Here are a few reasons why you should drive for fun more often!
Driving For Fun
When was the last time you took a proper look at your USB drive? Probably the time when you bought it. Look, the point I’m trying to prove is that cars (and bikes too!) nowadays, like USB drives, have become simple utilities, a convenient transport system that takes you from point A to B. A simple look at the different motorsport catalogs will tell you that cars are much more than just traffic busters. So, here are a few reasons why you should drive for fun!
You Become A Better Driver
Pushing the limits of your car, safely, makes you a much better driver. Driving for fun makes you search for proper scenic routes, and suddenly, you start appreciating the drive itself, more than the destination! You start learning more about your car, its pros and cons, its driving dynamics and how it likes to be driven. You can then adapt your driving style suitably so that you can have the most fun without any shortcomings.
Becoming a better driver can benefit you in daily situations too. You will become more aware of your car, and hence parking and navigating through tight spaces will certainly be easier! There is also another benefit, and that is, you start using your engine to the maximum power. While most people drive at low RPMs in higher gears in the interest of fuel economy, you should try out driving your car at higher RPMs on empty roads to extract the maximum possible performance from your car’s engine.
You Respect The Traffic Rules More!
When driving for fun, you also start respecting the traffic rules much more. How? Well, traffic rules are generally broken in haste, that is, they’re generally broken by people who are supposed be somewhere 25 kms away, in 2 minutes (exaggeration).
But you don’t have to be somewhere, you’re just there for the ride! So, you easily see how people break the rules, and how they affect the attitude of their fellow traffic warriors! This subsequently would make you respect the rules better!
Your Car Gets Appreciated!
When you drive your car for fun, you end up caring for it. The car will get proper servicing, and will thank you by giving you the mileage and performance it promised! Although not many people drive carelessly with their car around crowded streets, there will be more care given by you subconsciously.
Your knowledge of the car will also increase due to the driving you do. The more time one spends with something, the more they learn about it. Hence small repairs, like oil top-ups can be done by you! It’s really in the small repairs, where some shady mechanics try to rip you off. Such care given by you, to your car will reassure the money you’ve spent on it.
Our Car Selection Will Get Better!
There is a wide range of cars that are being sold in India. But the cars that actually sell in large numbers are dynamically handicapped when compared to some other offerings. I say this because the companies are not at fault at this one, their products are simply a mirror of our demand.
And our demand revolves around cars that are city champs! The cars that sell well in India have a light steering so that those urban U-turns are a breeze, soft suspension so that we don’t feel the craters that our roads have and lower powered engines so that we don’t need to pay an entire mortgage deposit for fuel. This means that cars of this type find it difficult to take corners at high speeds, power their weight in an exciting manner, as they are mainly made for city use.
But if the demand does shift, so will the cars. There are actually several performance versions of best selling Indian cars that are found overseas, but not in India as the demand is not sufficient for companies to go through the trouble of bringing one. The Swift Sport is one such example since the demand for a sport Swift is low in India, Maruti’s only option was to import the model instead of building it in India. But the import taxes made the car a potential Rs. 15 lakh car, so Maruti, for the time being, have scrapped the idea for India.
Who knows? Maybe in a few years, we could have the Swift Sport, Kia Stinger, etc. selling in high volumes!
How Do I Drive For Fun?
One thing you should note is that driving for fun does NOT mean driving unsafe! By telling you to drive for fun, I’m not telling you to redline your 5-year-old Maruti Alto in traffic situations! Find a good, unused piece of road, which is free and devoid of many cars, then have at it!
‘Fun’ is extremely subjective. What you perceive as fun will perhaps be not so fun for me! So just take your car out without a destination, and see what you find as fun! Nowadays, even tracks have open days where you can take your car and drive for a certain period of time and this is also a good way to have fun.
Driving can be fun even within the speed limits! When driving a car, you don’t necessarily need to hit the top speed every time, you can enjoy while driving within the speed limit too! Also, ensure you have the right car! Make sure your car is properly taken care of before you can push its limits because long repair bills certainly aren’t fun!
Conclusion
150 BHP, 200 Nm of torque all mean nothing if you don’t explore your car or bike! This can especially be seen in sport bikes! There are several cases where I have seen people coming from the office, stuck in traffic with a sport bike like the KTM RC390! Use your car or bike like it’s designed to be used!
Mercedes-AMG, BMW M cars, Audi RS cars all exist because there is a niche for them, a set of customers that are willing to pay to drive, or ride for fun, it’s just that we don’t have many cars in India at a proper price point or proper roads to warrant fun driving, but I certainly think it’s a very fun activity, and people should embrace it!