Tell us about when you were nearly a driving god
Discussion
In New Zealand, I was enjoying the easily controllable gentle powerslides in my borrowed '95 2.0 AWD Legacy wagon on some stunning bits of winding gravel road and was enjoying progressively bolder and smoother moves until I realised I was no longer surrounded by welcoming fields on either side and there was now a sheer hundred metre drop straight into the Pacific, no margin for error whatsoever, and furthermore, no mobile phone signal to call for help if I did stack it. Not only that but I was coming within centimetres of the edge. So I had a stern word with myself and went back to going round corners the 'normal' way.
Edited by vsonix on Thursday 13th December 19:07
P5BNij said:
QuattroDave said:
P5BNij said:
I drove an Inter-City HST 125 at 128mph once. Thread done...?
I thought class 43's had a top speed of 140mph but only for very short periods, its cruising speed was 125mph!(I think from memory the needle 'stop' in the speedo was somewhere around the 130mph mark back then)
Edited by P5BNij on Wednesday 12th December 19:27
DickyC said:
The 125 and I have grown old together. When I wasn't commuting somewhere by car I was in and out of Paddington on the HST. When they were newish and allowed to leave stations at full chat I timed one, standstill in Paddington to standstill in Reading, at 17 minutes exactly. If I was right and didn't dream it, it would have been an average speed of 125.
Is there a railway section here? I could go and ask if I imagined it.
That's some going. That used to be part of my commute and I think best I've seen is around 25min, and that was a rarity. Is there a railway section here? I could go and ask if I imagined it.
Good evening,
New to the forum here but thought it was only right that I share my driving (lack of) godliness.
On a commute back home from work, overtook a 911 round the outside on one of those wide roundabouts leading onto the M1.
Felt very good about myself, until I checked my mirrors and saw a pair of very bright headlights in my mirrors.
Put my foot down in my Focus 2.0. You can guess what difference that made....
Had to admit defeat, pulled out of the way, and a brand new Audi RS6 V8 shot past as if I had stopped to use the gents...
Definitely put in my place!
New to the forum here but thought it was only right that I share my driving (lack of) godliness.
On a commute back home from work, overtook a 911 round the outside on one of those wide roundabouts leading onto the M1.
Felt very good about myself, until I checked my mirrors and saw a pair of very bright headlights in my mirrors.
Put my foot down in my Focus 2.0. You can guess what difference that made....
Had to admit defeat, pulled out of the way, and a brand new Audi RS6 V8 shot past as if I had stopped to use the gents...
Definitely put in my place!
DickyC said:
P5BNij said:
I drove an Inter-City HST 125 at 128mph once. Thread done...?
The 125 and I have grown old together. When I wasn't commuting somewhere by car I was in and out of Paddington on the HST. When they were newish and allowed to leave stations at full chat I timed one, standstill in Paddington to standstill in Reading, at 17 minutes exactly. If I was right and didn't dream it, it would have been an average speed of 125. Is there a railway section here? I could go and ask if I imagined it.
My driving god incident(s) were fortunately few My frogeye, on brand new tyres, in the wet, on a dual carriageway in town that turned 90 degrees after going under a railway bridge. I had overtaken a few cars leading up to the bridge......How they smiled as they passed me - facing them, having spun 180 degrees, just round the corner......
Going too fast at the end of the two lane motorway into Palma ......and seeing the red traffic lights! Four adults in a rented Clio makes stopping distance somewhat longer than the distance to the last cars in the two traffic lanes.......Fortunately there was Just enough space between the two lanes, to come to a halt. As the tyre smoke drifted past our windows and we all looked ahead my father said "That was close"......
Shuvi McTupya said:
Welcome to the forum FK.
I wouldn't feel too bad about being 'embarassed' by an RS6, there isn't much on the road that can keep one of those at bay!
Thank you very much for the welcome. I guess I can't be held accountable for a 430bhp deficit! I wouldn't feel too bad about being 'embarassed' by an RS6, there isn't much on the road that can keep one of those at bay!
Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Friday 14th December 09:38
Nineteen ninety something. Driving in a Vectra automatic hire car. Came up behind a few HGVs convoying on the A9. Went to overtake and realised that a few HGVs was actually 9 HGVs. Committed, so I clenched my buttocks and went for it. Overtook all 9 (admittedly whilst praying that none of them pulled out). Pure hero.
This was the time I was nearly a racing god. My first year racing two stroke karts, 4th or 5th round of the championship at Clay Pigeon. It was a dry / wet heat and the whole field was on slicks. Coming towards the esses round the back of the circuit on the last lap, I was in about 7th desperately trying to hang on to the pack in front, when the leader spun and forced some of the others to brake nearly to a stop and the rest to take to the grass. There was half a karts width of clear track on the outside and I went for it, clattering over the kerb and just keeping it pointing in the right direction, and I came out in front, with the top 4 in the championship and the reigning champion now behind me. I had not led a race until that point and for the length of the back straight I was shouting "YESSSSSS!!" in my helmet. Until I got to the hairpin at the end of the straight, overshot my braking and sailed into the tyre wall.
