Car enthusiasts?

[gldenwetgoose 14,723]

On 2/17/2021 at 7:31 AM, p1ssputz said:

That's odd - the US isn't known for having any manual transmissions at all, so it's surprising to me that some models would be released with manuals here and not in the UK. From what I've always understood, automatics never caught on in the UK and you only drive a manual if you're a pensioner or if you don't have four limbs. That said, I suppose I'm thinking of a general car, not specifically a hot hatch or something designed for speed, which is more likely to have paddle shifters these days. But all of that runs counter to what I've understood - that automatics are almost ubiquitous in the US, while manuals are the norm in the UK.

I think historically, and by that I mean back to the 70's - 90's,  the UK was pretty focussed around high fuel costs.  Tax has always been crippling on fuel in the UK and we don't have the vast straight open roads of much of the rest of the world.  Back at that sort of time most people worked relatively local and many people weren't commuting hours on motorways.  Automatics back then weren't electronically controlled of course, but were those hydraulic systems which typically were found with the bigger engined cars (and back then anything above 1600-1800cc was big).  I'm talking about the sort of auto boxes where you pretty much have to floor the pedal to start moving, and keep it floored to eventually reach the speed you want. You can hear the sound of precious petrol burning, but no change to your rate of motion. The average working class family man was perhaps hoping for 30+ mpg from his 1100cc car, whilst the middle and upper class in an auto 2200cc or even a Rover 3.5l may only be getting 15mpg (that's UK gallons too).

There is also the performance consideration too - everywhere around the world city driving is stop-start and an auto is of course a sensible choice.  Outside the city as I said above, a lot of our roads aren't straight constant speed.  Motorways are of course, but other than that roads are twisty, undulating, lots of speed changes. Apart from the really rural areas you'd seldom drive more than 10 minutes without slowing for a village or town.

Times are changing, more cars now are equipped with auto and semi auto, and the performance gap is almost non existent in acceleration performance and economy.  Even the non-paddle autos often have the gear selector that can be knocked sideways into a motorbike style sequential shifter.  There is a common driver perception though that driving a manual is more rewarding - man being in control of machine. That is also one of the arguments being thrown up against full electric vehicles too.

One final UK consideration is that auto cars are a completely different class of vehicle on our driving licences - so if you take your driving test in an automatic, you can only then drive an automatic car, whereas if you pass in a manual you can then drive both auto and manual.  So it's a bit of a self-perpetuating circle - the majority of cars are manual, the majority of drivers learn in a manual and then the majority of drivers carry on to drive manuals.   Not all of course, but more than half.  

[OldPeeGuy 241]

Interesting discussion about manual v auto. Here in Australia the tide seems to be turning toward auto only...unfortunately.

I actually learnt and was tested on an auto and drove one for years before buying a new car - kind of a pragmatic choice to go for a manual then as the auto was $2k more - a significant sum 20 odd years ago.  Since then  I’ve driven manuals and a clutched auto ( ala VW DSG style, as opposed to torque converter  slushmatics).  Best thing about that gearbox was being able to flat shift on acceleration...😀

But, having taught 3 kids to drive, all now drive manuals, and both girls by choice - even the one who whinged and moaned bitterly while learning and wanted an auto...won’t have a bar of them now!

And yes, out here we have the same license restrictions now - learn in an auto, can only drive an auto.

I’ll stick with my manual - simpler for a start...

[Mr Mercedes 44]

I'm a big car enthusiast. I got my 2013 mercedes ml350 and a 1971 boss 351 mustang. 

[Kupar 7,376]

On 2/14/2021 at 7:20 PM, Remi said:

I like those very much and my favourite would be the GT86/BRZ. Really one of my highlights concerning modern cars. Light, RWD and preferably manual. With an NA engine which is also something special nowadays. This car is often heavily misunderstood though. And sadly a lot of manufacturers stopped building cars like that.

Well ... as of this week I now have a GT86 (manual transmission of course!) that looks something like the one below (this isn't my car). So far, so good

🙂 <- that's the smile on my face while driving it lol.

Edited September 8, 2021 by Kupar
Added essential detail

[Sophie 15,344]

9 hours ago, Kupar said:

Well ... as of this week I now have a GT86 (manual transmission of course!) that looks something like the one below (this isn't my car). So far, so good

🙂 <- that's the smile on my face while driving it lol.

Awesome little beast!

[Kupar 7,376]

1 minute ago, Sophie said:

Awesome little beast!

Thank you 🙂.

Oh. I think you mean the car, don't you? 😉

[Sweets 4,438]

I’m not into the mechanical part of the car.  So I don’t know things like what horse power it has or all that stuff.  Since I first seen smokey and the bandit I’ve been into muscle cars.   The look and the speed.   This is my current car.  I finally got my purple charger.    My last one was garnet gray.  A dark gray.  I also owned a silver mustang.  I like the charger over the mustang.  Much more comfortable to drive.   My dream car has always been a 1971 hemi Cuda.    Purple of course.  

[Sweets 4,438]

This summer I went to Nashville on vacation.  We spend a day in Memphis at Grace land.   Omg the cars Elvis had.   

[Sweets 4,438]

[Sweets 4,438]

[Sweets 4,438]

And we seen the original bandit car from the second movie in the country music all of fame.  I got very excited when we see it since it was my first love of cars I have quite a few more but I don’t want to over post.  

