Do you drive? What do you drive? What are your experiences?

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Do you have a permit? If not, I'd hurry up and get one if I were you.

size isn't everything dude!

You're supposed to take in the whole road scene anyway, i.e. so if a pedestrian is about to walk out onto the road, you can hopefully predict it as it happens and slow down. It's not entirely easy to do as most people aren't so observant of their entire surroundings naturally in the way that's needed. But a good thing to try and get in the habit of doing.

As for me, I'm not overly keen on driving either. I got my Ls pretty much straight after my 16th birthday. I pretty much just read the book once, memorised all the rules and got every question right on the test. I got driving lessons soon after though my parents weren't too impressed with my steering; it was a little uncoordinated. I found the whole driving experience pretty terrifying at first and avoided changing lanes when possible. I probably still do avoid changing lanes and when I do, I try to change well in advanced (i.e. if I'm in the left lane, I pretty much change as soon as I see a parked car).

While most of my friends rushed out to get their license straight after they turned 18, I was in no hurry. I did, however, get my license within about 3 months of turning 18. Now, I still don't own a car, I just drive my mums. It won't be long until I'm finally off my Ps either.

I'm pretty relaxed about driving now, though I still prefer to take public transport. If I can help it, I think I'd always choose to live near train/tram services and I'd go for jobs that are accessible by public transport. It's just easy to sit on a train and not have to worry about the traffic. I also spend a lot of my spare time doing volunteer work with a local NGO, advocating for better public transport in Melbourne.

I don't know much about cars, though ours is a Holden Astra (cheap European export; I think it's known as an Opal overseas or it's rebadged). It's not the sexiest looking car but the fuel economy is good. I don't know what kind of car I'd choose if I had to buy one, probably a combination of what looks good and what doesn't guzzle too much fuel.

Heh... bear in mind in Europe we tend to drive cars with smaller, more efficient engines - a 1.4 is generally pretty highly torqued as it was introduced to get around tax regulations. My 1.4 is nowt special but has a full 16 valve injection, belts through the mid range and cruises happily at 85mph. Thats fairly typical for modern 1.4s from Europe or Japan.

I have a permit now. I am practicing driving now.

Anybody here into motorcycles? I took a motorcycle class and enjoyed it quite a bit. I bought a '90 Suzuki GSXR1100 with a 1216cc engine and all kinds of other upgrades. The more rational choice would be to start out with something like a 600cc, but I got too good of a deal to pass up, from a friend who I know took very good care of it. I'm easing myself into riding it more and more. I'm still nervous about being out in the open and dealing with traffic, plus the ridiculous amount of power takes some getting used to. But it sure is a blast!

I drive a saturn stationwagon, which i lovingly refer to the Hatchback. The outside is a piece of s**t covered in dents and scratches, some of which i put there intentionally, while the inside of the car......
is a piece of s**t too. 4 pistons. I want a car that looks like hell in a handbasket on the outside and the inside is well tuned and powerful.

I enjoy driving, i keep myself entertained by accelerating up to exactly 5 miles over the speed limit as fast as i can(which isnt as simple as flooring it on a 4 pistol engine). I also turn as fast as i can without the tires squealing and change lanes quickly, and just generally drive hard and and well as i can. All the meanwhile i'm talking to myself - out loud - about all sorts of crap. Its fun!

I took a "Driver Education" course in grade 12 (1983) that was sponsored by my high school. My mother still never let me use her car unless it was to run an errand for her.

In 1985 my father gave me a used 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury III convertible (318 V8 ). It was in crap condition, but having a rag top bought me some friends because it's just too much fun to cruise around topless.

In 1986 I sold the convertible and bought my mother's 1978 Chev Malibu (305 V8 ). I put a 4-barrel carb on it and had a lot of fun.

In 1987 I bought two Yamaha RD-400 motorcycles (both non-running) and did some mechanical cut-n-paste to get one running bike. I then swapped that for a Yamaha XS-650 Special, which I promptly traded in for a Kawasaki Vulcan 750. The Vulcan was the first time I ever owned anything new.

In 1988 I sold the Malibu because the company I was working for allowed me to take the company's delivery van home at night.

In 1989 I had two very minor incidents with the van so the company took it away from me. I sold the Vulcan and bought a 1987 Jeep YJ (4.2L I-6).

In 1993 I traded the YJ for a 1991 Jeep Renegade (4.0L F.I. I-6).

In 1996 I bought a Ducati 900SS/CR motorcycle. I put about 10,000 km on it in two summers, but when my company transferred me they were only willing to pay shipping for one vehicle so I sold the Ducati and shipped the Jeep.

In 1998 I traded the Renegade for a 1989 BMW 325iC convertible (2.5L F.I. I4).

In 1999 I was driving the beemer in Seattle and got a bit lost. My passenger and I started having a shouting match, I had a melt-down, and both the BMW and the Mercedes I hit were totalled.

To replace the BMW I bought a 1997 Toyota RAV-4, which I am still driving.

In late 2003 I saw what Ducati was planning to do to the Superbike body style and freaked (the 749/999 bikes are brutally ugly). I went searching for 748/996/998 bikes and found a dealer that still had a left-over Ducati 748 from 2001 and bought it before all the old models dissappeared.

So aside from a few dings to the company van and one totalled BMW, I've been pretty good with cars.

I drive a Subaru Legacy Outback station wagon, which is my family's car. Aside from still getting the hang of some rules of the road and learning patience, I think I'm doing pretty well. I do have a compulsion to never go faster than 65 mph on the highway though, which angers all the speeders. Jerks.

Me too! A friend of mine has a '98 Corvette. I love driving that car, except I can't stand how I can't go anywhere without people staring, every redneck with an old Monte Carlo SS trying to race me, and people walking up and asking "is it fast? how much cost it cost?" etc. If they made a car with a Corvette chassis & drivetrain and a less attention-getting body, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Last edited by nina on 21 Sep 2005, 11:49 am, edited 2 times in total.

Experiences? Interesting... veeery veeeery interesting...

Love driving... except when I get stressed about merging into things, which tends to happen!

I live in the land of freeways where they all merge into each other. The trick to merging when people don't want to let you in is to play chicken. You gotta appear that you are a big enough idiot to come over no matter what. Just veer to the side of the lane enough to make the guy behind you and on your side nervous enough to back off an then you should get a space big enough to merge.

Lol, I don't need to PLAY chicken: I genuinely WOULD drive into them! Nah, I'm not bad at merging... when I notice that there is a car I actually need to merge with!

I only recently got my liscence. My High School had a crappy and inconsistant driving program, and when I was in college the next five years, I spent five days a week in Bridgewater, while the other two were spent coming home via train, working, and going back, so I really had no time to work on my driving skills. Over the course of two summers, I attended a driving school and finally got my liscence, despite making a pretty big error on the test. I am a slow and cautious driver, as I live in a section of the world notorious for having idiots on the road. I usually dislike driving, as it makes me nervous. Still don't have a car, though.

I drive a 20 year old Toyota which is probly a good thing. I have had 7 crashes, 3 on my L the 1 time I had them, 1 the second time I hade my L, then 2 on my P plats and 1 after I hade my full licence. Never with passengers never a major injury the only car that survived was the Toyota in the last crash (the only one that was not really my fault). Have not crashed for 1 year now. Part of my problem is distance and sped judging which I have never bean good at. But what surprises me is that all of those crashes were while completely sober in every way and when I was younger I took some stupid risks when I started to drive I have only driven drunk like 3 times but the second time I hade my L and through most of my Ps I was driving stoned 90% of the time I have even driven under the influence of chemical hallucinogens. Getting home alive when u are melting thro the car floor surprising when I cant even do it with all my senses workin.