Enjoy driving

[Eddie1]

I am probably going to get quite a bit of backlash for posting this question on a predominantly 'urban minded' audience but anybody here actually like driving? I have 3 cars (2 sports cars and and off road vehicle) and have always enjoyed driving for the sake of driving; the feel of being behind the wheel, the sound of an engine, the mechanical feel of an well-made car, the freedom that driving provides. I feel the same excitement today that I felt 24 years ago when I passed my test. Maybe it's just me.

[Plutonic Panda]

I love it

[kevinpate]

I sometimes accept clients several counties away in part because I enjoy the solitude of putting in some road time.

[rezman]

Yes, i love getting out and just going for a drive. Either in the car or on the bike, many times staying out all day on the old two lane roads.

[RadicalModerate]

Yes, i love getting out and just going for a drive. Either in the car or on the bike, many times staying out all day on the old two lane roads.

That's the ONLY type of driving I enjoy. Getting out on an old two-lane with almost no traffic and not in any hurry to get to a particular place. It helps if the drive is scenic. Like, for example, the road from Jane, MO. to Washburn, MO and then on down to Eureka Springs. Or the road from Idabel to Poteau. Or the old route from OKC down to Broken Bow. Or--even with the traffic--Talimena Skyline Drive. Or Highway 77 all the way from Ardmore back to OKC.

90% of my driving is to and from work or the grocery store and I don't find that driving enjoyable at all. In fact, it sucks.

[Just the facts]

I used to like to drive - but the other drivers ruined it for me.

[Urbanized]

That's the ONLY type of driving I enjoy. Getting out on an old two-lane with almost no traffic and not in any hurry to get to a particular place. It helps if the drive is scenic. Like, for example, the road from Jane, MO. to Washburn, MO and then on down to Eureka Springs. Or the road from Idabel to Poteau. Or the old route from OKC down to Broken Bow. Or--even with the traffic--Talimena Skyline Drive. Or Highway 77 all the way from Ardmore back to OKC.

90% of my driving is to and from work or the grocery store and I don't find that driving enjoyable at all. In fact, it sucks.

Pretty much exactly the way I feel about it. Fortunately about a decade ago I eliminated almost any commute whatsoever. I drive well below 8K per year, and it makes other driving much more pleasant. Even more pleasant now is substituting motorcycle riding for much of the driving.

But yeah, I love driving in places with not much traffic and when I have no urgent need to be someplace quickly.

[venture]

"Going for a drive" and commuting are two totally separate things. I think most "urbanists" would agree with that. I have no problem going on road trips to see the sights. I despise commuting to work though and dealing with the idiots that make up the environment of driving in urban settings. I just wish it was limited to traditional rush hour. Driving home late at night doesn't seem to exclude idiots though. I had someone blow by me on 35 last night easily doing over 100.

[Plutonic Panda]

"Going for a drive" and commuting are two totally separate things. I think most "urbanists" would agree with that. I have no problem going on road trips to see the sights. I despise commuting to work though and dealing with the idiots that make up the environment of driving in urban settings. I just wish it was limited to traditional rush hour. Driving home late at night doesn't seem to exclude idiots though. I had someone blow by me on 35 last night easily doing over 100.

sorry man.... the beast still comes out of me every now and then

[Plutonic Panda]

BTW, I witnessed someone doing around 85MPH on Kilpatrick Turnpike reading a newspaper the other day... just wanted to point that out

[RadicalModerate]

sorry man.... the beast still comes out of me every now and then

Wascally Wabbit . . . =)

Didn't VW have a car awhile back called "The Rabbit"?
How come no car company has been bold enough to introduce a model called "The Squirrel"?

[Mel]

Yep, loves me some motorvating. Bad habit I picked up from my Dad when we would drive from Florida to Cali to visit my Maternal Grandparents. Before the Interstate system was completed. In a '56 Merc with no a/c.

