Author Topic: Driving Enjoyment  (Read 1756 times)

peteo48

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Driving Enjoyment
« on: August 26, 2019, 09:12:20 PM »
If you read much of the motoring press, and, especially, if you watch TV shows like Top Gear then it seems that only a well engineered supercar can provide driving enjoyment.

I'm not so sure. I enjoy driving my Honda Jazz and the enjoyment comes not so much from the car but in how you drive that car and how you get the best from it. Driving, as a skill, should not depend on the bhp or torque of what you are driving but how you adapt to that car.

On YouTube there is a channel called Hubnut and the man behind it specialises in driving ordinary cars from the past and these range from a Citroen 2CV to an old Lexus (OK maybe not so ordinary). The point is the joy of getting the best of a range of different cars and appreciating them for what they are.

So I enjoy driving my Jazz. I've had more exciting cars but that isn't the point.

Jocko

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2019, 09:41:21 PM »
Of all the cars I have owned the one I enjoyed driving the most was my 1975 594 cc FIAT 126. It was pre-Polski FIAT 126's. Mine had Dunlop Denovo wheels and tyres, which hung on like a leech but wore out like F1 tyres.
It was like driving a truck. You had to take a run at hills and change gear at the right time, and well in advance, to conserve your momentum. I remember climbing up  the A93, north towards Spittal of Glenshee, in 2nd gear for the last couple of miles.
Another time I came down the M90 in company with an artic. I passed him on the upslopes and he past me on the downgrades. All the way from Perth to Halbeath.
But it was fun to drive and great fun to drive right. I did thousands of miles in it, many times accompanied by my wife, two children, and an Alsatian dog. If you want to know where the dog sat, it was anyplace it wanted.




John Ratsey

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2019, 10:31:25 PM »
I completely agree that what the motoring press thinks is good often doesn't feature on my wish list.

However, I didn't find my 2015 Mk 3 CVT Jazz to be a very pleasant experience as every time I applied more than gentle pressure on the accelerator the engine would rev itself to get out of the Atkinson cycle mode (perhaps the programming was improved on later models). It was traded in for my current HR-V which provides a much more pleasant driving experience. I don't chuck it around corners partly due to assuming there might be some surprise just out of sight and partly because the front seat passenger would be calling for a sick bag. Nor would the vehicle win the race away from the traffic lights which I don't mind as I don't like sending my money down the exhaust pipe. Driven with less enthusiasm it's a very economical vehicle given the size and having a petrol engine.

My first car was an Austin A35 which didn't match the willingness to go with a similar willingness to stop (no servo-assistance for some very small drum brakes). It also had some interesting oversteer with a touch of the accelerator helping the car to get around corners (no use, of course, if one wanted to slow down). Winter driving wasn't so pleasant as it had developed a leak from the heater (a factory option at the time it was made) which had developed a leak so I blanked it off.
2022 HR-V Elegance, previously 2020 Jazz Crosstar

sparky Paul

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2019, 08:54:14 AM »


I remember a friend of my Dad having a 126, and doing u-turns in the street.

I see a Volvo 340 in the background, we had one of those. That was a fun drive with the 1721 ohc Renault engine and the gearbox on the back axle. Had a 440 too, only car I ever bought new.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2019, 08:57:19 AM by sparky Paul »

Jocko

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2019, 10:26:13 AM »
I had a Volvo 144, which was an engineering masterpiece. Twin fan/generator belts, in case one broke, a thermostat which, instead of just closing when cold, directed the water to the hottest part of the cylinder head round the exhaust valves, and a demister system that also pumped air to the rear screen (this was before heater rear screens). It was a joy to drive. Big and sedate.


Ralph

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2019, 11:57:17 AM »
Due to what seems like endless traffic jams on my daily commute I’ve been getting really “p” off with driving recently so while I’ve been off work for the last week the car has not moved, anyway today I decided to go for a run for no particular reason so I whacked it in sport and went in search of some quiet country roads got to say that’s the first time I’ve enjoyed driving since I got rid of my motorbike all I can say is roll on retirement  :D

Jocko

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2019, 04:11:44 PM »
I do not go "for a run" anymore. I feel that to go for a drive, myself, is an indulgent waste of money. As a child I remember we would go for a run on a Sunday afternoon, sometimes taking a "basic" picnic, to eat at the side of the road. My wife sees going anywhere in the car as a chore, even though we live in a lovely part of Scotland, with many touristy routes nearby.
That was what I loved about the bike. I was happy to get on the bike and set off to enjoy the countryside. I remember one evening covering about 100 miles, without getting further than 5 miles from my front door. On a gorgeous summer afternoon I have seen me say to my wife, "How long till tea?", and if she said 15 minutes I would go for a short ride.
Once or twice a summer I would set off in the morning, returning in the evening after covering 400 - 500 miles. I would never do that with the car.

Typical of Fife.

Ralph

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #7 on: August 30, 2019, 05:44:13 PM »
Yeah i tend to agree i was the same when i had my bike which i only gave up when a hit and run driver on the wrong side of the road put me into a dry stone wall

Here in south Yorshire we have plenty of nice place's to ride


guest7494

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2019, 08:29:01 AM »
I do not go "for a run" anymore. I feel that to go for a drive, myself, is an indulgent waste of money. As a child I remember we would go for a run on a Sunday afternoon, sometimes taking a "basic" picnic, to eat at the side of the road. My wife sees going anywhere in the car as a chore, even though we live in a lovely part of Scotland, with many touristy routes nearby.
That was what I loved about the bike. I was happy to get on the bike and set off to enjoy the countryside. I remember one evening covering about 100 miles, without getting further than 5 miles from my front door. On a gorgeous summer afternoon I have seen me say to my wife, "How long till tea?", and if she said 15 minutes I would go for a short ride.
Once or twice a summer I would set off in the morning, returning in the evening after covering 400 - 500 miles. I would never do that with the car.

Typical of Fife.


It looks lovely Jocko,  any offer of B and B we will be straight up.

springswood

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2019, 08:40:20 AM »
My Jazz is one of the most enjoyable cars I've had. Not saying much, my car history is pretty dull. It's especially happy on the 'Postman Pat' roads in the Yorkshire Dales.
"Indecision is a terrible thing"
Or is it? What do you think?

MartinJG

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Re: Driving Enjoyment
« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2019, 11:39:21 AM »
I had a Volvo 144, which was an engineering masterpiece. Twin fan/generator belts, in case one broke, a thermostat which, instead of just closing when cold, directed the water to the hottest part of the cylinder head round the exhaust valves, and a demister system that also pumped air to the rear screen (this was before heater rear screens). It was a joy to drive. Big and sedate.



Reminds me of a whitty motor journalist's summation of the Volvo he was reviewing back in the 70-80's.

'Looks like a tank, built like a tank, drives like a tank...'

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