Camaro ss for a teen

[Masada02]

Just now, Zodiark1593 said:

Of course, I commute through the mountains instead of stop and go traffic, and have a total of four stoplights throughout 40 miles of commute. Right tool for the job and all that I suppose.

I envy your commute.

[Zodiark1593]

11 minutes ago, Masada02 said:

I envy your commute.

While it is a lot of miles, my drive tends to take about, or slightly less time than co-workers with a 20 mile commute through town. I get called crazy for such a long commute (I don't deny that), but likewise, I think they're crazy for sitting through traffic.

 

Even with the mountains, I do get bored from time to time. While I used to be a little looser in regards to staying in my lane, lately, as an added challenge to pay attention, I've taken to running the mountains without any of my tires exiting the lane (either the center, or into the bike lane), as well as maintaining momentum going uphill to hold higher gears for fuel economy. It's a little tricky in the rain though.

[Arika]

[removed]

[LooneyJuice]

You know, what? Semi-flamewar aside, this is a pretty interesting topic. And I don't know if the original question was for bragging rights or not, but I don't really care. If it was levied as a legit question and call for some (possibly) more responsible judgment, even better. 

 

IMO, when it comes to judging on an individual basis, the age thing doesn't matter one single bit. As a general rule-of-thumb it does for reasons such as baseline education, financial situation, responsibilities etc. Now, having said that, firstly, very young people can be as responsible or irresponsible as adults. Personally when I blew out my 18th birthday candles, literally nothing changed. I didn't feel more responsible, I still thought that mistakes I made of my own accord were mine, and mine alone, and I had to deal with the consequences even when I was 12, so that's not the issue. I didn't get the "sudden responsibility" at 18. I wish I was like that, I would have probably done even more stupid sh*t, maybe killed myself, maybe had more fun, who knows?

 

Children and teens due to neuroplasticity and all that, can show incredible learning aptitude and wrap their head around things pretty damn quick. That's not to say everyone else is a slow learner (especially since I'm of the opinion that being a good learner is a learned skill on its own, but I digress). When it comes to cars and vehicles that generally pose more risk, I'd advise anyone to look up how young children are when they seriously start working on motorsport careers. They're literally toddlers. By the time they're 12, they can put many, many, many adults to shame. Not to mention, there are 15-16 year olds I know who fly Solo glider flights for crying out loud. This isn't bragging rights, this isn't e-peen, this is simply better training, practice and therefore aptitude and a feel for vehicle dynamics. This helps one deal with anticipating behavior rather than dynamically reacting to it (and sometimes being too slow to react to boot).

 

Now, OP, this isn't to say I believe you're a race car driver, and having spent a few hours here and there on a daily 800hp car does not give you any real kind of vehicle dynamics education. Especially if you just floored it a couple of times in a straight line. In fact, most dailies, even if they have 1000 horsepower, are very conservatively tuned, precisely so that they can be used to go buy smokes or groceries without needing a 5-point harness. So here are my dead-serious thoughts on this.

 

If you and your parents have the means to invest in such a vehicle, it is your prerogative to do so, and no one on this forum has the ability to stop that. Nonetheless, if you can spare the money for a car like that, or you're fairly routinely dealing with more powerful vehicles, I would totally invest in a driving course at a local (or nearby) race track. Most serious instructors are very solid, it's a controlled environment, it's crazy fun, and you may end up making a hobby of track days and amateur events in the process, strengthening your grasp on driving. I can't recommend it enough. 

 

Additionally, any concerns about injury or death may seem over the top, but they're valid, it could happen to anyone, no one is immortal or above making mistakes. And when it comes to public roads, you don't just think about personal injury, you also think about injury to others. It can really happen, and speed/human error is by far and away the most common cause of fatalities in anything vehicle-related.

[dalekphalm]

On 6/26/2017 at 1:22 AM, Zodiark1593 said:

While I used to be a little looser in regards to staying in my lane, lately, as an added challenge to pay attention, I've taken to running the mountains without any of my tires exiting the lane (either the center, or into the bike lane), as well as maintaining momentum going uphill to hold higher gears for fuel economy. It's a little tricky in the rain though.

Ehhh.... you should never leave your lane unless you're turning or changing lanes/passing.

 

Unless these are some dinky european downtown-in-a-600-year-old-city sized lanes, you shouldn't be having trouble (nor should it require much amount of concentration) to say inside the lane (bike lines or center line).

[Tsuki]

get them a '95 honda accord.

easy to repair, cheap insurance, good gas mileage, will last forever

[Zodiark1593]

51 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Ehhh.... you should never leave your lane unless you're turning or changing lanes/passing.

 

Unless these are some dinky european downtown-in-a-600-year-old-city sized lanes, you shouldn't be having trouble (nor should it require much amount of concentration) to say inside the lane (bike lines or center line).

Ehh, winding mountain roads with fairly thin lanes (though the roads themselves are fairly wide), and a lengthy commute coupled with lack of sleep. Not that it's an excuse however. 

[dalekphalm]

12 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Ehh, winding mountain roads with fairly thin lanes (though the roads themselves are fairly wide), and a lengthy commute coupled with lack of sleep. Not that it's an excuse however. 

Indeed. Coupled with the lack of sleep, what you're doing is dangerous. A small animal could jump out and startle you, or an oncoming car might approach that you didn't notice, etc.

 

Not trying to harp on you, just saying, keep practicing staying in the lane

[Guest]

Why is this 6 pages long? 

 

@Endrivia Phone an insurance company, there's your answer. 

[Zodiark1593]

2 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Indeed. Coupled with the lack of sleep, what you're doing is dangerous. A small animal could jump out and startle you, or an oncoming car might approach that you didn't notice, etc.

 

Not trying to harp on you, just saying, keep practicing staying in the lane

Honesty,  I really should take a day off of work once in awhile, though I never really bother 

[Statik]

26 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Honesty,  I really should take a day off of work once in awhile, though I never really bother 

Might as well drive like that to stay awake. If you're still being safe and it's keeping you alert, all the power to you. I've seen some dudes do some crazy shit to stay awake while working.