Fast cars, and driving fast, are fun, no question. And driving fast in a relatively slow car, like a Miata, or Subaru BRZ is also fun – sometimes more so, because you get the chance to really wring its neck without attracting too much attention or simply running out of space.
But is it still possible to get a buzz from driving at ordinary speeds, and in an ordinary car?
I started thinking about about this on Monday when reading something written by English journalist and classic racer, Andrew Frankel, on an Instagram post for his new The Intercooler project.
View this post on Instagram
Frankel was talking about what constituted a great driver, and suggested it wasn’t necessarily the ability to hold a fourth-gear drift for 100 yards, for example, though that does take a fair bit of skill and commitment.
Related: Daniel Ricciardo Sure Knows How To Drift The McLaren Artura Around Brands Hatch
“There’s only one characteristic common to all really good drivers I’ve sat next to or been teamed with,” said Frankel.
“Smoothness. On the road they make manuals feel like autos, feather the brakes when coming to a halt, straighten corners to keep passengers comfortable and do it all without thinking. On track they’re faster than their team-mates, yet keep off the curbs and use a fraction of the tires, brakes and fuel.”
Smooth Equals Fast
It reminded me of when I first became a dad, and suddenly realized that I couldn’t drive everywhere as aggressively as I used to. Sleeping babies tend to object to being tossed through curves and respond by waking up and crying. And as unpleasant noises while driving go, babies crying is right up there with redlining a CVT-equipped Honda.
So I began to modify my driving so that I could still go fast, and still have fun. And being smooth was the focus. I’d concentrate on carrying as much speed as possible to avoid having to brake or accelerate hard. I’d pay attention to the road surface and pick a path through the worst lumps and bumps. And I’d challenge myself to hit the optimum turn-in and clipping points for every corner, even though it didn’t really matter. I still looked forward to getting the car to myself, but stopped begrudging baby for coming along on the days he did.
And while I certainly wouldn’t claim to be one of the great drivers Frankel had in mind when he wrote his Instagram post, I did get the chance to apply the same techniques on him when we shared a car on the McLaren GT launch in France a couple of years ago.
Super-Slow Supercar
I think he must have been under the weather because he looked shattered after lunch, and fell asleep in the McLaren’s passenger seat while we were mooching through slow traffic in the hills above Nice. I didn’t have the heart to wake him up when the traffic cleared, and I’d already thrashed the daylights out of the GT earlier in the day, so I made it my aim to drive as fast as possible down the mountain and back to the airport without rousing him. It turned out to be a great physical and mental challenge – and massively satisfying when he eventually came to wondering where the hell he was. And we still managed to cover ground at some serious speeds.
No, driving like that doesn’t get your pulse racing like exiting a curve in a 911 GT3, engine wailing, and a quarter turn of opposite lock dialed in as you desperately try to keep out of the scenery. But it’s fun in its own way. And with the ominous advance of anti-speed technology and legislation, we might have to get used to the idea of getting our rocks off at more sensible speeds. Before long it might be the only way, at least on the road.
What do you think? Can you get a kick out of driving slowly, or do you have to be in maximum attack mode to have fun? Let us know in the comments.