Rear Wheel Should Thrive - From The Archive

What’s not to like about cars these days? Safety and finish have improved by motorway miles; we’re finally feeling some oomph in the engines and seeing technology drive the gaadi engineers. It’s a good sign because the Indian consumer has become more informed and manufacturers have to think twice about skimping on the essentials like power windows and music systems.

I’m glad to say it may be time the 0-96 km/h time of a car should become a standard measurement like how it is most of elsewhere. After all, cars these days are able hit centuries without taking a tail-light year to do so. Maybe the 0-60 km/h measurements could be restricted to our economy-focused motorcycles. Too bad our driving hasn’t improved as well, but that’s a whole other story. It still has to be said though that we still have a long way to go because we still don’t have an affordable rear-wheel drive sports car that can drift around a race track corner to comfort the crying enthusiast baby.

Somehow being seen trying to power slide your fifth generation Amby or Fiat around a corner just seems a teeny bit wrong. Do it when no one’s looking. But seriously, try it with a current affordable car and all you’ll get is understeer which is a little, ahem, boring because they’re all front-wheel-drive. Ah, rear-wheel-drive. I like the oversteer. I like the prop-shaft tunnel inside the car. I like to be pushed rather than pulled.

Image source: www.favcars.com

 

I’m waiting for the day we see more ads like the Honda one that used to air on T.V. during F1 season some years ago, the one with the Honda S2000 powersliding in the dirt in slow motion with the driver correcting the drift. Man, that kind of stuff gives us enthusiasts goose bumps and sends a cool shiver down the rear scaffolding. It’s rubbish that some people dislike ‘stunt-heavy’ advertisements? Is one supposed to dislike a trapeze artist just because what he does is dangerous? It converts people into actively involving themselves and taking pride in their driving. I’m not saying try drifting on public roads between traffic, I’m saying try it on blocked-off roads late night. Getting the government to allow such fun seems as improbable as getting it to legalize late night drags on cordoned-off roads. But that’s another whole story. Maybe I’m not too good at sticking to one story…

But it would really be nice to see experts from overseas oversee oversteer competitions when power and rear-wheel-drive become an affordable cocktail. While I puff away at my cancer stick, think about this. While we wait for the sports car for the masses let’s start organizing more car shows and similar events. I know, there goes my business idea. Not just the annual classic car shows and drags, but events for modified and customized cars as well. After all, the car artist is a neglected individual with no social skills as yet.

Talking about social skills, I recently went up to a guy in Bangalore who had a decent mod job for his Swift and said, “Nice car you got there.” He lifted his chin, looked down at me and muttered something. It certainly wasn’t a nice “Thanks dude”. He must be a shitty driver.