Once upon a time I had a 1.4 Escort. I thought that holding it mid throttle in second gear and then flooring it made is seem quite quick.
After that I had a 1.8 16v 92 Orion and was surprised when I was beaten by a nova GTE over a long stretch.
After that I bought the very same nova GTE and with only minor mods it kept with Renault 19 16v's and 4x4 Cav GSi's over short distances, stayed glued to a G60 Corrado on a bypass. It also stayed with a poorly modded but rapid GTE 16v to about 85mph.
In these days I had very little idea of 0-60's, top speed, 1/4 mile anything like that, but I was happy. Plus at that time driving was very new.
After the Nova I had a 2.0 8v Astra GTE, all I knew was bigger engine, more power etc etc It was a great car and I was sorry to lose it.
Still knowing nothing about cars I bought my first Cav GSi, all I knew was I loved the shape, size and that it was powered by the famous red-top engine.
That was when I found MIG, and all of sudden it wasn't fast enough.
If you take into account that I have had 4 red-tops, one of which being a GTE which by any standard is quick and that I now own a turbo which is the fastest car I have owned, I don't feel like I have made much progress in straight forward performance terms. All the cars have handled well, the nova and second Cav GSi perhaps the best but in terms of power, my current car is about 5 or 6 seconds quicker to 60 than my first car and the top end, something like 45mph greater.
To me it just doesn't seem fast, though it clearly is, if you put me in a Cav Turbo or GTE 16v when I passed my test I would have promptly messed myself and then crashed, such would be the hike in power and performance.
Do you look at the big picture with cars or performance or are you always scrutinising the tiny things?
After that I had a 1.8 16v 92 Orion and was surprised when I was beaten by a nova GTE over a long stretch.
After that I bought the very same nova GTE and with only minor mods it kept with Renault 19 16v's and 4x4 Cav GSi's over short distances, stayed glued to a G60 Corrado on a bypass. It also stayed with a poorly modded but rapid GTE 16v to about 85mph.
In these days I had very little idea of 0-60's, top speed, 1/4 mile anything like that, but I was happy. Plus at that time driving was very new.
After the Nova I had a 2.0 8v Astra GTE, all I knew was bigger engine, more power etc etc It was a great car and I was sorry to lose it.
Still knowing nothing about cars I bought my first Cav GSi, all I knew was I loved the shape, size and that it was powered by the famous red-top engine.
That was when I found MIG, and all of sudden it wasn't fast enough.
If you take into account that I have had 4 red-tops, one of which being a GTE which by any standard is quick and that I now own a turbo which is the fastest car I have owned, I don't feel like I have made much progress in straight forward performance terms. All the cars have handled well, the nova and second Cav GSi perhaps the best but in terms of power, my current car is about 5 or 6 seconds quicker to 60 than my first car and the top end, something like 45mph greater.
To me it just doesn't seem fast, though it clearly is, if you put me in a Cav Turbo or GTE 16v when I passed my test I would have promptly messed myself and then crashed, such would be the hike in power and performance.
Do you look at the big picture with cars or performance or are you always scrutinising the tiny things?