I would rather be a fast driver. I owned the S2000 brand new at 17 and now I'm 24. The years that have passed has been extremely interesting. =) At 17 I was able to choose other cars that was faster (stock and modded) then a S2000 but I still choose the S2000! =)

 

I modify my car to suit my driving tastes, not to be the fastest out there.

Either way, I'd rather drive a slower car fast, than drive a fast car and still be slow.

 

When I started riding dirt bikes (sorta late in life @ 39) I decided to just get the bike I wanted (big) rather than one to learn on (smaller, less power). Then I just attacked the trails, I broke both arms (one twice), my leg in 2 places, 2 ribs, dislocated my shoulder and had various other tears, streches and bruises within the 1st 3 yrs. But now I race enduros @ 47 yo and do alright, but mostly I have a bunch of fun and can hang w/my buds and even surpass some that have ridden since they were kids. The guy who got me into it has been pretty blown away at my commitment and aggressiveness. I'm like that w/most things. I had another friend who did sort of the same thing, got the big bike to learn on, he shouldn't have, he scared himself to much and now doesn't ride at all. I guess it depends on what type of person you are. Some people will never be good drivers, he's not a good driver either.

I think people need to challenge themselves if they want to improve at anything, including driving. The thing is you have to have some respect for the car and it's capabilities and understand that it will take some time to learn how to manage it. Start slowly and LEARN, then you can push yourself harder, it's a progressive attainment. But I've always believed you have to start w/the 'best' tools you can afford. The better vehicles respond better, are more forgiving, will allow you to keep progressing linearly, will be more satisfying to drive and will keep up with your expanding skill set. I've rolled my S but it hasn't stopped me from driving it hard, probably even more so now. So while being a more skilled driver is the end goal, having a good car to do it in makes it easier to get there.

I voted I'd rather have skills.

 

+1 So true.

 

i love your setup and the pic in your sig, im going for that look...wing and all

 

Problem is that many people way overestimate their driving ability.

[QUOTE=JLUDE,Jan 15 2010, 05:36 AM]It's an obvious answer.

 

I wouldn't say just because you have a fast car and are an unskilled driver you'll end up in the ditch or wrapped around a tree. There are plenty of race car drivers w/a lot of skill that still wrap they're cars around things and even die.......

 

Depending on the car and the driver and the track, I don't really know if I agree. I've been beaten by and have beaten cars at all points on the spectrum. I've been passed by miatas and civics and have passed corvettes and 911's. And i've seen those miatas and civics pass corvettes and 911's. On a tighter track, I'm fairly certain Michael Schumacher in a Miata would pass me in a 911. I think if you went to an average HPDE and put a driver from beginner group in the fastest car that showed up that day and someone from advanced group in the slowest car that showed up that day, the advanced group driver would be faster (assuming the drivers are in the right class and the cars aren't to the extremes of geo metro and mclaren f1).

 

I think the idea is that unskilled driver can reach his limit so much faster than the skilled driver. The skilled driver has to really haul ass to reach his limit. And he can quickly recover from any mistakes he makes. Most beginner drivers just don't have the experience of going past their limit to know what to do if/when it happens.

 

Agreed.

I think one must also factor in that not all drivers are created equal. Just because a person has track experience doesn't necessarily mean they are 'skilled' or conversely that a person w/out track experience is 'unskilled'. There are people that are more connected to they're cars, more intutive and can 'read' and react to conditions and issues and have an understanding of how and what a car will do in certain situations. I wouldn't necessarily say it's due to natural talent so much as a basic understanding of how a vehicle will react given a certain condition. Some beginner drivers are just 'good' drivers and don't overdrive their cars. To clarify, we are talking about tracking not just driving, so when I say beginner I'm speaking of a track newbie not a 16 yo w/a fresh license.