Ever feel like it's getting to be too much of a pain to be a car enthusiast in Van?
 

I've always loved having a sporty car since the early 2000s.

But given the expansion of the city, the constant construction, the crusade against the car in Vancouver (taking away parking, narrower and narrower lanes, bike lanes) it is getting to be a bit of a pain in the ass.

I feel like once I shift it into 2nd gear, I have to brake again to let three lanes merge into one for road work, or get trapped behind rows and rows of dump trucks and construction vehicles.
Within 1000 KM of my new Mustang, I had a nail in the tire and a rock chip, from all of the never-ending construction.

And I swear to God, people are getting slower to react at lights. Texting? No idea. Every advance turn arrow, only 2 people go when 6 could, because the front guy is asleep! People turning right? Better drive the Honda Odyssey like a Mack truck and turn extremely wide and take my time.

I used to love to go for drives around the city, but it has become more of a chore than a fun time the last couple of years. If it keeps getting worse, maybe a lackluster hybrid or something really mundane would be a better buy.

I'm not ready to stop enjoying the drive just yet, but it seems like sooner or later it'll cease to be entertaining altogether.

Anyone else feel the same way?

Been to any car shows yet?

Berz out.

A majority of shows/meets ie thurs at Byrne make me question why I'm in the scene at all. Behaviour has gotten progressively worse and is over run by young kids with their XXR wheels and fart cans thinking they're hot shit

I think Berz is referring to this:

As much as I love driving manual and a sporty car, I recently moved near a skytrain station and have also been carpooling everyday. My car has seen maybe less than 3 days on the road in the last year and that was just to prep it for storage. I'm in the same boat. I actually try to visit Canadian tire on Thursdays so I get to see other people's cars in my daily. Currently scoping out battery trickle chargers as battery going bad from long term storage is going to be a problem!

If I lived in the city I would be in the same boat. In fact I was considering purchasing something with a DSG box just so I could hit the auto mode and be a lazy prick.

Don't waste your money on a high end trickle charger. They all work the same.

It's hard to be a car enthusiast in SINGAPORE

Singapore Nightlife & Car Culture - Speedhunters

" For example, in North America the manufacturer suggested retail price of a Toyota GT-86 (or Scion FR-S) is US$25,900. If you were to purchase the same car in Singapore right now, it would cost around $128,000. That’s USD, not Singapore dollars! And it gets even better… You only get to have the car on the road for 10 years, unless you’re willing to pay an exorbitant amount to keep it for another decade.

It’s called a Certificate of Entitlement, or COE, and every car in Singapore requires one to be road legal. If you don’t pay and get caught, the authorities will take your car to the scrapyard and crush it.

These regulations are in place to keep the number of cars on the road to a minimum, and to ensure that the fleet is kept modern. Why is the COE so expensive? Well, the government only makes a certain number of them available, and car dealerships have to bid on them which drives up the price. Everyone has to pay the same amount as the highest bid, so it fluctuates depending on the season. At the moment a COE costs about US$60,000, but of course, it could go up even higher! "

IMO, I would say quite the opposite. I think there are a lot of big players now in the aftermarket industry in Vancouver. And being in Vancouver, it is expensive to do business. So in a way, the smaller grassroot hobbyists have been driven out but I'd say the industry now is bigger than ever before.

from car rentals & sales, to repairs, to aftermarket shops, the auto industry is thriving but much more competition makes the smaller guys call it quit.

correction - it is hard to be a car enthusiast if you're poor in singapore lol

and to address OP - i feel the same. i have no where to go to enjoy a drive. so i hardly take the car out anymore.

Did you even read the post?

The Chinese Google translator might be acting up today..

its fine I love it plenty of open windy roads around town as needed.

if you want to have a nice car meet without it getting shutdown you have to get the people to be civil first....

you want to enjoy driving and cruise? don't drive in rush hour traffic and construction zones. nobody enjoys that shit, its called a work commute.

One thing I have learned to help keep my sanity as a car enthusiast is that you need two vehicles. :jiggy:

One vehicle is your commuter, the work horse that gets your ass to work. The one where you don't care about rock chips or door dings from people with poor parking skills.

The second vehicle and any vehicle after that is your precious. wash, polish, admire, repeat.

