Have you ever...

[JohnCh]

 

he's a selfish bastard

 

No kidding. It’s not like it was a new car

 

I think I’ve let five people drive my car since the rebuild. Three are track instructors (no worry there) one is in the process of building a Westfield Miata and was in the area visiting family (he took it really easy) and the fifth was my wife. We were in our neighborhood and she was turning around in a cul-de-sac and forgot that it has a much better power to weight ratio than her Forester turbo, and lacks that car’s all wheel drive. She essentially rotated the Westfield in place. I’ve been afraid to let her drive it ever since…

 

-John

[slngsht]

so far, folis and preston have also driven my car (with me as passenger). In both cases, I had to encourage them to experiment with pushing the go pedal a little more. Preston listened :willy:

 

[southwind25]

yes...Mary lets me drive the car,...when she's not...

oh wait..

 

have let 2 others drive it otherwise..

 

i let my son drive it...down the driveway, with me in it.

 

it's not that i dont trust others as much...as i dont know if they can compensate for all the little details that make the car what it is.

it's not like driving a honda civic...

and i dont want someone to stuff it into a mailbox because they cant feel the diffrence between the pedals..

 

but i love watching mary drive it.

[MoPho]

so far, folis and preston have also driven my car (with me as passenger). In both cases, I had to encourage them to experiment with pushing the go pedal a little more. Preston listened :willy:

 

 

Preston just told me about that when I saw him a week or so ago

[scannon]

I've let somewhere between 15 & 20 people drive my Se7en. Always with me in the passenger seat. I warn them about the low sump clearance and not to go over anything.

 

I also stress that they must be pointed straight down the road if they go WOT. I advise them to keep a hand on the gearshift because 1st gear is at redline in about 2 seconds.

 

Only one person has scared me.

 

A few people I have offered to let drive it refused and preferred to have me take them for a ride.

 

Last week, in SW Colorado I let three different people drive it fast on some very twisty roads. All were people I know well and have track experience and each of us hit triple digits numerous times between the twisty parts. The gas milage sucked on that tank.

 

Skip

[slngsht]

 

 

Preston just told me about that when I saw him a week or so ago

 

I hope he had good memories :bigears:

[S1Steve]

I'm very carful who I let drive mine, Let's see,A good friend with a National SCCA Championship to his name.

Father in Law drove it back from Watkins Glen, I towed his broken MGA home.And wife only after I posted I WON'T let her drive it on this site and she read it. :banghead:

[11Budlite]

 

So far I've let three other people drive my car with me in it. My son Matt was the first and I think he was a little surprised/thrilled when I pulled over and offered to let him drive. Needless to say we were on some twisty back-country roads and he had some fun. Nancy has driven it once but I think she was a little nervous and was shifting too soon...she'll get the hang of it. And then on my future son-in-law's birthday, I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride in the Birkin and he said sure. Well, we drove out on some back roads near the house and when I pulled over and asked him what size shoes he wore, he looked at me like I was nuts. I already knew that he wore the same size as me and there was no way he was going to be able to drive with the sneakers he had on, so he borrowed my shoes and was able to take it for a spin. I don't think I could have found a better birthday present for him, the said it all!

 

I agree with Al that "it's just a car". I've offered rides and drives to more people as I'm getting more comfortable with the reliability/driveability of the Birkin. Some have been happy with just a ride and others didn't even want to go for a ride, either because they thought it wasn't safe or they didn't think they'd fit!

 

Bruce :7drive:

[pksurveyor]

I have no problem allowing other people driving my Caterham. It is an easy car to drive with direct steering, smooth engaging clutch, and of course, handling that blows people's mine. I estimated that at least two dozen or more people have driven the car besides my wife and myself. On the other hand, my Esprit V-8 is a different story. Its power and twin disks clutch can get strangers not familiar with high performance driving in trouble in no time. I think that may be half a dozen people or so have driven the Esprit besides ourselves.

[kitmfgr]

Back in 2002 I drove one of our first Ultralite S2Ks at the Run N Gun event at Gateway International, and with very little experience with the car won all 3 events, road course, autocross, and drags. I thought I was really good till another driver came over and I offered to let him take it for a spin on the road course after the wins were already final. Well, he did spin out on the first turn and still beat my time by 4 seconds. That's when I decided to build them and let my customers have all the fun. That driver is now a good friend and an XR7 owner, Steve Brinkerhoff. :cheers:

[MHKflyer52]

4 others so far. 3 were at autoX. some friends are terrfied of driving it.

 

edit: make it 5 and 4 were on course. i don't knowwhichis worse, seeing someone else plow coneS with it or have it be accurately countersteered at high speed.

 

Yep I can say that Jon was nice enough to let me run his car with him at an Auto-X in MD last summer the one that made him famous with the smiley that you see here :jonautox: . I had a great time and figured he was just nuts when he climbed in on the second run and after the first turn was yelling go faster, go faster and yes I did spin his car and Jon was very cool and just started to laugh. :rofl:

Thanks Jon :thumbs:

 

PS: I have let so many people drive my car I have lost trac with me in the car but only four people have driven it with out me being along for the ride. All have always ended with the driver having one big smile on their face. :7drive: