The day my high school classmate flipped the bird at a Lincoln Continental was the day I learned that handling is more important than horsepower. VINNIE (as proclaimed by his vanity plate) decided that my erstwhile friend’s one finger salute justified our immediate extinction. His black Lincoln rammed the back of my Ford Pinto station wagon as I entered the highway on-ramp. Although I later learned that the Pinto tended to explode in such circumstances, even then I knew I had to drive as if my life depended on it. If only because it did.
If it wasn’t so ridiculous it would have been ludicrous: a gi-normous Lincoln luxobarge (Bill Blass edition?) trying to destroy the sine qua non of shitboxes. Vinnie had literally four times as much horsepower (210hp vs. 54hp) and twice the heft (5264lbs. vs. 2800lbs.). Ah, but I had Pirelli P-Zeros (hey, why not?). I was also blessed with better genetics (a guy named Vinnie driving a Lincoln in Rhode Island?) lots of experience driving at extra legal speeds (so now you know Dad) and all the adrenal acuity of a hunted fox.
My only chance: cornering. I’d gained a little distance on Vinnie on the 180-degree on-ramp. He caught up with us in the straight and rammed us twice more on the highway, HARD. Luckily, there was an off-ramp only a mile away. I managed to get the Pinto into a residential area just across the river. I started taking corner after corner after corner as fast as I could, four wheel drifting my way around countless city blocks. Vinnie’s barge lost ground. Now all I had to do was… hide.
When I couldn’t see the big Lincoln in the rear view mirror, I looked for an open garage. I drove straight into the first one I saw– at speed. My friend and I ducked down. Vinnie sped past. Mission accomplished. Lesson learned: when push comes to shove, it’s better to be able to shove the accelerator to the carpet in a turn than get pushed into the Seekonk River by a guido in a Lincoln Continental.
Of course, I wasn’t entirely horsepower aversive. It’s just that I’d learned to associate hugely powerful cars with boat-like handling. Even my father’s Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3 conformed to the basic principle that you steer big engined cars with your right foot. For me, handling was all. (Well, that and beauty.) So when the moment finally arrived when I could finally afford something more like an automotive athlete– and less like a tubercular coal miner– I opted for a Mazda RX7.
As you probably know, to get the [first gen] RX7 to speed you had to wind up the pint-sized Waring blender (a.k.a. rotary engine) sitting in its nose to approximately one million rpm. Even then, you relied on The Big Mo (momentum) to fully exploit the genius of its wonderfully balanced chassis and superb (for its time) suspension. For a Pinto refugee? No problem. In fact, the only problem was that I soon developed a taste for street racing. Obviously, I’m not talking about drag racing. The RX7 only offered 46 more horses than my original FoMoCo “stallion.” It sewing machined from zero to sixty in 8.5 seconds (with the AC off). I’m talking about racing through highway traffic.
I realize this concept is about as politically correct as lighting up a stogie in a children’s cancer ward. But hey, that’s the way it was. We even developed names for maneuvers: the three lane Charlie (cutting across three lanes in one move), two lane Ralph (passing a car in the middle lane before the “hole” closed) and the ‘Frig (letting a car try to pass you on the right, then closing the hole; named after William “The Refrigerator” Perry). This unconscionable “sport” appealed to me because winning required tactics, timing and courage more than brute power.
I left the game in Atlanta. I was racing a Z28 on a six lane undivided highway. I was in the left lane. I’d boxed the Z in but good. To my horror he cut behind me and INTO THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC. He went to the left of two cars coming straight at him, missing a head on collision by feet, then cut back right ahead of me. I was done.
While I was OK with taking risks with my own driving, I hadn’t realized that my actions could cause other people to take innocent lives. If the Z28 had taken out one of those cars in the opposite lane, it would have been my fault, and I knew I couldn’t live with that. I learned that car control and self-control go hand-in-hand.
Thanks Robert. This should be required reading for every high school drivers-ed class. The modern day equivallent to those old Michigan State Police movies.
I suppose that those of us still alive have similar stories of how we were scared straight while driving on our local roads. As for those who are dead – well that’s another story…
Your definition of fault is broader than mine… I’ll still run to the redline in first gear from a stop just to see how fast I can get the guy next to me to go before he realizes that after redlining first gear, I sedately settled into 5th or 6th for a cruise :)
_I_ won’t make the movements into oncoming traffic, cut off the big trucks, etc, but if someone else thinks that I’m racing them and decides to do so, that’s not my fault. I’m just driving quickly, not racing anyone.
Like you said, “the most important handling a driver must do is themself,” this means that if I’m driving quickly but safely and someone else decides to drive quickly but unsafely because of it, that’s _their_ fault, not _mine_.
Edit: Upon reflection, this needs the following clarification: I signal and shoulder check _every_ lane change, so there will be no three lane Charlies involved. I just don’t think that it’s my fault if someone that I’m driving quickly near does something stupid.