[Kupar 7,376]

No worries about all the posts @Sweets. It's good to see all these, and read about your own cars 😊. I was wondering though ... Does leaving the wipers up mean something? Perhaps it's a code for "a pee fan lives here" 🙂

[mickymoist 2,571]

Definitely a car enthusiast,  Over the years once debts/mortgage were paid off I started going for hot hatches and remaps to keep finding more bhp...it gets addictive 😁. I live in the mountains so I shifted to 4wd cars that, with winter tyres, would still get me about, sort of decided that I would keep going for more power as long as I could afford it with a view to going more conservative after work. Had a couple of Subaru STi, Forester and WRX and finally peaked with my pride and joy below.  Have now gone back to something much more sensible but have no regrets in the money spent on cars over the years, gave me so much pleasure.

[Kupar 7,376]

1 minute ago, mickymoist said:

Definitely a car enthusiast,  Over the years once debts/mortgage were paid off I started going for hot hatches and remaps to keep finding more bhp...it gets addictive 😁. I live in the mountains so I shifted to 4wd cars that, with winter tyres, would still get me about, sort of decided that I would keep going for more power as long as I could afford it with a view to going more conservative after work. Had a couple of Subaru STi, Forester and WRX and finally peaked with my pride and joy below.  Have now gone back to something much more sensible but have no regrets in the money spent on cars over the years, gave me so much pleasure.

Ooh ... that's a nice line-up of vehicles you have had, and is that an S4 Quattro estate? Awesome!

[mickymoist 2,571]

Just now, Kupar said:

Ooh ... that's a nice line-up of vehicles you have had, and is that an S4 Quattro estate? Awesome!

RS6 🙂

[Kupar 7,376]

Just now, mickymoist said:

RS6 🙂

Even better!

[Sweets 4,438]

22 hours ago, Kupar said:

No worries about all the posts @Sweets. It's good to see all these, and read about your own cars 😊. I was wondering though ... Does leaving the wipers up mean something? Perhaps it's a code for "a pee fan lives here" 🙂

I just has it detailed not sure why he left the wipers up.  Lol

[Kupar 7,376]

1 hour ago, Sweets said:

I just has it detailed not sure why he left the wipers up.  Lol

I only recently found out about the pineapple code (and upsidedown pineapple). I am somewhat naive lol. I'm a little disappointed there's a perfectly innocent explanation for the wipers 😉

[Sweets 4,438]

22 hours ago, Kupar said:

I only recently found out about the pineapple code (and upsidedown pineapple). I am somewhat naive lol. I'm a little disappointed there's a perfectly innocent explanation for the wipers 😉

I must be a bit naive too what they upside down pineapple stand for 

[Kupar 7,376]

1 hour ago, Sweets said:

I must be a bit naive too what they upside down pineapple stand for 

Pineapple generally is code for "I'm a swinger"; upsidedown is "and I'm looking for a party". Apparently. So know what you're doing when you're next in the supermarket 🙂

[gldenwetgoose 14,723]

It is possible to wear the cap without owning the hot car, right?

I definitely count myself as a car enthusiast, although the sportiest car I ever owned was in my relative youth - a late '80s Vauxhall (Opel) Cavalier SRi.  Since then it's been a line of boring family saloons, a couple of people carriers, a Land Rover and now an SUV.

I do like to think I have a few molecules of Hydrogen and Carbon in my DNA, possibly ingested as a foetus - my parents were season ticket holding spectators at Oulton Park in Cheshire prior to and for a while after I was born.  Race meetings there would see everything from small club meetings with race prepared family cars up to the F1 stars of the day racing in 3 litre V8 open wheel death traps, and the Le Mans super cars of the day.

My middle name is taken directly from an F1 champion - I have the photographs my dad took of him, with the likes of Jackie Stewart, Jo Bonnier and other big names of the day  - two albums full of home printed black & white prints.  I'm currently working through scanning negatives and once prepared I may add a couple to this thread.

After experiencing the full F1 weekend at Silverstone a couple of months ago and then the British Touring Cars back at Oulton Park, I'm really thinking I should get more into the whole experience again... maybe the Goodwood Revival next.

[Kupar 7,376]

1 hour ago, gldenwetgoose said:

It is possible to wear the cap without owning the hot car, right?

Absolutely!

1 hour ago, gldenwetgoose said:

Since then it's been a line of boring family saloons, a couple of people carriers, a Land Rover and now an SUV

Similar here - one of the first 'warm' hatches a long time ago as my first car (kindly provided by my employer 🙂) then a long list of sensible cars to ferry kids and their stuff around. But ... when they left home, it was a second chance to enjoy driving something more fun (within a budget of course). so your chance may come again 🙂 

[gldenwetgoose 14,723]

Quick follow up to my car enthusiasm....   Some unique photos my dad took around the end of the sixties - and the DNA I like to think I've absorbed.

I have a huge soft spot for these images and the era - movies of the day like Grand Prix and Le Mans.

 

 

[Kupar 7,376]

26 minutes ago, gldenwetgoose said:

Quick follow up to my car enthusiasm....   Some unique photos my dad took around the end of the sixties - and the DNA I like to think I've absorbed.

I have a huge soft spot for these images and the era - movies of the day like Grand Prix and Le Mans.

 

 

Wonderful photos - thanks for sharing them with us @gldenwetgoose

[p1ssputz 810]

7 hours ago, gldenwetgoose said:

 

Crazy to think that this car is on its third generation. The most recent one won the 24 hour Le Mans race almost five years ago now, I think. I'm not a huge Ford fan by any stretch of the imagination, but the GT is awesome.