Probably should go by the BHP more than the engine size, as a Renault 5 GT Turbo was only a 1.4, but had a 0-60 of something like 7.8 seconds! No, restricting the type of car someone has for the first few years won't sort out all of the problems, but it will help! Younger guys will drive quicker and more reckelessly than older & more experienced drivers in the whole. Statistics prove this and this is why we all have to pay more for our insurance and why womens insurance is cheaper! I had a few accidents when I was younger due to inexperience. Most were due to skids and I didn't know how to control them etc. Driving an old Beetle for a few years helped me to brake earlier, as you have to with drum brakes all round! It amazes me how these young guys get the money for some of their modded/sporty cars. I mean the type that you see in Max Power/Fast car etc. You'll hardly see anyone over 25 and most are 18-22. Not only have they got a sporty version of the car, but most have a bodykit, bigger alloys, re-trimmed interior, special paint-job, modded engine and big stereo! I'm surprised that they can get insured, as even when I was that age, I couldn't even get insured on something like an XR2/XR3 etc without any mods! I've heard of guys having to pay around 1,700 for a bog standard 1.1 Fiesta or whatever! So god knows what a modded motor would cost in insurance! Of course with that much spent on a modded motor like that, it would have to be fully comp as well! Edited by: Aquablue
is a bit unfair on some cars....my g/f's first car was a 1.6 mk4 polo. may be 1.6 but stil only kicks out a earth shattering 75bhp
I agree, there has been a massive increase in actual police presenece where i live, and i love it, its slowed me down no end! i don't go tare arsing around like i used to, its a shame its taken this to make me see sense, but i have. where i live i go between cumbria and yorkshire all the time, cumbria has police everywhere and every camera works. and yorkshire police have a zero tollarance sceme.
Have you ever ridden a 33bhp bike. Hardly fast. Wouldnt tear the arms off mr muscle tbh Your right Aquablue it should go by the bhp. But i thought a 1.4 is probably about the limit that would be set anyway. Edited by: DuBDuDe
Nothing to do with jealousy. My car is my own, 100%, and that makes it far better than any car Daddy could buy me.
I got my gti at 18...im now 20 and no accident... Faster cars dont always mean will have more accidents..... but then again, seeing the way alot of the idiots drive round my way, it probably does!
restricting the BHP is prob a good idea, my mates first car has 104 bhp and he drives like a t**t, every morning going to work hes doing 50/60 in 30 zones, ok it may be 5 in the morning but it wet roads and tight bends and hes only been driving for 9 months, i dont fancy being killed on my way to work. hes always saing hes a good driver, i know i can driver blah blah blah, His fav trick to do on round about is making the car kick out or what i like to call understeer i even think his insuance is void anyway, hes paying 800FC on a 1.6 16v, hes told his insurance he will only do 300 miles a year, and hes gone over that by miles, within a week of driving he crashed, hit a little bit of ice turning a corner and went into a parked car
Good topic I went out with my house mate in his elise this evening for a bit of a blast around the back roads of Whiltshire. He's 35, been driving since 17 and is a qualified driving instructor. His last car was a Hyundai sonata or something like that. Basically slow, ugly and front wheel drive. First roundabout of the evening and I find myself looking through the passenger door window at a fast approaching curb after spinning 270 degrees He is an experienced driver, but appeared to make no attempt to catch the slide No harm done, just a few surprised pedestrians and motorists It's all very well classifying a power limit for a level of competency, but what about driver's experience of the car itself? Surely the characteristics of the car would come into play here? The elise is noticeably slower than my S4, weighs less, but a lot less power. The car is scary in the wet! It's the first car I've been nervous in whilst driving. Constantly having to keep check on the rear end. The S4 on the other hand does a great job of making me look like a half decent driver. The electronics and 4wd make it easy to control a slide, which takes a lot of effort to induce incidently. I'm 25 and drive a car capable of 170 mph, but am I any more of a risk than my house mate in his elise?
Being a young driver (20) i have to admit the only reason why i haven't crashed, had an accident or got any points is because for a good year i drove a 1.05 litre square back polo with 45hp and a 4-speed box. Basically-speed was not in the equation. However that car got me to learn how to handle the car perfectly using the accelerator and then i'm now on the 1.3 mk2. Others i know keep stacking their 75hp 1.4's Saxo's/106's because thats where they started. Other crashes from my mates include 2L focus's. I recon that insurance group restriction is a good idea-also keeps to lower premiems from good young drivers with clean histories and records. Keep young ones (under 21's) in nothing more than a 1.4 and under 100hp!
just to throw another thing into the mix.....i went from a 1.2 punto to a gofl vr6 when i was 21, and i reckon the punto was more likely to throw me off the road.
i think if your going to drive fast you should know how to, i think car control should be part of an extended driving test tbh
what you stick to the speed limit 24/7 do you? you know all there is to know about car control in all conditions aswell i suppose!? including ice and snow? maybe you do (im sure there's not a lot you dont know) but for the average joe, hitting some ice and not knowing what to do could spell curtains even if his speed was well within the limits Edited by: N1CK
Of course I don't stick to the speed limit. Ever. But to give people training that may encourage them to drive faster than they otherwise would is not a good idea.
