"daiheadjai" (daiheadjai1)
04/27/2016 at 18:42 • Filed to: None
1
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"daiheadjai" (daiheadjai1)
04/27/2016 at 18:42 • Filed to: None | 1
| 10 |
Over the last 3 years, I have been fortunate enough to have in my possession one of the purest driver’s cars available on the market today, in the form of my 2013 Subaru BRZ. For the past 3 years, the car has been my companion, serving up relaxation and decompression on the daily drive home from work, and acting as a wonderful platform on which to experiment and learn. It has taught me to be a better driver, and provided an appreciation of what a properly-sorted vehicle can feel like, and the driving pleasure that it can provide. It has also taught me about
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, all of which have enriched my enjoyment of all things automotive.
Sadly, all things must come to pass, and I am fast-approaching the end of my lease, having already exceeded the allotted mileage by a significant amount (my lease contract provided for 61,000km, but I have put 71,000km on the car already, with a bunch of them in empty snow-covered parking lots).
Consequently, for the previous 2 weeks, I have found myself driving…. *drum roll* a burgundy Toyota Prius (just like the one driven by Will Farrell in “The Other Guys”). My mother, seeking to help me minimize my mileage, generously lent me her car for a few weeks while she was on vacation. For the previous 2 weeks, I have turned in my manual transmission, low-slung, compact RWD sports car, for the front-wheel-drive, CVT-equipped, hybrid with a goofy body and skinny wheels and body roll galore.
To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Sure, the body roll was nauseating, and the regenerative braking sometimes behaved unexpectedly or was hard to modulate to a smooth stop. And the engine sounded terrible if you planted your accelerator, so you quickly learned to feather the pedal and build up speed smoothly and gently. And the oblong steering wheel (shaped more like the Toyota cowboy-hat logo than a circle) was vague, devoid of feedback, made of unpleasant materials, and almost made me wish for autonomous driving. But over the 2 weeks, I found myself slowly adjusting to the way the car was built – I did not drag race the Prius, but I would use the regenerative braking gear to slow down before a turn, accelerate smoothly, and generally seek to maintain momentum and energy by trying to drive smarter to reduce chances of having to stop (including actively anticipating stop lights and bus stops to reduce the odds of having to stop).
I found myself checking the info screen to measure my fuel efficiency, with the journey becoming almost like a video game, where the objective was to set a record, and then see if you could beat that record (thank you, Principal Skinner). And strangest of all, it didn’t seem quite so bad.
However, the moment I got back into my own car, I was shocked with how different things were – not just the car itself, but my reactions to it. Suddenly, the BRZ’s lovely steering, with its perfect weight and fantastic feedback, felt too heavy compared to the Prius’ wheel (which could be turned with a thumb and forefinger, such was its level of assistance). Suddenly, the suspension that I had come to love for its control and flat cornering capability felt, a bit jarring.
It took a few kilometers, but thankfully, my comfort with, and love for the BRZ quickly came back, but it gave me a moment of insight: We often look with disdain at the inattentive or sloppy drivers on the road, rolling along at the speed limit in the left lane, holding up lines of traffic, or talking on the phone and texting while swerving in and out of the lane below speed limits. Too often, we blame the driver for this, but my time with the Prius made me think: What if the culprit isn’t the driver? What if it is the car? It felt to me, that my own driving style was being changed and molded to adapt to the strengths and limitations of the Prius (I still hold that I was the fastest Prius in town, and I am sure the numbers of people being passed by, or closely-followed by a Prius, were up significantly). It is a bit of a chicken-egg question: If automakers didn’t churn out dull, boring and uninvolving cars with lazy chassis dynamics, maybe we wouldn’t have so many uninvolved, dull and inattentive drivers. But if drivers weren’t uninvolved, dull and attentive, maybe there would be less demand for such terrible cars (from a driving enjoyment perspective). It isn’t just the Prius or Toyota either, as my wife’s 2012 Hyundai Elantra similarly protests with an awful racket when I downshift and floor the gas to make a pass or exit a corner. It just seems like most “mass-market” cars have been designed and tuned to make one hate driving, so is it any wonder that most people cannot share our enthusiasm for motoring? To go one further, even the likes of BMW, a brand which had been built on a legendary driving experience, have started to soften their offerings for mass-appeal.
