YoanGeorgiev, ENG101,
Fall 2013, Filitsa Mullen,
11.12.2012, Comparative essay
Dream car
Since I was a little kid I’ve always liked cars. When I grew up and went in high school my fascination with them became much stronger as I went on the internet and read about them. After some time I met a guy who introduced me to the car scene in my city and with that my diagnose as a petrolhead was signed. After that my life changed dramatically as I met more and more people who loved cars as much as me. One day a friend of mine called me to come see him, he was at some car repair shop. When I went there I met him, he told me to come and check out something – it was a BMW M3 E30. At that point of my life I didn’t knew that much about it, but when I saw it I knew this was THE car. After I that I read a lot about it and its history in racing and with everything I know so far about it – it is my dream car.
The BMW M3 started as laws of racing at the time required at least 500 cars that are the same as the ones that are in the rally to be sold to the public. It immediately became popular because of its balance. In racing the balance of the car is everything and this BMW has it all – it is very lightweight, has 50/50 weight distribution which is perfect, its engine is very light, and also powerful. The thing about this car, that makes it not only mine, but many other people’s dream car is this balance that was never achieved before and has not been achieved after. It also has no electronic assistance programs which were introduced in the years after and in my opinion, take away the fun from driving – they remove the connection between the man and the machine which, if you’ve felt it, is like nothing else. At last the M3 is my dream car not only for its track performance, but because you can daily drive it. It has rear seats, quite big boot, its gas consumption is not that high, and also has air conditioning and leather seats.
After two crashed cars – one of them being a BMW E30 my father decided to buy me an economy class car – the VW Polo. In comparison to the BMW it doesn’t have anything related with racing. However I like it, it’s nowhere near my dream car, but it is 4 years old which is very good giving the fact that the M3 is 25. The main feature of my current car is it’s fuel consumption – 4l/100km. This is due the fact that its engine, unlike the BMWs which was made in the“Motorsport Techik” factory, is built from a lawnmower one and has never smelt racing, in fact it is smaller than a bottle of water, and also runs on diesel – fuel originally for trucks and tractors only. The VW’s top speed is 180km/h but only on downhill and in cold weather (cold air is denser which gives more power to turbocharged engines), which isn’t even close to the 260 the BMW can pull off. The Polo’s acceleration to 100km/h is so slow that it is measured in calendar years. However despite all the facts that it is slow and ugly, part of me likes it because it’s easy to park and cheap to run.
Finally, I think that I should never daily drive the BMW. If I, at some point of my life, have one, it should be driven only for fun, because driving it every day will shatter the image of this car. Whatever happens my passion for cars will never die. If it somehow disappears I will not be the same person anymore as it is one of the biggest parts of my life.