No need for speed

It was so refreshing to read Richard Meaden’s end-of-term Fast Fleet report on the Dacia Duster (evo 282), and great of him to highlight that we don’t need 400bhp (or is it 500 now?) to enjoy the drive.

I remember my first car well: a Vauxhall Viva SL90 – so the fast one with 60bhp! I had some epic drives in that car, convinced on many occasions that there was no way I could have got from A to B any faster with what I had. After a while I replaced it with a Triumph 2.5 PI. It seemed like a rocketship at the time. With the best part of 150bhp on 175/70 tyres it taught me an awful lot about car control, and there were many times I had to reach for the full extent of opposite lock. But the key part of all this is that the speeds were sane, and if I ran out of talent it would probably have only resulted in a red face and a dented wing.

The years and income have progressed since then and I’m now fortunate enough to run an M3 and an Exige – both hugely capable and very fast cars. But Dickie made me think: am I actually having more fun? And I hate to say it, but I’m probably not. Yes, they are better, faster and more capable on every scale, but I virtually never have that old feeling of ‘there was no way I could have done that any quicker’. To explore that sensation now would necessitate ludicrous speeds, and if it went wrong the consequences don’t bare thinking about, never mind that sinking feeling upon spotting a speed-camera van.

So we might smirk when we are driving our ‘evo’ cars and look across at a Dacia. But, whisper it, if there’s an‘ evo’ driver behind the wheel, he’s probably having more fun.

Derek Hunt