Can a fast car make you more desirable?

"DCCARGEEK" (dccargeek)
10/20/2013 at 14:58 • Filed to: CAR BUYING, SEX

As a young man I always drove a sports car. My car was always low, fast and provided seating for just two people.

One evening, after picking up a date from her apartment, I merged onto the freeway. Like most car guys, I checked the rear view, slowed and went wide open. This is why on-ramps were invented - legal acceleration testing.

Having remembered just how terrifying this might be for a passenger not used to going fast and without warning, I turned to my date expecting a look of anger. Instead her eyes were wide and watered. She had a smile on her face and was still griping the door handle. Breathing heavy she said, “ That is such a turn on. ”

Now I’m older, married to the woman above and living without a sports car. While I still love all things automotive, lately I’ve become more interested in the relationship between humans and vehicles. I decided to further explore the events of that date night. I wanted to know if fast cars can result in sexual arousal.

I’m not a medical professional nor have I done extensive research, so there is a chance I get a few things wrong here. Also, much of this is based on my intuition.

I’ll break this into two parts: visual triggers and physical triggers.

Visual

Fast cars are generally visually appealing. While you can make a 1986 Civic go fast, it isn’t what many think of when they think fast cars. Attractive is subjective, but we’ll assume most people agree; cars like the Ferrari 458 or Corvette C6 are attractive and illicit a pleasant visual experience. This visual pleasure can be transferred to the driver and play a factor in the physical attraction between two people. Your 911 is nothing more than a large plum of bright feathers.

Fast cars tend to be more expensive than their non-sporty counterparts. Wealth, or the perception of wealth (84-month loan for the win!) is seen as the ability to earn and thus provide financial security. It is assumed that because a person can afford an expensive car, they can provide food and lodging for a mate and any potential offspring. While societal structures have changed the evolutionary mating preferences, the need to provide is still a very strong one.

Conclusion : Having a car that looks expensive can increase your odds of attracting a mate who is seeking a provider....and can also attract gold diggers. Be warned.

Physical

Next we examine the physiological relationship between sexual arousal and acceleration. I was able to uncover ample data on sexual arousal, but none of it was specific to vehicle speed or acceleration. Academia has looked at many aspects of sexual arousal - from erection size during threat of shock while viewing pornographic material to vaginal pulse amplitudes of women during film-induced sexual arousal - I learned a great deal about sexual arousal.

The only scientific evidence to support a theory that going fast can increase arousal came in the form of a study conducted in 1974 by Donald Dutton and Arthur Aron. They found that there is:

“...heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety.”

The study determined that a fear-arousing event, such as sudden acceleration in our case, could arouse a person. The subject assumes that arousal was a desire for the other person and not the fear-arousing event.

Rapid pulse, heavy breathing, increased blood flow - all physical effects of a fear-arousing event. While the car is responsible for the physical effects, the passenger confuses this as desire for the driver resulting in an increased, albeit brief, sexual desire for the driver.

While a car may not be the the sole reason one person finds another desirable, it appears a sexy fast car can help tilt the odds in your favor. Now even non-enthusiasts and millennials have reason to consider a performance vehicle.

DISCUSSION (100)

Mikeado > DCCARGEEK
10/20/2013 at 15:24

There will always be exceptions to any generalisations, but really sports cars and supercars attract car guys. That's it. Maybe gold diggers if we're talking supercars, but many people have said that sports cars attract far more men than women.

So, if you're a woman, buy a Lotus for $30k and go on the pull!

OttoMaddox > DCCARGEEK
10/20/2013 at 15:32

I had a bright orange Mustang GT convertible. I was parked outside of the University Village Starbucks in Seattle and having a coffee at an outdoor table right in front of it. I overheard the two women at the next table discussing what kind of man would drive such a showy muscle car and inevitably speculated on the size of my penis.

The Alfa Spider I had before got a lot more smiles and positive comments from women. I don't know what kind of women like guys with fast cars anymore.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > DCCARGEEK
10/20/2013 at 16:33

Honestly, you have a point.

I once borrow my friend CLK500, and quite a girl come to see my CLK and said "nice car" or "it's a cute tiny mercedes!"

MountainCommand > DCCARGEEK
10/20/2013 at 16:37

good read. I like your style of writing.

I also wonder if psychology plays any part in this. The fact that girls attracted to these cars have a certain battle going on in their unconscious that unknowingly to them, makes certain cars more attractive. Or the people who drive them more attractive.

But the psychological part is also very dependent on individual experiences, so that theory could be absolute crap.

Bvnni > DCCARGEEK
10/20/2013 at 16:47

Full disclosure: I was raised in a car family. I tend to date car guys only. This probably excludes my experiences from being at all relevant. But what the hell, might as well.

For me, as an individual, usually what gets me first is the exhaust. Loping cam of a fox body. The howl and snap-crack-pop of a European high revver. A rather animalistic kind of thing, if I'm honest. Perhaps, it's some strange fetish that's more Pavlovian than rooted in true-to-form psychosexual association as my attraction rarely extends to the driver. Though, most of the types of men who drive the cars that wind me up turn out to be douchebags who can't rev-match to save their life thus negating any potential human-to-human connection. Le sigh.

