Of Egos, Sport Bikes and Lambos - an Essay.

rez333 · 08-25-2011, 12:36 PM

I was on a Lamborghini forum, just to read about the experience of owning a Lamborghini and it seems that many forum members there also have this idea that they should get some "respect" on the road - people are always trying to race them, and they react like "don't you know I could whip you any time of the day?". I've noticed some Camaro5 forum members also acting this way, except against lesser cars like Civics, whereas Lambo owners tend to feel all other cars are lesser.

Now I'm not being judgmental because I myself am this way sometimes. Some people on the roads are extremely ignorant about cars, and feel that when they buy a Corolla "S" that they could easily beat a Camaro, because they have absolutely no idea about the Camaro specs. One day they decided to walk into a car lot, was sweet-talked by the salesman that the "S" is a high performance "20HP upgrade !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Which of course leads them to believe that 20HP is a big deal and that they've got something that can keep up with Porsches.

I know this because I myself was this ignorant not so long ago. When I first found out that some cars had 500HP I was astounded, what would it be like to have that much power? Most cars have less than 150HP, and in fact the fast version of a model is the 150HP model. So when I first moved from a 150HP car to a 272HP car - I thought it was a very big deal. I went from a puddle to a pond, without realizing there was an ocean I wasn't aware of.

Now that I have 550HP and moving up to 750HP soon, my eyes have been opened. I'm lucky because I get to have that knowledge, but if you go on the average Subaru/Toyota/Honda forums, they'll all be chatting about how to get 10HP here and 5HP there. I even read that they expect to pay on average $100 per HP gain. They have no concept of high performance cars, and their potential for stupendous exponentially-higher power.

My point is, it appears we are all the same, except the more powerful our car and the money we spend on it, the more we feel we are better than others on the road.

I read a thread on the Lambo forum about this sport bike guy harassing everyone saying "don't you know I'm faster than you? Why bother challenging me? Don't you know I'm faster?" All he wanted was a pat on the back that he was faster than any Lambo. It was quite pathetic. I think quite a few of us are like that though, but to different degrees of hubris; I know of no exceptions. Even those who don't race, do not with a sense of smugness: "I already *know* my car is faster than yours, so I don't need to prove it". My PM is like that - she drives a Porsche 911 Turbo and is often challenged by others, but I can sense a little pride that even though she never accepts the challenge she knows she's better.

And what's wrong with that? When we spend so much of our lives working and having to acquiesce to the demands of clients and bosses, it's *okay* to indulge in a little escapism on the roads - to feel like we're Dominic Toretto or Memphis Raines. As long as we don't feel we are better than others, I think it's okay to know we have better cars.

But there's *knowing* and there's *wanting everyone else to know*. Some people have lower self esteem or an inferiority complex like that sport bike guy, and have the urge to *prove* their worth through speed. What should we think about that? The human ego is one of the hardest things in the world to control - few people can walk away when they are insulted - the ego is that fragile; some are able to walk away only when their egos are insulted by an equal or a superior but cannot stand being insulted by someone they consider inferior. I think if we realize just how much we are controlled by own egos, we will aspire to be unaffected by perceived insults by all types of people: superiors, equals and inferiors; and we will be gracious towards those who struggle to recognize their ego-affliction or lack of ego-self-control.

Just my thoughts for a Thursday morning!!

Apex Paul · 08-25-2011, 02:28 PM

Nice post.

I think some of the people that come up next to you to "challenge" you are sometimes just trying to get you to show off the car because they want to see it; they know you are faster and would beat them but they want to see what it can do. Others don't have a clue, like you said. They actually think their mostly stock Chevy Cobalt with a loud muffler can run with you in your Hemi Challenger.

Some people are not interested in being goaded into a street race, because it's not a good idea. Even if they know they can beat you. It's illegal, but more importantly it is dangerous. Guys can argue all they want that they "race all the time and it's not dangerous", or that they do it in a "safe" way, but I've been in the OR while 3 surgeons try to put an ear back where it belongs because it is currently where thier eye used to be. Tragic.

As for the sport bike guy, I promise you there is someone faster. I promise you I can put him next to a (1400 Hp) Lamborghini that will blow him off the road. Yes, he will beat most cars and perhaps bikes, but who cares. If you're not on a race track where it matters then what is the gain anyway? Stroking the ego? meh.

CamaroSkooter · 08-25-2011, 02:42 PM

TL;DR

Life can be summed up in three little words:

People are stupid.

Dr Jkel · 08-25-2011, 03:05 PM

LOL......The ole addage of " How fast can you AFFORD to go?" comes to mind here. Sport bike riders tend to feel they have the power to weight ratio covered and this may be true. Bikes in general will out handle most cars if not all.

I had a guy pull up at the gas station awhile back and asked me to run him.....So I agreed under 1 condition, that I be allowed to pick the placed and time. He agreed and wanted to put a wager on it, I joking laughed and said sure whatever you want to lose.

A few days later he kept calling me wanting to race, so reluctantly I agreed to meet him. I told him I had just the place, no cops, no traffic......GREAT Place.

So I got into my 2500HD 4 x 4 duramax diesel and headed down to an old 4 wheel course we 4 x 4 guys like to go. Oddly enough he showed up and wanted to know where we were going. I showed him a hill and pointed and reminded him that I was allowed to pick the course. He didn't think it was too funny and left.

Who cares who has the most expensive, fastest, newest or whatever category you want to put out there?

I love my car, didn't buy it because it was the fastest, newest etc....... I wanted a Camaro, not a Vette, or some other car.

Do I think mine is cool? well of course I do. Do I think mine is fast? Well when you daily driver is a 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive truck, the Camaro seems extremely fast.

My point is this. There will always be the 10% crowd, that if you have $10 bucks then they have $20, your car runs 10's in the 1/4, then theirs will run 9's.

Speedster probably has the most elaborate car on this forum, SSE has a twin turbo pushing BIG hp but I enjoy mine just the same with the little 463 I have.

It is ALL in what YOU want and can AFFORD.............MVHO

Scrappy Doo · 08-25-2011, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Jkel

LOL......The ole addage of " How fast can you AFFORD to go?" comes to mind here. Sport bike riders tend to feel they have the power to weight ratio covered and this may be true. Bikes in general will out handle most cars if not all.

I had a guy pull up at the gas station awhile back and asked me to run him.....So I agreed under 1 condition, that I be allowed to pick the placed and time. He agreed and wanted to put a wager on it, I joking laughed and said sure whatever you want to lose.

A few days later he kept calling me wanting to race, so reluctantly I agreed to meet him. I told him I had just the place, no cops, no traffic......GREAT Place.

So I got into my 2500HD 4 x 4 duramax diesel and headed down to an old 4 wheel course we 4 x 4 guys like to go. Oddly enough he showed up and wanted to know where we were going. I showed him a hill and pointed and reminded him that I was allowed to pick the course. He didn't think it was too funny and left.

Who cares who has the most expensive, fastest, newest or whatever category you want to put out there?

I love my car, didn't buy it because it was the fastest, newest etc....... I wanted a Camaro, not a Vette, or some other car.

Do I think mine is cool? well of course I do. Do I think mine is fast? Well when you daily driver is a 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive truck, the Camaro seems extremely fast.

My point is this. There will always be the 10% crowd, that if you have $10 bucks then they have $20, your car runs 10's in the 1/4, then theirs will run 9's.

Speedster probably has the most elaborate car on this forum, SSE has a twin turbo pushing BIG hp but I enjoy mine just the same with the little 463 I have.

It is ALL in what YOU want and can AFFORD.............MVHO

+1.

justa25thTA · 08-25-2011, 03:26 PM

and there are those of us who simply don't care if your car is faster or not

justa25thTA · 08-25-2011, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Jkel

LOL......The ole addage of " How fast can you AFFORD to go?" comes to mind here. Sport bike riders tend to feel they have the power to weight ratio covered and this may be true. Bikes in general will out handle most cars if not all.

