The joy of driving.

I’ve been reading in this forum lately about the tundra being dated and obsolete. I came from a Dakota R/T c/c 1999. It had manual windows and locks. Didn’t even have power mirrors. But boy was it fun to drive. I bought the 2021 tundra sr5 SX cause I loved the monochromatic look and the absence of badging. After the addition of the rear sway bar I think truck is fun on back roads like the R/T was. I wanted another truck cause I love v8s and body on frame construction. Always loved the Mercury marauder and impala ss because of body on frame. Not into bells and whistles. Love taking the husky in the tundra to the hardware store and dog trails. My 50 mile to work commuter car is a Scion FRS. Got it because it takes the boredom out of commute. It’s rear wheel drive( hate front wheel drive) and a 6 speed manual . It’s a very basic FRS but it’s fun to drive. A lot of the time I don’t even listen to music. Just listen to the boxer sound. Is that extra shit on a ram , Ford or Chevy going to change the driving experience. I don’t think so. Food for thought . My FRS burns $200 a month in gas. If I got rid of it and the $250 car payment I could use the tundra as a commuter vehicle . It would burn $400 in gas and I’d have $50 left over. But I don’t want to put 30k a year on my baby. When I retire in 4 years and the FRS is worn out I’ll use the tundra for my daily driver. I use tundra to drive locally and as my husky transporter.

 

All good points.

Driving can truly be a joy. I've loved it since I was 16 because it was the first real freedom on the path to adulthood. I enjoy all types. Trucks, cars, vans. Whatever, it's a freedom to move kind of thing that makes it amazing. To quote a disney pirate "Bring me that horizon."

Sticks are fun, but my hip is starting to give me fits, so I think I am just stuck in an auto for my personal vehicles. I sure to miss that 3rd pedal, and I still find my self trying to run it from time to time. Someday I'll get a fun car again, but it'll probably be a little more cushy. *looks longingly at Lexus* I've learned that I like bigger cars after having a WRX for a couple years. Total blast, miss it terribly some days, but I'd still like a little more sport luxury feel than compact-rocket-powered- grocery cart experiences.

 

I feel the same way but I get as much fun out of driving anything well put together whether sporty or not!

Thats why I really love the Tundra,it feels just tight to me every mile I drive it and is roomy and comfortable as a couch on wheels and carries what I need to boot!

Also when I get into the Toaster it feels like a Sports Toaster after the truck!

 

My wife hates the compact rocket powered grocery experience. She thinks FRS is loud,, sits to low, uncomfortable and claims she can feel the shifts. She hated the R/T too. Sat to low , blind spots etc. She does, however , like the tundra. She likes sitting high up and it’s comfortable.

 

I have a 2014 Avalon Touring Hybrid for my DD. It gets 45.3mpg since I've owned it new tracking it on fuelly.com. It's fun to drive in a different way. MPG is the challenge and I drive country roads in the morning and see maybe 2-3 cars so not a nuisance and can pick my speed and acceleration. It's a comfortable car for commutes and nice features for trips. On trips I average 42-43mpg on the highway. Great car to have if gas spikes again. Only 50k on it so far an relatively trouble free with the exception of a few interior and trim issues when brand new. The powertrain is awesome. If Toyota can put a Hybrid powertrain in the Tundra that performs as good as the Avalon powertrain that would be awesome. No belt, AC, PS, water pump, Brake Vac, all electric. Brake rotors/pads hardly get used with regenerative braking and some owners have way over 100k on original brakes still going strong. The engine being assisted by the high torque electric drive gets a light load and about 25-30% of the time runs on electric for my commute. The Electronic CVT transmissions are bullet proof and super smooth. There is no starter, starts off the Traction battery spinning the drive. Taxi drivers in NYC have recorded well over 200k on the Avalon Hybrids without battery issues.

