What Does ‘Fast’ Feel Like To You?

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}