Fast, Fun and Fabulous: Our Guide to Being a Car Girl

So, I’ve become a car girl. I’ve learned how to view cars differently than enthusiasts do and appreciate what makes them interesting (hint: it’s not all about horsepower and torque). I’ve learned to appreciate how they empower us as women, how the right car can make parenthood much easier, and how, as we’ve always known, a car can be the key to freedom.

The modern definition of ‘car girl’ is very different than it might have been even a few years ago. And that’s a good thing; everyone who spends $30K or $40K or more on a car should ensure that they love what they’re spending their money on—not to mention valuable time in.

So here is our guide to being a car girl.

This may be the thing that makes many women—me included—turn off to car culture: The insistence that I need to change my own tires if I have a flat, if I need to replace a tire, if I need to swap out all seasons for winter tires.

Anyone who says that is flat out wrong.

Yes, you need to know how a tire is changed, what it costs and what is involved so your car is safe and don’t get ripped off. This goes for oil changes, windshield wipers and any other routine maintenance and emergency issues. Having a plan for these things, such as a AAA membership or roadside assistance plan, is important. Trying to change a flat on the side of a busy highway is silly—and dangerous.

Read: Easy Car Diagnosis & Repair: RepairPal to the Rescue

Though we love it if you do. Some of our favorite car girls are not only handy with a toolbox, but they love being able to fix an issue, make an upgrade and the feeling of accomplishment that doing it yourself imparts.

Annika Carter modifies and races her own cars. Bogi Lateiner builds cars from the ground up and leads a team of of car girls who work with her; her builds are features on TV shows and auto industry confabs. Shea Holbrook races and leads a team of women who race. Patrice Banks started her own all-female garage to both fix cars and teach women to fix cars.

Read: 11 Common Car Maintenance and Repair Questions, and How to Know: Mechanic, Parts Store or DIY?

From Rebelle Rally, the longest off-road rally in the US, and the most challenging as it doesn’t allow phones or GPS, in which more than a hundred women compete each year, to female racers like Shea Holbrook, Loni Unser, Tatiana Calderón and Sara Price who defy the odds and the critics on the track, women are carving out a space in the sport.

I’ll admit, I love track driving. I mean really, really love it. But being in a field of cars moving at 100 MPH or more, trying to pass, watching the systems, tires and time, all at temperatures that can soar past 120 degrees and doing this for hours on end every day? That takes dedication I’m not sure I have. Which makes me admire these women all the more.

And there are a lot of great stories these days. Consider Jaguar Land Rover, which, with $8 billion in investment from owner Tata Motors, rose out of the ashes of bad ownership experiences to be regarded as one of the most beautiful and most copied car brands. The Land Rover Defender inspired a whole new era of design and the Range Rover continues to be the dream car of the one percent. 

And consider Dodge, long the American muscle car icon, it had lagged in visibility behind the Ford Mustang and others until it took on the challenge, increasing power and performance in models like the Hellcat and Hellcat Redeye. Now, the Dodge Challenger Daytona is charing into the next era of performance with an electrified version that I can attest, is simply stunning.

Car are an assemblage of a gazillion little details, from design language (think aerodynamic roof lines and muscular fenders) to safety and driving technology to cabin comforts. Then, there are nuances such as the difference between a turbo and supercharger (turbo draws extra power from the exhaust system, supercharger draws extra power from the engine) and each has its benefits and compromises (turbo is more fuel efficient than a supercharger).

A car girl knows the details of her car’s features and equipment, what each does and why they are good to have. From adaptive cruise to lane keep assist, head up display to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, know what features are offered on a model, those that are not and why it’s good to have (or not).

Many cars are offered in different engine sizes and the horsepower and torque output are important numbers to know. Horsepower represents speed and torque represents pep. Combined, they are the experience you have when hitting the accelerator: the car gets up to speed fast, or it takes its time.

Smaller engines are great for in-town driving and fuel economy. But bigger engines are simply more fun. If you go for the thrill and power, know what it’s capable of (towing capacity, for instance) and how to make it do that.

Electric cars are the future of fun and efficiency. Electric-powered cars have one or two motors, though some have more, and are not only silent, but incredibly fast. And while some critics call them soulless, we can attest, that isn’t true. Porsche Macan Electric, Dodge Challenger Daytona and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N all prove the contrary.

From uber-popular SUVs like the Chevrolet Tahoe and the Hyundai Santa Fe, to brands with a lot of iterations—looking at you, Mercedes-Benz—it’s important to understand what’s in a name. Model name, specifically. Chevrolet’s model lineups tend to be easy to follow, LS and LT are the basic models, RST adds sport details, Z71 adds off-road abilities and Premier and High Country are the top of the line. Mercedes-Benz models can get complicated and that’s before you’ve considered AMG packages or actual AMG models.

Like most car brands, trim names tend to apply across the brand. So with Hyundai, Calligraphy is the top model of Santa Fe and Palisade, though expect to see it on more trims in the future—it has proven quite popular.

It’s the car girl conundrum: we like a lot of cars. We may still need a Toyota Sienna or a Jeep Grand Cherokee L for carpools and road trips, and still want something that makes our soul soar. So, consider a purely fun car for those solo drives or dinner out with friends. A Nissan Z or a Mazda MX-5 not only looks great in the driveway but will make your time away from the kids all the more special.

A luxury car sends a strong message: I can afford what I want. But don’t take luxury for granted; luxury car features are more sophisticated and tech-focused than ever. Sure, a finely appointed interior with real leather upholstery and Alcantara suede are nice, but what other features are part of the package? Head up display? Night vision? Massaging seats? A supercharged engine? And, does the manual mode work with paddle shifters or the gear shifter, or do you have a choice?

Driving a stick shift is a lot of fun. If you want to learn, don’t be afraid to ask someone to teach you. Here’s a guide to that, and also, what you need to know to prepare. And if you don’t want to learn, that’s OK too. A lot of men don’t know how, either.

If you do want to learn, it’s best to have a manual transmission car to drive regularly—see above: second car in the driveway—so you never lose the skill. Here is our list of great inexpensive stick shift cars.

People can get geeky about cars and their details, so it’s OK to pick your level of interest and change the subject when you (or the person you’re talking to) hit it. And, cars can get complicated; you might know more about yours than other people want to hear. Being a knowledgeable car girl and a fanatical enthusiast are not the same thing, whether you’re talking about cars or the finer points of the Louis Vuitton Speedy.