I fell in love today.... again...

[outside looking in]

I dare say he was an idiot because he exceded the speed limit by 100kph. What are the penalties for that speed? jailtime? Brutal fine into the 1000s? car impound? drivers lic. revocation? You say it was 1 km stretch of road ... a public road. I dare say any parent with any kid under the age of 6 would have a horrified reaction to bragging up such drag racing. Kids, pets wander into the street with little warning at times. At 150kph/ aka 92-93mph your safety cushion is nonexistant. If youre going to do that kind of drag racing, you need to be out on a lonely highway on flat terrain with super long visibility all around.

You know, there are stretches of country roads and "lonely highways" in both the US and Canada where houses are nonexistant, children playing in the streets is a non-issue, and the chances of seeing another vehicles - much less a highway patrol or sheriff - is less than the chance of me winning the lottery.

His "short stretch of road" could have been a lonely straight section on a desolate road. And about the "no cusion": many high performance modern cars are pefectly capable of handling (including stopping time from speed) at 90mph better than many cars decades ago were at 60mph.

I'm not saying that people should drive 90+ on a regular basis, but nailing him to the wall for "bragging" about it without knowing any more details is a bit extreme.

 

[unclehobart]

50kph speed limit doesnt sound like lonely highway to me. It sounds like a city street.

 

[Jeslek]

50kph speed limit doesnt sound like lonely highway to me. It sounds like a city street.

It was an industrial area, 5 lanes, lighted up with street lights, no cars in sight, no people in sight, and it was for less than 700 meters. And it was once. I enjoyed it a lot.

And btw, automatic transmission = higher performance. Your hand can't switch as fast as the computer can.

 

[Jeslek]

Maybe for "floor it", while i like performance on cars i make no abuse of it, and i don't innecessarily expose myself or the others inside the car.

(yeah, and gf will come and say "something", i'm sure )

You drink and drive, I fail to see how that is safer....

 

[Jeslek]

I'm not saying that people should drive 90+ on a regular basis, but nailing him to the wall for "bragging" about it without knowing any more details is a bit extreme.

Thank you. He did it once to thrill me. And I appreciated it and got a kick out of the performance a Corvette can deliver.

 

[Jeslek]

if he liked performance he wouldn't get an auto.

Um you have no idea what you are talking about... Go read some motor magazines...

 

[greenfreak]

I consider the passengers in my car precious cargo. I wouldn't put anyone in unneccessary risk whether I was driving alone or not. My boss regularly brags about how fast he speeds and I regularly tell him he's an idiot. But I think speeding is more a guy thing than a girl thing. Women are usually the ones making stupid moves like making a right from the left lane and things like that. Men are usually the ones weaving in and out of lanes, trying to go faster faster faster. At least in my neck of the woods, that's the way it seems.

This was the second fatal accident this week on roads that I travel every day. That story is horrible-this 20 year old kid was driving his girlfriend, mother, grandfather, and 12 year old sister back from a wedding and everyone except he and his gf died. As is usual in accidents involving drunk drivers, he was the least hurt.

 

[Jeslek]

green hm, see I ASKED for it...


If there is anyone to blame, blame and attack me ok? I can come here and defend myself, he can't. So please don't attack him ok?

 

[greenfreak]

I hope you aren't suggesting that I was blaming or attacking you. I was making general statements. I don't always address you in my posts LL, take my post for face value, ok?

As far as whether you asked for it or not, it makes no difference to me. Going that fast is at the very least putting yourself at risk and your passengers and is irresponsible no matter which way you look at it. I take the priviledge of driving very seriously but most drivers don't.

If you haven't already, read that article in my last post. That kid was drinking and driving and didn't pull over to the side of the road when he got that flat. The only time anyone should stop in the path of traffic on a highway is if their car can't move at all. Stupid mistake that he stopped in the middle lane but a sober driver with some common sense probably would have pulled to the side. His whole family is dead because of poor judgement. You can't get more serious than that.

 

[Jeslek]

I hope you aren't suggesting that I was blaming or attacking you.

Not at all I was referring to Uncle H and his recent vendetta on me. Or so it feels.

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[outside looking in]

50kph speed limit doesnt sound like lonely highway to me. It sounds like a city street.

doh, I completely overlooked that part. Yep, I would have probably thought the same. Of course, there are some 30mph back country roads where I live that have miles long straights in deserted areas... dumbest thing on Earth IMO too.

 

[outside looking in]

And btw, automatic transmission = higher performance. Your hand can't switch as fast as the computer can.

That would always be the case if it weren't for the mechanical losses inherent in automatic transmission designs. In some cases, that can rob 15% or so of your car's power (vs. a manual... roughly that is, haven't looked at numbers in a few years).

Recent transmission designs (like some of the best ones from Mercedes Benz and Borg Warner) are much better than in the past, and shift time in those transmissions has decreased quite a bit as well. In other words, it is a much closer race than it used to be. I think automatics were always pretty good at drag racing though, when in locked torque converter mode with ultra-quick shifting.

And of course, the best of both worlds is an automatically shifted manual gearbox (e.g., Ferrari's cool tranny). These are used extensively now in F1 racing. I told my dad that transmissions should all be manual with the clutch and shifting handled by computer controlled hydraulics when I was 10 years old... he laughed at me.

 

[Luis G]

You drink and drive, I fail to see how that is safer....

i never said it was safer, but you just said it yourself, what your boss did is not safe

 

[Gonz]

if you're going to waste your time falling in love with a car, make it Italian

 

[Jeslek]

You drink and drive, I fail to see how that is safer....

i never said it was safer, but you just said it yourself, what your boss did is not safe

And when did I say what my boss did was safe?

And Gonz, I prefer American cars. I wasn't born in the USA so I'm not blowing my own whistle, but American cars are just wicked. Sports cars that is.

 

[AlladinSane]

And btw, automatic transmission = higher performance. Your hand can't switch as fast as the computer can.

That would always be the case if it weren't for the mechanical losses inherent in automatic transmission designs. In some cases, that can rob 15% or so of your car's power (vs. a manual... roughly that is, haven't looked at numbers in a few years).

Not to mention the pleasure of shifting gears. Anyone that really loves sport cars would agree. That's how I like it: tough suspension, hard drive, noisy engine. Would some brit here mail me a TVR?

 

[outside looking in]

Gonz, nice pic, but who would have the gall to own a Ferrari in the GTO/F40/F50/Enzo Ferrari line and it not be Ferrari Red?

I guess if you already had 12 red Ferrari's, that would be OK. I just can't imagine someone buying one like that and ordering it in silver. Maybe a 360, a 550, or a 456, but not that car. In fact, I didn't know it came in anything other than red!

But, I suppose that anyone rich enough and chosen by Ferrari to be able to own one probably would already have a dozen red ones in the garage...

 

[Gonz]

at least it's not Lamborghini Yellow

 

[Shadowfax]

Wouldn't want to drive in the city with that car, Gonz...not good for the chassis

 

[ris]

car design has never really caught my imagination as much of it becomes derivative. but italian cars are something special, they are genuinely beautiful. sadly my image of us cars is stuck with the god-awful retrostyle chryslers we have been getting. bleurgh.