FK said:
Shuvi McTupya said:
Welcome to the forum FK.
I wouldn't feel too bad about being 'embarassed' by an RS6, there isn't much on the road that can keep one of those at bay!
Thank you very much for the welcome. I guess I can't be held accountable for a 430bhp deficit! I wouldn't feel too bad about being 'embarassed' by an RS6, there isn't much on the road that can keep one of those at bay!
Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Friday 14th December 09:38
However speed isn't all that as the RS6 is a one trick pony when it comes to enjoyment - straight line speed. I actually moved to a new M140i which I've found far more engaging and although I miss the v10 sound and bootspace that's made up for by halving my fuel consumption and removing the background fear of a ruinous repair bill!
QuattroDave said:
FK said:
Shuvi McTupya said:
Welcome to the forum FK.
I wouldn't feel too bad about being 'embarassed' by an RS6, there isn't much on the road that can keep one of those at bay!
Thank you very much for the welcome. I guess I can't be held accountable for a 430bhp deficit! I wouldn't feel too bad about being 'embarassed' by an RS6, there isn't much on the road that can keep one of those at bay!
Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Friday 14th December 09:38
However speed isn't all that as the RS6 is a one trick pony when it comes to enjoyment - straight line speed. I actually moved to a new M140i which I've found far more engaging and although I miss the v10 sound and bootspace that's made up for by halving my fuel consumption and removing the background fear of a ruinous repair bill!
The only time I ever showed an fast Audi a clean pair of heels was in a classic traffic light grand prix. Focus was not available, so I had to resort to just 1000cc for this. And two wheels. And a Suzuki badge. Never seen an RS4 go backwards like that. Including round the corners. Felt extremely well endowed that day even though my mum could probably have done just as good a job!
To return briefly to my hotted up MG Metro of yesteryear, one of my commutes involved the Marlow Bypass. With no traffic this would be a fast dual carriageway joining the M40 with the M4 with just one roundabout to interrupt flow. At the time of day I used it I never had a clear shot at the roundabout and the boy racer in me had to content himself with blasting round the roundabout from stationary and then away on the dual carriageway. Southbound was best as it was uphill away from the roundabout. Then, one evening, I fell through a hole in the traffic and after a fast run south from the M40 the roundabout was clear and waiting for me. Round the roundabout, left, right, left, then foot down even harder for the hill. Bang. The only engine I've ever blown up. Limped to the layby, disconnected plug leads until I found the blown piston. Turned it off, took the plug out and drove home on three cylinders to decide not to have the engine rebuilt again. So endeth the MG Metro period of my life.
JBT said:
This was the time I was nearly a racing god. My first year racing two stroke karts, 4th or 5th round of the championship at Clay Pigeon. It was a dry / wet heat and the whole field was on slicks. Coming towards the esses round the back of the circuit on the last lap, I was in about 7th desperately trying to hang on to the pack in front, when the leader spun and forced some of the others to brake nearly to a stop and the rest to take to the grass. There was half a karts width of clear track on the outside and I went for it, clattering over the kerb and just keeping it pointing in the right direction, and I came out in front, with the top 4 in the championship and the reigning champion now behind me. I had not led a race until that point and for the length of the back straight I was shouting "YESSSSSS!!" in my helmet. Until I got to the hairpin at the end of the straight, overshot my braking and sailed into the tyre wall.
Gutted! 17, recently passed my test, in my Citroen AX 14DTR. 53hp but you could just flick that car around on 155 tyres, it had no intertia, and I was continually trying to probe the limits of lift off oversteer. There’s a bridge by South Woodford Station, which has a continuous radius all the way round, awkward cambers and cars parked on the side. It was raining one Sunday morning as I was going round, and perfect for a bit of lift off oversteer research. Got the car sideways, over corrected, over corrected the other way etc etc dancing along until I hit the kerb, broke the front axl with the front wheel just coming straight off. My first accident, I was distraught with my driving God ego battered. We got the car fixed at a garage round the corner from the bridge with the repairs higher than the value of the car. And you know when you’re a teenager you feel like you get shouted at just for screaming, and then there’s one time you do something monumentally stupid and you don’t get bked at all??? Well that was this, and not getting bked just made me feel even more guilty. Fast forward a long long month, the car was done, I went to pick it up and drive it back home. Came back round the said bridge, on the other side, it was slightly damp . . . and being 17 and not having a fail safe switch, I thought let me try it again 😂. This time I got the little AX stupidly sideways, more than I’ve ever done since, 50/60 degrees or so, and I was looking out the side window and making a bee-line for a parked up grey MG BGT. I can still picture it now, this thing looked resplendent all polished up with its chrome bumpers. And I was heading for an almighty smash with it, with thoughts flashing in my head about what I was possibly going to say this time to my mum and the poor MG owner. Not sure exactly what happened, down to luck rather than skill, but the tyres must have caught some grip just in the nick of time and I had a luckily escape. I didn’t stop, drove home, and it shat me up so much I completely blocked it out of my mind for 6 months.
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