The limited-traction manifesto

[Evan Bottcher]

We're in the middle of a short driving tour around North Island NZ, and I rented a cheap and sh*t car.  I took the fine advice from Sheldon McIntosh to get the smallest car with the smallest capacity engine, then flog the hell out of it.  The 2007 1.6 Kia Rio hatch costs about $50 per day with maximum insurance.  It doesn't always start the first time, and it makes a couple of interesting clunks from the front end but otherwise it's a perfectly reasonable (if extremely ugly) car.  It's honest with no sporting pretence, but goes surprisingly well when pushed.  It's running on mixed korean and chinese tyres, which are noisy as hell and squeal like a pig in hairpins.

This got me thinking.  It's 2015, speed limits are tightly enforced and the penalties are harsh - most of us just can't afford to go fast.  So why do we need all that wide sticky rubber?  In this sh*t Kia with limited traction, I've had a hoot - you actually have to drive the car, think about corners and lines in advance (just about any corner), and balance the car with smooth inputs to  corner quickly.  Driving can be a fun thing, even at or below the speed limit.

I occasionally earn a drive of my in-law's 1965 Giulia Super on original steel 15" rims and skinny tyres.  It handles great, but it's definitely a very engaging driving experience when trying to drive quickly.  Compare that to a modern car with power steering and wide alloy wheels and at the same speeds it's kind of dull.

So anyway I reckon I'll leave the little skinny 13" tyres on our Alfasud, and just have some fun trying to drive the crap out of it.

(Photo attached is of the sh*t Kia on the Coromandel Peninsula)

[jazig.k]

Point well made...

How about this? Drives slow, shit road-tyre contact patch... Added road obstacles like cats eyes and dead animals who threaten to tear off your bumpers...