Does a good car make you over-confident?

[USZA]

Exactly what the title says there.

I had kind of a long-weekend - went to the Pink Loerie Festival in Knysna.

The roadtrip was my friend's idea because he had just recently bought a Golf 7 TDi. On the way there and back though, he constantly did the following, which really grated my carrot but I rather said nothing:
- driving too fast for the road conditions e.g. speeding through a section under construction where the speed limit was reduced from 120 to 60 and from two lanes to one.
- Tailgating at 120 - this was the scariest ****, plus, it started to rain when we got to Robertson, so the road was wet, but this continued.
- Overtaking when it's not safe to do so - literally, taking chances


He's never driven like this before, not even when we drove in convoy. Now, I'm just wondering whether it is that he's over-confident because of the new car, or whether he's testing it's limits, or whether he was just being a douche. Feel free to comment on the merits of his driving or on the car.

 

[Sinbad]

Being a bad driver makes you overconfident, and overly reliant on real or perceived safety features of your vehicle.

 

[TJ99]

Well, why don't you get a GOOD car and find out?

 

[Gulio]

Sounds like you a nervous passenger?
Tail gating at 120 is scary?

 

[USZA]

Well, why don't you get a GOOD car and find out?

I have a good car thanks but I'd never take it to it's limits, especially not with passengers in it.

 

[IzZzy]

"Consumption of risk". Better safety features means a person is more able to consume risk they wouldn't otherwise dare without such safety features.

I'm more concerned that you would rather die than speak up for yourself.

 

[Batista]

Your friend's an idiot.A driver makes the car not the other way around.

 

[USZA]

Sounds like you a nervous passenger?
Tail gating at 120 is scary?

Not at all. Tailgating, on a wet road, at any speed, is just not safe. Hell, it doesn't even have to be a wet road; at one stage we were just an endless string of cars - any misstep, by any driver, could've caused a pile-up.

 

[Mr_M]

Yeah I would probably be nervous driving at 120 km/h on wet or slippery roads. Your friend needs to realise that it was risky doing that.

 

[Willy Strong]

Yes.
I usually drive "reckless" when I'm alone, in the car and on the road.
Also when my fuel tank is low, don't know why.

 

[USZA]

"Consumption of risk". Better safety features means a person is more able to consume risk they wouldn't otherwise dare without such safety features.

I'm more concerned that you would rather die than speak up for yourself.

"Consumption of Risk" makes sense.

Two of us actually spoke up but we were made to understand that we were NOT going to drive his car. At one stage, when we were in Knysna, he asked me drive because he had way too much to drink - I'm talking visibly intoxicated - but the next minute I saw, he got in his car and left. Fortunately, the club we were at was within walking distance of the lodge we were staying at - in fact, we wanted to walk in the first pace.

 

[Electric]

Sounds like he initiated **** levels when he bought that new car.

 

[Gulio]

Not at all. Tailgating, on a wet road, at any speed, is just not safe. Hell, it doesn't even have to be a wet road; at one stage we were just an endless string of cars - any misstep, by any driver, could've caused a pile-up.

True.
I still think you a nervous passenger and you dont trust your friend.

As for your title question, yes, some cars do make you feel over confident, better brakes and handling, better acceleration can also improve driver confidence.

 

[supersunbird]

Sounds like you a nervous passenger?
Tail gating at 120 is scary?

If driving say 3 metres from the car in front at 120km/h is not scary, the problem is with you, not the scared persons. One needs to keep a 3 second following distance so have a chance of stopping in time if something goes wrong.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

I would have been pressing those passenger side brakes hard!

Did you tell him he was driving like a douche?

 

[USZA]

Sounds like he initiated **** levels when he bought that new car.

Could well be yes, or he could be that he's on a self-destructive bent - did other self-destructive things that did not involve cars.

True.
I still think you a nervous passenger and you dont trust your friend.

As for your title question, yes, some cars do make you feel over confident, better brakes and handling, better acceleration can also improve driver confidence.

There's no shame in admitting that I was nervous. Out of the four of us, three of us were drivers, and we trusted him with our lives, and not for him to play Russian Roulette with it.

 

[USZA]

I would have been pressing those passenger side brakes hard!

Did you tell him he was driving like a douche?

I was

I didn't but I suggested a few times that I drive if he wasn't feeling feeling ok or up to it, but like I said, he made it clear that no one was going to drive his car.

 

[WaxLyrical]

Not the car but the passenger.

How fast do you think we would've gone if Miss Daisy was at the back?

He was just showing off to YOU.

 

[envo]

It's a golf. "He thinks he can"

 

[Gulio]

If driving say 3 metres from the car in front at 120km/h is not scary, the problem is with you, not the scared persons. One needs to keep a 3 second following distance so have a chance of stopping in time if something goes wrong.

3m at 120? Wow. Thats a whole car gap.
30cm at 120 is not scary.