Supercar ownership begets a super attitude

In this day and age, the Filipino consumer is spoiled with choices. In the automotive industry, we are experiencing a golden age as well. There’s a huge plethora of cars available for all segments—from super affordable, fuel miserly cars to ultrahigh-performance supercars and exotics. The choices and options are limited only by your budget and imagination.

 

But are we ready for it? Or specifically, are we, as a motorized nation, ready for all these modern, high-tech and high-performance vehicles?

 

An accident in Makati a few nights ago involving a wealthy restaurateur, who was driving an Italian exotic and who seriously injured a bystander, and a similar incident a year earlier on Skyway involving a supercharged muscle car, which killed and injured government workers on their way to check on traffic during the Holy Week exodus, beg this question.

 

In the late ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and early to mid 2000s, the vast majority of cars offered for sale in our country were front-wheel-drive, low-powered, relatively simple and modestly performing cars. Sure, there were splashes of high-performance goodness such as modified Lancer Evolutions, Subaru STIs and the odd exotic, the vast majority of which were grey-market imports with questionable tax payments. Not everyone could afford to buy one, have the skills and experience to drive and maximize the performance envelope, and possess the courage to blast down the highways and byways with reckless abandon.

 

Oversteer,  an alien idea

 

We  are a motoring country, honed and trained to drive entry-level, fuel-efficient front-wheel econoboxes for the most part. The odd RWD (rear-wheel-drive) cars for sale (base model BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes) also had modest power outputs. Oversteer was an alien idea to Filipinos.

 

Nowadays, it’s vastly different. A quick count in my head showed well over a dozen cars readily available in our local market, which are capable of exceeding 300 kilometers per hour and/or sprinting to 100 kph from rest in well under 4 seconds. These include the Nissan R35 GTR, Porsche 911 Turbo, Ferrari F458 Italia, Ferrari F12, Audi R8 V10, Lamborghini Gallardo, Lamborghini Aventador, Rolls-Royce Wraith, Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur, BMW M5 and M6, Audi RS4 and RS6 (the last four saloon-based performance cars need but a simple upgrade from the factory to derestrict their speed limits).

 

Some cars, with light modifications, can also step up to this level. Chief of which is the eponymous muscle car, the Ford Mustang GT500. Autoplus Sportzentrium and its mad magician Francisco “Pacho” Blanco can eke out an easy 150- to 200-horsepower gain on this supercharged V8 muscle car with simple bolt-ons and electronic tuning. It’s the same story with the budget performance cars from Subaru (WRX STI and BRZ) and Toyota’s 86—a few hundred thousand  pesos in modifications see them doubling their output yet still maintaining everyday reliability, attaining speeds close to 270 kph.

 

Need for A-game

 

Yet, how many among you have any real experience with a powerful, RWD performance car? Sure, it’s a fun, out-of-this-world experience and is very different from the usual FWD econoboxes. But you need to bring your A-game, full attention, focus and concentration when driving one of these cars. I’ve had enough scary experiences with my own RWD Toyota Supra: tires lighting up when I let go of the clutch a bit late when stepping on the gas, the rear end stepping out while accelerating hard on a straight line because the tires were still cold  and accidentally drifting through a corner when applying the gas a little too early. Sounds gloriously fun; but in truth, it’s a balls-in-the-mouth moment when you’re not expecting it.

 

So if you’re moving up from a normal, modestly powered front-wheel or even RWD car that has a power output below 200 HP, you’re in for a very rude wake-up call. The driving dynamics are different, the feel is different, the way the car behaves is very different: alert sometimes aloof at low to medium speeds, and very sensitive to road and weather conditions as well. If the car is mid- or rear-engined, the difference in feel and behavior is even greater. The only thing these supercars and exotics have in common with your garden-variety family sedan are four wheels and little else. For the uninitiated, these supercars can also be very tiring to drive as they require loads of concentration and focus just to keep straight. Here are some information I’ve gleaned through the years.

 

A RWD car will easily lose its traction over the rear-driven wheels when the tires aren’t inflated to their optimal pressure and have yet to reach the designated operating temperature window. A powerful RWD car also doesn’t like surfaces which are uneven, slippery  or dusty/ sandy/dirty, especially when the tires aren’t warm yet or are under- (as is often the case due to neglect) or over-inflated.

 

Many of these high-performance cars also utilize road-legal intermediate race tires such as Michelin’s Pilot Sport Cup tires or Pirelli’s P-Zero Corsa tires. These tires are great on the track and dry weather conditions, but perform very poorly until they are properly warmed up. They also have a general dislike for wet roads, offering traction poorer than cheap, budget tires. These high-performance cars also usually ride on 9.5-inch or wider tires (usually up to 12 inches wide) with a section width of 275 millimeters to 335 mm: looks great, has oodles of grip in the dry, but very prone to tram-lining (when the tires follow the grooves or imperfections on the road) and aqua-planing (when water on the road’s surface creates a slick layer, preventing tires from gripping the road properly and causing the car to float above the road with no control).

 

Rarely used

 

Tommy Teng, proprietor and head tuner at DTM Motorsports in Bonifacio Global City, a one-stop servicing, repair and tuning shop which specializes in high-performance sports cars and exotics, says  the vast majority of exotics and high-performance cars on the road are actually rarely used, usually seeing action only on Sundays and holidays.

Thus, they often have tires that are very old and past due (usually over five years of age), and underinflated. The wheels may not be aligned properly. Many of them  have brake fluid which is  past due for  changing—brake fluid absorbs liquid over time and, if unchanged, can severely lessen braking performance. High-performance cars are very sensitive to these aspects because they can have catastrophic effects while on the road.

 

Carlos Gono, head honcho of Autoplus Sportzentrium, the Philippine’s premier sports/ race and tuning outfit and dealer principal of Motul Philippines, is officially the country’s fastest man, having clocked over 330.7 kph in his 1,000-HP Ford GT supercar. He knows cars and superhigh speeds very well.

He offers three driving tips for aspiring supercar owners. First is to know your limitations as a driver, Gono says. Most accidents involving supercars have  drivers who have very limited skills and experience. They cannot handle the power, speed and performance of their supercars. Second, when tuning it, Gono suggests to tune the car at a level where you can control and handle the car confidently. And third, you must know and trust your mechanic or whoever is maintaining, fixing and tuning your car. Poor-quality work leads to mechanical trouble which can cause an accident.

 

Proper driving

 

JP Tuason of Tuason Racing School  offers another interesting tip: The best upgrade anyone can make is proper driver training. You can spend hundreds of thousands modifying your car, or tens of millions buying the latest, most high-tech exotic. But without proper driving skills and technique, you won’t be able to maximize the car’s performance, your driving pleasure and, crucially, the safety of yourself, your car and the people you share the road with.

Sports car dealerships such as Audi, Porsche, BMW M, Mercedes-Benz/AMG, Jaguar, Ferrari and Maserati usually offer track days and driving events with instructors to teach people how to maximize their car’s performance. It’s a great time to learn about driving as well.

 

So before buying a supercar, know your limits, freshen up on your skills, enroll in a high-performance driving course and, most of all, enjoy. Respect your supercar  and, please, focus on the road and your driving. Don’t drive drunk or show off to your friends your questionable driving.