Enthusiast

I am an avid reader of Motor Trend magazine, but recently I have come to the conclusion that many of them are simply not with the times when it comes to cars as well as the people who drive them. Enthusiasts as they like to be called are a small minority when it comes to the millions of drivers who populate American roads today. Not everyone wants a large displacement V-8 with a tuned exhaust system and 6-piston Brembo brakes. This is because quite honestly a sonorous V-8 is unnecessary to propel you from place to place.


Cars are a passion of mine, but I do not see myself as an "enthusiast" simply because I love a small displace 4-cylinder engine that offers excellent fuel economy and dependability. In normal driving it is just the amount of fun I need to keep me under the radar and safe in most driving situations. Many people my age (20 years old) want big powerful and fast cars, but what I really want is a Ford Fiesta. It is small nippy, fun to drive, but also returns 40 mpg which makes it easy to live with.

People forget today that cars are to many people basic transportation. There only need is for a reliable vehicle that can get them from point A to point B. That is why I don't try to judge people on their car choices because most don't want Lamborghini LP- 6million (not real) or some other ridiculously named track day car. They want something more sensible some that when you bought it you were thinking about the camber of the back wheels or what was the power to weight ratio. You were more concerned with would it get me and my passengers safely to a football game on a rainy day.

For example my mother drive a 2000 Ford Explorer I think it is a terrible vehicle, the back seats are horrible, it makes a terrible noise in the engine compartment, it is a bouncy ride that makes me car sick. Though I have asked her why she picked it and she said that it has comfortable seats to her and she said it felt solid as well as having four-wheel-drive. She was right about it being solid it has never once not started for her and has always been there when she has needed it. To many Americans this is what a car is and should be. They don't want a track tuned monster, but they want a functional mode of transportation.

I respect everyone who has a passion for cars and wants to write about them, but I think that it is very difficult for someone who sees vehicles in the "enthusiast" sense to see how a more plebeian vehicle can be hugely significant to the masses. If the cars on the road right now are any indication we see that most people don't drive "The Car of the Year" or the top pick for a driving enthusiast. They simply pick a vehicle that suits them for their needs, that's why you see someone driving a Hyundai Accent or something similar, and there is nothing wrong with that.


A Buggati Veyron has a meter that calculates how much gross horsepower it is using at any given moment. On an episode of Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson said I am doing 80 miles per hour and using 81 horsepower. Now this is a two ton car and it only takes that much to keep it at that speed, do we really need cars with 400, 500 even a 1000 horsepower. They aren't cars that you drive everyday, they shouldn't be. They should be a car you have fun on the weekends at a track where you can truly see a glimpse of the cars potential but if you ask me what I want to drive everyday? I want a car with a small engine and about 120 horsepower, that is all I need and want for everyday use, but I am just one of many and this is only an opinion nothing more.