I’ve managed to elminate most of the idiocy from my driving these days, partially by “Taking it to the Track,” partially just by carrying around a 115-pound speed limiter most of the time.
I still drive fast, but I don’t drive stupid.
Great article – its good to hear from a fellow reformed street menace – we should start a club.
These days I restrict my bad behavior to cutting off Hummers and shiny black chrome adorned trucks and only rarely succumb to the temptation to dent the delusions of the ‘8 inch fart-can exhaust on my Civic makes it a sports car’ crowd.
Great article on several levels.
First – your ranking of hp vs. handling is dead on. My only comment is that I’d one category and rank 1. driver skill 2. handling 3. hp/weight ratio. Your story supports this – the Pinto’s handling could only be used by skilled driver.
One reason that US drivers lover HP (and lately for trunk drivers torque) is that you can put a number on it . . . kinda like “how much can you bench” etc. Handling is hard to quantify.
Second I’ve had similar experiences on the street – I realized that in street racing the stupidist driver often can win (just blow the stop signs – easy).
As far as the comment that we are not responsible for causing other drivers to do dumb stuff: a significant number of drivers are dumb, and if you street race you will often get dumb drivers going very fast. Go to the track.
It’s very unfortunate that the 944 had built itself a reputation and was known as “the poor mans Porsche”.
Join the PCA and you’ll see what I mean. Noses in the air and comments that that’s not a REAL Porsche.
This in spite of the fact that in club racing, this Porsche dominates its class due to its magnificent weight distribution, rear wheel drive and big brakes.
Aesthetically this car has aged well. The flared arches, large rear screen and pop-up headlights place it firmly in the 1980s but endow it with a coolness sadly lacking from many sports cars of that era. Also, the Porsche 944 is now as cheap as it will ever be; it’s on the brink of true collectability — a tidy example will cost you no more than C$6,000 while a mint example can be yours for C$12,000.
Sooo… that was Youuuu…
Vinnie
I loved four-wheel drifting myself,though Vinnie never incited these episodes.
I could see taking on a Lincoln vs. my hand me down Ford Maverick through a suburban setting 10 yrs. ago, but youthful abandenment has all but left me.
Where is that picture of the RX7 from? It looks strangely like the old stone bridge in Tiverton, RI, but from a long time ago.
I can’t believe Vinnie would damage his beloved Continental just to get back at some smart-ass kid with a big middle finger. (Of course, I’d be even more shocked if it was a ’60s era Lincoln. The later ones were not so elegant.) I wonder what finally happened to Vinnie’s machine (and Vinnie, for that matter). This is what Rusty Haight (the human crash test dummy–google him, or read my article in the Feb 2005 Car and Driver) refers to as “chlorine in the gene pool.
Great article, both for the sheer excitement of the narrative and for the lesson. For some reason, it is a bit easier to be stupid behind the wheel than in other circumstances.
Regarding lostlogic’s comment: “I just don’t think that it’s my fault if someone that I’m driving quickly near does something stupid.”:
It may not be your fault, but these thigns are almost never totally black and white. Is it Nadar’s fault that Gore lost in 2000? If he had bowed out, Gore would have won. But if Clinton had avoided the Monica Lewinsky dalliance Gore probably would have won. If Michael Issikoff, the reporter who broke the Lewinsky scandal had treated Clinton the same way the press treated Bush-1, Johnson, and Kennedy about their indiscretions (they all had affairs and the press ignored those affairs), Gore probably would have won (and Issikoff lost friends over his role in bringing on that scandal). And if Gore had been a bit less wooden, he would have probably won. So who’s to blame here?
I think that if someone incites someone else to drive stupidly enough to take a few innocent bystanders out, then the first someone is going to bear at least some guilt.
My first car was a bagged out ’72 Chevelle (bought for $450 in ’87). I wasn’t remoteley tempted to race it as the suspension was bagged out, the tires were crap, and the brakes, well, this was a ’72 we’re talking about. It ran fine and I would regularly do 20-90 mph runs on one street near my house while going home from school. Stupid, no doubt, but the street ran downhill then up, and the layout was such that I had terrific visibility before getting on it. And the uphill runout helped with the brake problem…
I stopped doing that run when I turned on to the street one day and my left rear wheel fell off the car. I was pretty certain that some punks at school had loosened my lug nuts while the car was parked outside the auto shop. The thought of what would’ve happened had the wheel come off at 90mph was enought to scare me out of doing that anymore.
when you come off Sepulveda Blvd into LAX there is a very tight loop surrounded on all sides by concrete walls that dumps you into the airport proper.
I drive a WRX and my friend was late for her flight. So I went through the turn very, very fast. The guy behind me was not paying attention and was following me. Too close for his own good. He was in… something like a Camry.
The turn tightens up at the end and WHAM! — I looked in my rearview to see that the guy had slammed nose-first into the concrete.