I had a guy pull up at the gas station awhile back and asked me to run him.....So I agreed under 1 condition, that I be allowed to pick the placed and time. He agreed and wanted to put a wager on it, I joking laughed and said sure whatever you want to lose.

A few days later he kept calling me wanting to race, so reluctantly I agreed to meet him. I told him I had just the place, no cops, no traffic......GREAT Place.

So I got into my 2500HD 4 x 4 duramax diesel and headed down to an old 4 wheel course we 4 x 4 guys like to go. Oddly enough he showed up and wanted to know where we were going. I showed him a hill and pointed and reminded him that I was allowed to pick the course. He didn't think it was too funny and left.

Who cares who has the most expensive, fastest, newest or whatever category you want to put out there?

I love my car, didn't buy it because it was the fastest, newest etc....... I wanted a Camaro, not a Vette, or some other car.

Do I think mine is cool? well of course I do. Do I think mine is fast? Well when you daily driver is a 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive truck, the Camaro seems extremely fast.

My point is this. There will always be the 10% crowd, that if you have $10 bucks then they have $20, your car runs 10's in the 1/4, then theirs will run 9's.

Speedster probably has the most elaborate car on this forum, SSE has a twin turbo pushing BIG hp but I enjoy mine just the same with the little 463 I have.

It is ALL in what YOU want and can AFFORD.............MVHO

As a bike rider, I have to tell you this isn't true. Most think it is, but it is extremely difficult to ride a bike near the edge of handling, and 99% of riders can't do it.

*SSE 4 2SS* · 08-26-2011, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justa25thTA

As a bike rider, I have to tell you this isn't true. Most think it is, but it is extremely difficult to ride a bike near the edge of handling, and 99% of riders can't do it.

True, look at the chicken stripe on most bike back tires... it's the stripe where 98% of the riding is done, in the middle 20% of the tread area... when a motorcycle as 10,000 iles on it and the rubber nibs are still on the outer edge of the tread, that bike is ridden by someone that can't lean it down...

That having been said, 99% of all people driving performance cars, the Camaro, the Vette, the Lambo, the Porsche etc... haven't the capability to reach the abilities of the car...

Go to a track day, and watch people go from one extreme to the other.... They'll have abysmal times lap after lap and then all of a sudden, they launch it off the track into the dirt... Why, they tried to go faster and didn't have the ability... I applaud their efforts to get better and go faster...

*KILLER74Z28* · 08-29-2011, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apex Paul

Nice post.

I think some of the people that come up next to you to "challenge" you are sometimes just trying to get you to show off the car because they want to see it; they know you are faster and would beat them but they want to see what it can do. Others don't have a clue, like you said. They actually think their mostly stock Chevy Cobalt with a loud muffler can run with you in your Hemi Challenger.

Some people are not interested in being goaded into a street race, because it's not a good idea. Even if they know they can beat you. It's illegal, but more importantly it is dangerous. Guys can argue all they want that they "race all the time and it's not dangerous", or that they do it in a "safe" way, but I've been in the OR while 3 surgeons try to put an ear back where it belongs because it is currently where thier eye used to be. Tragic.

As for the sport bike guy, I promise you there is someone faster. I promise you I can put him next to a (1400 Hp) Lamborghini that will blow him off the road. Yes, he will beat most cars and perhaps bikes, but who cares. If you're not on a race track where it matters then what is the gain anyway? Stroking the ego? meh.

Great points that are really "GREAT FACTS".

Everyone is in control until it's lost...

I find it very comical that everyone seems to be in a race against me. I really do chuckle every time someone floors it and then pulls away.

Yep, you got me minivan, you got me good.

Nessal · 08-30-2011, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justa25thTA

As a bike rider, I have to tell you this isn't true. Most think it is, but it is extremely difficult to ride a bike near the edge of handling, and 99% of riders can't do it.

