Driving: Driver with one Passenger

Post Reply New Topic

Do you find your experiences are generally positive or negative when you are the driver with one passenger?
I would say that at least 90% of the time when I am driving, it is only myself in the car - inefficiency has never been so peaceful. I rarely have any problems in terms of paying attention to traffic signals or other motorists when I am driving alone. Also, when I am alone my sense of direction becomes heightened, though for me a heightened sense of direction is probably inferior to that of the average person. One reason for this might be that I don't mind making a mistake in the route I'm taking. If I happen to miss an exit or a turn, I simply adjust accordingly, whether by rerouting my path or pulling over to the side of the road to become re-situated. I don't seem to be able to do any of these things when someone else is with me.

What's probably worse than impaired concentration that goes along with driving other people is the in car conversation. I don't mind driving in silence (conversational silence, maybe some soft music on in the background), but I am aware how uncomfortable it might be for the passenger. Sometimes I'll find the courage to come out with a comment or a question of some kind, but it hurts me. I've never had the assertiveness needed to say "I don't like to talk while I'm driving, and also please don't talk to me while I'm driving."

Sometimes a passenger will make a comment similar to, or exactly alike one of these things listed below:
"That parking lot is filled up. A lot of people at the mall must be shopping today."
"I can't believe someone would drive a car of that color."
"I saw So and So up at the store today. He or she is doing this and that."
"That house is for sale there, I doubt they'll be able to sell it for what they're asking."
"These beat up roads could sure use some maintenance. Can you believe how large these potholes are?"
"The days I go out for lunch are the days I don't eat dinner."
"It's chilly outside, yet that guy walking along on the sidewalk is wearing shorts."

I wish I could think of more examples like these. I am constantly taking account of these sorts of things, but I never acknowledge it. I don't understand why people do it. Most of my responses to these sorts of obvious comments will be:
"Yes, it is filled up." (in response to the parking lot one)
"Your'e right, that's an expensive price-tag." (for the house one)
Or, simply "Ok." or "Yes."

I'm not a cold or a curt person. It may appear that I am, but that isn't my intent.
How does anyone else deal with navigating these situations?

I hate driving. I hate the noise of traffic, I hate feeling every little bump and crevice in the road, and I worry about everything (engine failure, flate tire, etc.). So I only drive to school, to my therapist, and to my friend's house. If I ever go out with my family or my friends someone else drives because anxiety washes over me at just the thought of having to drive someone somewhere. I like to have my music loud, it helps me drive, but on those rare occasions where I have to drive my grandma somewhere (only to places close to home) she always turns my music down. ARG!

I hate it when my wife makes an exclamation as if I'm about to hit something but she's remarking on something completely irrelevant.

Sometimes when I'm having to concentrate hard on the driving - when there are a lot of cars around or weather conditions are difficult, I have to say "I'm driving" when she's asking me lots of trivial questions that I don't want to think about right now.

I hate it when she can't make up her mind where she wants us to go.

My take on it is that if you're driving you're in charge, and if anybody won't stop talking then they can get out and walk!! !

Anybody want a lift?

I have pretty much the exact same situation as you. I LOVE driving alone, especially if I don't have to get somewhere very fast. Even if I do, it's not too big a deal if I get lost, as nobody has to see me struggling. I have pretty much James May-ish sense of direction.

I can completely melt down if I have a car load of people I have to take somewhere. The conversations get way too overwhelming, the other passengers who are usually my sister and her friend seem to be terribly disrespectful to me, and I basically don't like driving with passengers one bit. I'm usually OK with just one passenger in the front seat, though, unless I'm taking them somewhere and they wanna go somewhere else, and my like, driving "routine" is messed up. For me, it's not like I have a really rigid routine, just if I make plans to do something, I don't like them getting changed. But, assuming the passenger doesn't do that, I'm usually OK with one passenger, but add 2 or 3, and I'm usually screwed. Especially 2-3 teenagers, f**k teenagers, (coming from a 20 year old...) I end up having to yell/say very sternly to not talk to my sisters and her friends while driving. Which I know is rude, but I feel way overloaded if there's too much talking in the car. If I feel a bit more passive aggressive, I'll turn up my music all the way so that nobody is able to hear themselves talk anymore, but that's less ideal.

BTW, this sucks, as one of my special interests is cars, racing, engines, etc. So you have someone that like, knows a ton about cars, likes driving by himself, but sucks at carrying other people around.

