Quote:
Originally Posted by N1rve
You can drive anything daily  |
+1! But you really have to love it or a car set up for competition can get old fast on the street. Stiff bushings, shorter springs, higher damping rates and short stiff sidewalls make for a pretty nasty ride on less-than-perfect streets. Scraping over driveways and speed bumps can really make you regret lowering it, especially the 5th time you have to repair the damage. And even the initially gorgeous sound of a large-bore Stebro exhaust on a tuned 1275 Cooper "S" or a 4-pipe Abarth on a 356 Super gets annoying driving from Philly to Florida, especially when it attracts every cop within earshot. Been there, done that, outgrew it.
I had to drive my '57 356 Speedster daily for 4 months back in '85 because my wife's car needed major work after a bad hit. I gave her my Subie wagon and gladly took the tub to work...for about a week. Driving home in a heavy rain, I was so wet that I had to lay out the contents of my wallet to dry overnight. The "heater" had emphysema, the defroster couldn't blow out a dying candle, and the overall comfort level was as low as the 76'ers' expectations for a championship. I never thought I'd say it, but I was truly thankful when her car came back good as new, I got my Subaru back, and I didn't have to drive Tubby unless I wanted to.
I've used a '57 XK-150 coupe, a '58 Lotus 7, a '52 MG-TD and several 356s as daily transportation over the years. Some were vintage racers, some were at the tail end of their life cycles, and they all brought me great joy - some when I bought them and some when I sold them. My FR-S handles well enough and rides hard enough right now. It needs no major mods to please me and I'm pretty sure I could get it around Lime Rock at or below 1:04 bone stock.
So it's absolutely true that you can drive pretty much anything legal to work every day - but you may sacrifice a few body parts along the way (yours and the cars). If you love it, do it - I don't regret a minute of the agony. But it's an education, for sure.