Totally not my fault, and totally my fault at the same time.
Your run in with Vinny reminds me of a movie featuring Guido the Killer Pimp and a Porsche 928. You know, “Pinto… there is no substitute.” [Grin]
That’s a bit of a stretch Jonny. TTAC absolves you.
To clarify: when you choose to race someone on a public road, I believe you are responsible for both yourself and the other person racing. And, by extension, what happens next.
If the dope in the Z28 had killed some innocent bystanders, I would have felt responsible. After all, he wouldn’t have been driving like a loon in that situation if I hadn’t engaged him.
I will no longer engage another driver if I think he or she is taking risks I wouldn’t take. That’s theoretically.
Jonny, I had one of those “not my fault but I could have maybe done something differently” experiences. Some blinged-out Integra racer-boy decided to blow by me late one night using a left turn lane (I was already doing over the limit). He floored it into the lane and was about abreast of me, but too late he realized what I knew: there was a triangular island forcing the left turn ahead. I was in my lane and held my own (neither accelerated or decelerated) and figured he would brake like anyone sane. He didn’t. One big bang and a few seconds later he was literally riding the rails of his trashed rims, having left his tires on the island.
It wasn’t myt fault, and I figure his entire car was a write off, and I hope from that he learned the lesson Robert did.
I still feel bad about it.
If I hadn’t been going 45mph in a 15mph, the guy would not have crashed.
I had a rental 1st gen Neon that I’d been flogging through the hills, and enjoying a bit of trail braking induced rotation. Then I put a couple of friends in the back and went into the same corner…
Kinda hard to unweight the wheels with 350lbs of people in the back. Glad to have had the full coverage insurance. One broken alloy wheel later and the ‘there was a big rock in the road I didn’t see’ story was ok by the rental guys.
I’ve also had a couple guys crash behind me, but that’s in the motorbike world. Where the same ‘balls v. brains/self preservation’ conundrum has much bigger penalties.
I’ve done some fast driving in a first gen RX7, and I was AMAZED at how tail happy it was. Fun, but demanding constant vigilance.
I actually bought a pretty good example of a 79 RX-7l for $100 at a Carmax auction. A few of my friends snickered at my willingness to buy an old vehicle that didn’t run.
A little tinkering with the carb…and vreeee!!!!!!
That thing had actually been well maintained after all. The shocks were virtually brand new, not a single tear in the interior, and even the a/c and original radio were in working order.
I sold that thing on Ebay to a fellow who drove over a thosand miles to pick it up. To this day I still believe a similar styled vehicle would sell well. In fact, it’s probably one of the best designs of the last thirty years.
Thanks RF, for the entertaining story. It brought back a whole flood of memories from my youth when I did similar stupid-but-fun stuff in my first car, an ’80 Civic.
Now that I’ve got two testosterone-filled boys of my own, I am dreading the day they get their driver licenses.
I better say it, since Homer Simpson isn’t a real person…
Mmmm…Mark V Bill Blass…(drool)
Now that I’ve got two testosterone-filled boys of my own, I am dreading the day they get their driver licenses.
My dad taught me to drive in his 5speed ’85 535i on twisty backroads (recipe for enthusiast, no?). When I finally got my license, I asked to borow the car.
“No problem son,” he said, and handed me the keys to my Mom’s ’75 Land Rover Series 3.
In my rowdy teenage days, I fought the Laws of Physics…
And the Laws won.
Respecting the TTAC rules on flaming….I think an opposing view is in order here; no flames, just another perspective.
So let me get this straight…..a couple of punks street racing create an “incident” and kill and permanently maim a few members of your own family someday in the future-and you guys are going to just say “Well I understand where they were coming from, I used to do that stuff myself, but I was lucky!” ??????????????? I doubt it. You will demand Murder-1 for everyone involved.
There is absolutely, positively, no place for this sort of driving behavior in civilization. So it’s cool to cut off Hummers and big black trucks? What if they swerve as a result of your unexpected maneuver and hit a van full of innocent people, punting them off a bridge? If I had ever been involved in this sort of thing, I think shame would be in order. And I would not relish replaying it either in my mind or sharing it with anyone else.
I am not impressed, nor am I amused by admissions of this sort. I have seen other editorials about personal road rage episodes in auto magazines. I find that they never seem to leave the author in a favorable light in my view, no matter how they present the facts as they saw them at the moment of crisis. Often they leave me with the feeling that I would rather have not known about such flawed behavior because it tarnishes my respect for those involved. Sort of a “more than I want to know” thing. Usually the stories end with a “boy was I lucky” finale. The problem is those darned road rage deals that end with tragic consequences. You guys got lucky in each of your adventures. Vinnie didn’t hit a school bus trying to catch Robert. Robert didn’t drive through a house and kill a mother nursing her baby while taking each corner “as fast as possible”. (This actually happened in my county a few years ago! Teenage driver lost it and went through a house with unspeakable carnage.) The left lane bandit didn’t hit a blind man standing in that traffic triangle. Great! Now live with the lessons and hope you don’t get caught up in some other fool’s antics. But don’t think for a moment there was a shred of coolness in any of it.
