I love it… and I’m gonna love it even more in two weeks’ time when I pick up my new shiny red Mazda RX-8 
Love driving, always have. I drive a full-sized, crewcab pickup (with a 5 speed manual). I tend to drive at a relaxed, lackadaisical pace (which infuriates the the denizens of the DFW region). Actually heard my teenage son telling his friends: “My dad drives so slow we have to clean bug splats off the BACK window”. 
PS. Always use turn signals, and I stay in the right lane.
Like most people posting here, I enjoying getting out on an open highway. Where I live in Idaho, there are plenty of wide open stretches, and the mountain scenery is nice, too. I don’t mind city freeway driving since traffic, while heavy, usually moves swiftly. I don’t like driving on surface streets in town since I hate having to stop at red lights and waiting in traffic queues. I also have little patience for all the idiots who commit the usual violations (no turn signals, poking along too slowly, etc.) My blood pressure probably doubles when I go out in heavy traffic.
I’ve always driven automatics (my car is a 1995 Nissan Sentra); never driven a manual transmission. While getting to shift through all the gears may be fun for highway driving I imagine it gets rather tedious when in stop-and-go traffic.
I love driving. Doesn’t matter where - middle of bfe, rush hour in Austin, where ever.
I like watching traffic. It’s fascinating - people merging, swerving around other people, stuff like that. Like a bunch of ants with a hive mind, sometimes.
Out in the country is fun because I rarely have to watch all sides to make sure some dipshit isn’t going to side-swipe me. But my Drives seem to be 2-day affairs, and after about hour 10, I’m ready to kill someone, hour 14 marks where I begin to expect hallucinations.
City driving is fun because you have to have some skill, and know where your car is and how big it is to maneuver into new lanes.
Traffic jams are fun because I’m in no hurry, am polite, and I loooooove watching people freak out beside me. Although they’re not as fun since my AC broke.
Anyway, I drive an automatic 1994 Saturn with 218,000m, and no sign of quitting yet.
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last time I went on one of my cros-country trips, my dad (a mechanic) gave my car a check-up, changed fluids, etc. Even though he said nothing was wrong, he was still telling me I shouldn’t go because “even with no warning signs, a car with that many miles could explode at any minute,” basically.
The 2,400m trip (plus driving in Austin for 2 weeks) did nothing but make my car run BETTER. I think it burned all the crud off my engine.
She still runs juuust fine. Better than a lot of cars with half the miles.
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I love driving. Except that I don’t like driving cars. I haven’t owned one since 1982. But I love riding my motorcycle. Or any motorcycle. I’ve been riding for more than twenty years. I’ve criss-crossed the country more times than I can remember. I’ve ridden throughout most of Europe and some of Africa. I’ll be riding until I’m too old and stiff to get on the bike.
I love my BMW R1100RSL motorcyle. It’s fast, handles wonderfully, and I can ride it for weeks on end, in any weather, in total comfort.
I go on Sunday rides every week of the year with my motorcycle club. Our rides are typically 300 or so miles. We seek out the twistiest and most challenging roads we can find in this part of the country.
In the warmer months, we go on longer (weekend or longer) rides to areas with
Oops. . .don’t know what happened there. So I’m continuing:
roads. West Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee.
My bike has a manual transmission. All bikes, as far as I know, have manual transmissions. There were some attempts by Honda (and maybe others, but I can’t think of any) to sell bikes with automatics, but nobody would buy them, so they gave up.
I always try to learn more. I’ve been to track schools many times to improve my skills. My club regularly practices braking and handling skills. We’re always trying to be better at what we do, 'cause the better you are, the more fun it is. And the safer it is, of course.
Count me in as one of those who loves to drive. There are few things in this world like going from 0 to 60 without any mistakes in shifting, under hard acceleration. Unfortunately for me (and probably fortunately for everyone else out there), my Subaru only has 2.2 liters with 4 cylinders (with about 130 hp). If it ever dies, I’m gonna have to get a WRX.
And yeah, I drive a Subaru Legacy sedan, 5 speed manual, with 189,000 miles. I just replaced the clutch maybe 3000 miles back (the original clutch, that is).
I’ve been driving since 1960, and I still love it. I get a little edgy in dense traffic, but the open highway is a place of real happiness for me.
My first car was a little (and I do mean little) Nash Metropolitan with a four cylinder inline engine and a 3-speed shift on the steering wheel column. That was a lot of fun when I was in high school. Later I had a '63 Corvair Monza convertible, a little car with a big 6-cylinder dual-carb engine and four on the floor. That li’l sucker could practically do wheelies.
But I’m older now, and I prefer a big, comfortable automatic. I don’t have a big, comfortable automatic, mind you. I’m driving a '95 Hyundai Elantra (automatic) with nearly 160,000 miles on it. But as soon as I win the Lotto (my favorite pipe dream) I’m going to get the biggest, quietest Lexus I can find and tour the country.
With Jervoise I love the Pacific Coast Highway and the Big Sur. Try taking US 1 all the way to Astoria, Oregon someday. That’s a great drive.
Perhaps you would like to have a mature 30yo son added to your family? I don’t need room, or food, or money, but I would like to drive and ride your cars and motorcycles. I don’t even need gas money, just access to the garage.
I love to drive, I own one car, and Escort SW manual, and two motorcycles. I perfer the motorcycles, but driving is almost as good. Though sometimes I do like to stick my head out the window to simulate the bike.
