Why supercars are so awful in South African cities

Supercars are awful to drive in any city. Yet that's where most of their mileage happens.

It is an uncomfortable truth that some of the world's best-engineered cars live miserable driving lives. Rolling around at nowhere near their potential.

Seeing a supercar driven on the Atlantic seaboard, or cruising in traffic between Umhlanga and Ballito, is sad. You can hear how the throttle and gearbox mapping strain to adjust to that sedate cruising pace – because supercars are never engineered to go slow.