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I've had a Mustang in one way shape or form since I turned 19 (35 now). Knowing I can generally blow your doors off is a comfortable feeling. My 94 Cobra I daily drive right now gets 25 MPG with some spirited driving mixed in, so by no means is it a gas hog. The feeling of being thrown back in the seat upon hard acceleration is what driving a V8 is all about.
Have you driven any fast cars? By fast I mean something that can run the 1/4 mile in the sub 12 second range not that that is very fast but it will give you a good idea of what a fast car is about.
Let me guess, you consider a car strictly an appliance, it gets you from A to B, but you don't actually enjoy driving - am I right?
Really you are looking at 2 different things and combining them - the "big car" guys and the "fast car" guys. Some people like a big car because they think it's safer in a crash, some, hell, just like a big car. I'm not that much of a big car guy, maybe someone who is into big cars will post up.
Fast car guys like a car that's responsive to control inputs - that would be me. Not strictly about horsepower, but about a well-balanced car that provides a "charismatic and engaging experience" when I drive it - as put by a web aquaintence from UK who drives a MacLaren (if you don't recognize that as a car name, Google it, they are not in the "appliance car" business).
I let you guess, and your wrong. Sorry. I do enjoy driving my car and I don't see it is "A to B". I just don't need a MacLaren (yes I am familiar with them, but prefer the Bugatti Veyron if I were a Bazillionaire) to make me feel important.
I've had a Mustang in one way shape or form since I turned 19 (35 now). Knowing I can generally blow your doors off is a comfortable feeling. My 94 Cobra I daily drive right now gets 25 MPG with some spirited driving mixed in, so by no means is it a gas hog. The feeling of being thrown back in the seat upon hard acceleration is what driving a V8 is all about.
Have you driven any fast cars? By fast I mean something that can run the 1/4 mile in the sub 12 second range not that that is very fast but it will give you a good idea of what a fast car is about.
I drove my friend 2005 Mustang GT and I liked it. I had an Iroc-Z when I was 18. I know the feeling of a fast car, it feels good, what I am asking is why it's such a big deal. After I used his stang for the day I was perfectly fine getting back into my "appliance."
I just don't see why the power thing is such a touchy subject.
I like the fullsize cars and trucks from the late 60s to the late 70s with the biggest engines available which are very easy to get big power out of. I like them because thats what I am most familliar with and the great styling and super strong and reliable drivetrain they have so thats what I drive.
I drove my friend 2005 Mustang GT and I liked it. I had an Iroc-Z when I was 18. I know the feeling of a fast car, it feels good, what I am asking is why it's such a big deal. After I used his stang for the day I was perfectly fine getting back into my "appliance."
I just don't see why the power thing is such a touchy subject.
To each his own, but I could never get tired of having a performance car as my daily driver. And for some, it goes beyond that...getting down to the nuts and bolts of the car, tweaking every last bit of power out of it, and keeping it spotless or modifying the heck out of it. If you have to ask what the big deal is, there's really no use in trying to explain because you won't understand.
Just out of curiosity, what do you drive? And how knowledgable are you about cars?
I love tinkering, building and working on vehicles and machines... just love it. I just enjoy power of all sorts... I like watching fully loaded tractor trailers climb hills, feeling the energy of big freight locomotives hauling down tracks, big diesel powered construction equipment moving around earth, going to drag strips and watching cars blast off the line, big electric motors powering pumps in factories, giant generators, jumbo jets taking off, huge capacitors discharging, drop forges stamping out hunks of iron, those enormous railway cannons firing shells, WWII battleships... the list goes on and on. Just the fact that man can create something so much more powerful than himself is absolutely intriguing to me... sure there are natural forces infinitely greater than anything we can create, but there is something about the capabilities of human engineering that is just incredible.