I have no answers for how to break the vicious cycle of bad cars begetting bad drivers (or vice versa), but I can only hope that someone breaks this cycle soon, so that more of the mass-market will wake up to find that driving doesn’t have to be a chore that we should try to dissociate ourselves from.
The prospects don’t look good, though – an article from November 2015 mentioned that even Akio Toyoda, amateur race-car driver, auto enthusiast, and previously an autonomous vehicle skeptic,
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, seeing semiautonomous vehicles as a way to bring more people to the joy of driving. This is discouraging, as Toyota has been one company which seemed to be
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.
Et tu, Akio?
As a side note, I hope no one ever says that the BRZ/86 twins use “Prius” tires again. That is patently false - every time I took a corner in the Prius, the tires did a good job of reminding me of this.
PanchoVilleneuve ST
> daiheadjai
04/27/2016 at 18:48 |
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Let’s be honest, bad cars don’t really exist anymore. Not like they used to be. You buy a new car now, and unless you’re extremely negligent, it’s going to be fine a few years from now, running just as well as always.
It’s entirely a “bad driver” thing, and the cars that people don’t care flock to become “bad”. It’s not the car’s fault, the cars are just fine.
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> daiheadjai
04/27/2016 at 18:49 |
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I think certain personalities buy certain cars and have a similar interest in driving, so that in turn means they aren’t very good. They see it as an appliance.
DoYouEvenShift
> PanchoVilleneuve ST
04/27/2016 at 19:08 |
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Totally agree with you. Except that some of those “bad” cars are still on the road today lol.
slipperysallylikespenguins
> daiheadjai
04/27/2016 at 19:09 |
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Bad drivers come down to a lack of responsibility and lack of respect for others. Sometimes groups of those people are drawn to similar cars though.
Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> daiheadjai
04/27/2016 at 20:12 |
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“Sadly, all things must come to pass, and I am fast-approaching the end of my lease, having already exceeded the allotted mileage by a significant amount (my lease contract provided for 61,000km, but I have put 71,000km on the car already, with a bunch of them in empty snow-covered parking lots).”
If you like the car and it has been reliable, why not just buy it at the end of the lease and keep it?
BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
> daiheadjai
04/27/2016 at 20:15 |
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Are the rattles of an old car more annoying after driving a brand new one? Are you confused by the throttle response of your car after driving a golf cart for four hours? Of course.
Define “bad”, though. Not paying attention? That’s all driver if it’s due to a phone; may be the car if it’s because of bad infotainment/automation. Are they weaving, speeding, and acting like an ass? That’s personality of the driver exacerbated by the vehicle they’re in.
My morning commute is 90% highway. Even when I’m on twisty roads, there’s almost always a kid in my backseat (doesn’t like the Gs, man) or a slow ass SUV in front of me. Moreover, I just want a car that's comfy at 80+mph and quiet. So...?
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daiheadjai
> BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
04/27/2016 at 22:25 |
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Don’t get me wrong - comfy and quiet is all fine and dandy (BMW and Porsche aren’t known to be penalty boxes, but they are still known for great driving experiences all the same). But lousy throttle response, marshmallow suspension, nauseating nosedive under braking and turning - these are not safe or comfortable (I witnessed the latter 3 in a Cadillac Escalade being driven maniacally through traffic).
The Prius is actually quite well-built - there were no squeaks or rattles, although the cabin was far from luxurious (and I’m coming from a BRZ, which is not known to be a luxurious place to be). Honestly, I don’t mind second hand cars (I’ve only ever owned one new car, the BRZ). There’s a world of difference between buzzy or rattling and lousy dynamics. It’s the latter that I take exception to.
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daiheadjai
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
04/27/2016 at 22:27 |
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The lease buyback is more than I’d like to pay for a 3 year, 70,000km sports car. Although, I can’t entirely rule it out yet... Took the car out for a spin tonight to keep the battery charged, and both the wife and I commented about how we’d miss the car. Who knows?
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daiheadjai
> PanchoVilleneuve ST
04/27/2016 at 22:30 |
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That’s what I thought- but driving the Prius for 2 weeks, I noticed my reflexes seemed noticeably dulled - almost like they were lulled into the Prius’ rhythm (slow and steady to accelerate, turn and brake).
But I guess you’re right: The car is inanimate - it can only respond based on the inputs of the person behind the wheel.
pjhusa
> daiheadjai
04/27/2016 at 22:49 |
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Ha. Ha. I got the Rome reference.