Should Sports Cars Require Special Licensing?
Modern performance vehicles have evolved to become quicker and faster than ever before. Modern drivers have not.
Supercars such as a McLaren 720S or a Porsche 911 Turbo S or a Ford GT have performance figures that were virtually unheard of 20 or 30 years ago. This is to say nothing of hypercars like the Bugatti Chiron. Even a rather ordinary Tesla could out-accelerate nearly every vehicle that was on the planet back in the ‘90s. Personally, I love it. We are truly in the golden age of performance cars, and we are spoiled for choice. However, are the drivers of today equipped to handle these modern cars?
I know we all think we are fantastic drivers, but really, we are not. Not without additional training beyond what it takes to simply get a license. I have spent many years, hundreds of hours, and thousands of miles on racetracks. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on racing schools and high-performance driver education classes. All that time, effort, and money, and I still can’t extract all the performance available from most modern cars. Yet, I am free to drive and buy just about anything I want, provided I can afford it. In most states, a regular driver’s license means you can get behind the wheel of everything from a rented U-Haul truck to a Ford Raptor to a Pagani Huayra. Is that a good idea?
I love fast cars, and I am sure most everyone reading this does as well. I think everyone should get to experience the thrill of driving a high-performance car. However, the definition of high performance is changing. Back in the day if I car did zero to sixty in the 5-second range, that would be considered a fast car. A car in the 3-second range would have been insane. In the mid-90s, a Ferrari F50 was a half-million-dollar supercar with an engine derived directly from Formula One. It could hit sixty mph in about 3.8 seconds. Today, a Mustang GT with an automatic transmission can do the same thing. A basic C8 Corvette would destroy the Ferrari. Supercar performance is now available to the masses. However, are the masses ready for supercar performance?
Naturally, we all want to say, hell yes, we are ready, bring it on. But, think about it for a minute. Take an average person that got a license as a teenager and drove a slow and cheap car for the first decade of their driving life. Now that person has graduated college, has been working for a few years, and has paid down their student debt to the point that they are ready to step out of that 2005 Toyota Camry, and into something a little more fun. They go out and get that Mustang GT they have been dreaming of since high school. That driver is going from a slow, front-wheel drive vehicle to a rear-wheel-drive performance car putting out close to 500 horsepower. What in that person’s life has prepared them to pilot such a car? Driving a Camry for ten years does not prepare you to drive a Mustang. Is this why the Mustang is notorious for running down bystanders at the local cars and coffee?
I will share my own embarrassing story. I had my license for about ten years but no advanced driver training yet. I drove some sporty front-wheel-drive coupes such as an Acura Integra GS-R. I sold it for a new Miata. My first rear-wheel-drive sports car. Not immensely powerful by any stretch but a different layout than what I was used to. I was leaving work one night and I sat at the end of the parking lot waiting for traffic to clear. I was making a right, and had my wheels turned that way. I got a break in the traffic and hit the gas hard for a bit of fun. Next thing I knew I was facing the wrong way in the middle of the street. With the wheels turned hard right, the rear wheels just pushed it around when I stood on the gas. It was stupid of me, but I could have done that all day long in my front-drive cars without an issue. Thankfully, the only damage was to my pride. If I had another 300 horsepower under my foot, it might have been a different story.
If you want to learn to fly a plane, you can work towards your private pilot’s license, but if you want to fly various aircraft you need additional training and certificates. Multi-engine planes, and seaplanes require special training and would be add-ons to a standard license. Furthermore, there are endorsements you can add such as tailwheel planes, high-performance planes with over 200 horsepower, and complex planes such as those with retractable landing gear are examples of endorsements you can earn with additional training. That makes sense, right? Flying a Cessna 172 does not mean you are ready to hop into the pilots seat of a Gulfstream V. Can we carry some of that logic over to the car world?
A mid-engine or rear-engine car would be an endorsement. Rear-wheel-drive would be another. A car with over 400 horsepower could be another. An older performance car without modern electronic features such as stability control would be another endorsement. Each would require some additional training on the appropriate vehicle.
Sure, this will add time and expense for those wanting to buy a sports car, but again driving a Camry does not prepare you for a Mustang, to say nothing of the higher-priced exotics. Besides that, just think how much more appealing the DMV would become if it had a collection mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive cars crowding the lots waiting for their skills test. What would the test be like? It does not have to be a full-on racing school, but perhaps just a day running a slalom and skidpad. Doing some braking and acceleration runs. It would not only be a fun day for the driver, but he or she would be learning at least a little bit about the limits of their new toy. Sure, a person today could just sign up for an autocross or track day to begin to learn how to handle their car, but most will not. Most of us have the “I have been driving for years, I know what I am doing” mentality, and hope the modern electronic nannies will save us from making mistakes.
Along with the advancement of performance, safety and driver aids have also advanced. That does help, but modern planes also have pilot aids and you still need additional training. Is this the right time in driving license history to stop looking at a Hyundai Accent the same way as a Dodge Challenger Hellcat? Should drivers of all ages not be better prepared?
The laws around licensing may never change. However, you can take matters into your own hands. If you are about to buy your first performance car, get some instruction at an autocross or track day. You will not only have a blast; you will begin to appreciate and respect just how different these cars are. In fact, even if you are still stuck in a 2005 Camry, a track day is still a great investment in yourself as a driver.
Photos: Bugatti; Ford; Mazda; McLaren; Porsche; Lamborghini; Ferrari; Dodge
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