MotorFanatics - Motor and Media Blog» Motor Blog http://motorfanatics.com What Makes Cars Cool Tue, 18 May 2010 20:57:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 James…Your Car is Ready http://motorfanatics.com/2009/12/08/james-your-car-is-ready/ http://motorfanatics.com/2009/12/08/james-your-car-is-ready/#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:27:00 +0000 MotorDan http://motorfanatics.com/?p=939 Ever been rendered speechless? Like when the hottest girl in school says she likes you?   Happened to me back in the 7th grade, no joke, hottest girl in school, an 8th grader, wanted to “go” with me.  What did that consist of?  Nothing, I think I spoke 3 words to her, danced with her at a school dance, was completely overwhelmed with confusing emotions, and then a week later, her friend called my house, and told me it was over.  But the level of stoke that first evening…was immeasurable.   That brings us to yesterday morning.   I’m sitting at my kitchen table, knowing what is about to happen, but I was still giddy like a pre-schooler on Christmas morning.  Then I hear it, the rumble, the power, the confused driver who can’t find my house.  I glance out the window and BAM!  Aston Martin DBS rolling past my window.  No joke, I jumped in the air with a double fist pump.  Sounds retarded, but its true, I had to tell myself audibly to keep it cool.  I had only been in 2 Aston Martins prior to yesterday.  I had a boss a couple years ago who owned a DB9 for while, and then a few weeks back, I got to drive a Vantage Roadster at the MPG track day.  I was about to put a 3rd notch on my Aston Martin score card.
I think the allure of an Aston Martin hit me, like many others, as a kid via James Bond.  No matter what the model, or who the actor was that played Bond, James has always been cool, and a lot of that was created by his car.  I never realized how much the image of “cool” affects our desires to drive a car.  I have no stats to back my idea, but it is nearly an accepted fact that the vast majority of super car buyers, buy them not to actually utilize their capabilities, but to score with the ladies, to impress their neighbors or co-workers, basically just to be cool.  Where am I going with this?  Well, super-cars have to carry it all.  They must be the Michael Jordan of cars, they have to be cool, they have to roll with swagger, and they have to perform at unreachable levels.  Its what we expect, anything less and we get bored and move on.
Ok, back to the car.  The first thing I noticed when I climbed in the seat, was the speedometer.  I think legally a driver can only use about  5 % of the entire dial, but it does go up to 220 if the conditions would allow.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t be able to use much of the performance potential, but I definitely experienced the cars cool capabilities.
Starting the vehicle is special, the fob is more like a piece of jewelry than a key.  As it slides into its slot, its something like a british superman crystal, bringing the world of Aston Matin to your fingertips as the V12 roars to life.  I literally recorded the engine sound, so I can hear it again later this winter when I long for that throaty rumble.  Not as intimidating as some super-cars, the DBS is actually surprisingly gentle in its embrace.  But be warned, push it and it will bite.  Before we went out on our shoot, I had about 45 minutes to burn…so with a $274,000 car in the driveway, and the key in my hand, what do you think I did? Exactly….. I was off.
Quickly turning off the music to hear the engine roar, I headed for the hills.  Snugly wrapped in the DBS seats that look better than any seat should, I wound my way out of the city and into the hills above my house.  Quietly rumbling down the road, with a joker smile on my face, I couldn’t help but wish I had my dad with me, or my mom, or my brother, or my wife…or a friend, hell anyone…I really wanted to be sharing this experience, but that would have to wait, this one was all mine.
I could spew specs, times, compression and torque numbers, but you can look that up.  What you can’t look up is the experience.  The absolute thrill it is to drive a machine like the DBS on a winding road through the hills.  Its a mixture of Christmas morning, your first bicycle, your first kiss, and your wedding day…all mixed into one.  Its a Chicyissedding.   I just created a new word.  Unfortunately, it will probably be years until I can use it again.
As we drive our “normal” cars on a daily basis, we tend to forget about the dangers of the road, especially those from other drivers.   This heightened awareness makes it almost scary to drive a super-car.  You feel like a target, your under the microscope, and always being watched.  This is a feeling many embrace, or long for,  but this scrutiny is a better match for the vanity of a Lambo driver who craves this attention.  In the DBS, it is more sublte…but you still know its there, only most gawkers don’t know exactly what they are looking at (Is that a Maserati?).   They know the car is special, but they just don’t know HOW special it is.  I also know that one step out of line, and the Five-O will be flashing their lights, even if its only to take a closer look at the car.  This is a problem with any super car, and you know what they say,  “more money, more problems”  well, maybe so, but I could get definitely learn to deal with those issues if I could regularly drive an Aston Martin.
Let me say this, I thought I understood Aston Martin,  I didn’t.  I was heading in the right direction, but I had no idea how deep this went.   The DBS is fast, scary fast…massive torque, you could spin the tires easily at 30, 40 maybe even 60mph…I’ll have to wait until I can afford one to actually try it.  The car is striking to look at.  I would put this cars looks against anything on the road…it looks that good, and more.  I knew the car was special.  But it really is more than special.  Its kind of like saying,  yeah, skydiving is exciting, or combat is intense, you can’t really understand it, until you’ve experienced it.
So until I can afford a quarter million dollar car, I will have the last 24 hours to hold me over.  To remind me that there are cars for work, cars for commuting, even cars for play, but then there are cars that are exotic luxuries…not “grandmas fancy vase in a room that you can’t go in” exotic luxury, but “half naked, supermodel girlfriend on a private yacht in the south pacific” kind of exotic luxury.  I hope you can understand that.

