• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.

    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Do you drive it on the freeway?

Not quite as maneuverable as a motorcycle though.
 
But almost, but almost and they don't tip so easy. Just what us old folks need.
 
Its been my experience that when you go to the effort to have a bugeye that will run at highway speeds, a lot of cars seem to want to constantly pass. That being said, my SCARY moment was getting ready to pull out on a main street off a minor street, it was clear, the light had turned green, and for some reason I double checked, and a 10 wheel dump truck went by at about 60 on a city street. It still send shivers up the spine. I guess the lesson is to drive very defensively. Personaly, I love driving (almost) like it was stolen. You really aren't going that fast. But you are close to the road, and having a lot of fun. I have several friends who when they push their cars to the extreme, there is a likelyhood you might get HURT! I haven't got brave enough to do the long trips, but a hundred miles there and a hundred back is a lot of fun. Maybe after this winter.
 
Wow! I'm amazed at the thread I started. Thanks much for your thoughts.

I ride bicycles--including a recumbent--in all kinds of traffic, so I think I know how to make myself visible. I'm sure this is much like the kind of thing motorcyclists do instinctively, and therefore Sprite drivers as well. Just gotta get over the willies, I think.
 
I drove my Midget from Corvallis, Oregon up to Seattle, Washington on I-5. About 6 hours drive, 70 mph etc. It really wasn't that bad.

Ok now admit it though. How many of you have thought, "I bet I could drive under that truck..." I almost tried it with a parked one once.
 
Un-forseen Interstate Hazards

May 74. Start of first leg of cross country trip to northern Maine. Los Angles to Sacramento. Cruising I-5 north of Bakersfield. Top down. A most beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky.


Then you get passed by 3 tractor-trailors hauling cattle.

Rain?
 

Attachments

  • 265545-26-3.jpg
    265545-26-3.jpg
    29.7 KB · Views: 64
Bugeyes can go under trucks. And yep have thought of that.

Some guy and his sister took the windsheld off and went under the cross bars on the Berlin wall to excape.
 
My Midget is in pieces and won't see the freeway for quite some time. My daily driver, however, is a Miata. Here's what I've learned:

Assume no one sees you (kudos to previous posters). Don't drive in blind spots where you can easily get squished. Be very careful of parking lots (you are UNDER the back window of SUVs and trucks - watch them when they back out, they cannot see you - my horn has saved my fender more than once). Even a large semi might not see you from behind because his hood is in the way (if a semi is behind you at a traffic light, for example). Sorry, I got off the topic of freeways.

Drive defensively. Maybe it's because they can't gauge the speed of a small car accordingly, or because they simply don't respect it, but I find that many drivers like to pull out in front of my small car. My foot hovers over the brake pedal when passing a situation where someone might not see me.

For those who cruise at 55 (where most truck speed limits seem to be), do you have any trouble going the same speed as the trucks? (not a concern in my modern roadster)
 
I rode the same way. In addition to controlling the situation, you also didn't have to rely on tiny shaking mirrors to know what was behind you. It was whatever you just passed. The problem is that I always used the throttle to get out of trouble instead of the brakes. With a Spridget, the throttle is only connected to 65 ponies, and the brakes can't rein in those ponies very quickly.

I drive the freeways 25 miles each way for work (for those who live in these parts, it is the 118 to the 23 to the 101.) If traffic gets moving much above 60 MPH and there isn't a lot of room between cars, I get off the freeway and take the surface streets. I may get more confident on the freeways when I have had the car longer, but for now, I'm pretty cautious about it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Un-forseen Interstate Hazards
Then you get passed by 3 tractor-trailors hauling cattle.
Rain?

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't think so. Rain does not make nearly as much mess. I've learned to stay WAY back from such trailers.
D
 
In New Jersey??? Are you crazy!! Heck, they look for cars like mine as a TARGET to run over with their pimped out Escalades and Hummers with low profile tires...
 
Back
Top