As one of the few that loves to drive, I am sure that my definition of excellent driving and yours would quite different.
Some people just aren’t into cars, but I think a lot just haven’t been exposed to fun cars. I have a 1979 Fiat Spider and a new Mini Cooper S. Both quick, agile, tossible, corner eating fun machines. Practicality be damned.
I love the sounds of a great engine, the valve shriek of my little old italian car, the supercharger whine of my little new british one. I love acceleration, forward sure, but even more around corners. I love to work the gears, blip the throttle, make the car do what I want.
I hate driving. I have a nasty little slice off the tee, so I much prefer the short game…oh, that’s not what you’re talking about?
I love to drive. Whenenver I need to clear my head or just think through a problem I hop in the truck (2001 Ford Ranger XLT, manual), crank up the tunes and hit the open road. I’m partial to cruising around open farmland and the deep woods. I hate traffick, basically becuase there are so many out of control morons on the road (and yes, I have probably been one on occasion).
When there’s not too much traffic and when people aren’t trying to kill me (Atlanta!), I love it. Especially when you hit that state of Driving Zen when it’s just you and the road and the engine humming along and you are one with the car. I like to listen to the radio, but I’m content to roll along around 75MPH and watch the terrain roll past in silence.
The best drives are the ones with hills or curves or interesting scenery. The drive from here to Savannah is boring as hell.
I LOVE to drive, which is why I agreed to move in with my SO and commute 45 minutes to school, an hour to work! As long as my CD player works, I’m fine. The day I no longer have music to listen to, is the day I stop driving (or the day I get a new car, whatever!)
Most of you will laugh at my car, though.
It’s a 1996 Toyota Tercel, automatic transmission. I like to PRETEND that itś small and zippy, but really, it’s just small! I don’t know how to drive standard. I learned how, back when I took driver’s ed, but since my brother was given his car (an automatic Corolla) and my mom’s car was automatic, the only cars I had access to were automatic. My dad worked out-of-town and so his manual transmission car wasn’t available to me. The last time I drove standard was Hallowe’en, 1998.
My SO’s dad wants to get rid of his 2000 deisel VW Beetle, and he wants to give it to us. We might take it within the next year or so, and I’ll relearn, since I KNOW I’d like driving manual transmission!
My best job I ever did was a courier for a small electrical transport company using my dad’s 92 Plymouth Voyager. Even though the heavy lifting was annoying (but good for my arms) I just love driving. I find it relaxing and fun, even in moderate traffic. I also like reading maps and going to places I’ve never been to and being a courier means being able to get into some pretty interesting construction sites.
After driving my dad’s mini-van I got a 1988 Bonneville as my first offical car. Although it was a tank, I liked it and thought it was fast!
My current car is a new 2003 Toyota Matrix XRS 6 speed manual. I can’t even discribe my love of driving this car. My first manual as well, I spent 4 hours in a parking lot (after peeling out of the dealership) and haven’t looked back since. My next car (for my GF who can’t drive a stick) will be auto but all future cars for me will be manual.
I also am very anal about signalling. I will signal even if I’m alone. I also always give right of way and stay right if I’m not passing (which isn’t very often).
I also have a motorcycle license but not bike. I’ll be getting one soon and I already know I’m going to love it
However theres a difference between rural and urban driving, I don’t enjoy driving in cities and motorways at all, and the police presence in the UK is oppressive, it makes you feel like a criminal simply by owning a car.
However back home, on narrow country lanes, driving is one of the great joys of my life, I couldn’t do without it. And yes its one of my main means of relaxation and working off stress.
I have a Citroen ZX 1.9 Diesal, slow but decent handling, with a manual transmission, autos are rare here and for full enjoyment you must have manual.
I would also like to point out that while I’m not the fastest or best driver I can lay honest claim to be the best at braking that ever lived, trail-braking is a cinch…Last of the Great Late Brakers
I’m also into most forms of motorsport but prefer F1 and WRC, I also acted as co-driver for a rally driver on several occassions.
If the traffic isn’t too thick and I can lay on the speed, then hell yeah.
I’ve been driving a stick for the last 20 years. Unfortunately, my car recently died, and now I’ve inherited the automatic tranny my wife was driving (she gets the new car… ). Given that she has no idea how to drive a stick, and it’s more convenient if either of us can drive either car, I don’t expect to drive a stick for quite a while now.
I love to drive. Sometimes, when I am upset, nothing calms me down quicker than to go out for a drive. I drive a '97 Plymoth Neon (automatic) but my first car was a manual and I can easily say that I much prefer the manual transmission (more interaction). However, any car works for me. I commute 50 miles to school during rush hour and people are always consoling me on the drive and I have to reply that, actually, the commute is my favortie part of the day. It gives me a chance to collect my thoughts and what not. Hmmm. I think I will go for a drive now, all this talk has gotten me into the mood.
I usually do like to drive. I’ve got a short commute, and that little blast down the freeway is fun. Whenever my colleagues and I have to go to another company’s offices, I’ll usually volunteer to drive. And I enjoy highway trips.