Yup, this is true. I have ridden for almost 6 years now which really isn't that long. My buddy and I take our bikes up to the hills all the time. I won't even say I'm pushing the bike over 80% of it's capacity. Well, I shouldn't anyways because it is on the streets. But even on the track, 99% of people can't ride their bikes to the limit. Then on the street, you can pretty much rule out every squid you see as having any talent at all. In the twisties on a average day, I'm pretty confident I can give most bike a run for their money.

hypurone · 08-30-2011, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justa25thTA

As a bike rider, I have to tell you this isn't true. Most think it is, but it is extremely difficult to ride a bike near the edge of handling, and 99% of riders can't do it.

Should have been stated as "outrun most cars". As for the ability to ride above 8/10ths of the handling of a bike, it is a much finer line when pushing a bike than a car. Cars are much more forgiving when the line between skill or conditions is crossed.

"A man's got to know his limitations" and that of his equipment as well!

08-25-2011, 12:36 PM	#1
rez333 Drives: 2013 ZL1 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: St. Joseph Posts: 1,283	Of Egos, Sport Bikes and Lambos - an Essay. I was on a Lamborghini forum, just to read about the experience of owning a Lamborghini and it seems that many forum members there also have this idea that they should get some "respect" on the road - people are always trying to race them, and they react like "don't you know I could whip you any time of the day?". I've noticed some Camaro5 forum members also acting this way, except against lesser cars like Civics, whereas Lambo owners tend to feel all other cars are lesser. Now I'm not being judgmental because I myself am this way sometimes. Some people on the roads are extremely ignorant about cars, and feel that when they buy a Corolla "S" that they could easily beat a Camaro, because they have absolutely no idea about the Camaro specs. One day they decided to walk into a car lot, was sweet-talked by the salesman that the "S" is a high performance "20HP upgrade !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Which of course leads them to believe that 20HP is a big deal and that they've got something that can keep up with Porsches. I know this because I myself was this ignorant not so long ago. When I first found out that some cars had 500HP I was astounded, what would it be like to have that much power? Most cars have less than 150HP, and in fact the fast version of a model is the 150HP model. So when I first moved from a 150HP car to a 272HP car - I thought it was a very big deal. I went from a puddle to a pond, without realizing there was an ocean I wasn't aware of. Now that I have 550HP and moving up to 750HP soon, my eyes have been opened. I'm lucky because I get to have that knowledge, but if you go on the average Subaru/Toyota/Honda forums, they'll all be chatting about how to get 10HP here and 5HP there. I even read that they expect to pay on average $100 per HP gain. They have no concept of high performance cars, and their potential for stupendous exponentially-higher power. My point is, it appears we are all the same, except the more powerful our car and the money we spend on it, the more we feel we are better than others on the road. I read a thread on the Lambo forum about this sport bike guy harassing everyone saying "don't you know I'm faster than you? Why bother challenging me? Don't you know I'm faster?" All he wanted was a pat on the back that he was faster than any Lambo. It was quite pathetic. I think quite a few of us are like that though, but to different degrees of hubris; I know of no exceptions. Even those who don't race, do not with a sense of smugness: "I already know my car is faster than yours, so I don't need to prove it". My PM is like that - she drives a Porsche 911 Turbo and is often challenged by others, but I can sense a little pride that even though she never accepts the challenge she knows she's better. And what's wrong with that? When we spend so much of our lives working and having to acquiesce to the demands of clients and bosses, it's okay to indulge in a little escapism on the roads - to feel like we're Dominic Toretto or Memphis Raines. As long as we don't feel we are better than others, I think it's okay to know we have better cars. But there's knowing and there's wanting everyone else to know. Some people have lower self esteem or an inferiority complex like that sport bike guy, and have the urge to prove their worth through speed. What should we think about that? The human ego is one of the hardest things in the world to control - few people can walk away when they are insulted - the ego is that fragile; some are able to walk away only when their egos are insulted by an equal or a superior but cannot stand being insulted by someone they consider inferior. I think if we realize just how much we are controlled by own egos, we will aspire to be unaffected by perceived insults by all types of people: superiors, equals and inferiors; and we will be gracious towards those who struggle to recognize their ego-affliction or lack of ego-self-control. Just my thoughts for a Thursday morning!! Last edited by rez333; 08-25-2011 at 01:16 PM.