I love the V-8 in the Tundra and try not to think about mpg and just enjoy it on the weekends and family trips boating and snowmobiling. Strange mix in vehicles but my Tundra is my weekend fun car and miss my 2010, but just breaking in the 2020. This will be my retirement Truck in a few years and put only 4-6k/year on it. Maybe more when retired; maybe less who knows. I used to Drive small cars most of my younger days and at 6-2" finally enjoy some bigger vehicles. It would be hard to go back.

 

Seger said it best! "Listen to the engine moanin out its one note song"

 

There’s something to be said about the joy of driving. Some folks just use a vehicle to get from point A to point B, which is fine. But I truly love driving, and it’s the reason I’m in my Tundra. Loved my 4.7 4Runner. Hated my 3.5 Tacoma because it was such a slug. Now I’m back in a V8 where I belong and loving it.

 

Hell yeah turn it up!!

 

If only they offered the Tundra with a manual transmission!

 

My dad was a real gearhead in his younger days. He drove lots of hot rods and motorcycles over the years, the pinnacle of which to us both was a 1969 Olds 442 that he raced his friends with in high school. Drove it HARD. Rebuilt his 4-speed every other weekend. He had many other vehicles...always seemed to favor Camaros, Chevelles, Firebirds...vehicles from GM’s golden years. I spent hours with him in the garage, trying to find the right wrench for him while he was under one of these many cars that passed through our lives.

One time, he dropped a Buick 455 Wildcat engine into a ‘76 Camaro just to see how fun it would be to drive. He said it was incredible, but on his first turn at 90mph (my dad has always been pretty crazy), that iron big block warped the Camaro’s subframe. He junked the car, and that engine hung on some chains from a rafter in our old garage for years until he gave up trying to find another car to put it in and sold it off.

Well, when I was 6 or 7, he and my mom came across a 1967 Camaro for cheap and decided to park it for me in a barn on my great aunt’s farm. On my 16th birthday, Dad and I resurrected that car. I cleaned the dust off the windshield and the mouse turds off the seats and followed Dad home in it. I was immediately hooked. What a first car. 327 and a 2-speed powerglide automatic. Dad and I rebuilt the Quadrajet (affectionately known as the Quadrajunk to us), and he paid a muffler shop to install a new dual exhaust for me. Such a blast to drive. I traded it for a 1970 Olds 442 my senior year. Had to be like Dad, ya know? THAT car was terrifyingly fast. In a straight line, anyway. I once pegged the speedometer and then some on the west side of Topeka, KS, after taking the spare out of the trunk and the passenger and rear seats out to relieve some weight. Unbelievably stupid. I no longer own either of those cars, and with the way I drove them, I’m just glad to be alive today.

It’s weird to say it, especially with the plethora of fast and high performance autos out there, but my Tundra is the the only other vehicle I’ve owned since that is fun in the same way those old muscle cars were. I love driving, and I really love driving my Tundra. Especially with all the nannies off.

Also, as a musician in Nashville, I work for some really wealthy people at times. One guy I recently played on a record for has a fleet of European super cars. A month ago, he let me drive his Ferrari 488 and his Aston Martin V12-equipped DB11.

Holy crap. That was incredible. That Ferrari was so sensitive in every way—gas, brake, steering...it was like I could just breathe on it, and it would respond. It was like flying. That’s the closest I’ll ever come to being a fighter pilot. I didn’t stop grinning for a week.

I could never bring myself to spend that kind of money on a car, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t built and priced a couple of C8 Corvettes on Chevy’s website since driving those cars, haha!

 

State bureaucrats claim that driving is a privilege and not a right. I reject this notion wholeheartedly. In the early 1900's traveling by way of an automobile was only available to the very well off and privileged. That was until Henry Ford designed a car for the common man at a price they could easily afford. I was lucky enough to grow up in the 80's where i had the opportunity to own some great vehicles including Chevelle's, GTO's, and Corvettes. All those cars are now gone, but i still have a 25 Model T that we drive during the summer. Its a tribute to simpler times that my wife will have to sell after I'm gone.

