@Sacto Mitch posted:.
I like to tell myself I'm not turning into that wrinkly gent in the straw skimmer hunched over the wheel and squinting out the windscreen, with only foggy notions of where the road ahead might lie.
But, slowly, I guess that could be happening to me.
Whatever the reason, this is the first sporting machine I've owned in which I'm not crawl-the-walls impatient if the way forward is blocked by one of those gents - under the speed limit and still lighting the brake lights at every corner. These days, I just back off, drop down a gear, and enjoy the view or the weather.
Some of us obsess about infusing modern performance into our ancient cars. I can still have some fun in finding its modest limits and staying close to them as long as possible. With my swing axles, there's a narrow space between wheels sliding and wheels tucking that's a game of its own to explore.
Inevitably, there's the hoonigan in the lowered Type R or the fart-canned M3 suddenly in my mirror, but I no longer take up the challenge. I wait for the next corner and sometimes surprise them by not braking at all and using the gearbox to control speed, get the weight shifted aft, and powering through with a hint of a drift. It's amazing how often they're 10 car lengths back coming out. A lot of them haven't yet discovered there are other controls in a car that can help forward progress besides the go pedal.
Like Dave, going fast doesn't thrill me like it used to. Life is short.
And shorter every day.
.
That's exactly where I am at this point. I don't think it is going gently into that good night, it's more about the things that used to bother or drive me don't have as strong a hold as they used to.
Like I said earlier, @MusbJim has got it going on. Enjoying life without being at war with it has it's benefits!