coming home from adsa this evening I spy a 7 at the end of my road. I pull over and say hello. turns out the bloke lives a few hundred yards down the road so we chat for a couple of minutes. his is a Kawasaki mk Indy, I'm building a haynes roadster.

he offers me a quick run out as a passenger and foolishly I say yes. I'd forgotten how bad a passenger I am...

I think he got to 2nd gear before I grabbed his arm and tried to scream ' do you mind pulling over so I can hop out' through the side of his crash hat! He must have thought me a complete pillock, but he swung the car round at the end of the road and dropped me off about 60 seconds after we'd set off!! I apologised repeatedly I think he was fairly bemused by me basically shitting myself!

it was only the second time I'd been in a 7, and the first time I'd ever been in a bec, but I'm now wondering if I'll actually want to DRIVE my car once I've built it???!!!

in hindsight I may have been better with a driver I'd actually known, this guy was/ is a complete stranger which didn't click through until he started the engine, but is anyone else equally terrified as a passenger in a 7?

I drove mine on the road today for the first time in maybe 7 years, you feel like you are travelling far faster than you really are so very easy to feel scared.

Once you settle in its all good

jps,

I'm a crap passenger in other peoples cars but am fine in my own BEC. However I wouldn't like to be a passenger in it

smitht82, his car looked very similar to the one in your avatar..! but in green...

as I clambered out I said to him I probably wouldn't be bricking it if I were holding the steering wheel but it was unbelievable how it felt when he stepped on it. he even said he only got up to about 6000rpm, I guess bec are made to rev closer to 10k??!!

quote:

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Originally posted by jps
smitht82, his car looked very similar to the one in your avatar..! but in green...

as I clambered out I said to him I probably wouldn't be bricking it if I were holding the steering wheel but it was unbelievable how it felt when he stepped on it. he even said he only got up to about 6000rpm, I guess bec are made to rev closer to 10k??!!

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And the real fun don't start till 8k

max power way above 10k

the only way to combat anxiety/fear is to stay in the situation that you feel unsafe in. maybe you would have felt more safe if he hadn't gone of like a bat out of hell! Gradual exposure training sounds like the answer to your problem here.

mine scares the crap out of me every time i drive it. the day it stops doing that i either make it faster or get rid of it.


simply put! if it doesn't scare you its not fast enough

I hate being a passenger with someone who i don't trust as a driver or someone who i feel is going to drive fast just to impress me.

I suggest either asking him for another ride but take it easy or find someone on here that will break you in gently.

These things are fast, and becs sound like they are going twice the speed they really are. My cec feels a lot slower than my bec due to sensory overload but I know they are very closely matched.

The few times I let other people drive my Indy with me as a passenger I really didn't enjoy it. A combination of not being in control, no wheel to hang on to, exposed position and a driver not knowing the car. One work pal in particular just would not listen when I repeatedly tried to convey the fact the brakes were non servo and there was no abs, he just didn't understand. He ended up with a very short go in it!

I just don't ride pillion on motorbikes as I am to frightened. I am happy to ride them but not pillion. Last time I did I strained every muscle in my legs by clenching them through the entire experience.

I wouldn't worry about it; I get very uncomfortable being a passenger in my wife's people carrier and that's got to be one of the dullest cars in the world.
I doubt I could cope being driven around in a 7.

It'll be totally different when you're driving one. When you're in control you can scare yourself as much or as little as you want!

[Edited on 6/7/13 by skov]

i'm no passenger as well ,same on bikes everyone seems to want to impress me , goes back to when i used to race bikes , everybody thinks they can ride faster on the road , different thing on track though , i still wont go out on track at side of my son for same reason

I am the same go out in the r1 indy and don't really feel as scared as the tintop focus diesel, you know how well they handle with r888s on and inspire u with confidence when u drive them, however in my mates zx10r turbo indy r as a passenger its very scary, however his mk is 350bhp at the rear wheels, it effin mental, have drove it myself and is less scary to drive than be passenger, been in some very quick cars (metro6r4 450bhp and a 500bhp escort cossie) but never been in anything like his mk, its the one built by paul fisher/sean indybird and his brother makes my r1 feel slow though. the zx10r turbo is going up for sale soon so he tells me, whoever buys it will be blown away it is a serious weapon.

Well - glad it's not just me! Thanks for the reassurance chaps!

Now I just need to build the damn car!!!

my first '7' experience was at Mallory Park in 'yellowcabs' Busa MK> I can honest say I've never been as scared in my life.... I'd love to say it was just because I was a passenger but haven't passed my IVA yet so dunno :p

Fortunately, I passenger very well, so much so that we were coming up to a wet bend at Donny with my mate driving my Westfield. Having drove round there about 5 mins earlier I knew he'd overcooked it about 3 seconds before he got to the bend! I sat there and was giggling to myself! Sure enough, we span off at about 70mph where the grass does nothing to slow you down. He was far more scared than me!

As for people I have taken out, I had one woman who bricked it before I even got to 50mph! Whereas another bird I took out just grinned despite subjecting her to an 8 second 0-100 run!

Of course, you can let the Mrs drive you too...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3pJ9AuWqHw

[Edited on 9/7/13 by Rocket_Rabbit]

When I first went out in a Caterham with a friend of my mum's I was bricking it for the first 5 minutes whilst my senses re-calibrated to what was going on. Then I started grinning like a loon. The first time I ever drove my BEC once it was MOT'd was only in a straight line for maybe 400 yards, but I decided "Sod it, let's see how this really feels" and gave it full throttle. Despite scaring myself silly, I don't think I stopped giggling for about a month!!

Oh, one other thing to remember when driving in the dry. The first few times you will back off waaayyyy before the car will. This does not apply in the snow however.

I was at Newark quite a while ago, when Jon Ison was giving rides in his 'Isonblade' for forum members. Took me out and it was probably the fastest car I'd ever been in - certainly the fastest accelerating and cornering! Fortunately it was clear from the start that Jon is a very competent driver who knew his car, so I felt no fear - but it was exhilarating and EVERYBODY who came back from a trip said the same thing; "Wow! That was terrifying/exciting - I want one of these!"

In my case, my car building was in the doldrums and this gave me the motivational kick to get it finished.