hey now sacicons, i'm only 17 but i can apex turns and heel-toe downshift with the best of 'em. never been in an accident either

but anyway JW2501, good to see you're getting into the sport at a youing age. if you're really getting interested, what i would do before my license was go to a barnes and noble for a few hours on a saturday and just read. you can teach yourself what you need to know about turbo's, s/c's, honda engine models, fuel regualation, suspension, driving skil, etc. it helped me to get a start into cars. by the way, are you in the twin cities area of MN?

 

also consider taking some automotive classes. i'm in one now and i'm learning more than ever about everything. it rules.

-B

 

good advice. you have to do a lot of reading to learn your way around cars.

but i meant the risk assesment part of driving, not the ability part. i know kids whove been driving those little shifter karts since they could sit in the seat and they have more ability than some of the veteran racers out there. its just the fact that you (generally speaking) dont see the risks involved until that part of your brain develops, so its better to start out with a little bit slower car, then mod it to go faster as you improve as a driver, not only in ability to drive, but in the ability to weigh risks too. and there are always exceptions to the rule, but this is generally speaking. and to prove my point, where did you learn to heel-toe? on the street or on the track?


oh, and to clear it up, im not all high and mighty, i do all the stupid stuff like that on the street too, its just that its better to learn it in a controlled enviroment.

 

i learned around a little track setup in an empty parking lot, but i applied it to this fun little windy one-way pass up a hill near my cousins house. that road makes me wish i still had a rwd car. but an another note, i definately know what you're saying. the trend of kids my age is to think they're invincible. i luckily know my cars limits very well so i know how far to push it and when to back down. but to prove your point theres a senior at my school whos parents bought him an STI and he totalled it the first two months by spinning out on the freeway, dumbass...

 

dont parents test drive a car before they give it to their teenagers? what the hell. if i drove an STI, theres no way id give it to my kid. geez, you can tell just by flooring it once that its not a good idea.

 

i know, its f-ing rediculous. especially because he'd already totalled a volvo before that. and even if your parents were stupid enough to buy you an STI, one would think that you would take a hell of alot better care of it. i'd baby the thing

 

I know the feeling, I knew some kid that had a hummer, an H1! His dumbass got it sunk in a creek because he 'thought' his hummer can go across a muddy creek ridden marsh a mile long to another island. Guess what, he has a new hummer.

 

a real Hummer? it shouldnt have gotten stuck. those things can go anywhere but 60 mph. he must be an idiot.

 

LOL. awww... come on sac don't u think a kid should have some fun? LOL. nowadays u see in high skool parking lots not pintos or old skool beetles but camaros, mercedes, hell, a kid even brought in a supra. but yes, i would not let my kid drive an STI.

-B

 

my kids gonna drive a POS until they thrash it, and if it takes long enough to thrash it, then they can get a nicer one. but almost everyone i knew growing up thrashed the hell out of their first one, then calmed down a little.