Spouse Behind the Wheel

[Bobby Doug]

How many of you have spouses who drive the FFR? If so how much? Solo?

[Toy4me]

Nope. She is terrified of the car. She is welcome to drive it but she would be afraid she would do something to it or wreck it.

[Gumball]

My wife has a snotty '67 Camaro with a 396 and an old school Muncie four speed. Whenever I offer the FFR to her, she reminds me that she is quite happy with her car. Hers is a handful, but I think deep down the FFR scares her.

[wareaglescott]

My wife can't even drive a manual transmission! I'm fine with that.
She will enjoy riding.

[CVOBill]

When I built my Roadster in 2003 my wife would drive it a little. She took one of her friends to lunch in it and her friend said "all of the guys are checking us out" My wife told her their looking at the car not us. I don't have the car or the wife anymore but that story never gets old.

Bill

[edwardb]

My wife won't drive ours. The word "never" is always in the response when I offer. We've had a couple manual shift DD's in our time, so that part isn't foreign. But I do think she's a little afraid of it. Plus maybe afraid of my reaction if something should go wrong. But I don't know why she would think that. The only ones who've ever driven mine have been our two sons. Both grown and experienced drivers.

[Jeff Kleiner]

She has been saying she will for almost 10 years but it still hasn't happened.

I can think of 8 others who have all driven mine on track or autocrossing. I tried to make that number 9 a couple years ago---Dave Smith and I were battling it out for fast time at the LCS autocross (he was in the factory Coyote Mk4) and every time he'd improve on his time I would go out and beat him. I finally told him "Let's trade and we'll find out if it's the car or the driver" . Couldn't get him to bite...

Jeff

[wallace18]

My wife has driven all my FFR cars. She loved the 33 the best. She prefers me to drive but can drive anything if she needs to.

[AC Bill]

[QUOTE=CVOBill;275609 I don't have the car or the wife anymore but that story never gets old. Bill[/QUOTE]

So she got the car..? That's because you let her drive it..lol

[CVOBill]

No the car was gone before her. lol

Bill

[Martin]

Mine won't be on the road for another month. My wife has renamed the passenger seat as "your seat". I think I'll be fighting her to drive it.

I thought she was a keeper, but after she pulled that one on me....

Martin

[Misterfubar]

Once mine is finished and she is comfortable driving it, she is welcome to it whenever she wants.

[bobl]

My wife has driven mine a couple of times. Even go karted it first. But, I think she'd rather ride. Certainly not afraid. Last week she rode in a Challenge car on the race track(as did I) running pretty much as hard as it would go. Couldn't wipe the grin off of either one of our faces.

[CRZN 427]

My first Cobra kit was an LAExotics with a 390 and automatic that I built in '94. My wife drove that car several times and took a couple friends for lunch rides as well. Since I've had the FFR on the road she hasn't driven it yet. Her major concern is the forward pointing shifter and that she would not find the right gears. I've tried to convince her that once she does shift there won't be any confusion. She has agreed to a test drive in the near future. All of her cars have been manual shift so she isn't concerned with that aspect of it.

Regards, Rick.

[Bobby Doug]

I put this Thread out here as my wife wants to drive it. Her DD is a Honda CRV and Honda Accords before it. I am getting ours inspected Friday and should be able to tag it the same day. My concern is that I don't think she respects the ability of the car. I had her read the Thread entries for new owners and those thinking of becoming an owner of one. I did not get a warm fuzzy when I asked her what she thought, not one word about this Car can and will kill you if you don't respect it. With power steering the car is very responsive to just the smallest input on the steering wheel. I am going to delay her long enough till I feel competent regarding the capabilities of the car, then I am going to give her a small sample of what the car is capable of doing in straight line acceleration. Feel free to offer any suggestions.
Thanks
Doug

[CraigS]

My wife is fine w/ me driving the FFR. She drives her 6 speed 2015 Mustang GT w/ Performance Package. She says she sees no advantage to the cobra compared to her car. Although it was actually in the works before she got the Mustang, I told her my upgrade to a 408 was just so my car would be faster than hers. The 400hp 351 was too close according to my butt dyno.

[Usudno]

My wife is terrified of the car. It's not finished but has been go carted. She thinks it's insane!

[3yearplan]

All these "spouse" stories make me want to go out and get one.... Nevermind, it was just a passing thought.

