My Interest Towards Automobiles

It is not easy driving a car when the only experience you have had so far was playing Grand Theft Auto V on your broken-down Xbox 360 through a dual shock 3 controller. I knew for a fact that I would not be able to distinguish where the gas and the brake pedal were. Right or left? Those were the thoughts that scoured through my head when I first sat in the driver’s seat of my father’s meticulously maintained 1998 Toyota T100 pickup truck.

To make matters worse, it was then when I realized that the truck was paired with a 5-speed manual transmission gearbox, and there was a third pedal; the clutch. My friend had invited me to hang out with him at his friend’s party. However, there was a catch; I would have to find a way to get there as he was not able to drive me. Now, 15-year-old me thought that it would be super lame to have my father drop me off at a party when compared to driving there myself. Therefore, to save myself from embarrassment, I had made the choice to try and drive there myself. However, after sitting for 30 minutes on the driver’s seat of the truck, unknowingly how to operate a manual-transmission car, I accepted the fact that I would not be able to attend the party and made the choice to be safe and not drive. About a month later, still licking my wounds from the disappointment of not being able to go to the party, I decided to buy my first simulation racing set-up for my desktop computer. If I couldn't drive legally at least I could drive virtually.

The following event had a huge impact on my interest towards automobiles mainly due to the fact that I was able to “drive” at the age in which it was illegal. I saw it as a way to cope towards the fact that it was illegal for me to obtain a driver’s license. The purchase of the simulation racing setup included: A realistic sized motorized steering wheel with force feedback, life size metal pedals that included a gas, brake, and clutch pedal, paired with a 6-speed manual gear shifter. When I first dove into the hobby of simulation racing, I saw it as a way to prepare myself in obtaining a driver license in the future and having little to no trouble in adapting to day-to-day driving. However, it had a deeper impact in my life. The compelling thing about simulation racing, is the community that create simulation racing video games. With full fledged game studios dedicated to producing realistic racing video games allowed me to learn the physics of driving a car, and the immense difficulty it takes to truly master the art of racing. From controlling oversteer due to immense power output from the rear wheels to learning how to fine-tune suspension, the amount of knowledge gained from simply playing a video game had given me a breadth of knowledge that could be applied to real life.

This was My First Drive. My First Drive on my simulation racing rig was such a significant experience that it could only be compared to the first time you drive a car in real life. You felt accomplished, free, and awoken to the opportunities that are available to you. I still remember the first car and track combination that I “drove” on my simulation racing setup. A lap at the Nürburgring racetrack, with a race-spec Acura RSX in the video game Assetto Corsa. The feeling of beating your personal time record to properly executing a heel-toe-downshift, gave me a sense of how capable cars were. My first drive had given me the necessary components to dive deeper into the automobiles in general. What are the benefits of having a larger engine displacement? Is it possible to obtain X amount of power through Y amount of engine load?

How do automakers engineer their cars to comply with safety standards? From the level of knowledge that had been gained from playing simulation racing video games, I had no trouble adapting the experience into real life applications. For example, I had purchased an Acura RSX once I got my driver’s license, and I had no issue understanding how the car performed and handled. The moment I realized that my consistent use of a simulation racing setup had translated to skill in real life, I wanted to dive deeper within cars. That is when I truly considered entering a career within automobiles. Whether it was becoming an auto technician, a mechanical engineer for an automaker, or even behind the finance department of a car dealership, working and being able to see the things I love every day is something I strive to achieve. To top it off, the unconventional series of events had led my interest in automobiles. Being able to “drive” allowed me to be fascinated to the machine of an automobile. I was inspired from the innovation, engineering, and the processing of manufacturing a car, that it made me consider pursuing and researching a career related to automobiles.