Mechanical Sympathy

I think there are people in this world with a mental rev limiter when it comes to vehicles. You know deep down things could fail at any point. The people with that mental limiter would think of that and back off the throttle a little, people without would Fred Flintstone their foot through the floor and push on.

I am one of the rev limited people. I see people at the local race track launch their Subarus and I cringe waiting for the transmission to go KABOOM. My friend used to have a five speed Civic EX. That poor, poor car. It was beaten relentlessly. To my surprise, it never quit. The Civic was slammed on Raceland coilovers. My favorite memory was pulling into a steep driveway at about 20 mph and feeling the floor crumple underneath my feet. Great car. He bounced that little 1.7 liter on its rev limiter for minutes at a time. I know I couldn't do that. I don't have the balls to not give a shit and beat on my car.

My daily driver is a 2003 Legacy wagon (dubbed the daddy wagon). It isn't a race car and I know this. I have never launched it once. My friend with the Civic had, the first and only time that car has been and will be he was the pilot. I cringed in pain imagining the stress on the axles and transmission.

My project car is a 1966 Dodge Coronet. Its got some upgrades to its lazy 318 but I beat on her a every now and then. After a summer filled with drag races and burnouts she started to limp. Something is going in the transmission (maybe the bands) it lurches forward when you begin to drive. That's what I get, I decide to romp on it a little but and I get a wounded tranny.

I know another guy who shall remain nameless and car-less who had us going 111 mph in an older vehicle. He had some big gonads, let me tell you. That car ran like a top at 111, it was quiet, controlled, and did not overheat. Once again, I could never do that for fear of engine eruption.

I wish I could be one of those people who don't give a shit. I might enjoy cars a little more if I got to take them to the limits. I just feel bad when I beat the hell out of them. In the movie War Horse, World War I soldiers had to use horses to haul their machinery and they worked them until they died. Instead of that I like to use them in kinder ways. Maybe I'll let off the gas at 5000 rpm and keep the head gaskets healthy in my Subaru. In some ways, I think my car thanks me for it. Maybe in the winter, my battery doesn't die. It would be the car's way of saying, "Hats of to you chap for not beating me senseless."  Reward it with oil changes on time and throw some goodies at it, a new shift knob or a bath. I believe in karma and all that, so automotive karma maybe? Treat your car as you would want to be treated.