Advanced Driving Hub

I have to admit, I wouldn't purchase the "perfect" car if one ever existed.

Think about it, the cars which you've enjoyed the most are probably the ones which always had something not quite right, or the positioning of certain controls were always slightly un-intuitive, perhaps something never was quite working. But they are the cars you remember fondly because they had character. The cars which are least perfect are the ones closer to having human-like attributes.
Things which we consider to have a "soul" are the things that had faults, or oddities that always made you wonder, like what the designer was thinking when he put the controls for the electric windows on the roof, for instance.

If you had the perfect car that never goes wrong, works perfectly, everything is just so, literally the definition of perfection for you, how dull would it be? Sure, life would be easy, but would it be fun?

That car on the picture is a good illustration of what the expression 'designed by committee' means, yuk!

TheInsanity1234 wrote:I have to admit, I wouldn't purchase the "perfect" car if one ever existed.
If you had the perfect car that never goes wrong, works perfectly, everything is just so, literally the definition of perfection for you, how dull would it be? Sure, life would be easy, but would it be fun?

It would leave me free to concentrate on the driving. Anything that avoids getting in the way of the driver can only be good thing, IMEO.

Silk wrote:

TheInsanity1234 wrote:I have to admit, I wouldn't purchase the "perfect" car if one ever existed.
If you had the perfect car that never goes wrong, works perfectly, everything is just so, literally the definition of perfection for you, how dull would it be? Sure, life would be easy, but would it be fun?

It would leave me free to concentrate on the driving. Anything that avoids getting in the way of the driver can only be good thing, IMEO.

I choose to make things less easy by often driving a car with a manual gearbox.

akirk wrote:
more interesting though - which car is closest to this ideal?!

Reminds me of a Spyker. Albeit in "Gran Coupe" form - you know, the 4 door version of a 2 door car which is in itself a 2 door version of a 4 door car... You've got to give it to the BMW marketing department.

waremark wrote:

Silk wrote:

TheInsanity1234 wrote:I have to admit, I wouldn't purchase the "perfect" car if one ever existed.
If you had the perfect car that never goes wrong, works perfectly, everything is just so, literally the definition of perfection for you, how dull would it be? Sure, life would be easy, but would it be fun?

It would leave me free to concentrate on the driving. Anything that avoids getting in the way of the driver can only be good thing, IMEO.

I choose to make things less easy by often driving a car with a manual gearbox.

You could argue (at least I would) that an automatic gearbox does get in the way of the driver, so isn't a good thing.

Horrible. I don't think there is a perfect all round car. Unless they are for a specific purpose they will always be compromised. For the most part I'm happy with my M3 but I'll see how it performs on track tomorrow.

Silk wrote:

waremark wrote:

Silk wrote:

TheInsanity1234 wrote:I have to admit, I wouldn't purchase the "perfect" car if one ever existed.
If you had the perfect car that never goes wrong, works perfectly, everything is just so, literally the definition of perfection for you, how dull would it be? Sure, life would be easy, but would it be fun?

It would leave me free to concentrate on the driving. Anything that avoids getting in the way of the driver can only be good thing, IMEO.

I choose to make things less easy by often driving a car with a manual gearbox.

You could argue (at least I would) that an automatic gearbox does get in the way of the driver, so isn't a good thing.

How does a modern automatic gearbox get in the way of the driver?

waremark wrote:

Silk wrote:

waremark wrote:

Silk wrote:
It would leave me free to concentrate on the driving. Anything that avoids getting in the way of the driver can only be good thing, IMEO.

I choose to make things less easy by often driving a car with a manual gearbox.

You could argue (at least I would) that an automatic gearbox does get in the way of the driver, so isn't a good thing.

How does a modern automatic gearbox get in the way of the driver?

It may make driving easier as there's less to do, but it doesn't necessarily make it better. I've never driven an automatic that gets the gear right, or at least the gear I judge to be right. The exception being the Tesla, as it only has one gear - difficult to get that one wrong.

Anyone here owned all the cars referenced?
Or any and which?
I owned a Spitfire and Cooper but a classic not the one shown here.