Happiness is taking the roof off our del Sol and heading for the mountains. I love to drive, and my wife is happy to let me do the honors (with a good amount of backseat driving, but that’s another rant for another thread). One of our “when we get the time/money” trips is to take a week off in May or June and drive the Blue Ridge Parkway from end to end, seeing everything in bloom and welcoming convertible-friendly weather.
We enjoy it so much that we drive competitively in TSD road rallies. We’re fortunate that there’s a small group here in Atlanta that hosts a contest every month. We’re just getting back into playing again after a long, unemployment-caused hiatus, and we look forward to each one greatly.
Ok, so for all of you saying that you love driving your BMW’s and SUV’s and Opel’s (which I wish you could get in America) I would like to add my input.
*True Love * of driving is when you drive a 1993 Chevrolet Cavalier Wagon (obviously automatic) and still love driving. Being 18 and in college, this is “my” car in that my parents own it for me to drive. I love that car, and you’d have trouble convincing me to trade it in for anything else. Every once in a while I will get to drive my dad’s Honda CRV, which is a 5-speed, and that is FUN. Ok, so I lied…I’d trade in mine for his, but that won’t happen anytime soon.
Driving is the greatest thrill in the world, and yes, I agree with the chap from Baltimore, even at 3:30 AM in my small neighborhood I STILL use my turn signal. Nobody else in my whole damn town seems to know where their’s is located, and it pisses me off to no end.
Driving is one of the true pleasures of life for me. Once I’m out of the city, on the open road, I’m in heaven. I’m on my second 4Runner–a '98 with 115K on it, and I put 250K on my '89. My trips usually have a National Park as a destination, but I try to catch as many roadside attractions as I can along the way. I don’t usually have a set itinerary, I just look at the map and see what looks interesting on any particular day.
This year’s road trip will be starting soon: I’m off to the East Coast from San Diego, eventually ending up in Maine–Acadia NP and Baxter State Park are my goals this time out.
I love to drive any where any time, cities, highways, country roads. I have driven thru 45 of the lower 48 states and Hawaii and Spain. I have driven coast to coast alone and with company.
I currently drive a BMW X5 with a manual transmission, chosen because it’s the only luxury UTE that comes with a manual tranny. Just wish it had a 6 speed instead of a 5 speed. Oh and I always get comments from valet parking attendents who have never seen an X with a manual transmission.
I love driving like nobody’s business; I loved it when I was driving the family minivan, I really just love driving. It’s good stuff! And I especially love driving now that I’ve got my little 5-speed BMW. Man, when I get a ticket it’s gonna be all bad for me…
Love it. City, rural, it doesn’t matter, I love to drive. Hell, I once drive 350 miles to see a movie (round trip) and it didn’t even phase me, though others think it a bit odd. I really enjoy driving in challenging situations: Boston, Manhattan, DC, LA. Fun!
Girlfriend of a friend of mine has a Honda Automatic (400 cc I think). That thing goes like stink off a dead stop!
Oh, and there’s some one-armed guy in Vancouver on a bike, so I assume he’s got an automatic too…
Another driving lover checking in. I’m particularly partial to driving at night (especially if it rained earlier in the evening) in suburban and/or semi-rural areas. When we lived in Pittsburgh, I’d frequently end up driving all night and having breakfast in Erie, Columbus, or Oakland, Maryland, having used surface roads to get there. Living in New York, I was known to end up in Hartford or Princeton, once I ended up driving to Philadelphia.
My driving has been curtailed since our kids came into the picture, but every now and again I can sneak in an hour or two on the road just to unwind. If the weather holds, I might go out tonight, it’s really lovely tonight.
For the record, our vehicles are a standard transmission BMW X5 and an auto transmission Infiniti Q45.
I hate driving. Am 36 years old and do not even have a license. My wife is thankful and says I don’t have the patience or temperment for driving.
Eh, there are enough forms of public transportation that I can get where I need to go.
Here’s how much I love driving: for the last four+ years it’s been my main hobby. It’s called HPDE: High Performance Driver’s Education. You drive your regular street car on various racetracks around the country. You’re learning and using race driving techniques, but it’s not a competition. There’s no timing, and passing other cars is only permitted in the straightaways and only when the car you’re passing gives you a sign.
Typically you’ll have 3-5 track sessions of 20 to 40 minutes each on a typical track day. If you think that doesn’t sound like much time, you have no idea of how much exertion is involved in this kind of activity. I get home after a day at the track completely exhausted. It’s great fun.
It makes you a much better driver on the street, and it makes you far less tempted to speed on the public streets.
Interested? Use this track locator to find a track near you (it has to be a road course–yellow dot), visit its Web site and see what HPDE events are on its schedule. Or check out your local BMW, Audi, or Porsche car club (you don’t have to own one of those cars to participate) or organizations like Sports Car Club of America or the National Auto Sport Association and try it out.
Don’t be scared: newbies ride with instructors to acquaint them with the basics. It’s safe, and as we often say, the most fun you can have with your pants on.
I love to drive, and there are some beautiful roads around here (I live on the San Francisco pennisula, and work in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains). I currently drive a VW Beetle Turbo S. 180hp doesn’t sound like a lot, but on a tiny little car like that it zooms. The fastest I’ve had the nerve to drive is 105 (deserted Highway 5 in the middle of the state), but it could do more.
I’ve always loved driving, though I like it more now what I’m not driving a POS. My old car (chevy cavalier) had a bargain-basement engine, and driving on these hilly roads was an exersize in frustration.
I come from a family of ‘cars are just modes of transportation’ people. They don’t understand my love of driving.