 

Love driving and building things to drive around. I have a pretty basic SR5 Tundra and it feels like a luxury mobile compared to my previous daily much fancier (especially touchscreens) is just too much.

 

Without directly revealing my name, I will just say the radio. Country and CCM mostly. I’m on records by Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Chris Janson, Sam Hunt, Steven Tyler, Hillsong United, Cain, etc... lots more I’m forgetting.

 

I picked up my 2007 because it is a V8 body on frame rear wheel drive vehicle, and then I made a few changes to enhance the driving experience... it's one of those vehicles I just love to drive with no particular destination in mind.

Buying a car is not an option.

 

Lucky dog you have a regular cab I wanted one. No longer made. My curb weight is 5360 so I have one of the lighter double cabs. I also wanr to improve handling on my SX.

 

Are you a singer or instrumentalist? I play bass clarinet / clarinet in a local orchestra . I play bass clarinet / baritone sax in the community band . I substitute on alto tenor or baritone sax with swing fever a local big band. Sadly COVID took all this away. I own sopranino through bass sax. I just got a bass sax this year. Love it! Besides my tundra one of the only things good that happened this year.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I love this forum. This has been the worst year of my life. Colon cancer( surgery and chemotherapy), death of my mother, suicide attempt by my youngest daughter, destruction of my Dakota r/t, plus loss of my extracurricular band/orchestra activities because of COVID. But I’m still doing well and trying to make my own happiness. This forum brings me happiness . Love reading about everyone’s rides.

 

Not to Hi-Jack a thread, I think you are Michael W. Smith.
Just saying.

 

Back in the day, my dad and grandfather did a kind of race where they each drove the same section of highway between town and the turn to their farm separately then compared their top speeds afterwards. My dad's stock 74 Firebird (400 CI engine making 190 hp) got to about 70 mph. My grandfather's Olds Delta 88 hit 100.

 

Sorry to hear about all that. It was a year of ups and downs over here too. Got my Tundra and went to Hawaii with the wife in January where we found out she was pregnant. Daughter was born in September. Then I got laid off in November after having to replace a couple expensive appliances in our house this year.

But life always seems to go like that. Two years ago, my wife and I took possession of our house (first house we bought together after getting married) on the day of my grandfather's funeral.

 

I’m sorry to hear that. And I hate that our response to covid took away most of my friends’ entire livelihoods.

For the very few of us in the studio scene, the year could not have been busier. All artists in town from independents to the biggest names on record label rosters are releasing content because they can at least make money on streaming even if they aren’t able to tour. And streaming, even though no one makes what they should from it, is way up this year.

I have been extremely blessed to do well enough to take care of my family through all this, buy a truck, and give back through some non-profits (most notably my church) that are targeting out-of-work musicians for relief.

 

I had a Miata for years as my daily driver, got 28-30mpg despite beating the hell out of it regularly. They are very fun cars. My Tundra is fun to drive in a different way, like a giant couch. Awful on backroads but going offroad with it is a joy. That or just stepping on the pedal, V8 torque is always a good time. Its awful on gas but I could never drive a regular commuter car. I consider the extra expenditure just spending more on my hobby.

 

That is a rough ride for sure, Toolaholic. Positive thoughts and prayers your way

 

Woof. 1973/1974 was the beginning of a very sad time for performance cars

 

And yet my dad really liked that car. A lot more than his 1980 Firebird, anyway.

 

I had a 1970 Olds 98LS with that 455 Rocket Motor and that was a huge Pig Luxo-Barge but it could move like you would not believe when pushed!

Also had a 1970 Cutlass with the 350 and it was a great driver but after these they ruined the performance of most of the cars that would carry the same name when the Oil Embargo made it to the front of the Headlines.

It really has not been the same since.

 

I believe the Pontiac 455-SD was the only true muscle car motor available during those two years.