[Plutonic Panda]

Wascally Wabbit . . . =)

Didn't VW have a car awhile back called "The Rabbit"?
How come no car company has been bold enough to introduce a model called "The Squirrel"?

Ah, yes.... The Toyota Picnic or perhaps the Nissan Cube.

[RadicalModerate]

Ah, yes.... The Toyota Picnic or perhaps the Nissan Cube.

Introducing . . . The 2015 Fogiemobile (for those who think young . . . but aren't). =)
(and who managed not to die young in a car wreck)

Next roadtrip I take, if I can't find a Fogiemobile, I want to be behind the wheel of one of these, instead of a rented Impala or Malibu or Taurus.
When I get home, I'll take it to the carwash and clean the SUVs out from under the wheelwells (c/o old Jay Leno joke)

Best part of all is that it's SOLAR MAGNETICALLY POWERED!
So it's E-Z on the environment.
Plus the air conditioner is so powerful that it causes Global Cooling!

[bluedogok]

I used to like to drive - but the other drivers ruined it for me.

Must be a byproduct of driving in Florida.....I have heard that refrain from many ex-Floridians.

I enjoy it whether in my wife's SUV, my convertible or on the motorcycle. We just went to lunch today in Breckenridge because we wanted a nice drive in the mountains. I don't much enjoy our 20 mile commute but on a nice afternoon day with the top down it can be pretty decent even for a commute.

I just really love the machinery, if I had the means I would have a warehouse full of cars and a shop like Wayne Carini of Chasing Classic Cars.

[Plutonic Panda]

That's awesome

[adaniel]

Pretty much exactly the way I feel about it. Fortunately about a decade ago I eliminated almost any commute whatsoever. I drive well below 8K per year, and it makes other driving much more pleasant. Even more pleasant now is substituting motorcycle riding for much of the driving.

But yeah, I love driving in places with not much traffic and when I have no urgent need to be someplace quickly.

Agree completely with this. Before I moved, I put no more than 10K miles on my car a year, and about 3K of that was visiting my parents out-of-state. My car became a nice weekend toy more or less instead of a symbol of commuting drudgery. Even now I am 3 miles from my job.

I love taking my car, a 2011 Camaro 2SS out in the open country and getting up to speed. For the record, one of the best roads to go 100MPH for a long stretch is the Indian Nation Turnpike....a friend told me this :-)

[Plutonic Panda]

Agree completely with this. Before I moved, I put no more than 10K miles on my car a year, and about 3K of that was visiting my parents out-of-state. My car became a nice weekend toy more or less instead of a symbol of commuting drudgery. Even now I am 3 miles from my job.

I love taking my car, a 2011 Camaro 2SS out in the open country and getting up to speed. For the record, one of the best roads to go 100MPH for a long stretch is the Indian Nation Turnpike....a friend told me this :-)

I'm not going to publicly say how fast I've gotten certain cars on that road, but boy it'd be neat if they state did some safety upgrades and made that the countries first highway with no speed limit- or at least portions of it.

[RadicalModerate]

Yep, loves me some motorvating. Bad habit I picked up from my Dad when we would drive from Florida to Cali to visit my Maternal Grandparents. Before the Interstate system was completed. In a '56 Merc with no a/c.

The Texas Panhandle, New Mexico and Arizona were a lot hotter back in the late 50's and early 60's. Especially in a vehicle such as the one you apparently experienced back around the same time. The one I was in was a white, Chevy station wagon. The hottest parts of all were waiting for traffic to move until the flagman, for the Interstate construction, that was underway out in the middle of the desert, to give the go ahead. Of course, I wasn't driving at the time . . .

[RadicalModerate]

Must be a byproduct of driving in Florida.....I have heard that refrain from many ex-Floridians.

I enjoy it whether in my wife's SUV, my convertible or on the motorcycle. We just went to lunch today in Breckenridge because we wanted a nice drive in the mountains. I don't much enjoy our 20 mile commute but on a nice afternoon day with the top down it can be pretty decent even for a commute.

