Women, Driving, and Cars

The editor's assignment was "what influence have women had on automotive design and performance?" Being a woman, that sounded pretty cool—I think. Certainly I'm not the only female who relishes that seat-of-the-pants feel of unleashing torque on a freeway on-ramp, or of flexing through twisting turns on country lanes. Well, I didn't exactly find my speed-thirsty tribe; instead, the research turned up a picture of women's influence on a male-dominated industry as complex as women themselves.

Horsepower is Relative
First the good news: women do appreciate performance, 1.3 percent more than men. This little tidbit was buried in the 2004 "What Women Want" Automotive Satisfaction Study conducted by the Good Housekeeping Institute and J.D. Power and Associates. The exact figures and wording: 92.6 percent of women consider engine performance, including full acceleration and handling, very important versus 91.3 percent of men. Take that!


I was feeling all warm and fuzzy after reading the stats then it dawned on me: The report, as well as every other report on women and their vehicles, indicated safety was the primary concern. So, how does that jibe with 92.6 percent rating for performance?


Here's my theory, and let's be open-minded here: It's in the definition and the well-documented fact that women have a much larger vocabulary than men. This is what I mean by complexity. When you add acceleration and handling into the performance equation beyond the desire for brute horsepower only, a woman sees a kaleidoscope result of fun, agility, control, and safety.


With a little unflattering introspection, I realized those squeals of glee during my brief and less than brilliant autocrossing phase were always tempered by the fear I'd break my little Porsche 914 if I pushed it too far past redline. Instead of that fire in the belly the guys had, I was consumed with thoughts of having to have the little car towed to the mechanic and how would I get home and how much would it cost and, oh God, I'm really not a speed-freak. I have no machismo. I'm into mundane considerations of practicality and safety.