And by the way, “holding your lane-neither speeding up nor slowing down”- and sending the other guy off to his own personal Hell is not behavior that frees anyone of guilt, no matter what the other guy did to get hung out there. Numerous court decisions have proven that. Usually the result is a manslaughter conviction, or worse.
You may be there in that disappearing lane someday by innocent means, having failed to see the merge sign, or having pulled out to pass someone only to have someone pull out of an unseen driveway and into your lane. What will you think when you look over for room and see the guy next to you grinning while he has you boxed out and leaving you to die? Bet you’d like a little help a that particular moment.
We pistonheads do not live in isolation. Drive as you like as long as you don’t add risk to others. And if you screw up, be ready to face the blame and don’t expect rationalization to be of any help when you face the injured parties.
I’d like to say my self-preservation instincts have been strong enough to never do anything excessively stupid, but that’d be a lie. I’ve just been able to muster up the intelligence (barely) to do it all when the only person I’d be killing is me.
Soon after I got my Escort, I quickly started to learn that because the thing was lighter than a box of kleenex, it cornered a hell of a lot better than the Intrepid it replaced. I made it my mission to try and take corners at twice the marked speed, mostly because I usually could. There was one particular corner in the town I was living in at the time, it was a 90 degree bend marked for 30km/h. One day, I entered at 60 or 65, and the rear tires proceeded to give up as the little thing proceeded to give it’s best General Lee impression. It was giggle-inducing enough that I usually tried to do it again while going around that corner.
However, one night, I tried it while the roads were a little wet. The wrong tires quit on me, and, well, I’m just lucky there was no curb at the outside of the corner.
Mr. Weir
so… are we to believe that you have never, ever done anything suspect in a car? Ever?
I once raced an M5 at speeds over 110mph for about 20 miles on a (mostly) empty freeway. Nothing bad happened, no one was injured and no tickets were written up.
The worst part was him giving me the finger as he got caught behind some cars and I blasted by him on the right. Though, a man in a $75,000 car getting punked by a punk in a station wagon… what’s the expression? Oh yeah — priceless.
Was what I did stupid? Sure. Necessary? Hell no. But nothing in fact happened. It’s like when Dukakis was asked how he would feel about the death penalty if his mother was raped and murdered.
Since nothing happened… who is to say?
There’s a scene from my childhood that I can’t escape. After coming home from middle school one afternoon, I noticed a crowd of people at the end of the street in my neighborhood. So being the inquisitive type I walked down to see what was happening. 2 high school guys were racing their cars through our subdivision (a first-gen Mustang and a souped-up VW bug with the Baja racing pipe) and had rounded a corner too fast. The Mustang lost control and skidded through a yard and ended up on a friend’s front porch. Seemed innocent enough until I noticed the mangled bicycle still in the yard. He ran over one of my friends while she was riding her bicycle – in her OWN YARD. I will never get that picture of the bike out of my mind, especially now that I have daughters of my own who are about that same age. Thankfully, she recovered from her injuries and I’m sure that the driver certainly learned his lesson. Please everybody, don’t drive like these guys, especially through neighborhoods. Take it to the track. I’m just as guilty of driving too fast in stupid situations, but let’s not neglect to take the time to learn from other’s mistakes before it ends up costing somebody their life.
David H . . .
In high school, I was cruising with a buddy in his POS snot-yellow ’71 Olds Cutlass. We accidentally cut off a guy in a very mint looking gold Camaro, probably a mid 70’s model. He chased us through a Burger King parking lot, up and down a few side streets, and finally sideswiped us and pushed us into a guard rail just so he could flick a lit ciggie through the window, call us A-holes, and threaten to beat our butts. Then he drove off. The side of his Camaro was now dented and scraped and covered in yellow paint . . . and my friend’s Cutlass was still pretty much the same old POS. Go figure.
Me and three friends got into a “discussion” at a redlight with some guy and a chase ensued. he in a 65 Corvair and me in a 64 fairlane ( 260CID model). Both cars handled like walruses but in the end V8 power won the day.
We could have gotten out of the car and beat him half silly but instead we left the scene and I think that was the better option. If you don’t try to get away from an assailant then you are considered to be looking for trouble. Putting real estate between you and some looney who thinks your someone that owes him money (like this clown did) is the lesser of two evils.
My partner Ed in the backseat wanted me to stop the car so bad I thought he was going to jump out the window. At least I found out the top speed of a corvair without the spyder option is around 95 MPH. Mr. Fairlane was good for 120 easily.
My dude survived just fine, BTW. His car was totalled. I got the heck outta there.
