been an overclocker and I've carried this obsession over to cars. All my life I've always been one to learn, investigate and get my hands dirty when it comes to cars, computers and other technology.
To me I get great pleasure from fitting a bolt-on mod or overclocking a computer and then been able to see/feel the difference from it.
Why do you say you just can't use the power though? When its dry and warm the Mustang is fine then, I can thoroughly enjoy the head snappin acceleration. The joy from holding on light mad, having to adjust the throttle, correct it on the steering or just drive it smoothly is very rewarding but when its dry and warm on reasonable roads I can easily extract the power and the experience is just menacing.
Also running cost of the Mustang are very low. Servicing is just oil changes which I do myself every 3000 miles, thats £50 a time. The owners book says every 6000, but I always change oil on all my cars every 3000 miles.
Insurance is pennies, £600 fully comp with mods declared. Tyres are expensive but the fronts last around 18,000 miles and the rears around 12,000 miles if I stick to the Pirelli as they are a good all round tyre so not a hugely soft compound and therefor better lasting. Only expense is fuel but I consider 15MPG reasonable for a car with 500BHP and extracting 25MPG on the motorway is easy. If I wished I could keep the Mustang and still have circa £1000 per month for a mortgage with enough money spare for 2-3 holidays per years but at the moment I choose not to get my own house and instead I do a combination of saving a large percentage of that money, going on holidays, buying all sorts of other stuff and just generally buying anything I like the look off.
If I was obsessed with willy waving then I'd have gone for the smaller 3.40 pulley, a more agressive tune and been gunning for 600BHP which is safe on these engines but I knew that would make it very hard to control on the roads, so I went for less power and a more conservative tune. Also the 20" wheels are part of manufacturers specification. I would actually preferre something smaller and lighter with less skinnier tyres to help more with traction and handling. This is something I still may yet change on the car as the combination of heavy 20" wheels with skinny tyres does not aid traction at all.
You are right it does not require huge BHP to have fun, an Elise, Integra are great examples of that but all cars bring different types of fun and it depends on what you want. As I have now experience a 500BHP car however I don't particular want my next car to be slower. If its same then thats great, if its quicker than my god but what a Porsche will bring is better handling and improved ability to use its power irrelevant of road condition due to 4WD and traction control systems. If I bought a slower car yes it still may be fun but I can see myself thinking that everytime I put my foot down I would be missing the Mustangs torque and power.
