Who needs fast cars anyway?

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction) 09/02/2017 at 12:43 • Filed to: None

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The Mégane has been on the lift for the better part of the week. I finished preparing it for sale Thursday night.

So I had to take the Pajero this week, I mostly use it for short trips or to tow stuff. But using it for commuting opened my eyes slow cars are better for my nerves. I won’t rage as much being stuck behind some old German in his Benz, because I’m not much faster :)

Also: better fuel economy than the Mégane (True story), less risk to get into a speed trap, repairs don’t involve a computer and costs next to nothing, and no depreciation!

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction 09/02/2017 at 13:24

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It also depends on what you define as ‘fast’.

I recall having a discussion with some of my European relatives in the 1990s... mentioning that I had a 1.9L Ford Escort at the time. And to them, compared to what they drove, a 1.9L Escort (capable of doing at least 180km/h) was ‘fast’.

My Focus Wagon, with its 9 second 0-60 time and a top speed of at least 180km/h, is fast compared to most new cars sold from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s. And with the manual, it also feels fast enough. I might feel differently if it had the automatic.

I consider my Focus to be ‘fast enough’. And for me, a 0-60 time of less than 7.5 seconds is fast.

Though it seems that some people have the attitude that anything with a 0-60 time greater than 5 or 6 seconds (like the BRZ/FRS - 0-60 in the low 6 second range) is “slow”.

And some people are weird... calling the BRZ slow, but then consider slower older cars or trucks with V8 engines to be acceptably fast. And I attribute that to some people being uncomfortable with having to rev an engine to high RPMs to tap the performance.

And that effect is magnified if the person is driving an automatic car.

There are quite a few smaller engined cars that feel fine/peppy with the manual, but feel slow with the automatic.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 09/02/2017 at 13:54

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It’s a Mégane RS, 265hp hot hatch. It’s not fast by american standards, but it can turn.

Truth is: it’s fun, but realisticly, nobody needs that on the road