The reality of having a daily driven "fast" car

[rslifkin]

Patman - I agree that C5 vettes are sexy!

Personally, I enjoy having something with a bit of power (and RWD) as a DD. It's got plenty of engine, will 0 - 60 in 6.8, runs a low 15 second 1/4, and can be made much better with just a few boltons. Handling isn't great, but it's still good enough for pretty much anything you can safely do on a public road.

It's comfy and pleasant to drive, doesn't bore you to death when driving gently, and puts a smile on your face every time you start it and hear the V8 roar. The only thing I truly dislike about it as a DD is the gas mileage (12 - 14 city, 17 - 20 highway). Plus, it needs premium.

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac

From the op: "So, BITOGers who have gone from a slower, more appliance-like car to a faster one, how long did it take for the excitement to wear off? Did you ever come to regret the decision?"

Nothing about fastest car. Just answering in the context of the original post so I don't think there was anything off topic. If he were asking for bona fide sports cars such as a 'Vette or Porsch then I would agree with you.

And note: the title of the post has fast in quotes which I think following convention means it doesn't mean FAST.



This is exactly how I meant it. I've already decided that more "serious" fast cars are not practical for me (either based on form factor or ownership costs) but there are plenty of practical cars out there now that are faster than serious fast cars were 20 years ago.

 

[SSGSTbirdtoyman]

No the excitement did not wear off, and I never regreted the decision.
My "fast" car quite possible saved my life- let me explain.

Background.
while I have a stable of cars, slower vehicles mixed in with a couple of faster ones. My "fast" car is a 2008 Impala SS. I bought it used and it came with a few mods by the previous owner. Under the hood is a 5.3L 325 cubic inch V8 that puts out 303 HP and 323 ft. lbs of torque. Car & Driver pegged its performance as 0-60 at 5.6 sec. and 1/4 mile at 14.2 sec. I tested mine and it timed the 1/4 mile at 13.88sec. THis car is built on a FWD platform and initially I didn't consider a FWD performance car but after months of research and test drives I changed my mind. Mine came with a couple of handling mods and I put them to good use. It has a larger sway bar and has custom strut-braces installed in the front. I swapped out the OEM tires with wider Yokohamas and this further improved handling.

I also own a 95 Impala SS which I enjoy very much, and it was considered a fairly fast car when new, but now not so much by todays standards. my 2008 SS version is not only faster it handles better thru the twisties than my 95 SS does.

The trip:

Around town its nice to have enough power to pass and merge into traffic from an on-ramp, but it was during an extended trip that I discovered where my SS really shined. It was last August we left for a 25 day- 9000 mile plus trip from Wash state to Wisconsin with my 22 year old son and his friend. We travelled thru 10 states just sight seeing and visiting relatives along the way. The car had enough power to pass quickly and effortlessly. If I had been driving a car with less power I would not have made as many passing attempts and as a result we would have been late to many destinations and it would have put us behind everyday. When I think back about the timing we made passing vehicles during our route and if we had not the power to pass we would have had many later arrivals each day, which would have caused a snowball effect where we would have missed places to see nad missed relatives and the entire trip would have been less enjoyable.

Also during the high elevations thru the Rocky Mountains the care did not seem to loose much power and we passed many trucks and cars during the long passes in the mountains.

During one part of Wyoming when we were traveling near a super-cell it looked like a funnel cloud could form not far from our position. I did not wish to wait around to see the effect, and when my son yelled tornado! I punched it to over 130 mph and we ran out of harms way. Instead of being a tornado chaser, I ended up being a tornado runner.

But the most dangerous part of the trip was during on stretch of North Eastern Montana. One morning during a desolate highway some stranger in a Ram pickup begin to drive aggresive. He was probably drunk and thought we were someone else. He served and tail-gaited then tried to ram us and came within a few inches of my SS. I decided the only way to avoid a wreck was to outrun him and I punched it to over 140 mph and the truck was never seen again! The SS was smooth and it did not seem we were going that fast. My son tried using his cell phone to call for help but no service that far out. we reported it in the next town to the Sheriff.

I thought my gas MPG was good as we made from 3 to 12 passing attempts each day. I ended up with 27.2 mpg (but have gotten over 30 mpg when lite footed and under 70 or so)

During this trip I was using Royal Purple 5w-30 and it seemed to perform well. The UOA looked great and it seemed to thrive with all our hot-rodding. You can see my posted UOA from 8-31-10 at post # 2003201

 

[Patman]

Today reminded me of two other reasons I enjoy owning a Corvette, and neither of them have anything to do with driving it fast. It's a really nice warm day here today, so I went for a drive with my son Alex with the roof out (it's got a removable targa roof) and even driving along at the speed limit on the highway and some of the nicer curvy roads around here, it was still fun having the wind in our hair and it's still great to get thumbs up from people when you drive through their neighborhood. The second reason today was when we met up with some of my Corvette and Porsche friends at our local Saturday morning hangout. I wouldn't have met all these great friends if I didn't own a Corvette. With a lot of fast cars, you end up meeting a whole community of other owners with the same cars and you end up making life long friends out of them. I also still talk with a lot of the friends I made when I owned my Firebirds (I had three of them in the past) So owning a fast car has many benefits beyond just the "driving fast" part!