On the Road

Want to feel like Spiderman? Go drive a car.

No, I’m serious.

We often forget that being able to drive a car is both a privilege and a responsibility – when you start the engine, two tonnes of potentially lethal automobile are at your disposal, to be placed in a certain condition, time and place solely at the driver’s discretion.

Why bring this up? A recent accident in Loyang claimed the lives of three people, when the Subaru in question lost control at what was undoubtedly high speed, then embedded a tree into itself and caught fire.

Also fresh on my mind are two other high-profile accidents last year: one on Old Upper Thomson Road where two polytechnic students were killed in a Mitsubishi Lancer, and another Subaru in Geylang which split into two.

Speed was probably the main factor in these accidents, judging by the damage, although other causes like driver fatigue can’t be ruled out. The two in the Lancer weren’t wearing seatbelts either.

Speed alone is neither fatal, nor dangerous – It’s the context which makes it so. With F1 drivers for instance, speed is their daily bread, yet the last F1 fatality was Senna 15 years ago.

When you speed up, everything occurs faster and reaction time is reduced. The behaviour of the vehicle changes, no matter what you’re driving. If you’re not experienced (and sometimes even if you are), adrenaline makes it hard to react in accordance with the laws of physics over raw instinct.

Consider two cases:

1. A well-rested highly experienced driver, a modern car with a high level of safety equipment, perfect daytime weather and a familiar German Autobahn.

2. A freshly-minted licensee, a car with a less than stellar NCAP rating, midnight, an infamous winding road in an area inhabited by wild animals, vegetation on the tarmac and four occupants without safety belts on.

There’s a tiny difference between being a driving enthusiast and a reckless killer: It’s what you consider before stepping on the gas.

Tags: accidents, responsibility, safety

It’s comforting to know that in this day and age of NCAP crash tests, Euro V emissions regulations, oil prices, recessions and (don’t forget) lawsuits, one Japanese manufacturer is willing to go out on a limb to make exciting cars the way they used to.

Toyota’s Lexus LF-A supercar has been in development hell for the past few years and the odds of it actually making it to production are as good as Guns N Roses’ Chinese Democracy album being released (before it actually did get released and everyone realised it wasn’t very good at all). Honda’s NSX-replacing HSC has now gone the way of the company’s Formula One program.

Both companies still make excellent day-to-day cars – Honda’s Odyssey multi-purpose vehicle for example, is probably the best of the breed at the moment.

But to get the blood pumping you need the sort of car that makes you want to drive, that after three hours in the driver’s seat and the onset of ache in an underused left leg, eggs you on for just one more go.

These are, sadly, rather thin on the ground in the Oughties.

The defining characteristics are drama (both in driving and design) and only two wheels driven: the rear.

So no Lancer Evolution, no WRX STi and, gasp, no GT-R either. I’m talking about the new Nissan 370Z.

It drives very well, as expected, but I think the main charm lies in its dramatic aspect: the design is lithe but imposing, the controls need a firm hand (you need to almost slam the gearshift into position) and the 3.7-litre engine is a wonderful, growling beast. Driving along is a cacophonous symphony of the V6, exhaust burble and gearbox whine.

It’s cheeky too: with the traction control off, just a tad extra gas in the corner lets the tail peek out. At around $160,000 (with COE) it has the sort of driving entertainment value to beat cars costing twice as much or even more, the GT-R included.

So Nissan now has two performance bargains: one is a technological tour de force, built to show what the company can do and to lob one in the eye of the Germans. The other one is an out and out fun-to-drive sports car.

In the former you can apparently have a conversation with a passenger at 300km/h. In the latter, you have to raise your voice to talk even at idle, never mind autobahn speeds.

And it really doesn’t matter because no matter the speed, you want the car talking to you more than any passenger, you want the feeling of engagement and of driving something special.

Which the 370Z delivers.

Tags: 370Z, GT-R, Nissan