Cars, cars, cars...

rick_chasey

Stevo_666 said:

rick_chasey said:

Look at Top Gear and tell me cars are cool.

Drive a really good car yourself then tell us what you think.

Honestly, it’s all fun, but it is no way worth the money.

Spend 1/3rd of a “really good car” on karting or a few track days with someone else’s car.

I love racing, on foot, bikes or cars, but expensive cars on the road just don’t make sense to me.

The amount of things you could spend that 10-50k (plus) on just don’t justify the cost for me.

I did a bit of inter uni kart racing back in the day (one of the few advantages of being small) and I loved it.

But on the road with traffic. Why.

pblakeney

rick_chasey said:

But on the road with traffic. Why.

If you are going to spend hours a week in a car whether you like it or not, you may as well make them enjoyable and/or pleasant. This is dependent on living in an area that is not congested.

rick_chasey

I understand an expensive stereo, I understand needing the size.

I’ve driven the usual mix of exec cars for hire for work etc, and had a few bizarre upgrades to golf GTIs or Focus RS when hiring other cars, and it’s all fun for the 2 or 3 seconds it takes to get from 20 to 60 or whatever and then what.

I’ve done track days with super cars etc. They’re nice and all but not worth a cheap house.

rick_chasey

And don’t get me started on SUVs.

Ban em.

Stevo_666

A good car can do track days when needed and can be great fun on the road when the opportunity arises. Mind you, I enjoy mine even when I'm just rumbling round the burbs. Noise, sense of occasion and all that.

pblakeney

rick_chasey said:

I understand an expensive stereo, I understand needing the size.

I’ve driven the usual mix of exec cars for hire for work etc, and had a few bizarre upgrades to golf GTIs or Focus RS when hiring other cars, and it’s all fun for the 2 or 3 seconds it takes to get from 20 to 60 or whatever and then what.

I’ve done track days with super cars etc. They’re nice and all but not worth a cheap house.

Most would say similar for bicycles, even some cyclists.
Horses for courses and cars are clearly not your thing. Won't stop others.

rick_chasey

Sure though cars are and order of magnitude more expensive

elbowloh

MattFalle said:

elbowloh said:

Nah, never wanted to be a racing driver either. I delayed learning to drive until I had to for work as I really didn't want the responsibility. I've always been very acutely aware of just how easy it is to kill someone in a car.

i have a drawer full of knives in the kitchen but I've always eaten.

So you're saying that you put off driving because you were scared of killing someone?

Yes.

MattFalle

rick_chasey said:

And don’t get me started on SUVs.

set fire to them.

ftfy

MattFalle

elbowloh said:

MattFalle said:

elbowloh said:

Nah, never wanted to be a racing driver either. I delayed learning to drive until I had to for work as I really didn't want the responsibility. I've always been very acutely aware of just how easy it is to kill someone in a car.

i have a drawer full of knives in the kitchen but I've always eaten.

So you're saying that you put off driving because you were scared of killing someone?

Yes.

blimey. you'd better never be a doctor, crane operator, pilot, chef, chemistry teacher, adventure training instructor/leader then....

or anything that doesn't involve sitting at a desk.

pblakeney

rick_chasey said:

Sure though cars are and order of magnitude more expensive

Houses even more so but you still want a nice one, no?

rick_chasey

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

Sure though cars are and order of magnitude more expensive

Houses even more so but you still want a nice one, no?

Meh, for me houses are different. Where you live is the single biggest impact you have on your life. Everything else stems from that.

First.Aspect

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

Sure though cars are and order of magnitude more expensive

Houses even more so but you still want a nice one, no?

No, he bankrupted by his children. It's all he can do to pay for butane to run the household camping stove.

rick_chasey

Stevo_666 said:

A good car can do track days when needed and can be great fun on the road when the opportunity arises. Mind you, I enjoy mine even when I'm just rumbling round the burbs. Noise, sense of occasion and all that.

You don't wanna be doing a track day in your own car though!

I guess I'm boring and figure the temptation to gas it on a public road in a car is probably something we don't need. Been on the receiving end of that on my bike too often.

DeVlaeminck

What constitutes a "nice" car isn't set in stone though. A 2015 0.9 Polo is a nicer car for around town than some big SUV that might cost three times as much or some exotic sports car. It was Jay Kay on Top Gear said his favourite car to drive day to day was a Fiat Doblo.

pblakeney

rick_chasey said:

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

Sure though cars are and order of magnitude more expensive

Houses even more so but you still want a nice one, no?

Meh, for me houses are different. Where you live is the single biggest impact you have on your life. Everything else stems from that.

Simply a matter of scale, and personal preference. As an example, I cannot understand why anyone would want to live in the SE. Obviously I am in the minority.

elbowloh

MattFalle said:

elbowloh said:

MattFalle said:

elbowloh said:

Nah, never wanted to be a racing driver either. I delayed learning to drive until I had to for work as I really didn't want the responsibility. I've always been very acutely aware of just how easy it is to kill someone in a car.

i have a drawer full of knives in the kitchen but I've always eaten.

