When you have a passion for a subject or item, it can come with a lack of understanding from many of those around you. Without possessing that indescribable fire for yourself, the actions and feelings of those who do will never make full sense to you. It's not that they don’t appreciate the given topic at all, but there's going to be a very significant difference.
A passion for cars are no exception to this concept. Most people view the car simply as a form of transportation and nothing more. Some leave it simply as that, some may enjoy how they look or sound, but as I said, its main and only real purpose is to get you from one location to another. Others, however, have a different view. These folks, myself included, are known as “Gearheads.”
When we go for a spin in our cars, we feel something that no one else does. People use cars to simply go for drives for the fun of it all the time, and to get from point A to point B even more so. For a gearhead though, it's different. Everything is different. We listen to the car almost as if it was a person talking to us. It is therapeutic and a stimulant all at the same time. We drive manuals not because we want to save gas, or even simply for the potential fun it can be. When you drive stick as a gearhead, you can fully feel one with our car. As strange as it sounds, this is important to us.
The news and information about new cars can interest a lot of people, but to a gearhead, it is a beacon for research. How many horsepower, how much torque, 0-60 times, and top speed just aren't enough to us. We want to know the where the engine is mounted, what type of suspension it has, what it revs to, if the traction control can easily be disengaged, how heavy the clutch is...the list goes on and on. Knowing everything about the car is not enough; we want to feel it.
The extremely popular British television show known as Top Gear does an excellent job of capturing what a gearhead is. The show is popular to more than just gearheads (or petrolheads, as they are called in the UK) though. Many people watch the show and enjoy it, yet don't even really like cars all that much. Most watch it to see what the new cars look like, or to find out how they drive, even. However, one aspect of Top Gear in particular transcends the regular car lover and helps define a true gearhead. Throughout the series, the trio of hosts will be in the process of testing a particular car. Throughout the entire segment, they praise the car. When the review is over and it comes time to do a power lap on the show's test track, the car sets a blistering time. But then, when we are returned to the studio, every once and a while, the first thing they will say is "I wouldn't buy one."
Sometimes they have a sensible reason for it, such as it works on the track but is uncomfortable on public roads. Every now and then though, they don't have a tangible reason. It simply feels wrong for some reason. Once it was a Lamborghini that just didn't have the "crazy" feel that a proper Lambo should. Another time it was an Aston Martin that just "didn't feel fast....enough," even though it was definitely a fast car. Sometimes however, there isn't even anything that can have words put to it. It simply is a feeling. That is what makes a gearhead; when you don't just notice how the car feels to drive, it's when the car begins to speak to you. When you begin to feel the car itself.
As with any passion, this is not something that can be explained to a "non-believer" with any real success. However, the point of this blog, for me, is to at least make an attempt at providing you with an insight into some of the topics we gearheads like to discuss. Whether you are a person whose significant other is a gearhead and you want to at least have a clue to understanding some of the things they talk about, a car lover yourself that doesn't have a way with words but wants to be able to explain to others, or just a random internet user who happened to find this blog; I hope that as I continue to add posts, you will find something useful to you. Follow me on Twitter, please suggest any topics you think I should write about.