“Wearing blender”
Should be Waring Blender. The appliance was named after 1930s era band leader Fred Waring (Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians) who financed and promoted it.
I had a somewhat opposite experience. Because I didn’t get my license until I was almost 18, I had a couple of years watching my high school friends do truly stupid things. That made me more cautious.
My first car was a 1968 Mercedes-Benz 230 which, when it wasn’t blowing head gaskets, was failing to accelerate very quickly.
Then, I spent a couple of summers delivering parts for a Mercedes-Benz dealership. Nothing gives you pause like having a 1-800 number in 10″-high letters on your tailgate.
I still made mistakes and I still did a few dumb things, but I stayed on-road and kept the sheetmetal unbent.
Oh yup… rage-a-holics.
I was once chased around Morristown NJ by a guy in a taurus wagon because my friend Scott being the wise ass that he was tossed a caramel candy into Mr Rage-a-holic’s wagon window. At the ripe old age of 17 I did the only thing I could think of… find turns my 16v primera (G20) could handle that the more powerful V6 taurus coudn’t. I successfully ditched the angry civilian in the fomoco bull but he caught us at a stop light on JFK and actually got out of his car to come yell at me the driver…. windows up, locks down and we ignore the psycho ranting about what he is going to do to us. Green light and I get a move on and lose him again for good. I think I actually got a green light while he was ouside my window.
So I learned you dont throw half eaten caramel candies into other people’s cars…. it’s just not cool.
This editorial reminds me of the game of chicken we dumb-ass shore sailors, stationed at the former National Parachute Test Range in El Centro CA used to play, back in the early Seventies. There was an 8 mile stretch of two lane blacktop, that ran from the base into town. When we were either coming back to the base, or going towards town, and we members of the U.S. Navy recognized each other, we’d cross the centerline and drive for each other. I myself was very chicken and usually was the first to give way. I heard of others doing this and it became a thing we did to deal with boredom. (El Centro is supposedly now a thriving metropolis for what is generally called “sunbirds,” aging Baby Boomers with condos in the desert.) God knows how we avoided killing ourselves. As Ernest Hemingway noted, “Hesitation increases in relation to risk in equal proportion to age.”
I got chased a couple of times by people who cut me off and proceeded to harass me. The harassment included the person (who just cut me off and is now in front of me) slowing down, slamming on their brakes, dodging behind me and tailgating me, and cutting me off over and over again.
Once in my Miata.
Once in my Z-3.
Once in my Prius.
I truly think that they were trying to kill me.
In the first and last incidents, the rage-drivers got off and got away without penalty.
In the second incident, the other driver got pulled over by the police.
I used to deliver pizza in a ’95 Saturn SL2 that certainly wasn’t making advertised HP. I found the limits of that car and went over them a couple times… On the empty highway at night I tried out left foot braking on some U-turns and ended up meeting with some shrubbery. That was my last experiment with that! Aside from that I found out the limits of my tires in the Florida rains, luckily never getting in trouble but certainly scaring myself a few times. With torque steer, understeer, wimpy brakes, and general wimpyness, that car has turned me away from GM pretty badly. To be honest I’d much rather have a car that’s limits are above mine and never see it come up short.
I also got into an accident in this car – not my fault, I was turning right and some girls in a Civic crossed from the left turn lane (3 lanes over) into the gas station on the corner. It was a minor accident with no injuries but I learned the limit of those brakes, which just wasn’t all that high. Since then I’ve been a firm believer in 4 wheel discs, even on cheap cars.
Oh the memories!!!
thanx RF … a great article!
My first car was a 78 Buick Regal with a 350 chev motor 4 barrel carb and it was fast but it sucked at turning corners and your article reminded me exactly of this boat I once loved!
Fifty years ago, I was a fighter pilot (F86) and I drove like one, as did most of my peers. Fortunately, what made me survive in the air also saved my butt on the ground countless times. Now, I look back on those days and am thankful that I didn’t ever wipe anybody out or cause someone else to do so.
I still drive “briskly”, but carefully. AT 75, I still drive better than most and I figure I have quite a few years ahead. My worst fear is getting to the point where my wife (10 years junior) would have to drive me. Riding with her is the one thing that terrifies me.
I’m not going to preach, but I think that if you are racing and the other person does something stupid that causes injury or death to innocents, that you are to blame, and I would assume that most state and local police departments follow this definition.
As with most of the people here, I was lucky to make it out of high school with nothing more than a couple of scuffed bumpers, but if you somehow think that you can be excused for provoking some other idiot into hurting someone – well, either you’re a cold cold mother, or you’ve never really thought of the guilt that would come from the death or grievous injury of innocents.
Here in central NY a motorcyclist is going to trial today for running from a state trooper driving a chevy tahoe in excess of 100 mph, which then proceeded to crash into a tree. Obviously you have to feel sorry for the officer’s family, but what made him think his two-ton suv could keep up (or catch) a motorcycle in the twisties? The cycle rider will now be “made an example of.” Already there has been a law passed to make it a crime to flee from a pursuing police officer. Google “Trooper Craig Todeschini” if you are interested in the story.
