Promising much more than we could ever use

In the world of super cars there exists a strange mindset. Manufacturers produce vehicles that have top speeds over 200 mph, which are F1 speeds for cars that will be driven on the normal road network,and that can get you from zero to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds.

Firstly, under what circumstances would you want or need to do that? I suppose if you were sitting still and you looked in the rear view mirror and saw T-rex bearing down on you, or a great bear, or an avalanche or a fire ball about to roll over you, that type of getaway speed would certainly come in handy. It would also be handy if the woman's husband whom you have just spent the night with is about to catch up with you. The capability to get away that fast would be invaluable, but what's the likelihood of any of those things happening?

This car, and others in its league are called touring cars. One thing is certain; the car looks absolutely great. Its performance is superlative and in motion it is a sore temptation to put the foot down a little too much. I drove a Jaguar F-type which is a naughty thing. It whispers in your ear constantly, "go on, give me more; you know you want to." Well, there are rules and limits to the speed you can get up to on roads that are being used by other people.

There are no roads at all that are safe and that permit us to drive at speeds of more than a maximum of 130 kph, so under no circumstances will we ever be able to use anything more than  those limits. In Germany it is different in that on certain parts of the autobahn  there are no limits, but the average driver will not be proficient in fast driving techniques. It is very likely that such a person will be taking an extraordinary risk in driving so fast. You would have to be an experienced racing driver to be able to control the car from fishtailing if you tried to stay within that 0-60 thing in 2.7 seconds. That is incredibly fast. If you lose control at that fast a start you could flip the car and then all bets are off.

I don't know about using this car for gran  touring because there's only room enough for overnight bags, and even then you may not be able to get much more than a couple of handkerchiefs in them, so I'm not sure what practical use such a wonderful auto would be other than the admiration of all who see it. When I drove the F-Type Jag the looks I got and the respect was something I will never forget.

I had to content myself with that pleasure and with the thrill of entering a motorway at a moderate speed and then blasting forward up to 120 as fast as I could just to feel the G-forces on my chest. Other than that I had to drive the car as I would any other and be a good motorist by staying within safe limits.

The problem is that once in a while someone will pass me and all the other motorist in the so-called fast lane travelling at what seems like supersonic speeds. They seem to forget that there are constant monitoring of the roads by cameras mounted on poles and in helicopters, so while you may not see them, they see you.

In summary we pay for a lot of excess power, speed and capability that we will never experience, and we pay a massive premium for those things. I once watched a person drive his car round the race track at Cheste on an open day at the track and he took one of the bends a little too fast for his ability and went into a skid. I think he might have soiled himself, poor fellow, because for the rest of the route he drove very sedately to the great amusement of us spectators.

Ah well! 

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael