Just recently we have seen the influx of performance cars from various manufacturers into our shores. These cars generally have high horsepower, great handling and are a bit impractical for your daily drive duties. Best of all, they are a whole lot of fun to drive… but that fun comes with a hefty price tag. And I don’t mean the monetary kind.
“With great power comes great responsibility” fans of Spiderman know this phrase all too well.
This also holds true for performance car owners. With the increase in acceleration and speed, this also multiplies the dangers that comes with driving on public roads.
Performance car enthusiasts have come to respect their cars as well as its strengths and weaknesses. You can’t just buy just any performance car and drive it like they do in Fast and Furious. That is a sure recipe for disaster. I always say that if you can’t control a normal run-of-the-mill car, then chances are even the most expensive and best handling car won’t help you. You will enjoy your car more if you know how the car reacts and how to drive it properly at the limit. And by “limit” I mean around 50 percent of your driving limit on public roads since you need to always leave room for error. You can go 100 percent on racetracks but not on public roads where potential accidents lurk in every corner.
But for most owners, they don’t have the luxury of going to the track to test their cars. So here are a couple of tips on how to enjoy your performance car on the road without looking like an a$$. (pardon the language, I could not find a clearer description)
•Don’t cut people off. This one is pretty simple. Just don’t overtake somebody then suddenly merge into their lane. If the traffic ahead is backed up then just wait behind the guy. Patience is a virtue one must regularly practice when driving a performance car. Especially when you know you are faster than 90 percent of the cars on the road.
•Give way. We all want to get ahead to that clear stretch of road ahead but don’t be the road hogging, intersection blocking, counterflowing a$$ that everybody hates. Yes, I’m sure you hate them also. Don’t become one of them.
•Don’t explore the limits of your car on busy public roads. We all know this is fun. Just don’t do it on a road where there are other road users. Although I don’t recommend it, but the lesser evil is to go do it in a remote road void of any traffic. Yes, CEBU NEEDS A PROPER RACETRACK.
• Changing lane every 10 meters. Ok, I might be exaggerating when I say every 10 meters but this is essentially saying your time doesn’t suddenly become more important because you are in a performance car.
• When driving on the mountains (I know we all go there just to drive) don’t pretend it’s a racetrack and encroach on the oncoming lane. It is still a public road and if don’t think “you can make the turn without eating up the other lane then the simplest solution is to just slow down and take the corner at a slower speed.
Not all drivers understand the joys of driving a performance car. It is our duty to help protect the image of performance car owners everywhere by driving responsibly. We need to show the general public that driving a performance car is not all fun and games as portrayed by the movies. In the real world when you meet an accident there’s no replay button or autosave option.
If you are already an owner of a performance car I would suggest that you take time to attend performance driving seminars and also join some local autocrosses to know the basics of car handling and also get to know the drivers that participate in them. I’m sure the things you learn there will form the foundation of enjoying your performance car down the road.