The most fun exploit of the no power but tons of handling has got to be the old (ie. original, not BMW) Mini. Only 1 litre, 40 bhp but handling and sharpness to shame pretty much anything. Glory moment ? chasing a SAAB 9000 turbo over Hardknot pass in Cumbria.
And if we are confessing to Dad, yes – the water pump did fail the following day because of this. My Metro’s brakes also fried because I was chasing a friend in his Escort. And don’t mention that time I borrowed your brand new Metro GTi before the insurance refused to cover me. K-series, 8000 rpm – lovely.
The problem with the Mini was its aerodynamics, or rather lack of them. External seams and roof drain chanels didn’t help. Motorway driving involved planning, I would join, edge to the outside and then look for someone coming past at just the right speed. And then I would try and get out behind them, into the slipstream. The ventilation would go quiet if I got it right…
Second best, Diesel 205 – the good handling Peugeot. The first time I drove this one – My mums non turbo Diesel, 58 bhp – my dad was in the passenger seat. In fact it was brand new so he was fiddling with things, the seat, glovebox etc. So he was slightly surprised when he found his nose squished against the window as we turned right at the next roundabout without breaking.
I would like to say I’ve grown up but last nights rush home with a 5 years old in emergency need of a toilet proves I haven’t.
I still drive slower than my wife though…
This reminds me of a couple of experiences I’ve had in my driving days.
The first was back in 1998. My friend and I were driving home from school in my ’97 Civic EX when these idiots from out of state decided that it was fine to take up both lanes of the 65 mph freeway and drive about 40 with their hazard lights on. At first, I politely drove up behind the one in the left lane and patiently waited for him to notice me and move over (about a minute or so). They evidently decided that was not going to happen, so I flashed my lights at them, still no response, so add the horn. Finally, they decided to move over and then proceeded to chase after me, motioning me to pull over while threatening us with a baseball bat. They kept up with me at 118 mph on the empty highway until I lost them on an exit ramp. Such a relief that I had to pull over and take a breather for a minute.
Situation two was about 2 years ago. Another friend of mine convinced me to go to PA with him (from Wilmington, NC) to buy a car. Since we were going such a great distance in a short amount of time, he said he’d pay for a rental. We call the rental agency that carried 300C’s since we needed to travel in comfort and speed. Of course they said they had one and would have it ready for me in an hour as it needed to be cleaned up. I made certain to specify 300 *C* on the phone, but of course we get there and it’s a Two Point Sludge edition (2.7). Evidently the lady working the counter thought they were all C’s. I had to politely educate her on the differences. Anyway, I was having none of that whiny gutless engine that shifts continually, so we asked what else they had. Anyway, I RX-8 for $95 a day, no thanks…Mazda 6i with sport package for less than the 300, ok.
Off we go in the 6, I was shocked around town, thought the 4 was pretty zippy, and the handling is just amazing for a non performance car. The zippy comment does not apply to the 4-cyl 6 at speeds above 60. Back to momentum and handling. Normally, on the highway I would simply go fast when I could and slow down when I couldn’t. Poor little 4-cyl could barely accelerate on the highway, so I resorted to controlled and attentive weaving. Could keep a speed of about 90-100 thru thick traffic using this method. The 6 sport package is especially well suited for that driving method, by the way. Oh shit — blue lights — pull over. I guess Valentine One’s don’t work so well when in hiding between the headrest and the seat.
Officer: “Sir, do you realize that I clocked you at 96 mph out there? May I see your license and registration please? Why were you driving that fast?”
Me: “I was just driving officer, I was just driving.”
Officer: “I don’t know what they let you get away with in North Carolina, but the state of Virginia does not tolerate your wreckless driving.”
Me: “I was just driving, officer.”
This back and forth rhetoric continued for another minute or so, until the officer eventually just gave up and let me go. I never altered my statement from “I was just driving officer, I was just driving.” It was a very lucky day.
@ cyclonecobra:
We ask our troopers to do a job, and then we give them SUVs on highway patrol. What the hell is wrong with our society?
Imagine the talk in the GM boardroom: we stopped making RWD Caprice Classics, but if they want tough, we’ll give them a bulk discount on Chevy Tahoes…
I’m one of the lucky ones who never died while doing sutpid things in high school. It’d take a a whole column to list them all.
These days, i get more pleasure out of a brisk run with another car guy on a good road.
A couple of years ago, I spend the better part of an hour playing with an M5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in my Alfa 164. We went quickly, but not stupid fast, and a few times I (or he) backed off when things got a little too exciting. As I exited, I flashed my lights and got a wave in reponse. We switched off leading a few times, and had a ball. I’ll never see that driver again, but he was a true car guy. We had a little fun, stayed safe, and didn’t get stupid trying to impress each other.