So you're saying that you put off driving because you were scared of killing someone?

Yes.

blimey. you'd better never be a doctor, crane operator, pilot, chef, chemistry teacher, adventure training instructor/leader then....

or anything that doesn't involve sitting at a desk.

I said it put me off learning to drive, i've now been driving for 20 year however. Well, no i won't ever be any of those things listed, because I'm not trained to do so.

I've been working on and around construction sites for 16 years and worked in a heavy plant factory before that.

I think people really are too blasé about driving, which is evidenced by seeing people driving like cnuts every time i go out the house as a pedestrian, cyclist or motorist.

elbowloh

DeVlaeminck said:

What constitutes a "nice" car isn't set in stone though. A 2015 0.9 Polo is a nicer car for around town than some big SUV that might cost three times as much or some exotic sports car. It was Jay Kay on Top Gear said his favourite car to drive day to day was a Fiat Doblo.

Lewis Hamilton says he drives a G Wagon.

First.Aspect

It is interesting that people who spend way more than the average person on a bicycle that performs 0.1% better than one costing 75% less sneer at people who like or aspire to having a nice car.

rick_chasey

First.Aspect said:

It is interesting that people who spend way more than the average person on a bicycle that performs 0.1% better than one costing 75% less sneer at people who like or aspire to having a nice car.

If this is aimed at me, I'm not really sneering.

I'm saying that for me, the magnitude of the cost doesn't warrant the return.

First.Aspect

rick_chasey said:

First.Aspect said:

It is interesting that people who spend way more than the average person on a bicycle that performs 0.1% better than one costing 75% less sneer at people who like or aspire to having a nice car.

If this is aimed at me, I'm not really sneering.

I'm saying that for me, the magnitude of the cost doesn't warrant the return.

Don't kid yourself.

rick_chasey

You’re right I don’t spend much on cycling 😬😬

Stevo_666

rick_chasey said:

Stevo_666 said:

A good car can do track days when needed and can be great fun on the road when the opportunity arises. Mind you, I enjoy mine even when I'm just rumbling round the burbs. Noise, sense of occasion and all that.

You don't wanna be doing a track day in your own car though!

I guess I'm boring and figure the temptation to gas it on a public road in a car is probably something we don't need. Been on the receiving end of that on my bike too often.

I used to do just that - own car for trackdays. As did a lot of people. Turning up to the events where cars are provided or you rent a track car is OK for the occasional event but if its a regular thing/hobby as it was for me, having your own made sense.

First.Aspect

rick_chasey said:

You’re right I don’t spend much on cycling 😬😬

Depends who you are comparing yourself to. There is a large chunk of the population that regards £300 as the going rate for a bicycle, with £3000 not being regarded as entry level.

By the same token, there are people who baulk at spending £3000 on a car.

Btw if you didn't know you were being sneery you wouldn't have known it was you I was talking about.

rick_chasey

Fair enough. I’d never drive my own car as hard as someone else’s 😉

pblakeney

rick_chasey said:

Fair enough. I’d never drive my own car as hard as someone else’s 😉

Nice to see that you are in agreement with Jeremy Clarkson.

His answer to the most fun car - A rental with full cover.

First.Aspect

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

Fair enough. I’d never drive my own car as hard as someone else’s 😉

Nice to see that you are in agreement with Jeremy Clarkson.

His answer to the most fun car - A rental with full cover.

Shame the says of being able to retune one by turning the distributor round to where is should be have now passed.

DeVlaeminck

First.Aspect said:

It is interesting that people who spend way more than the average person on a bicycle that performs 0.1% better than one costing 75% less sneer at people who like or aspire to having a nice car.

There are people that sneer at others having a nice car and I agree that's not really an attractive trait - nobody on here has really been sneering though it's just that different people aspire to different things.

Speaking for myself if I see a Ferrari or a nice classic or something I will check it out - but I wouldn't really want to own it (well maybe some classics) even if the money wasn't really an object.

focuszing723

You can't trust Clarkson's view, he's gone all ecomental and got a farm n $h1t growing bloody quinoa and lentils.

Pross

First.Aspect said:

rick_chasey said:

You’re right I don’t spend much on cycling 😬😬

Depends who you are comparing yourself to. There is a large chunk of the population that regards £300 as the going rate for a bicycle, with £3000 not being regarded as entry level.

By the same token, there are people who baulk at spending £3000 on a car.

Btw if you didn't know you were being sneery you wouldn't have known it was you I was talking about.

To be fair spending £100k on a car seems a better use of money to me than spending £13k on a bike that's the wrong size as some are prepared to do.

All being well I'm planning on having a bike built next year that will cost more than any car I've bought (I've had some much more expensive cars as company vehicles though). That said, if I could afford it I would definitely buy myself an Aston. I think that's the big difference, very few people could save the money to buy a top end car and most that "own" one are probably paying for it on a very expensive lease.