[Closed] Driving pleasure?

Does anyone else find it hard to instigate a good race against a similarly powered steed these days? Now there's driving pleasure...

Driving can still be a pleasure if people wouldn't

-Sit in the outside lane
-Sit in the middle lane
-Dawdle
-Dither
-Sit in the second lane at a set of traffic lights that has a short run before merging back to one lane only to drive off like they weren't in a position to overtake the van, bus, lorry in lane 1,
-Have headlights that are angled to blind you
-Put fog lights on when visibility is slightly misty perhaps but you can still see 500m clearly or its a bit rainy
-Drive Nissan Alemeras
-Drive up yer arse

GiantKalli ..nope ..good sport can still be had in this part of the world ..
Why only yesterday I was laughing at a BMW 1 series trying to escape my evil clutches up the North Tyne Valley ..

Mostly driving for me is just about A to B. But sometimes you end up somewhere stunning on empty roads and it can be a joy. Not joy through speed, but joy from passing through a beautiful place. Remote parts of Scotland, most of Iceland, that sort of thing.
Generally though, roads aren't the right place to get the most out of a car. You can never allow for what is around the next, inevitably blind bend. So cars/vans are, and always will be just transport for me.

Used to love cars, and really enjoy driving - the last 10 or so years? No, hate everything about it.

Unfortunately I do a reasonable mileage with work so I'm stuck with it for the moment.

Hodgynd, I take it you know the road from Newcastleton to Bonchester Bridge? Wow.

Used to enjoy driving but years of flogging around London killed most of the fun pretty much the same for the motorbike too. Still enjoy the odd time, usually in Ireland, when i can and drive and have the opportunity and indeed the requirement to use all the roadcraft training I've had, not balls out just driving well to the system. Not sure I'm ever going to get back into motorbikes though may drop down to 250+ cc scooters for a change.

Hot_Fiat..Not used too often by myself ( Most journeys are south of that ) ..but yes 😀
I'm sure I heard that Top Gear have used this more than once ..
Edit : locally the Bellingham to Otterburn road is a classic especially the section just prior to reaching the A68..for both cars & motorbikes

Yes, I enjoy driving.
I don't commute by car - I cycle. That helps.

I also used to ride high powered motorcycles. I've found that having that amount of speed and acceleration gives me a zen attitude to driving a car - in that, I know what "fast" is, so I just accept the car and what it can and can't do and don't try and overtake people all the time or feel rushed if caught behind someone.

I also drive an old MX5. It has heated leather seats so I drive with the roof down 99% of the time. Gives you a bit of that being on a bike/in the countryside feel. I've also upgraded the stereo in it, so it's just a nice car to spend time in.
It is also very fun to drive in of itself and gives you a feeling of "fun/fast" at legal speeds.

I am also lucky (clever?) enough to live in Scotland. Which is wonderful for a variety of reasons. The roads and relative lack of traffic being one of them.

Further, it isn't worth a lot of money and is paid for outright so I'm not overly worried about anything happening to it.

Petrolhead in the past and still enjoy the act of driving (my modest but cheap Hyundai) as others have said; you don’t have to be caning it, and my passenger-seat mounted speed limiter tends to ensure I don’t, but there’s lots of pleasure to be had in trying to do it well. I too love a road trip!
However, it seems to be impossible to go anywhere these days without getting stuck in bloody traffic at some point! Even if you try and be clever and go early/late, you will still sit on a 10-mile tailback on the M6/M1/M5/A1/M62. And I don’t even live in the South! Public transport is great between big cities but not much use for things like mtbing. Has taken a lot of the enjoyment out of it for me.

I love cars, pretty much all cars, more than cars, probably all things that move people, cars, bikes, trains, planes, boats ... but back to cars. I used to love all driving, now I avoid long drives but when I do do them I still enjoy the journey. Now it’s short drives, most years we get a hack, last couple have been a Micra, have to be under 500 notes and last at least 6 months plus, what a hoot we have in these, great engines, great gearboxes, great to test ‘energy management’ and all without terrifing the other road users or threatening one’s licence. Also enjoy the track in quick things but can be too easy or too terrifying and also really really enjoy cruising in the van. Managing engines, gearboxes, brakes, interactions with the road, the traffic, sorry I just love driving... and riding and and paddling and sailing...

Well I'd passed my driving test before I learnt to ride a bike, so it was my first taste of that kind of freedom.

I enjoy driving. I hate being stuck in traffic. Fortunately my lifestyle means I can generally pick and choose how and when I travel, so I can avoid the worst of the jams.

For me its all about the interaction, tactility and the effort put in. Speed is nice, but far from the be-all and end-all. I've had some great drives in a 7.5T truck. For the last 4 years I've worked on the Trans Provence, which involved nailing a Sprinter across some very dodgy roads in the Maritime Alps with a certain amount of time pressure. Equally driving the NC500 last year in a hairdresser soft top was brilliant.