The problem now in North Georgia mountains are the sportbikes running triple digits on twitsy roads. Every weekend they have to life flight a couple of yahoos out of the mountains who ran out of brain before they ran out of bike.
The local news ran a story on this and they were lasering guys on bikes at 90 and 100 + on these narrow roads as they passed cars on blind corners. I’ve given up on the mountains around here after nearly having a Hyabusa hood ornament too many times.
I wish they had tracks for us to go knock around in. The nearest road coarse always seems to be too far away to be worth driving to for an hour of fun. Bring back Go-carts… remember those?
Those guys in Texas have the right idea – with that new race track they’re building (have built?) – customizable, houses and a golf course on it, too, heh.
With americans giving up fun for safety in mass quantities – the Track is the only place real enthusiast drivers will have anymore – but .. there ARENT any! Anyone wanna start a chain of amatuer road courses with me?
buzzliteyear:
November 27th, 2006 at 12:32 am
I had a somewhat opposite experience. Because I didn’t get my license until I was almost 18, I had a couple of years watching my high school friends do truly stupid things. That made me more cautious.
I got my license as soon as I could, but I’ve always been cautious, probably for both genetic and environmental reasons. On the latter, my parents got seat belts in the ’57 Chevy in 1960, I think, 8 years before they were required. We probably had the first Peugeot 404 wagon in the world (a ’65) with rear seat shoulder harnesses. My father, who had no special knowledge about this sort of thing showed the people at the Peugeot factory in Paris that you could install them by wrapping them around the rear seat back. I was one of the first people to have a hard-shelled bicycle helmet, Bell serial # 7060. And when I drove my 8 year old ’62 Falcon to California and then back to Boston a year later, I kept the speed to 50mph, although not for safety but to preserve my beloved first car.
I did manage to push the Peugeot to 85mph once, after several minutes of flooring it on one of the highways around Boston, but that was the most dangerous thing I ever did driving in my youth. Oh, and I learned painlessly about the dangers of ice when I did an unplanned 360 while turning left.
Adamatari:
Adamatari:
November 27th, 2006 at 4:31 am
I used to deliver pizza in a ‘95 Saturn SL2 that certainly wasn’t making advertised HP… Aside from that I found out the limits of my tires in the Florida rains, luckily never getting in trouble but certainly scaring myself a few times. With torque steer, understeer, wimpy brakes, and general wimpyness, that car has turned me away from GM pretty badly.
I had a ’93, and it had neither torque steer nor much understeer. It was also very predictable. There was one particular curve on a street near my house, where, if there had been rain, I could easily get the thing to do a four wheel drift. I knew when it was going to let go, and when it was going to grab again, and I knew how far I was going to slide.
cyclonecobra:
November 27th, 2006 at 9:44 am
Here in central NY a motorcyclist is going to trial today for running from a state trooper driving a chevy tahoe in excess of 100 mph, which then proceeded to crash into a tree. Obviously you have to feel sorry for the officer’s family, but what made him think his two-ton suv could keep up (or catch) a motorcycle in the twisties? The cycle rider will now be “made an example of.” Already there has been a law passed to make it a crime to flee from a pursuing police officer. Google “Trooper Craig Todeschini” if you are interested in the story.
I don’t for the life of me understand why POLICE DEPARTMENTS buy SUVs. They, of all people, need something reasonably agile.
I just don’t get the police Tahoe thing. We have them in one of the larger ‘burbs here. I can’t imagine they’re too hard to outrun (in the turns).
I guess my view is that police should drive vehicles that don’t even let normally law-abiding citizens like myself even CONSIDER outrunning them (motorcycles and exotics excluded). The Crown Vics, Chargers, and even Impalas never really gave me that idea. The Tahoes do.
dgcamero–
You were lucky he didn’t write you for driving to endanger or whatever they call it in VA. Weaving in heavy traffic at 90 to 100 is grossly irresponsible, IMHO. That’s the kind of behavior that makes all pistonheads look bad. Not that I’ve never done anything totally stupid, and I lost track of the ticket count long ago. But I always tried limit my dumbass moves to times and places where other people wouldn’t be involved should I screw the pooch.
But back to RF’s original point, that handling is really of greater value than horsepower, I absolutely agree. Thirty-odd years ago I spent several seasons autocrossing a mildly modded VW beetle and was usually in the top of the small coupe/sedan class and even got a couple of “fast time of day” awards against cars that had more of everything but handling. Some of the courses had spots where even I was hitting 70+ so power was important, but getting through the corners was where the money lay.
Cornering limits are only part of the game. Agility is just as important, as is knowing what you can get away with.
ash78:
… police should drive vehicles that don’t even let normally law-abiding citizens like myself even CONSIDER outrunning them (motorcycles and exotics excluded).