The fuel delivery of the discontinued - although I believe it may have been brought back recently - Holly 465 vs the racing standard Holly 650 dual line. Discuss.

Frances

It would depend upon what your goals are. The 465 would be probably very good on a small block for street use, as fuel atomization would be better and you'd get better intake velocity out of it, however, you'd probably not get enough fuel for lots of topend power. But I think that carb would probably be very good on a relatively stock SBC. I'm thinking if I ever get a Datsun 280Z, to go for a similar arrangement, a single Holley Carb, and probably in the area of 450cfm, it'd be a good match for a 2.8l motor, imo. 650cfm might be a bit much on such a small motor, in my opinion. 650 on a V8 certainly wouldn't be bad at all, and from my understanding (keep in mind, my main interest is in imports) people use it quite a lot on relatively mild or stock small block V8s. I think a lot of issues with a bigger carburetor can be solved with modern tuning techniques, and this is what I believe happened which is why 450ish cfm carbs aren't popular anymore. Now, you can simply hook a wideband oxygen sensor up to your tailpipe, play with some jets, and know you have everything the right AFR. Before a couple years ago, a layman couldn't do this, and would sorta have to just go by how things smelled, and how the car's "in your pants dyno" felt. In that regard, it'd be harder to mess up on installing a 465cfm carb, as just due to it having less flow capacity in general, you're allowed more margin of error in your jetting/etc.

Reading about this guy's Z here with the Holley on it, http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/show ... for-my-L28 really was quite convincing on the efficacy of a single Holley. On imports, it's very popular to use 2-3 sets of Weber carbs, or even motorcycle carbs. That, and Holley's got power plates, to change jetting very easily. So, if I got some import car that didn't originally come with fuel injection, the prospect of switching to a Holley seems like a good idea now, though it's not common in the import world. This guy said he had his car tuned on the wideband very fast, to me for a naturally aspirated car, that seems like such a elegant solution. Even potentially on a car with older EFI systems, switching to carbs is in some ways a good idea, it's at the very least cheaper if you know someone who can fabricate a manifold cheaply. I know a full megasquirt EFI setup for my Supra is like $450, plus another $200 for the wideband. Now, megasquirt allows you infinite control of your ignition timing and fuel delivery, then you eventually need new injectors if you turbo your car, too. Even megasquirt, an almost completely DIY solution for tuning your car, is a tad expensive, so at least for a naturally aspirated setup, I really think import people should embrace the carburetor.

But yeah....

EDIT! One thing I must add, too, is that a 465cfm, the only really big issue with it, is that you're not really "upgrading" you're simply getting a Holley and the ability to use cheap Holley parts, which isn't bad, but usually the stock carbs on most V8s are in that area. I know on my LeSabre I think it's like 500+ cfm, the QJet on it.

Another edit! The Holley 465 is not discontinued, it's still on Holley's website. http://www.holley.com/0-1848-1.asp

another other edit, my bad, Holleys can use power plates, but what I was actually talking about was the fuel bowl with the quick change jets.

Last edited by 1000Knives on 26 Nov 2011, 1:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It was discontinued for many years and that cause it to be cheap but good at the time I bought one. That was one of the factors causing me to use it on my vehicle at the time.

Let me clarify, I am not talking stock per se. I am talking pro-stock. Picture a bored .60 over 302 with Windsor heads for it. I had thought about, I had dreamed about, the 650 double pumper, but when I had a conversation with the guy at the parts store, and we got into fuel delivery, I was sold.

It wasn't as showey, it wasn't as cool. But I ran a quarter in the low 9's. He was right.

Oddly enough the 650 causes more bogs than the 750 does. Probably because of rednecks putting the biggest possible carb on their motor, which is what I must admit, I was guilty of until I spoke with a connisour.

I'm not a fan of foreign cars,so I can't comment on the Datsun. I do however know a guy who has made foreign car racing his life's work. He knows more about it than anyone I have ever met. I can give you his name if you want.

Frances

I had to take extra practice sessions (a total of 34 hours) when I was learning to drive at 17, despite I've always been fond of cars. I also have a poor sense of direction. This is no problem for me when I'm alone in the car. When I have passengers, the hardest part is to keep in mind where we are heading. Sometimes I'd just forget it or I'd drive to a totally different place. It's so embarrassing how easily I can make fool of myself.

When someone on the passenger seat insists on having a conversation with me, and on the top of it tries to speak to me assertively, exploiting the fact I can't flee from their insult, it might easily result in a dangerous situation.