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I was lucky in that there was a usually-running 1973 Porsche 914 2.0-liter in the garage growing up, but calling it an out-and-out sports car is a bit of a stretch. It’ll rip through corners, sure, but then something with real power and speed came along and my senses had no choice but to re-calibrate. Recalibrating is nothing but fun: feeling the torque of a Viper, the cornering prowess of an Ariel Atom, and how forceful a Nissan GT-R launches are some of my favorite memories.
Before joining Petrolicious, I’d been testing (mostly) new cars and writing reviews, a position that saw me drive hundreds of vehicles…all over the place. Off-roading Jeeps and Hummers, Willow Springs in Porsche Boxsters, trackdays in the Hyundai Genesis sedan—hey, it didn’t always make perfect sense. Anyway, because of these varied experiences, my idea of what makes something fast (or feel fast) is different from yours. I’m happy, though, that when I was younger the 914 allowed me to feel both the important wind-in-my-hair and holy-hell-it’s-on-rails sensations.
There’s a limit, of course: ripping down the Mulsanne Straight at more than 200 mph in the rain, however, is a feeling of speed I’m happy to leave to other people.
What does driving quickly mean to you?
Photography by Jonny Shears, Nat Twiss, Erik Ruggels
I had a Fiat x 1/9. It was not fast, but it felt like it was. I would absolutely call it a sportscar. Like a Spitfire or a Bugeye Sprite, it was very low with a low hood ( or front trunk for the Fiat ). It felt as though it was really moving. I’ve always wanted a 914, though the only one I ever drove was a 914-6. Still, I hope to find a 914 2.0 for my garage someday.
If I may a bit of moral support . The X1/9 may not be ‘ fast ‘ in as far as terminal velocity and 0 – 60 was be concerned … but its ability back in the day to fly around corners almost unhindered is legendary … so in that sense .. it certainly was …. fast [ see my comments below on the BMW MINI and Lotus Elise as well as Mr Ricardo’s well written and erudite insight ]
Fast. Though relative, can perhaps be defined by a rule applicable to various situations.
For me, fast is any speed outside your comfort zone in a given instance. It is that moment when the pupils widen, andrenine flows and heart rate quickens…a surge of electricity that spreads throughout the body!
Whether in a car, boat or plane:
Fast isnt necessarily a number, it’s a feeling we associate with a given impetus. Fast is excitement embodied.
Fast feels like ;
Topping out at 205 mph in an associates RuF on a public highway
Blowing by a 930 in a Renault R5 Turbo on a public road
Never slowing for corners at the legal speed limit around town in an Elise
Hitting 225 at the end of a straight in a 935 K4
Zipping around town barely slowing for corners in my previous BMW MINI
Pushing 160 mph in my 365GTC/4 as well as an associates 365GTB on the Interstate
Averaging the ton from Denver to Aspen back when that was possible
Running a rally stage in Sweden in a TTE Turbo Celica
Driving an associates F40 pushing the boundaries of ” The Song of the Sausage Creature “almost to the breaking point .. on a public road
Taking a friends Ducati foolishly way beyond my limits yet still surviving
Flying down a Ski Hill on a pre-suspension era Mt Bike
Getting ticketed for doing 67.3 mph ( downhill ) in a 40 mph zone … on a Colnago racing bicycle
Suffice it to say the experience of ‘ fast ‘ has many definitions