I don’t watch much tube, but the old man does and 2 years ago I was at his place and he was laying around watching car chase video on Spike or something. I laughed my butt off because they showed a real brilliant guy on a motorcycle trying to outrun a cop car. The cop stuck with him thru all the fun, so biker-boy-genius decides to show the cop (who was right behind him) by out-braking the cop. The cop ran right thru the guy.
It is seared in my mind as both a classic and the epitome of idiocy. Damn did I laugh, though.
WaaaHooo,
I’ve seen that one. I think that guy had seen Top Gun a few too many times (I’ll put on the brakes, he’ll fly right by!)
One of the best, though, is that guy in a purple C4 Vette(?) between LA and LV, weaving in and out of traffic, then he loses the rear end, clips a semi, and goes hurtling off the road, flipping from 70mph+. Then the cops had to chase him, since he was all geeked out and was able to run from the wreckage. Absolute classic.
There is a saying in Aviation: “There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots. But there are no old bold pilots.” Evolution in action.
More evidence that the TIRE is the most important component of a car.
If only that Camry that was following Lieberman had mounted Farago’s tires, everything would have been okay with it.
Brilliant article. You’ve expanded my lexicon.
I was wondering what car VINNIE would have chosen today? Hummer H2?
Great Story! I’ve certainly done a lot of things in the past, that I’m lucky enough to have memories of. These days my conscience keeps me in check for this same reason. It’s not ok to put someone else at risk.
Anyway, a funny twist on this story is one day I pick up my buddy at his house in my first car an ’82 Chevette diesel. It was a great first car. Not enough power to get a young stupid kid in trouble, but fun enough on the curvy Ohio backroads. Well, just as we get into the car, my buddy flies the middle finger at this full-sized 4WD Blazer driving in the opposite direction. Oh-no, I could tell the two guys inside were pissed as they drove past. I thought no problem, I could zip out of there and out of sight before they could get that massive thing turned around on the residential street. Did i mention the 6-inches of fresh snow on the road? The Chevette chose that moment to get stuck. Of course, I was probably a little enthusiastic with the throttle which didn’t help. There was no way the windows were coming down when they pulled up beside me and got out. So after some shouting, I got a nice kick to the door. So much for the nimbler smaller car.
“Uh, gee dad, I don’t know what happened to it, I must have gotten bumped in the parking lot.”
Keep it safe!
Nothing new in these statements, anyone who drives European cars knows how much quicker you can go than in a US car with an engine twice the size.
I’ve been motor racing for the last 10 years and now cannot sit behind the wheel of any car unless it handles, regardless of power output.
Give me a 2.7 litre Porsche Boxster over a 6.7 litre Chrysler 300C any day
This article is ammo in my ongoing verbal war with my father about why I chose to buy a respected, well bred sports car and not his very loud suggestions of Saturns and Jeeps.
I bought a Mazda RX-7. A well looked after example of the good ol’ FC3S GXL (Naturally Aspirated, not the Turbo). Not only is it unbelievably thrilling to drive, but it’s saved my sweet ass more times than I could tell you. I don’t tail gate, I don’t speed and I don’t drive like an jack ass. Close calls will still happen. You have to assume everyone else on the road is drunk (As my mother always said). Pay attention to your surroundings, and I mean all of them. Road surface, weather, traffic and your speed.
No doubt everyone has had to muster up some sort of fancy driving to avoid falling victim to someone else’ inability to operate an automobile. Having a car that loves to hug the road and remains balanced throughout your maneuver helps a lot.
Had I bought a Saturn (ew…) or a Jeep (Cringe.), I may not be here right now…or if I was, I could have some sort of bad injury.
What I’m saying is: Lots of horsepower would be nice…but what’s the point if it isn’t efficiently and predictably transfered to the ground? 146bhp from a compact, mid-ship engine with rear drive is quite enough for me.
I upgraded to an ’05 STI, and the one thing I have learned is that here in LA, I dont need 300 hp and the handling to match.
I got the point for speeding on the 5, and what got me pegged wasn’t the speed, it was the handling.
Its just too easy to weave all over the highway and take off ramps at double the posted limit because that was the car was built to do. I have yet to push the car to its full potential, and I probably wont.
Great car, tons of fun.
25,500 obo, 23k.
Toyota Tacoma, here I come.
Charlie, Ralph and Frig are all retired now and living in South Florida, where they relive their glory days hourly on 95 and the turnpike between Jupiter Beach and Miami. You’d think SOFLO was the religious capital of the planet, what with all the crosses beside the highways indicating former participants in that game (most unwitting) and the fact that not only is SoFlo called God’s waiting room, but sometimes he gives residents (and visitors) express drive-thru service.
Let’s be careful out there. SoFloridians sure ain’t.
AH my first car was a 71 datsun 510 it handle like a dream!28 years I still have it along with my 68 510.Now the 71 is a itc race car not street legal.As for the 73 that sits in yard I am planning on doing VG30 swap hehehehe