It’s hard to believe that in all the years we’ve done QotW we’ve never asked the most basic question about why we’re all here in the first place. If we like cars it should stand to reason that we like driving them. Today, May 5, is Fun Driving Day in Japan, as established by the Tokyo Metropolitain Expressway Company, which runs the Shuto. As they say, “Driving in a car allows you to go to places you can’t easily get to, see scenery you normally can’t see, and meet people you normally wouldn’t meet. Enjoying a drive is like taking a step into a new world.”
Why do you like driving?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite car care product?”
We’re looking forward to trying some of the stuff mentioned in the comments, but let’s start with the basics. Jim Daniels had the simplest answer, good ol’ H2O, but Lee L one-upped him with an even better and cheaper alternative, rain. We have no doubt that the local car wash Fred Langille‘s is worth the flat monthly rate for unlimited washes, but driving 3000 miles to get there seems like it may eat into cost savings.
For general paint protection, Taylor C. swears by Turtle Wax Ice Synthetic Liquid Polish, which we will try next. We had already picked up a bottle of Ian G.‘s Griot’s Garage 3-in-1 Ceramic Wax during the recent Advance Auto closings but haven’t had a chance to test it out yet.
For windshields you probably can’t go wrong with Negishi no Keibajo‘s tried-and-true Rain-X, but it so rarely rains in southern California that it seems pointless for us. For wheels we’re going to try Manifold Destiny‘s product that shall not be named (we think it’s Magic Guard).
Among the most difficult parts of a car to keep clean is plastic and rubber trim. We’ve never attempted StreetSpirit‘s old school method of linseed oil, but will give it a shot. Same with Kyuusha Corner‘s silicone grease on weatherstripping. Jacob B‘s suggestion of plastic restorer is good advice, especially for sunny climates.
There’s one item we went and ordered straight away upon reading its mention: This week’s winner is Alan, who shared this nugget:
Aerospace Protectant 303, hands down.
Truly the best way to keep plastics looking fresh, weatherstripping dark and supple, and dashes crack-free. An absolute must for stewards of special old machines.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Driving is such a diverse experience, whether you’re hauling precious cargo in the form of a new project on the back of a trailer, taking those first test drives after an engine rebuild, carving up back-roads with said project when you’re confident it rips like it should.
Leisurely driving with loved ones, maybe someone you know opening up to you on a long road-trip so that when you reach your destination you’ve also reached a deeper understanding and strengthening in your relationship.
or maybe the long drives through adverse weather late at night in an ill-equipped car making you feel like you’re captaining the black pearl through storms on the high seas that have you coming home and putting your hand on the dash as you’d put your hand on a comrades shoulder saying ‘we made it’.
A drive can be a lot of things, comfort, excitement, transformation and much more, that is why i’m driven to drive!
;Why do I like driving? That is a good question that, in my case can be summed up by the experience of NOT being able to drive, when you are a kid and looking forward to getting your first license … begging for the keys to whichever car your family has in order to go where teenagers need to gofor that burst of adult freedom. I appreicate driving for that reason and, at several periods of my life, when we didn’t have a car or, have a car that ran properly it was drive and survive or, walk and perhaps not. At one point I had to bicycle my 10 miles round trip to my job, rain or shine, the only good thing was thsat I may have been in the best shape of my life and, was down to 145 (am 280 … lost 15 pounds recently, so the doctor is happy, Huzzaha!). I have had driving mostly as not only a means to get from point A to B but, exhilaration in the form of that adolescent freedom, especislly in both our Mercedes and the S-Cargo, the former as a luxury sports coupe and the latter as an exotic little van. I have been driving now for 60 plus years, had my share of wrecks, mechanical problems and, no car at all. I enjoy driving now for that independance still and, for the sheer fun of having two very different but, allegedly enviasble, vehicles that we not only enjoy as transportation but, as examples of something different.
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To put it as simply as I can, driving is Zen.
yup, that’s the one, we can close down the comments now.
Due to inability to afford a proper vehicle and lack of space to park it….the only driving I do is other people crazy.
