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It's kind of like a first experience with a sexy woman. At first you all hot and bothered, but after you've driven a few fast, temperamental and sexy ones you're ready to move on.
To a beige Camry that is.
I drive 40k a year and the only thing at would rev my excitement up is a Porsche 930.
My real question is do you guys that have been driving for an adequate time still get that feeling of excitement?
I've been a licensed driver now for 50 years so I'll assume that is an adequate amount of time to have been behind a steering wheel, but to answer your question, driving no longer excites me as it used to.
However, if I can ever get the time and energy to get it out of the barn, a short drive down the dirt road in my '24 Dodge coupe could get my blood flowing again. It might even excite my neighbors.
I've been a licensed driver now for 50 years so I'll assume that is an adequate amount of time to have been behind a steering wheel, but to answer your question, driving no longer excites me as it used to.
However, if I can ever get the time and energy to get it out of the barn, a short drive down the dirt road in my '24 Dodge coupe could get my blood flowing again. It might even excite my neighbors.
An old HS friend had either a 24 or 26 Dodge he found buried in a Sand pile in Yuma County Colorado in the early 1960s. He and his Father cleaned it up and added fresh gas & oil and it fired right up. Dean was the envy of all of us gearheads for his ride.
GL2
That's neat! My old Dodge is one my wife's grandpa bought new at Clovis, NM. I have the original NM title. I put new tires on it and had it running a few years ago but haven't done anything with it since. All it really needs is a new vacuum tank to draw fuel from the rear mounted gas tank. You can rebuild those tanks. I just haven't gotten around to it. I think the baffles in those tanks are leather.
..I stepped into the Subaru BRZ/Scion FRS and in my head i was like "how do people drive these things? its so low and awkward, driving would be very hard".
But there is really no difference right? Its just that SUV's are higher and I guess you can say more visibility?
I almost laughed out loud after reading this...
I've got nowhere near as much "driving experience" as some of these other guys, but I've been (legally) driving for 5 years now... On my regular commute to work, driving is more a chore than anything else. It's boring. Granted, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll occasionally hit some fun, twisty roads -- and that's where the fun is.
I've actually been thinking about replacing my daily with a Subaru BRZ. I love the way that thing drives. There's a world of difference between cars, and you'll quickly learn that once you start driving more. SUVs are comfortable on the highway, and you sit a lot higher (usually above other traffic, giving you greater visibility). But throw them into the corners, and you feel the weight of the vehicle swinging around. The whole thing leans over, wanting to go in a straight line instead. Compare that to my track-built Miata, and there's absolutely no similarities. You can see out the windows well, and there's no blind spots, but you sit under the traffic. Driving down the highway, I look straight under semi trucks (it does actually fit beneath some tractor trailers -- I've driven under one that was parked in a parking lot once, just to see if I could ). Throw it into the corners, downshifting as you apex, and it's pure driving nirvana. It corners flat, and feels like it's driving on rails. Granted, it's nowhere near as safe.
Attached two pics -- first one is my Miata. Interior is partially stripped, it's sitting low on some k-sport coilovers, and it's got bigger brakes and some ridiculously heavy wheels (swapping them out later). Right now it's got a bone stock 1.6L 4 cylinder, but I'm swapping in a 1.8L engine that some friends and I have built and supercharged.
Second pic is my daily driver. 2007 Mazdaspeed6, lightly modded. Turbocharged 4 cylinder, putting out nearly 300 horses. AWD and 6 speed manual. It's a pretty fun daily driver. (it's a bit dirty in that picture -- we took the fun route up to a lake. 25 miles of twisty gravel roads. Definitely loved having AWD and a manual transmission! I got my daily driver sideways on nearly every corner).
EDIT: All that aside, nothing is quite as exciting as riding a motorcycle in heavy city traffic. Especially in California, where you can lane split, and cut between cars (there's been several threads already on the safety of doing so, no need to debate that here). I lane split when I rode in Mississippi, and a bit in Kentucky, but haven't gotten the chance to ride in California just yet... The Miata can be fun there, though.
I've got nowhere near as much "driving experience" as some of these other guys, but I've been (legally) driving for 5 years now... ). Throw it into the corners, downshifting as you apex, and it's pure driving nirvana. It corners flat, and feels like it's driving on rails. .
Just to save you or anyone taking your advise, you never want to downshift AS you apex. That has way too much potential to unbalance the car and cause a spin. Or TCO trailing clutch oversteer. You should always get your downshifting done in a straight line as much as possible, smooth release of the brake pedal and squeezing back on the power somewhere around the apex depending on what type of corner and type/balance of car.
And yes..the BRZ will be much more enjoyable at that then an SUV..
Just to save you or anyone taking your advise, you never want to downshift AS you apex. That has way too much potential to unbalance the car and cause a spin.
I drift.
Though canyon runs are fun, too. Bouncing through apex after apex, keeping the engine screaming. I beat the **** out of that little 4 cylinder.
I've enjoyed my '50 GTO since the day I bought it new, and still feel there was not a better choice for me. A couple weeks ago one of the cats was breaking apart internally. It sounded like a bunch of rocks rolling around inside of a metal trash can. The dealer wants $1600 for ONE. I found high flow midpipes for $550 a pair, but it took two weeks, since parts like this for my car are fairly rare. So I didn't drive it for about 10 days. I had a buddy who owns a shop help me put them on (meaning I watched, fetched parts and tools, and told jokes while he worked), move the sway bar settings, change most of the fluids, tightened up some loose and rattly suspension bits, etc.
It's like a whole new car now, and I'm enjoying it like I just bought it. In the four days since I started driving it again I've taken it out 3 times beyond the usual driving around, just for fun. A buddy who used to race drove it at my request just to see how much better it is now than it was, and was surprised at the difference. I'm walking out in a few minutes to go run errands I have no real need to run.
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). Throw it into the corners, downshifting as you apex, and it's pure driving nirvana. It corners flat, and feels like it's driving on rails. Granted, it's nowhere near as safe. 
of couse you do.. and on public streets...
