In this case women:)
I've finally realised what I miss about lorry driving.
I can't seem to find the same thing driving a car and would like to know if any of you experience this.
The feeling of being 'at one' with the vehicle, driving it by the seat of your pants, knowing every twitch and sigh it makes.
Settling down for a long drive, with a vehicle you love and trust implicitly to do as you ask it, without question.
Driving alone, with Bob Segar on very loud, needing only the feel of the vehicle to tell you what it needs, not the sound of it.
It's an experience you share with a vehicle, not a person, and is unique and beautiful, but will I ever find it in a car?
Pat
PS Surely it's not itchy feet starting again?:)
Last edited by: pda on Wed 7 Jul 10 at 09:08
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>>
>> It's an experience you share with a vehicle, not a person, and is unique and
>> beautiful, but will I ever find it in a car?
>>
Not in a mainstream vehicle. They are all designed to make the journey an anaesthetic experience, as trouble free and meaningless as keeping your cheese cold. It had to be thus so plebs could drive and therefore increase manufacturers market share. You might find the experience you seek in a sports car or a classic but could you ever trust a classic like a truck.
Are you suffering from "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" ?.
Don't mention music. The best use for CDs for me is to glue 3 together and use it them under the bike sidestand if it's muddy.
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Modern cars are designed to isolate the driver from the outside world. I believe this is why driving standards have decreased, the high speed fog or heavy spray drivers for example. Also the people who say the car skidded.
Crap, they lost control.
Lorries have been your life, and sometimes your temporary residence, a mere car can't replace that, but at least you have the caravan as a cure for itchy feet.
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...The best use for CDs for me is to glue 3 together and use it them under the bike sidestand if it's muddy...
Saw a rider use a flattened Coke can for the same purpose.
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>>
>> Not in a mainstream vehicle. They are all designed to make the journey an anaesthetic
>> experience, as trouble free and meaningless as keeping your cheese cold.
>>
You're not sensitive enough, granted modern cars are more insular than old ones but there is still some feel, you just have to be more attuned to it. It does take a little longer to get the feel of a modern car.
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>> You're not sensitive enough, ..
Heh heh, you'll be telling me I'm getting old next.
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Forgetting the music aspect as thats personal choice and i seldom listen when at work, i think it's the too insulated feel that modern cars give, coupled with more 'driver aids' to keep the thing on the road than you can shake a stick at.
The best old fashioned car i owned was my ugly as sin trusty old Landcruiser, truck like drive including stump pulling torque at HGV revs, no frills save central locking windows and sunroof but totally dependable, huge tyres proper bumpers that were there for a purpose...sat up high too on a comfy but truck like seat.
Like a good truck it was easy to drive because of it's simplicity, put proper key in turn and instant fire up like every proper HGV used to before the computers took over.
Believe it or not the Hilux comes as close as i can find but with more comforts, i doubt you'll find a truck like drive in a modern car and even vans are made to have car like drives.
PS even the latest (2010) Hilux Invincible now has stability control to prevent people who think they are in a GTi from losing it, i give up.
Don't go back Pat, you've made a better life and go home when you've finished.
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In my view, a car has to have decent steering to make you feel "at one" with it, and that instantly eliminates about 95% of the mainstream cars on sale today. Electric power steering has been, and continues to be, a curse for those of us who like to feel what the front wheels are doing. Some (Ford, BMW and I daresay a handful of others) are able to squeeze some feel out of these systems, but they are still rubbery and numb compared to the best hydraulic systems of 15 years ago. In fact, I believe BMW revert to conventional hydraulic PAS for their "M" models, which really does speak volumes.
A friend has just spent £900 on a slightly tatty 19 yr old Eunos Roadster (Jap import MX-5). In bald performance terms, a modern warm hatchback would leave it for dead, and I suspect a base spec Fiesta has higher limits of grip, and is therefore quicker round corners. But the Eunos talks to you, as I remember our old MX-5 did.
It is EXACTLY the kind of car you get up early on a Sunday morning, just to drive, because it makes you feel involved and engaged, even tootling up the High St at 30 mph. The steering twitches over bumps and tugs gently with camber changes, and you can feel the weighting subtly change with different surfaces and grip levels. When you push on, the feel through the steering and seat of your pants is incredible.
That simple thing, "feel", has completely gone in almost anything on sale for under £40k today.
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>> The feeling of being 'at one' with the vehicle... knowing every twitch and sigh it makes... a vehicle you love and trust implicitly
In my experience, that comes only after at least a 5-figure mileage has been covered in said vehicle. The number of times I've been "temporarily" allocated a minicab, van or 7.5 tonner for a few weeks, then slowly developed an affinity and been sorry to see the back of it!
The long-termers were always the best though, being able to manoeuvre/park the Octavia estate to within 10mm (scuffing only the lacquer in U-turns!); knowing exactly how much wellie to give the Transit round a particular countryside bend to get it to tuck in perfectly; coming in to land in a 7.5, ending with the tail lift positioned millimetre-perfect for the shop doorway - all hallmarks of man(ok, ok pat, driver) and machine in harmony...
>> itchy feet
I can do all the college courses I like, and work around all the restrictions that single parenthood imposes on me, but I'm quite sure I'll land up behind a steering wheel for more than half the week again in a few years time!
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Thu 8 Jul 10 at 00:41
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There's one thing Pat. You have happy memories.
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Men, music and machines. - hawkeye