If you use one vehicle as both your commuter and your precious. You will never escape the "wear and tear" and must accept the rock chips and dings. I also think that your mind set and driving habits are completely different when you are cruising in your commuter compared to when you are cruising in your baby. :)

Slower to react part is especially true and it pisses the fuck out of me when it takes the driver a few seconds to start moving after the light turns green.

Every single city anywhere in the world can be described the exact same way. There are both good and shit drivers everywhere. Actually I feel like Vancouver is better than a lot of places with access to amazing roads relatively close-by.

This is more of you evolving into an old crusty cunt than the actual city we live in. It's fucking awesome here.

I have this setup. It's nice to be able to chill in traffic with an auto, not worry as much about door dings, have a 4-door sedan for hauling shit, etc.

But then I have to take the fun car out just so it doesn't sit, and moving is difficult, trying to find a place where you have enough parking for both, plus gf's car.

People complain too much. Be happy you live with freedom and even a car to drive!~

I think there's plenty of amazing roads around Vancouver and the lower mainland for driving without construction and idiots. If you go driving around in the city expecting it to be free of hassle you're only kidding yourself. Driving for pleasure needs to be done away from the hustle and bustle of the city and into the mountains and country... Which we are VERY lucky to have what we have around Vancouver.

The hardest thing about being a car enthuisiest these days, are the cars are as boring as Sunday church.

Trueeee.

Hardest thing about being an enthusiast in vancouver are all the people that bitch and moan. "Ohh I got a ticket for my illegal tint", "ohh the roads are so shitty", "ohh I don't need winter tires", "Ohhh I crashed my car on the coq, now insurance won't cover me cause I didn't have winters".

I'm just as guilty as others. I plan to make a concerted effort to correct this.

for a city with shitting planning we still have it very good here
my only very minor complaint is we live in Canada so we can't enjoy canyon carving year-round...i envy those who never have to put their weekend toy away for winter storage.

Bingo! Enjoy them how you want, when you want. Daily duty in a becauseracecar modded vehicle is annoying. Rattles, testpipe smells, stiff sussy, loud exhaust, etc. Doesn't change my love for tuner cars and modding them as long as I can enjoy them when I want.

Looking at the long term, I believe vehicle ownership will become less attractive due to congestion, improved public transit, additional bike lanes, cost of fossil fuels and societies inevitable march towards the elimination of fossil fuels for passenger cars.

Additionally, vehicles are for the most part losing that analog "drivers car" feeling and engines are being neutered by emissions and sound restrictions, while there is no denying the new M3 or Golf R is fun car to drive, it would be lot more fun with an engine with character such as the RB26, 2JZ, K20A, B18C, F20C, or any of the naturally aspirated Porsche Mezger engines.

In the long term this is why I believe collector car market will suffer, I realize that's not what the market is saying today, but I do believe that day will come. There is a difference between car collectors and normal people owning collector cars - what we are seeing now is an explosion of sorts in normal people buying "collector cars", or at least paying values more consistent with something that would normally be considered a collectible.

In the long term then this is where I realize I need to make a life change, I will get back to owning a single vehicle, probably the gas sucking E92 M3, and will make an effort to build my day to day life around walking, cycling, and public transit... I will have to make the change at some point so why not start now. The only time I will take the M3 out is when I want to go for a drive an enjoy the car :)

The E92 M3 will be a cool car to own in 20 years provided you keep it in good repair, the idea of a high reving all motor 4.0 V8 might be something remarkable to future driving generations when virtually everything has gone to small displacement/turbo/electrical/hydrogen.

Ultimately I don't believe Vancouver is becoming a difficult city to be a vehicle enthusiast, I believe it is becoming more difficult in every city as a result of social evolution.

Being a car enthusiast isn't more difficult then it used to be, but to me it's harder to just go out and enjoy the car.

People's driving habits are just shit, there's accidents all over the place, construction is everywhere, and to find a nice road to enjoy you have to travel out of the city now. (Maple Ridge and further, Sea-to-Sky and beyond)

I had the passion when I didn't have to travel 30+ minutes to and from work everyday in congestion, and the passion ignites once in a while.. But lately, I just want something that will take me from A to B in this stupid stop and go traffic.