What do you drive and why?

'12 Focus SEL Hatch; nimble, quick enough in 'combat traffic', mpg acceptable even if driven with brio, comfy in long hauls, space for our stuff with the dog aboard. Would prefer the R version, but without the trim level that comes standard. Wears the sticker "My Other Car / IS THIS CAR / but in another dimension"
'02 Dodge 3500 Diesel 4WD Dually: (a.k.a. "Queen Latifah") Big, black, & powerful enough to tow a 16' trailer with a Bobcat with it's bucket, forks, earth boring rig + bits, its' boom (not the OSHA b/s one...mine can lift to 30'...), and the tools for the day And generally some materials and/or some pre-fab'd elements ditto.  That's it's job.
DON'T pull out in front of me.  Bad Idea.  You'll lose.  If we're still alive and I can do so, I'll sit on the wreckage and ask you which breakfast cereal boxtop you sent in to get your D.L.  Likely, both dead or maimed to the point we'd rather.
Grew up & in SoCal freeways & byways, driven miles through many locales, major and minor.  I've seen Enough; Please refrain from showing me 'something different'.
In an old issue of SciAmer, in the 'Amateur Scientist' column, a fellow studied the flux & flow of his commute traffic.  Posited that we behave as a whole like the flow of water through pipes, hoses, and the various 'fittings'.  Or, if you must, think electron flow..
Guess what?  We seem to be following the laws of hydrodynamics.
Even with the 'rubbernecks', the 'lane leapers', the 'sprint 'n brake' batch, general irritation, or outright cluelessness.
If everyone would practice the 'zipper merge' (lrlrlr...), it will 'flow' at the maximum rate.  Even if you should have been there Already.
Your panic is NOT my problem.  Please don't make it so.
*J kicks the soapbox into the Dark*
(If given the disposable $ and the general situation to have this 'tame' enough to drive on the street without making every law enforcement officer drool like Pavlovs' puppy, This would be my choice. Yes, I'm still nimble enough to get in...and, more importantly, get out...*L*)
BTW...Turn your volume up...*smirk*

https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a10022304/lotus-elise-hillclimb-car-uses-v8-formed-from-two...

...only thing to add would be air horns....(small car...)...

...of course I'd keep the rear wing, but make it 'active' like the old Hall Chaparrals.  Plants the rears down during braking, feels like hitting a wall of Jello and reminds you why you wear a harness. ;)
It's all PWR, y'all. 4lb. per hp. In an large go-kart chassis....

2psyop, *G* Meant to amuse while informing... ;)

Yeah, that Lotus IS major over caffeinated.  But that IS kind of the point; I've always preferred 'uphill charges' to downhills since one can control speed & acceleration with throttle. Too easy to 'overcook' on a downhill...

geoffkait, yeah, well...  It was the price one paid in that era for something other that was nimble and quick.  I know a guy back in SF that owned a Norton that didn't leak oil.  'Course, he was German by extraction and one fastidious mechanic.  If it could get Permatex'd shut, he did.
I owned a Spitfire for awhile, it's worse habit was bending a pushrod from time to time.  But it was actually nice to work on; tip the hood assembly forward, sit on the front tire, and fiddle with the whatever.

One thing I wish every and anyone to do with a vehicle that's new to them is to go find an empty parking lot, without the wheel stops and a minimum of posts. Idle into a turn, crank the wheel full lock to L or R, and slowly accelerate until it breaks traction or you've lost your nerve.  Base limit of adhesion for the tires.

Another: Accelerate to 40 and stand on the brakes.  Find out where the anti-lock kicks in.  Now repeat, and learn where that limit is.

True story: Artesia freeway, westbound into LA, 5 lanes of 'go 'n slow' traffic all 5.  I'm in 34' motor home.  A SUV zips up on the left, hoping to get in front of me in a closing gap.

He isn't going to make it.
I put both feet on the brake and try to shove it through the floor.
His tires start 'chirping' as his A/L engages, and at the last moment, he dives for my lane.  I make contact, and push him sideways for a second or two.

We make our way to the side.
"My bad, I was trying to outbreak the anti-lock"...
His wife looks very grim.
The 2 young teens in the back seat are as white as a sheet of fresh copier paper.
We got within 6 feet of me 'pinching' his door into the car that was in his lane, the one he was trying to leave.
1/2 second out, and we may have maimed or killed them all.

As it was, he got an 8' groove across all the passenger side doors.
Any exit from the SUV was to the left.

I had a small scrape on the corner of my front bumper.
Oh, and a broken coffee pot and a siamese fighting fish that was onboard in his tank. His tank got broken; he managed to survive, but never was quite the same.  Died a month or so later....

I got a hint from an interview with a NASCAR driver.  Drive with your left foot over the brake pedal; esp. in traffic.  Your reaction time improves dramatically.  Works with manual shift, better with automatics.  The Focus has a dual-clutch auto which will downshift if you poke it hard in the 'S' mode.  I like that.

Anyway....back to the frivolity, y'all....;)

cpcarter2....*G* That's a thought...whereas audio thrills are primarily cerebral, vehicles are the visceral end with a certain level of 'high speed chess' thrown in.  Mixing both in excess, however...can be nearly as bad as cell-phone distraction....

Enjoy your Vivaldi, but Beware Self-imposed Vivisection.