I do think part of the issue with modern driving standards is that cars are too easy and uninvolving to drive. Going at 70mph should be a wee bit scary shouldn't it...? Likewise auto gear boxes, auto lights, auto wipers, all these things that stop you NEEDING to think about what you're doing.

It always surprises me the number of cyclists who detest driving and treat cars like domestic white goods. For me it's very similar mental skill sets. Planning ahead, line choice, risk assessment, balance, mechanical interaction etc

Just got in to work.

Lovely journey in through the countryside following a Golf R32 both of us enjoying the drive.

A Porsche Cayman came the opposite direction sounding absolutely beautiful (they make an amazing noise at full throttle and high revs!)

At least 3 of us enjoyed our commutes today !

And most of it is done in a Citroen Van,

You better do some yoga that must beat you up 🙂

I couldn't care less if I never drove a car again, just not interested in it at all. It does nothing for me.

I hate driving. I just find the whole experience extremely frustrating. On fun roads over the moors, I'd just much rather be outside enjoying the countryside. I don't get any excitement from the sense of speed because it either feels safe and boring or dangerous and stressful. Never a sense of fun like I experience on a bike. I do enjoy the places that cars can take me however.

I enjoy driving, but I don't enjoy sitting in traffic.

Late nights/really remote roads/early mornings are the only way to get any real enjoyment out of driving. I don't do many miles in any case, and it's mostly long trips to my family (where taking the car is lower carbon than the train for lugging kids along anyway - well in the current car at least - which is quite run of the mill but can still be fun to thrash).

I don't really understand people that commute by car where there is a practical alternative, but having said that I used the car when I broke my wrist and could't cycle to work as public transport was extortionate (to the point that it was only the parking that made the car cost as much - including all costs not just petrol) and took far longer despite working in a city centre.

Just a means to an end these days. Will enjoy driving to Torridon in January once I'm past Glasgow.

A car's the tool to get me from A to B so that I can do something interesting and pleasurable. In and of itself I've never found driving pleasurable, I passed my test 42 years ago, it isolates you from both the surroundings and people.

I enjoy driving, but I don't enjoy sitting in traffic.

+1 I do a fair few motorway miles for work and that becomes a means to an end. A Sunday afternoon on the M25 back from Peaslake can ruin the previous few hours if you let it.

However, I've had some really great times when I've had cause just to slow down, sit back and appreciate the view in mid Wales or similar with a bike in the back, and then I do enjoy the whole experience.

I also work from home so I don't have to deal with the boredom of the daily commute. I also get to drive in N Wales where the roads can be just fab.
I also agree that the car makes a big difference. I had an XC90 for 12 years and it was literally like driving a bus - it had little in the way of acceleration, comparatively, so if I came across a caravan I'd quite often have to sit behind it waiting for a looong overtaking opportunity.
Not much fun.

I then changed to a German manufacturer who's name begins with P and the world of driving changed for me. Although the car is still large it has twice the power and is a lovely place to be. I can play with the power and supension settings to change the way the car feels and if needed I can overtake more safely - generally every car trip is a happy time.
My car has been in a few times for service/MOT/little warranty things (all good) and every time it goes in I get a new faster little car to go a play in. The driving experience of these cars is simply wonderful.

So I think it's a combination of things..
Why you're driving
Where you're driving
What you're driving.

If I was sat in a box driving up and down motorways or through a city I don't think I'd enjoy it one bit.

if needed I can overtake more safely

You mean frequently. You should always be safe regardless.

I often enjoy driving. I only have a diesel hatchback, but to be honest even that is so capable the speeds you’d have to reach to be ‘on the edge’ are far beyond what I’d push to these days. If I lived around that London (or other large city) I’d hate it, nothing but traffic, but I don’t. This makes up half of my commute
http://www.drivingforpleasure.co.uk/roads-and-tours/uk-road.php?s=2011-12-01-the-cheddar-gorge And that’s great fun at 6:30 each morning, just a few sheep about to be careful of!

I only have a diesel hatchback, but to be honest even that is so capable the speeds you’d have to reach to be ‘on the edge’ are far beyond what I’d push to these days

I think this might be why I quite like greasy/wet/snowy conditions!

You mean frequently.

I usd to love driving a car. But years of doing it for work in south east traffic put piad to that. Mind you, being able to play around in work vans on building sites and out of harms way in quarries is fun. Opposite lock in a transit van round a stockpile of gravel is hilarious! I got to the point I could do it in a 26tonne loading shovel too.
But yeah. Cars are simply transport and a way of moving things I can’t get on a bike. We recently located and an absolute need in that was to be able to cycle to work. It takes me 12 minutes to cycle to work. Driving would be about 20. I’ve spent quite a few years commuting by motorbike until we moved as it’s the only way to reliably get anywhere on time day after day.
The car is like a washing machine to us now. Just an appliance to do a job and it sits unused most of the week.