Little Car Syndrome

In Focus · 01-03-2011, 12:59 AM

I drive an LV Focus, red in colour, with after-market wheels, but no turbo badges, or any mods, obvious or not ... but every little car, and I mean little car, wants to drag me at the lights!

Getzes, Swifts, Yarises, Jazzes.

I know it's not a fast car (I mean, it's automatic and all, FFS), but it blows these cars away. Yet still they keep coming. Sometimes I don't even realise until I hear this mosquito-like buzz alongside me as some clown red-lines his Jazz in first gear, only to go into reverse when he's forced to change.

Is it just me, or do Foci in general attract attention from minnows? I never used to have the problem with the old EF 6cyl. Maybe it was too in-between: too quick for the little guys, but too small for the turbos and V8s to bother with??

DBourne · 01-03-2011, 08:13 AM

Red = fast to a lot of people
fast = challange
small car = chance

Turbodiesel · 01-03-2011, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by In Focus

Sometimes I don't even realise until I hear this mosquito-like buzz alongside me as some clown red-lines his Jazz in first gear, only to go into reverse when he's forced to change.

Hahahaha, that was funny

Zero_PSI · 01-03-2011, 11:00 AM

Surprisingly when I had my skyline nobody dared to try it on. The thing wasn't even boosted but people figured it was because it was a skyline I guess. My EF had every bogan in their commy trying to go it and now that I've got my ute the older commies don't bother...minus a VL Turbo, but a few VE SV6's and and a couple of Falcons have tried.

**DJM83** · 01-03-2011, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

Red = fast to a lot of people
fast = challange
small car = chance

Red = fast to a lot of people
fast = challange
small car = chance
In our case=they lose

Smoke Pursuit · 01-03-2011, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJM83

Red = fast to a lot of people
fast = challange
small car = chance
In our case=they lose

Lol what are we comparing to here Dallas? A 1.3 litre Swift?

**DJM83** · 01-03-2011, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DASH GT

Lol what are we comparing to here Dallas? A 1.3 litre Swift?

Oh thats a low blow

**aussiblue** · 01-03-2011, 01:47 PM

It's about which hairdresser gets to the salon first.

**DJM83** · 01-03-2011, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aussiblue

It's about which hairdresser gets to the salon first.

Yeah well looks like you will be last then.

galaxy xr8 · 01-03-2011, 01:54 PM

It's easy, Don't participate, let them be.
By the sound's of it, you like to drag them as you claim you leave them for dead and can hear them comming, so you are to blame some what, don't be tempted and you won't have the problem.

Smoke Pursuit · 01-03-2011, 02:11 PM

I had some wally in an XR5 T (2007 Focus) wanting to race the other night... im like yeeeeeer right...

So i guess it goes both ways.. Where theres a will, theres a wally too!

**DJM83** · 01-03-2011, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galaxy xr8

It's easy, Don't participate, let them be.
By the sound's of it, you like to drag them as you claim you leave them for dead and can hear them comming, so you are to blame some what, don't be tempted and you won't have the problem.

Exactly, i refuse to be 'drawn into battle' in a side street

**aussiblue** · 01-03-2011, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Yeah well looks like you will be last then

Almost certainly, but if you drive one of these smaller cars automatic bog standard cars I think you need to maintain a healthy sense of humour about the fact that critics will frequently describe these Jazzes, Yaris, Focus' and the like as "hairdresser's cars" (just Google any of these with the words "hairdresser's car") and play along with it. Especially in the circumstance of the o.p.

Similarly, as a Fairlane owner I have live and laugh with those who refer to my cars variously as "pimpmobiles", "lawn bowler's cars", "yank tanks", "dinosaurs", "the star ship enterprise" etc.

I've owned smaller humbler cars (a Mini Moke for example) and still have a 1980 LC Lancer hatchback so I know what fun such cars can be. However, I also know I would be leading with my chin to suggest I was going to be a street racing target driving any of these or even the one of my Fairlanes.

Yes, people occasionally even want to have a street race with me when I am driving my bog standard 149 EH Holden panel van with drum brakes and crossply tyres but I don't kid myself that this car is target and the last thing I would want to do is get involved (emergency braking with drum brakes, crossply tyres no brake equilisation system let alone ABS and no crumple zone is something I don't want to know about).

In any event, it's always best to let the other guy win; street racing and traffic light drags puts both licences and lives at risk.

Neale · 01-03-2011, 06:25 PM

People said that the focus is a girls car or hairdressers car (well I do shave my head myself so its kinda true, lol).

So I thought.

hey lets make the most of this. So I joined some clubs & forums that cater for them & find out that there isnt the abundance of hot chicks that own focus' that I thought just a buch of blokes.

One thing I have found out is most of the girls I know own larger cars (eg.a friend of mine (girl) owns a V8 '69 mustang drag car & an FG XR6 daily, the old boss's mrs had a SS commodore another ownes a Ranger). So im starting to thing that V8's are girls cars, ha ha ha.

In Focus · 01-03-2011, 08:04 PM

Just to clarify some things...

1. I don't race them 90% of the time. As I said, sometimes I don't even realise there is a race! That said, the Jazz who "smoked" me 3 times in 3 days, and kept weaving through traffic like he was Schumacher making a run from the back of the grid, needed to be shown who was boss on the fourth day...

2. Nothing illegal happens. I.e. I cut out at 60kph or whatever the speed limit happens to be, and there's no tyre-smoking (as hard as it is to do in FWD). A lot of the time, it involves simply applying a touch more throttle, and the "contest" is over. Sometimes, it's over before it began, because I have fairly good reflexes, and can be across an intersection before most people start moving...

3. We're going to the shops - not the hairdressers.