[Closed] What happens to under utilised sports cars?

He should give it to me for one day a week. Just to help him look after it.

they explode in flames

nothing, it might have a few niggling issues like lamba sensor faults but otherwise it will be fine

The jealous scorns of onlookers keep the fuel lines clean.

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All sports cars on the road are under utilised even when their drivers are 'making progress'. Most normal family cars are too. I'm sure it will be fine.

lets face it - if we only bought to the level of vehicle we needed we would all be driving peel p50s and tuk tuks for the family.....

Nice try Flying Ox but you're wrong.

Silly old git at the top of the road has gone and got himself a new Porsche. I've no idea [s]what. But it looks wincingly fast. The trouble is though is that I'm not of the belief that it'll ever go above 3000RPM and will do a maximum of 40mph for the entirety of his life.[/s].
[secretly I'm angry that he has this but I don't, so maybe I'm trying to convince myself that it's a bad idea rather than accepting that it may be the fulfillment of his life's dream and be happy for him.]

Bloke who attends (he doesn't work lol) our building has a Porsche Cayman. He drives it about a mile from his digs to work each day. I wince at the thought of doing that, but hey it's not my car is it. Different strokes and all that.

I like seeing nice cars about.

If I see good looking motor, I think 'nice car' rather than 'idiot'.
That way, I increase the sum total of human happiness by a small amount.

No need to thank me.

(No need to thank me. ) O i think there is, i thank you 🙂

I think they become depressed and withdrawn. Sometimes sociopathic.

Some get so withdrawn they eventually go native.

One near here, up on the Pennines went totally hatstand - drove round on it's own attacking farmers who had left old cars outside to rot

They do say, if you listen carefully on a dark night, you can still here the sadistic exhaust of The Hill Man Avenger.

You will have more trouble with a family diesel than a porsche if both tootle around. Short journeys for any car are not good as they don't get up to working temperature.

In their next lives they'll be thrashed around the race tracks.

Karma innit.

Nice try Flying Ox but you're wrong.

Is he? I think it's about right, I think they're used synonymously these days, but definitely a subtle distinction.

Supra?

Drac - Moderator
Nice try Flying Ox but you're wrong.

Not far worng

These poor cars wait patiently for the owner's offspring to turn up and take the owner out for a drive. At least, that's what my Dad's does.

Ok let's have a look at what a more reliable source than the Simpsons.

1Feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages:
she was always jealous of me

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/jealous

Top qualtiy German engineering will handle 2500 rpm just like it will handle 7000

I suspect the engine will be quite frustrated. That could be a bad thing.

Make a good second-hand but that, if he drove it sedately for a mile a day it might suffer, but otherwise it's just like any other car, they're not race engines just because they're in a sportscar and you don't need to "grab forth just before the redline whilst flicking on a dab of oppo" every weekend to stop them suffering somehow.

Sportsbike engines usually have about double the specific output of even the most bonkers non-turbo car engines but lots have long easy lives being ridden from cafe to pub and home again without ever been given the 'full Rossi'.

Brakes becoming sticky is more of a problem, the 959 suffered very badly with this issue, due to the exotic materials in the callipers and the lack of weatherproof sealing. The racing puma was also not brilliant the Alcon callipers came with race seals not road seals, leading to exposed pains becoming badly pitted or seized.

If he drives like that then the next owner will have a barely run in engine that could either: be a complete nightmare once they realise it was never run in properly or be the bargain of a lifetime.

If it was an older Honda that relied upon oil pressure activated VTEC as in a B/H series (B18 DC2 Integra Type-R / H22 Accord Euro R / B16 EK9 Civic Type R) then I'd be factoring in atrophy related maintenance bills. Same for any VNT based turbo diesel (stretching the term of 'sporty' but it is STW we're talking about) or similar oil pressure based variable valve timing systems.

Surely this thing is designed to be ragged down an Autobahn?

It's German engineering it will be fine.