So in response to your query I guess my obsession with power carries over into my choice of vehicles... however sensibly so. I have V8 Cadillacs and a diesel 4x4... they are all very efficient and every piece of them is under my careful watch to make sure they are runny optimally. Vehicles are much more than a means of transportation... they are a machine that incorporates nearly every type of engineering field in existence, when you take them apart you learn alot and when you put them back together you have the satisfaction of driving something you now fully understand and assembled yourself.
The "power" mentality is really what got this country on its feet and blazing forward. Americans who let nothing get in their way... to forge ahead, to build, construct and mobilize. All countries strive for this and many have lived it out... and then there are those who did not succeed... but all have at least tried. Just happens that in current times America is one of those countries who succeeded and thats why I speculate Americans are as brazen as they are... striving for power and such. This is obviously not true for all Americans but it would explain why its more common here than in other countries.
As others have said, many view a car as getting them from point A to point B now. They were never raised with the auto being an important part of their life. I have a 68 Corvette I'm in the process of rebuilding right now. I think about that car several times a day(and sometimes more than I care to admit). I think about what part I'll be working on, how my son will help out, etc. I feel I'm passing my passion for cars down to my son the same way my father passed it down to me. I couldn't care less that it gets 15 mpg. The car is a thing of beauty and the sound from the pipes is even better. I don't drive it every day and hardly ever in the winter.
If you don't have the passion you will never understand. Look at a 70 Chevelle or a 64 GTO and tell me if a Prius can compare. I think not. Who gives a s#$t about safety and mpg. I can at least lift my own hood and fix any problem with my car. The same can not be done with many of our computer controlled cars of today.
I just don't see why the power thing is such a touchy subject.
it's because you're poo-pooing on people's hobby/passion.
no one likes being told that what they like to do is ridiculous. it would be the same as me going into the cooking sub-forum and stating that cooking is a ridiculous hobby since all you really need is food that meets your basic nutritional needs. yeah, that's all you NEED, but that's not the only reason we eat.
I let you guess, and your wrong. Sorry. I do enjoy driving my car and I don't see it is "A to B". I just don't need a MacLaren (yes I am familiar with them, but prefer the Bugatti Veyron if I were a Bazillionaire) to make me feel important.
Who said that driving a high-performance vehicle is about "feeling important" ? That's an insulting way to characterize people.
It's like asking why someone would want a nice house. A normal person would say, "Because I want to live in a nice house." That's that. The jerk who can't afford a nice house might speculate that the other guy bought it "to feel important" or "To show off".
Quote:
Originally Posted by jc76
I drove my friend 2005 Mustang GT and I liked it. I had an Iroc-Z when I was 18. I know the feeling of a fast car, it feels good, what I am asking is why it's such a big deal. After I used his stang for the day I was perfectly fine getting back into my "appliance."
Good for you.
Quote:
I just don't see why the power thing is such a touchy subject.
Probably because you came out swinging, and were bellicose throughout the thread.
some of us who are older, grew up where our first cars were mustangs, chevelles, etc, with v-8's of various sizes. HP was the rage. And when we hit our 40's or 50's, it may be a combination of being able to now afford what we owned as youth, and to relive those muscle car days while we still can. Even my wife's modded TC is fun to drive. By no means is it a race car or do i street race anymore, but I still enjoy blasting down an interstate ramp. It's that feeling of acceleration for me anyway that I just can't get rid of; for now it comes from a modern 4 cyl, but some point soon it will come from a healthy v8.
A well cared for vehicle should not be blowing smoke ( how's that deisel do in the cold?? ); if someone has a ride that is a polution machine, then it needs to be taken care of. So the original question may really be split amongst different owners. Those who are hobbysts, who just enjoy driving their older ride ( whether muscle or just a cruiser ); those who physically need some of the larger cars of yesteryear, and some who can only afford an old car that frankly needs work that can't be done. I don't think being in any of those groups means a person is trying to prove a point or compensate for something, yet all will get defensive when questioned as to "why"...
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