Buying a new car

40's and 50's......what a waste of good money

The loud exhaust, whether some dope on a Harley, or some other nice car or heap are just annoying, only teens early 20's think this is cool, you know the ones, when idling you can hear them hundreds of m away....

I still like to drive enthusiastically at times, this is where a bog standard 1.3 or 1.5 comes into it's own, you need to drive them like that just to get going many times !!!

 

My Barina feels fast at 60, and life-threatening at 100.

 

I was more like looking back at different fads from another time and gotta be PC these days to accept individuality

 

3" cannon exhaust. Pffft
Milo tins held by duct tape is the way to do it. LOL

 

Try riding a current generation litre bike that can do 0-100/k in the mid 2 sec on the road... I rode one of my Panigale's into work today. Makes commuting fun

 

Very easily. High performance cars do not need to show off all of their abilities in order to be enjoyable. McLaren loaned me a 12C supercar for a weekend and the sheer occasion of piloting such a machine around Sydney was breathtaking without breaking the speed limits.

I recently tested both the V6 and V8 Jaguar F-Type coupes. The V8 was far more refined around town as everyday speeds were a cakewalk for the 550hp motor, whereas the V6 sometimes felt and sounded like it was straining.

 

If you hit something solid, it probably will be

Don't give it to me, in that split second you hit the pedal too hard your already way past 60

Frankly, I find it a chore remembering to watch the speed in my very slow vehicles, so many cameras now, maybe in a car like that for short periods would make you more aware, anyway, I was not implying people with such cars are automatically irresponsible or anything, but when that quick, a split second and your over, whereas mine will take 10 seconds....lol

 

@dabbler , @chylld said it well in that just because you have all this high performance it makes the vehicles somewhat easier to drive/ride on public roads as they're not struggling. If you have access to racetracks and use them there, then the need to push it on the road disappears (well for me at least).

There's too many variables on the road to push it (and the consequences can be bad). The racetrack is where high performance cars/bikes are designed to be used.

 

More importantly how and why did McLaren loan you the 12C?

 

Even more importantly than that........... How do WE get one

 

I thought exactly the same, until I actually drove a fast car. The vast majority of the throttle pedal travel works the same as in any other car. Mostly, the extra performance is only there when you really ask for it.

This. I enjoy pushing my cars on track and waiting after each session for the stewards to print out the timesheets. 2-3 trackdays a year is more than enough for me to not feel the urge to test the limits on the public streets.

I was invited to drive an Aston Martin Vantage but someone bought the test car a few days before my test. Dealer suggested that I instead take a 12C for the weekend to see if it "suits my lifestyle". I gave it serious consideration for 0.0003 seconds before saying ok

In all seriousness though, the Sydney McLaren dealership is in Alexandria and all the people there are very nice. The carpark is usually full but there's heaps of parking at Officeworks next door. Walk in the door and say hi and try not to drool on the cars

 

I used to have a desire for a new shiny car, and in about 2007 I was ready to go and buy, but then I actually did the maths and was struggling to justify the expense. This would have been on a novated lease. I don't do many kms per year, and am trying to do less (currently doing about 7.5k/year - was doing slightly more at the time, but less than 10k). The novated lease thing was rewarding higher kms at the time, so it didn't really suit.

So cars aren't for me. On the other hand, shiny new bicycles are. Since 2007, I have had 10 new (or new to me) bikes, and am considering my next purchase (electric assist longtail - instead of buying a second car).

So yeah, my bike purchases are excessive, but its what I like to spend my money on, I get a lot of joy out of them, and bang for buck bikes are awesome.

Cheers,
Inertia.

 

Can it go 100?

 

I love shiny new cars, The MX5 is my 4th brand newy in a row, I lose a lot of money on them really but I just love them .

Here are my losses so far:
2001 Daewoo Lanos sport, bought for 22K cash Traded 23 months later for 11K against a Corolla Sportivo
2003 Corolla Sportivo paid 30K Completely wasted the 11K cheque they gave me for the Daewoo on random crap, computers (another depreciating asset) and beer most likely
Sold Sportivo privately 7 years later for 10K
2010 Bought Liberty GT for 58K
Traded 6 years later for 20K
Over the last 3 vehicles I have lost 69K, its been over 15 years so that is $4,600 a year or $383 a month purely on depreciation.

I still love them though

 

With a tail-wind, and downhill