]]> http://motorfanatics.com/2009/12/08/james-your-car-is-ready/feed/ 0 Hang on Kids! http://motorfanatics.com/2009/10/26/hang-on-kids/ http://motorfanatics.com/2009/10/26/hang-on-kids/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:32:20 +0000 MotorDan http://motorfanatics.com/?p=912 img_8871 Have you ever been given a gift that seems to have a life of its own?  Like one that you are given initially and that alone is great, but it just keeps giving?  Things like BBQ’s, wet bars, hot wifes, surfboards, golf clubs…you get my point.  Well if you frequent motorfanatics, you may remember that earlier this year I bought into the Porsche family…and while that purchase wasn’t a gift per se, it sure has kept on giving.  Beyond the daily drive or even the joy that it gives me to clean it, being in the Porsche family automatically included me in the “club”.   Being in the club has had a couple immediate perks:  the first is that when you valet park a Porsche, you don’t get that silly giggle from the valet that you get in a rough idling 4runner.  Secondly,  as you probably already know, the new Panamara is starting to show up at dealerships and the dealership I bought my car from invited me to take a drive. 

So last Saturday, I grabbed my wife and we headed out to Pacific Porsche and waited for a turn behind the wheel of the $119,000 S model.  This was the first I’d seen the vehicle in person and my first thought was “wow that thing is massive!” (that’s what she said).  But I guess if the intention is to steal market share from the S class  & 7 series, the vehicle has got to be big.  We started out as a 4-some: Kam the sales guy, Albert another Porsche customer, and my wife and I.  First, we had to stop and fuel up so Albert took over driving to there.  I was sitting behind the driver seat, and I was amazed at the comfort and space.  The back seats where nicer than most vehicles front seats, and held you right in place.  My only concern with the back seat is that for a guy my size (no giant) the visibility isn’t very good and passengers might feel a bit secluded back there.  Chris with his long legs would relax in comfort back there with plenty of leg & headroom.

When it was my turn behind the wheel, the first thing I noticed was the feel from the drivers seat because the vehicle felt MUCH smaller.  The visibility was good and it felt like a bigger 911, but not nearly as big as it actually is.  I quickly learned that the vehicle has massive power and awesome handling on our short test drive.  We didn’t get a chance to REALLY push it, but it was an amazing machine.  I can’t imagine how much $ you would have to make to justify the vehicle…but whatever, people spend that kinda cash on cars all the time and if I was going to drop over 100k on a 4 door sedan…it would be foolish of me not to consider the Panamara.

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