To me, a Chevelle SS is sexier (physically) than a Ferrari 458. A Lincoln Continental is sexier than a Murcielago. A Buick Riviera (take your pick on the 60s and boat tails) is sexier than a C5 Corvette. An SL55 doesn't catch my eye. An SL65 does. Not because of the added cost. But because of the torque in the V12.

Tom McParland > DCCARGEEK
10/20/2013 at 20:36

Great post Juan, almost a shame it didn't get more attention being the weekend. Make sure DasWauto sees it for the Best Of...

DCCARGEEK > Tom McParland
10/20/2013 at 20:38

How would I kick it there way?

Tom McParland > DCCARGEEK
10/20/2013 at 20:42

Find any Best of Oppositelock post and drop him a line. :)

signintokinjalol > OttoMaddox
10/21/2013 at 10:29

It's an Alfa.

That's all.

TheCraigy > OttoMaddox
10/21/2013 at 10:29

Orange Mustang = you're a little boy with a car, not a man who can provide.

Mr. Sinister > DCCARGEEK
10/21/2013 at 10:30

Not to the type of person you'd want any serious relationship with.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > DCCARGEEK
10/21/2013 at 10:31

Well, where does the hand brake turn factor into this?

I must know, for science and shitz, yo.

GMHTP > Bvnni
10/21/2013 at 10:32

That's the sexiest thing I've ever heard. I love you, future wife...

TheCraigy > DCCARGEEK
10/21/2013 at 10:33

Fast cars don't attract women, expensive cars attract women.

Not all women, of course, and not necessarily the best kind.

And like the article itself said, they attract men to women as well. It's like wearing nice clothes, except it's a more direct sign of your "perceived value," success, ability to provide, etc.

Quattro-luvr, Powered by Datsun & Stinger > DCCARGEEK
10/21/2013 at 10:33

TL:DR

Bill Paxton explains. NSFW

*BTW, good read

VashVashVash > DCCARGEEK
10/21/2013 at 10:35

No, no, no. While men rate women using a rather complicated scale that multiplies cup size by quality of sandwich made, women prefer to let the men come up with a ranking systems, since we seem to want to compete with each other anyway. So, women like fast cars, or rather, women like men that have fast cars, because men like fast cars, and compete in who can get the most desirable car. Women tend to go for whomever wins the competition. You can substitute anything you want to in place of the car, and it will still work. In the middle east there is a booming business in mustache implants...

theprettygoodgatsby > DCCARGEEK
10/21/2013 at 10:35

No. Most women I know go out of their way to be un-impressed with a guy's car. It's like hard-wired into them. They prefer their men to drive nice sedans or SUV's with an expensive brand name. (Cayenne, Range Rover, X5, etc)

The only people all over you for driving an exotic are teenage boys.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > OttoMaddox
10/21/2013 at 10:36

A great conversation starter (ender?) would have been walking over to them and saying "Unlike your speculation, I actually do have a large peen and just like fast cars."

Goatsausage > DCCARGEEK
10/21/2013 at 10:37

the Age old "Chicks dig the car" theory.. hmm here's my take on that. 1st, most people enjoy speed and power, even some women.. get that.. "some". What actually attracts 'some' women to guys with fast cars is not typically the cars but instead the popularity that surrounds the guy with the fast car. Chicks like being with popular guys. So even guys with fast cars without popularity are often alone. And as such chicks that dig popularity are often young and as such fairly dizzy and hooterlishously pretty 'in that kelly bundie kinda way' LOL

EngineerNAL > Bvnni
10/21/2013 at 10:37

Are you Marisa Tomei from "My Cousin Vinny"?

DCCARGEEK > TheCraigy
10/21/2013 at 10:38

True, but fast cars tend to be more expensive cars.

Also, don't overlook the second portion of this - going fast has biological incentives that go beyond the wealth and caretaker aspect.

Something Generic > DCCARGEEK
10/21/2013 at 10:40

A fast or rather a pricey car can definitely make you more desirable to certain people. The actual question is whether you fancy these people's attention. I for one say screw it, just have fun with the car and don't care what attention it gets you.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > DCCARGEEK
10/21/2013 at 10:40

When I was in my 20s (read: immature) I thought having a cool car would get me dates. After two Trans Ams and a Mustang it became obvious that a personality would go much further when tying to attract the opposite sex. A flashy car might get attention, but in reality being fun to hang with/having something to say worked out much better. Unless of course you're only after one thing, in that case rent a 458 for a day and go trolling.

94GTratracer > Mikeado
10/21/2013 at 10:41

I agree. Sorry, ladies like Volvo wagons. By all means, turn up the boost or swap in a V8 and hoon it till the cows come home, just not when she's in it or watching. Sure there are plenty of female Jalops—but they are more interested in the car, not the driver. I suppose I'll grant the gold-digger thing too, but that's not really about speed, and if the whole anxiety/attraction thing is true, a good drift session in a Geo Metro is just as good for scaring the shit out of her.