[CRZN 427]

I put this Thread out here as my wife wants to drive it. Her DD is a Honda CRV and Honda Accords before it. I am getting ours inspected Friday and should be able to tag it the same day. My concern is that I don't think she respects the ability of the car. I had her read the Thread entries for new owners and those thinking of becoming an owner of one. I did not get a warm fuzzy when I asked her what she thought, not one word about this Car can and will kill you if you don't respect it. With power steering the car is very responsive to just the smallest input on the steering wheel. I am going to delay her long enough till I feel competent regarding the capabilities of the car, then I am going to give her a small sample of what the car is capable of doing in straight line acceleration. Feel free to offer any suggestions.
Thanks


Doug

Are you concerned that you wife will get in the FFR and do a full throttle burnout from the garage? From what I've seen over the years most female drivers are a lot more cautious when getting into a new vehicle and not as likely to press for the upper end of the performance envelope even after several occasions of driving it. Taking her out to show her the scary aspects of the car before she has a chance to try it out on her own will likely lead to strong criticism or your intentions.

JMHO but I'd give her the basics of how to operate the car (where the starter button is locate) and let her have at it. Ride along if she wants that, but keep your running commentary of her performance to a minimum.

Regards, Rick.

[1932]

Just not late to work with to much coffee! Did drive truck and the fair sex was wilder than males.
Wife hase med problems but daughter wants to drive 33 when done.

[Bobby Doug]

All these "spouse" stories make me want to go out and get one.... Nevermind, it was just a passing thought.

Spouse or car?

[Bobby Doug]

Are you concerned that you wife will get in the FFR and do a full throttle burnout from the garage? From what I've seen over the years most female drivers are a lot more cautious when getting into a new vehicle and not as likely to press for the upper end of the performance envelope even after several occasions of driving it. Taking her out to show her the scary aspects of the car before she has a chance to try it out on her own will likely lead to strong criticism or your intentions.
JMHO but I'd give her the basics of how to operate the car (where the starter button is locate) and let her have at it. Ride along if she wants that, but keep your running commentary of her performance to a minimum.

Regards, Rick.

Good advice.
My intentions are to let her first drive it in a LARGE vacant parking lot. We will go from there.
Thanks
Doug

[3yearplan]

Spouse. Building the car.

[bobl]

I have read all the stories on these cars. Some of them will make you afraid to even drive the car. While respectful of what they will do, it is directly connected to your right foot. You can drive them like a normal car just fine.

I put this Thread out here as my wife wants to drive it. Her DD is a Honda CRV and Honda Accords before it. I am getting ours inspected Friday and should be able to tag it the same day. My concern is that I don't think she respects the ability of the car. I had her read the Thread entries for new owners and those thinking of becoming an owner of one. I did not get a warm fuzzy when I asked her what she thought, not one word about this Car can and will kill you if you don't respect it. With power steering the car is very responsive to just the smallest input on the steering wheel. I am going to delay her long enough till I feel competent regarding the capabilities of the car, then I am going to give her a small sample of what the car is capable of doing in straight line acceleration. Feel free to offer any suggestions.
Thanks
Doug

[Dave Howard]

Are you concerned that you wife will get in the FFR and do a full throttle burnout from the garage? From what I've seen over the years most female drivers are a lot more cautious when getting into a new vehicle and not as likely to press for the upper end of the performance envelope even after several occasions of driving it. Taking her out to show her the scary aspects of the car before she has a chance to try it out on her own will likely lead to strong criticism or your intentions.

JMHO but I'd give her the basics of how to operate the car (where the starter button is locate) and let her have at it. Ride along if she wants that, but keep your running commentary of her performance to a minimum.

Regards, Rick.

I fully agree with CRZN 427. At the end of the day, it's just a car. Mind you, no stability control, no launch control and most with no ABS. Powerful, lite and short wheel base can be tricky. So when starting your wife off, or any new driver including yourself, consider the following. Take is easy. Get comfortable with how the car feels and drives at normal speeds. Then step it up a little. Find a big empty parking lot and feel the straight line power. Is the engine powerful enough the break the rear tires loose if you kick it down say at 50 mph? Good thing to know if you're giving someone a quick pass on the highway. OK, now you know how fast it'll accellerate. Now, stand on the brakes and see how fast it'll stop. How much effort is required to lock up your brakes. Then, in the same empty parking lot, from a stop, turn the steering wheel half a turn, rev up the motor and drop the clutch. Let off the gas after the second donut. NOTE TO SELF....Don't do this when exiting the lot onto the street. The outcome might be very embarrassing (until you know what you're doing).
The more time any new driver can put behind the wheel, the better.

Also, you may be surprised that your wife is a better driver than you. No testosterone. Probably a smaller ego.

If you're afraid of the car.....sell it before you kill someone. Gain the respect for the car's capabilities and understand you're driving abilities. After that, have the time of your life and enjoy.