And sometimes I just go for a cruise. The sound system in my car is a lot better than anything I have at home.
Night driving is not as fun anymore, because I’m at an age where my eyes don’t adjust to changes in lighting as quickly.
The vehicles I’ve owned have been about evenly split between sticks and autos. My current car is a BMW with a 5-speed auto. It’s got an option to shift it myself, but I usually let it do its job without my intervention.
Yes. Absolutely love it. I just got my license a couple months ago, so it’s still a sort of new thing for me.
Don’t have a car of my own. Generally I drive my mother’s Chevy Lumina (blech, automatic), or the car of whatever friend feels like lending me their keys.
I hate driving, whether it is in the city in rush hour or on a deserted country road. I dread having to get into my car to go anywhere. I hate that our society has evolved in such a way that I have to have a car. Driving is more stressful than just about anything else. I hate that the US will willingly throw billions of dollars on various road projects and practically ignores any alternative modes. I also hate that while driving you miss everything that goes by. I have seen a lot of neat places that I go by on my bicycle that I would miss zooming by in a car.
I would love to get rid of my car, but that is not a viable option right now. I would prefer relying on my bicycle, bus and rail but unfortunately that’s not workable here at this time. I also have a motorcycl license but my bike was stolen last year and so far I haven’t replaced it.
As far as I am concerned there is no such thing as a “good” car deal, you get screwed no matter what you buy. I hate having to waste so much money on upkeep, gas, insurance etc.
I HATE driving. Seems like I am always putting myself in a situation where I drive a lot, too.
When me and my husband first started dating, it was a three hour drive that could sometimes turn into a five hour drive with Chicago traffic. We dated three years before we moved in together.
Almost every time I drove back from Chicago I would have monster panic attacks, where I thought I was dying, having a heart attack, whatever. I would have to pull over in the worst neighborhoods near Gary you have ever seen, and pant myself back to normal. I couldn’t take Xanax cause it made me sleepy, and there is nothing worse than driving on 65 while half awake. So I started carrying around paper bags with me every time I saw my husband.
If you ever wonder what love is, THAT is what love is – driving every other weekend to Chicago, panicked out of my skull, just to see my husband. Yes, I know it was stupid, but I couldn’t NOT do it.
Now that I live in Dayton and go to school here in Columbus, I face an hour to an hour and a half drive one way three times a week (the other nights I stay here on campus). And I hate it, although I’m on medication to help the panic attacks now – and it’s doing wonderfully.
Driving sucks. I am looking forward to teleportation devices.
A few people have said here that many, many drivers are bad at it. I disagree. I think that an overwhelming percent of us are at least competent, but we don’t even notice those.
Good drivers are invisible.
But if, on one’s 25 mile commuter, two total idiots/jerks do something idiotic/jerky and piss us off, we remember it. We arrive mad, and since drivers are mostly anonymous, we’re just mad at traffic or drivers. There’s no need for senseless animosity for the general driving population.
I don’t really like driving all that much anymore, unless it’s a long trip. Then I find it somewhat relaxing, provided there isn’t a lot of traffic or jerky drivers on the road.
While most drivers are good, all it takes is one bad driver to cause horrible death and destruction. My parents were rear-ended a few months ago and the car was completely totalled, fortunately they were mostly fine, but it could’ve been a lot worse.
As you may have guessed, I hate driving. For some reason, though, I only get paranoid of bad drivers crashing into me when I’m the one doing the driving. I’m just fine being a passenger. I wish I lived in a world where I could just walk everywhere.
I love driving. Country driving is great, particularly on winding, hilly roads, but even driving on the long, flat, straight roads more common to Australia is great fun. Even city driving is enjoyable, if I have decent music to bop along to. I also like being a passenger on long journeys, so I’m not a total driving hog.
Best drive I’ve ever done: California’s Highway 1 through Big Sur, south of San Francisco. Lots of bends, great hills, reasonably high speed limit and jaw-dropping scenary. Extra fun because (i) I was on the “wrong” side of the road; and (ii) I was in a manual hire car, so I felt entitled to rev its little heart out.
Ah, memories… for an hour or so, I chased a black AWD Volkswagen (keeping a safe distance, mind) through the winding coastal road. In my little hire car, I could keep up but never close the gap before it would sprint away through a turn. When the Volkswagen pulled in at a cliff-top viewing point, I figured I’d also stop to catch my breath and say g’day. I was shocked when a tiny middle-aged Asian lady climbed out of the other car.
She said jokingly, “I hope I wasn’t slowing you down back there!”
I laughed my ass off, and made sure I wasn’t driving in front of her when we left the viewing point.
I hate to drive. To me it’s a necesary evil. I love my van - a 1997 Ford Aerostar - it makes driving less horrible. I am not looking forward to the commute to my new job - about 40 miles one way. It will not be fun.
). Given that she has no idea how to drive a stick, and it’s more convenient if either of us can drive either car, I don’t expect to drive a stick for quite a while now. 