Well done him for having the cash to splurge on some top notch German engineering and the maturity and self restraint to drive within his own and legal limits when sharing the public highway with other motorists, pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists. The engine will be fine, dinna frett.

With any luck it'll be used for special drives to country pubs once a month making it a well looked after second hand bargain for someone. My dad found such a car last autumn and bought it, a TVR Griffith 500 with 12k on the clock. Only ever used for weekends away so no short trips and a full service log. Needs a respray as the paint's a bit past it but we'll sort that out when he sells it on, it's going to be enjoyed first!
My dad's eyes are slowly giving up and he may well have to hang his driving gloves up for good next autumn as he's finding night driving gives him headaches, fine during the day though and the optician passed him as good to go so he's not a danger at all! He did a bit of amateur racing when he was younger (my arrival stopped it) and wanted to have one last bit of driving fun before he settles down and becomes all 'Pensioner-like'.

Next weekend I have the 'job' of taking it for a spin to check it's all good for a summer of mucking about in for him. I am under instructions to let it warm up then make sure 'no horses have not been awoken from their winter sleep' 😆

Imagine an island with lots of very wealthy people and as a result a high number of supercars, imagine it being very small, imagine an island wide maximum speed of 40 (or 50 i can't remember). Welcome to Jersey.

@Drac - and the other info in that link?

1.1Feeling or showing a resentful suspicion that one’s partner is attracted to or involved with someone else:
a jealous husband

1.2Fiercely protective of one’s rights or possessions:
the men were proud of their achievements and jealous of their independence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

Silly old git at the top of the road has gone and got himself a new, full suspension, Santa Cruz, carbon bling machine. I've no idea what. But it looks wincingly fast. The trouble is though is that I'm not of the belief that it'll ever get used on a trail and will do a maximum of 9.0mph on the daily commute

My question though, is this going to cause any problems with the drivetrain(I know nothing about anything.)? Surely this thing is designed to be ragged down a rock strewn mountain? Not pootle to the shops with the dog in a basket?

@Drac - and the other info in that link?

Thanks I can read. Who'd have thought a word can be used in more than one context. Cheers for the irony of posting a link to confirmation bias.

@milky check the chassis rails out, particularly behind the front wheels, as they were manufactured by arch motors i believe ( same guys who do, or did, the cat 7 chassis ), and they had a period where the coating they used wasn't adhering very well, resulting in rust. also if you need boots, toyo proxies used to be the ones, instead of the originally specced bridgestones. better all round grip in all temperatures and half the price of the 'stones.
the griffs are nice, always liked the look, and had one on loan when my chim was in for service once. be careful with 2nd gear accelerating out of tight bends, even in the dry...
have fun! 8)

Who knows? Who cares? As always, if he can afford it and enjoys owning it, fair play.

There's always a lot of talk of not the negative effects of not using an engine to its potential, but I'm sure that ragging the gonads off it would do a lot worse. Besides, a car like that you couldn't use to 50% of its potential without entering licence loosing territory. Let the guy enjoy it.

Good on him, I'm sure we will see a lot more nice cars on the road driven by 'old gits' following the 6th April.

FWIW my car (Cayman) is 8 years old and has 32,000 miles on it. It was hardly driven at all the two years I was in Simgaproe, one minor problem with gearbox unit as a result cost £500 but not a big deal. Its superbly well made costs £250 a year to service and as above can handle being driven sedately.

FWIW an engineer mate with Nissan reckoned the best thing for all engines is to be driven at different speeds.

I think in the good old days of carburettors there may have been an issue - with the way carbs work you cannot get ideal fuel air mix throughout the rev range and all throttle openings, so there was the possibility of things coking up at slow speeds due to over fuelling and carbon build up. But with modern day engines with fully sequential fuel injection you can get the fueling right all the time, so the engine is happy however you drive it.

Just seems a waste really, but that is the paradox of high performance cars - you pay a huge premium and can't use the performance that you're paying the premium for - nobody is a good enough driver to exploit it for starters, and the roads simply can't handle it.