After having my car for 5 years, I found out how hard they really are to drive...
1. The blind spots are absolutely TERRIBLE!!!!! Right hand lane changes can only be made on hopes and prayers. Luckily, my car had electric mirrors, so I was able to use my passanger side mirror joystick, to sweep the mirror left & right checking for any possible traffic before executing a right lane change. Of course this meant I had to allow time to prepare for this and I never could make a "sudden" lane change.
2. Car was low. My Viper is lowered a few inches, but the C/T was terrible for getting in and out of tight banks. The wheel base makes a difference in the front area. I had to plan trips out much more on that car, than I do with the lowered Viper.
3. If the car flipped upside down, your doors don't open.... They don't open out like normal car doors. Unfortunately this is the case with Diablos and Murcis too.... However, because of the physics of the cars, they normally don't flip.
4. Impossible to back up into a parking spot. If you ever see a C/T owner backing into a parking spot, you will see him sitting on the left side "sill" area, hanging half his body out of the car while strategically maneuvering his feet and hands to work the gas, clutch, brake and steering. Quite entertaining actually.
I learned allot about driving and watching others. Anticipating their move and paying attention to how many cars were around me and who was driving those cars. Was it a soccer mom in a mini van, an elderly man in a Cadillac, or a young teenager, creeping up on my left in his Honda civic after he just flew by that mustang on 20's.... These are the things you learn to pay attention to and anticipate their next move. When you drive a car like that, you aren't just driving for yourself, you are also driving for all the cars around you, for your own protection. Most of the time, people didn't even see me. I'm 6ft tall and when I stood up beside my car, I could take my hand, slide it across the top of the roof toward my body and keeping my hand level, as I bring it in toward me, my hand was directly at my belt line. YES, I'm serious, the car IS that low (waist high) and people do not see you half the time. I once got a trophy at a car show and the trophy is about 2 inches taller than the cars roof. I realized what it must be like as a motorcycle rider because people do not see you.... now I pay much more attention more to bikes on the road.
These are just a few things I could think of, to give you an idea of what it's like driving a car like that in typical driving conditions.
THE VIPER IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH MORE USER FRIENDLY IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY.
RayG - I'm with you if I get a chance.