08-25-2011, 02:42 PM	#3
CamaroSkooter Retarded One-Legged Owl Drives: 2010 Black Camaro 2SS Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 9,745	TL;DR Life can be summed up in three little words: People are stupid. __________________ My VIN = 2G1FK1EJ9A9105017 Build Date: 04-23-2009 according to: http://www.compnine.com/vid.php

08-25-2011, 03:05 PM	#4
Dr Jkel Roll Tide Drives: 2010 2SS RJT/BLK 6Spd Man Join Date: May 2009 Location: Talladega, Alabama Posts: 4,378	LOL......The ole addage of " How fast can you AFFORD to go?" comes to mind here. Sport bike riders tend to feel they have the power to weight ratio covered and this may be true. Bikes in general will out handle most cars if not all. I had a guy pull up at the gas station awhile back and asked me to run him.....So I agreed under 1 condition, that I be allowed to pick the placed and time. He agreed and wanted to put a wager on it, I joking laughed and said sure whatever you want to lose. A few days later he kept calling me wanting to race, so reluctantly I agreed to meet him. I told him I had just the place, no cops, no traffic......GREAT Place. So I got into my 2500HD 4 x 4 duramax diesel and headed down to an old 4 wheel course we 4 x 4 guys like to go. Oddly enough he showed up and wanted to know where we were going. I showed him a hill and pointed and reminded him that I was allowed to pick the course. He didn't think it was too funny and left. Who cares who has the most expensive, fastest, newest or whatever category you want to put out there? I love my car, didn't buy it because it was the fastest, newest etc....... I wanted a Camaro, not a Vette, or some other car. Do I think mine is cool? well of course I do. Do I think mine is fast? Well when you daily driver is a 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive truck, the Camaro seems extremely fast. My point is this. There will always be the 10% crowd, that if you have $10 bucks then they have $20, your car runs 10's in the 1/4, then theirs will run 9's. Speedster probably has the most elaborate car on this forum, SSE has a twin turbo pushing BIG hp but I enjoy mine just the same with the little 463 I have. It is ALL in what YOU want and can AFFORD.............MVHO __________________ MUSTANG...Like Bringing a Hot Dog to a Steak Dinner....There is no comparison.

08-25-2011, 03:26 PM	#6
justa25thTA Drives: 2011 Camaro SS/RS LS3 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 1,630	and there are those of us who simply don't care if your car is faster or not __________________ Yeah, I'll get around to it...

08-25-2011, 02:28 PM	#2
Apex Paul Drives: Wagon Queen Family Truckster Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Louisville, Ky Posts: 1,476	Nice post. I think some of the people that come up next to you to "challenge" you are sometimes just trying to get you to show off the car because they want to see it; they know you are faster and would beat them but they want to see what it can do. Others don't have a clue, like you said. They actually think their mostly stock Chevy Cobalt with a loud muffler can run with you in your Hemi Challenger. Some people are not interested in being goaded into a street race, because it's not a good idea. Even if they know they can beat you. It's illegal, but more importantly it is dangerous. Guys can argue all they want that they "race all the time and it's not dangerous", or that they do it in a "safe" way, but I've been in the OR while 3 surgeons try to put an ear back where it belongs because it is currently where thier eye used to be. Tragic. As for the sport bike guy, I promise you there is someone faster. I promise you I can put him next to a (1400 Hp) Lamborghini that will blow him off the road. Yes, he will beat most cars and perhaps bikes, but who cares. If you're not on a race track where it matters then what is the gain anyway? Stroking the ego? meh.