I just really love the machinery, if I had the means I would have a warehouse full of cars and a shop like Wayne Carini of Chasing Classic Cars.

Three fun drives/rides in the Colorado Context (vaguely recalled from my youth)
The Peak to Peak Highway from Estes Park to Nederland then down Boulder Canyon (or as far south as it goes then back to Boulder via Golden?)
Trail Ridge Road
Independence Pass

We used to do variations on the Peak to Peak circuit just about every weekend.
Including when it was snowing! =)

I think they are considering a Carbon Footprint Tax so do the drives before The Freedom To Do So expires. =)

[bluedogok]

Three fun drives/rides in the Colorado Context (vaguely recalled from my youth)
The Peak to Peak Highway from Estes Park to Nederland then down Boulder Canyon (or as far south as it goes then back to Boulder via Golden?)
Trail Ridge Road
Independence Pass

I think they are considering a Carbon Footprint Tax so do the drives before The Freedom To Do So expires. =)

Yep, we've done all of those including Peak to Peak many times on both of my bikes (Triumph Sprint and Kawasaki Concours14), the Z4 with the top down when it was still "brisk" temperature wise and the 4Runner. Usually we have done Peak to Peak going out through Evergreen/Conifer to Echo Lake/Mt. Evans and up through Idaho Springs and Blackhawk/Central City.

[Jeepnokc]

Wascally Wabbit . . . =)

Didn't VW have a car awhile back called "The Rabbit"?
How come no car company has been bold enough to introduce a model called "The Squirrel"?

They did. I had a 1983 baby blue rabbit diesel in law school. It was slow and stinky but got great gas mileage and with 350000 miles...was still going strong (albeit slowly going strong).

I drive a VW jetta TDI now and is just as efficient and reliable but doesn't stink and is pretty damn zippy!

[SoonerDave]

I am probably going to get quite a bit of backlash for posting this question on a predominantly 'urban minded' audience but anybody here actually like driving? I have 3 cars (2 sports cars and and off road vehicle) and have always enjoyed driving for the sake of driving; the feel of being behind the wheel, the sound of an engine, the mechanical feel of an well-made car, the freedom that driving provides. I feel the same excitement today that I felt 24 years ago when I passed my test. Maybe it's just me.

Absolutely love it. Now, I"m not a sports car person, but I love driving. I've driven my family to Florida multiple times and wouldn't trade so much as a single second of it for air travel. I could easily make a case that we had at least as much fun on the road during the trip as we did at our destination. We found wonderful roadside stops, fun, pleasant people at places ranging from gas stations to burger joints to toll booths (what few are left). We had silly mad-libs, told dumb jokes, ate crazy snacks, found free orange juice at the Florida welcome center, saw some beautiful "less traveled" back regions of southern Georgia and Alabama that cut through some of the simplest "small America" towns you never knew existed, and were even a bit sobered by going through a section of Birmingham, Alabama that had been wrecked by a tornado just a few weeks earlier - all for the joy of driving.

Completely there with ya, Eddie

[RadicalModerate]

Yep, we've done all of those including Peak to Peak many times on both of my bikes (Triumph Sprint and Kawasaki Concours14), the Z4 with the top down when it was still "brisk" temperature wise and the 4Runner. Usually we have done Peak to Peak going out through Evergreen/Conifer to Echo Lake/Mt. Evans and up through Idaho Springs and Blackhawk/Central City.

Excellent. !!!

(1970 BMW R-75/5 . . . Volkswagen Bug (1960 vintage) . . . Corvair Spyder . . . Corvair . . . Datsun Pickup . . . MG whatever . . . and a host of others . . . =)

[btw: Thanks to the OP. In lieu of a "Like" button.]

[Bill Robertson]

I love driving! And riding the Harley. I love long out-in-the-country drives. I love commuting. I'm a very mechanical guy and I love cars. We have 3 cars and the bike for two people. Latest purchase is a very nice older Miata that may never get wet or see the top up. It's to drive on days the wife doesn't feel like getting on the back of the Harley.