Journal: What Does ‘Fast’ Feel Like To You?

What Does ‘Fast’ Feel Like To You?

By Michael Banovsky
May 6, 2016
18 comments

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

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Jim Levitt
Jim Levitt
6 years ago

Fast was after owning “fast” cars from the age of 17 in 1961, I bought the first 427 Cobra on the East coast in Dec. 1965 and THAT was scary fast, then and still!

Jim Levitt
Jim Levitt
6 years ago
Reply to  Jim Levitt

Also doing about 140 in a Ferrari Daytona on the 405 freeway on a Sat. night from Ascot speedway back North to Beverly Hills felt quite fast (and was really a dumb thing to do being young and dumb)!

RacerSteve
RacerSteve
6 years ago

When the car feels light and effortless connecting the corners at Mosport with the engine in my little 1.6 Miata never dropping the revs…catching faster car in the esses…being flatout (almost) from turn 10 to turn 3

Dennis White
Dennis White
7 years ago

Wasn’t it Tazio Nuvolari who said “if you’re not driving afraid, then you’re not driving fast enough!”

Martin Philippo
Martin Philippo
7 years ago

Fast is just after you think: I should slow down now

moosesport
moosesport
7 years ago

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.

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
7 years ago
Reply to  moosesport

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 ]

Christopher Gay
Christopher Gay
7 years ago

Top step of the podium.

Christopher Gay
Christopher Gay
7 years ago

Also pole position.

Mārtiņš Ēlerts
Mārtiņš Ēlerts
7 years ago

mk3 Fiesta company car driving down a hill in a thunderstorm and heavy tailwind… pure speed

Laurencio Amaedus Ricardo
Laurencio Amaedus Ricardo
7 years ago

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.

Laurencio Amaedus Ricardo
Laurencio Amaedus Ricardo
7 years ago

Adrenaline*

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
7 years ago

Another philosopher in our midsts . Two thumbs up and a ‘ like ‘ !

Steve McCooey
Steve McCooey
7 years ago

180 mph on my Honda blackbird or 997s on a deserted motorway, slightly thrilling but to be a passenger in my mates 3.2 carerra charging down a Lake District B road hedgerows just a green blur outside my control now that’s scary fast ?

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
7 years ago

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

Gophermonkey
Gophermonkey
7 years ago

Fast to me is merging on to the highway, foot to the floor 0-100 in a friends Mclaren

Gophermonkey
Gophermonkey
7 years ago
Reply to  Gophermonkey

That was a good day

Sir Mouse
Sir Mouse
7 years ago

50/kph, when three wheeling an Austin Mini around city street corners.

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