… Because Japan is deeply known for unpredictable weather compared to other countries overseas, particularly in Europe like in Southern Europe for ex. (just check out WRC footages from yore to today), especially as a result, between late Fall (autumn outside Anglophone North America), Winter and early-mid Spring means the wind in Japan is even colder and doing anything than driving / riding vehicles (even buses) is difficult since Japanese roads have already seen a lot of car manufacturers and their cars being stationed there esp. a lot, problem with Japan’s motor industry is that they have more domestic carmakers and their driving lifestyles (as well as Japanese autos and automakers) have been criticized at all costs by others worldwide (as having wondered even before that most of Japan’s marques are kept hidden in South Korea) – like for ex. UK’s Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame. (Since Britain is in Europe, and despite every inch of tensions running on one of the world’s smallest continents even before 2022, Europe is still a fabled place to drive especially since half of the carmakers born from there like Stellantis formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroen and Fiat SpA and Renault are not much pressed all throughout in and out of the web.)
Another factor about driving on Japanese soil is that not just very few people, just like from Europe too (even faraway Australia and New Zealand are quite equated to Europe due to numbers), rarely visit them (Japan) as given that its already thankful that there’s more to expect from Europe’s carmakers (but not German threesomes except Opel aka Vauxhall and Swedish Volvos), but also its because Japanese roads haven’t been tested and tried much by the former PSA / FCA (Fiat Chrysler) group and Renault Group (forget Nissan so forget Mitsubishi) for the same reasons these two Gallo-Roman (Franco-Italian but okay) car companies don’t prioritize the Asia-Pacific market much even before, so likewise, French and Italian cars are known well for their comfort, handling and even looks (been in Japan already and saw more Pugs / Peugeots than Renaults there) and despite their costs slash vice versa means these (PSA / FCA but only latter for Fiat, Jeep, Alfa, Maserati and to a lesser extent Lancia) autos are recommended for driving as judged by how Stellantis brands have good motorsports records (including Ferrari) in history…
Because in my heart, I’m still 3 and making vroom vroom noises in the driver seat. It’s just fun to operate a machine and go places, at whatever pace I choose.
Because I am the better driver than the passenger.
Sometimes for the corner carving, chasing either fun or adrenalin, sometimes for the lonesomeness…
The feeling I like the most is when straightening my bike up exiting a corner while pinning the throttle all the way, and the short moment when I become kind of weightless and I feel that I am darting trough space at 120kmh on nothing more than a metal rod.
No one reason, I just like driving!
For me, it’s not the act of driving in and of itself, but rather what you are driving that makes it enjoyable. The best cars are the ones that have the least barriers to translating your inputs to the car’s response. In other words, the closer the driver and car are to being one, the more enjoyable it is, and the more I like driving.
Thanks for the win. Always happy to turn keepers of special cars onto this miracle product.
Driving, to me, is harnessing the mechanical and chemical ingenuity of man to propel myself through time and space. It’s the myriad and deep sensorial pleasures born of thousands of painstakingly engineered, manufactured, and assembled parts reciprocating, cycling, and acting. It’s the immense satisfaction of muscle memory, concentration, and precision required to drive a powerful, potentially deadly machine with grace and finesse.
It’s engineering, culture, aesthetics, personal expression, history, family, busted knuckles, heartbreak, passion, and above all, freedom.
I simply do not know. Deep down I don’t really know if any of us know.
Give me anything with wheels, wings or a hull, I love learning & refining a skill. The satisfaction of driving well is pure pleasure. Not speed, mind you, but driving well. Not just the physical but the mental.
I love driving because it is the next best thing after flying. Not all of us are pilots, but as humans, we all yearn to fly. It is that unattainable feeling, that little thing that is out of reach, (some humans can actually fly planes or jump in parachutes, but not me). For us earth crawlers, for us that fear falling from too high the staircases, what is best than controlling a thing of steel that can “almost fly”, yet so close to the floor? And don’t get me starting on scuba diving… 😀
These are all solid comments, and I see the one comment theme being this “inner feeling” one gets when they get behind the wheel.
Lots of feelings get conjured, depending on what I drive. Yesterday I rented a big Chrysler Pacific e-hybrid, and it was just a smooth ride, especially when coming from a stop in all electric. But then when I get into my Miata, I love how I am suddenly neurologically connected to the car as whole, and I enjoy winding the engine to it’s 7000RPM redline, while flicking my wrist to the next gear. Point the car at a direction and it just surgically follows. I drove a Mercedes-Benz Unimog, and boy does it emit such a machismo feeling when I’m letting off the air brakes and hearing it hiss, not to mention when I’m waxing on / off on that steering wheel while maneuvering around the base.
When I drive, it really brings out feelings that I would not be able to unveil if I was doing anything else.