Don't worry I'm not talking about you, I meant Shadoww, who seems to think driving safely is for 'pussies'.
Just don't make it a habit.
Don't worry I'm not talking about you, I meant Shadoww, who seems to think driving safely is for 'pussies'.
Just don't make it a habit.
I must admit there isn't a single model of Hyundai we get over here I would spend a single penny on...
I don't really care what version of Centrafuse, that project is in a box on the side waiting for the summer (or a different car) to install it on. Fed up of working on the car in this weather. Also doubt anyone here would approve of it!
Gotcha. Driving safely is not for 'pussies.' It's for 'intelligent people.' I pride myself in driving safely. I've avoided more than one accident by driving defensively (not going when the light turns green before looking right-left, and avoiding the car that sped through the intersection, or flooring it when I watched a car behind me not stop and almost rear end me.)
I also drive transit busses, so driving safely and defensively is my #1 concern. I went through some defensive and safe driving classes before getting certified and realized that I learned absolutely nothing new in the class that I didn't already do in my own car. It surprised me when they sat me in the simulator to teach me to "steer to the rear" of an object crossing the road (e.g. don't steer in front of something, steer the opposite way in which it is traveling). I see this to be common sense, and I would hope it would be a normal reaction, but apparently it isn't for some people.
This is not to say I don't have fun myself. When it snows, I go NUTS with my Subaru. And there is the rare occasion when it's pleasurable to see how fast you can take the loop-around exit ramp before the tires start squealing, but you cannot possibly consider yourself an automotive enthusiast if you don't have fun at least once a month.
Yeah, I'm pretty bored today.
You're just 21, it's your dad who's the ****ing idiot.
"Hey son let's go bogus test-drive us some racin' cars!" :rolleyes:
Lol, it's something we used to have fun doing. We've test driven many, many cars. Everything from the BMW 7-series, to a Chrysler Pacifica, to the Crossfire, to the RX-8... it's a fun weekend waster. Up until now, though, it's always been him who drove the cars.
I used to be 21 and a twat behind the wheel, that doesn't make it ok. I grew up and got wise, and so I have the wisdom of experience to impart. You don't have to listen, nor does the OP. But maybe somebody reading might think twice atleast once and save a life, or maybe not - but it's worth a shot.
As for me, I don't mind if I die. I've had a very good life and done everything I set out to do. I'm very lucky to still be here and delighted with each extra day I get - given that by all accounts if I did it all again then statistically I'm not likely to survive this far. I'd still rather not take anyone else out if I go though.
If you're going to drive hard on the streets, remember one thing!
Always drive within your limit, not the cars limit. Just because the car can do it, doesn't mean you can.
I've seen alot of street racers on the limit and hoping they make every turn and manuver. You don't ever want to hope you'll make it. That's a bad situation and feeling to be in. You might make it this time or the next, but one day it will catch up to you.
You'll kill someone else and or yourself, or paralyze someone and or yourself.
Always drive within your limit, not the cars limit. Just because the car can do it, doesn't mean you can.
I've seen alot of street racers on the limit and hoping they make every turn and manuver. You don't ever want to hope you'll make it. That's a bad situation and feeling to be in. You might make it this time or the next, but one day it will catch up to you.
You'll kill someone else and or yourself, or paralyze someone and or yourself.
I've been in cars with plenty of teenage drivers who've misjudged corners completely and luckily either managed to stop or nobody was coming the other way, most of them learn the first time, the few who don't are the real idiots.
A close friend of mine (big BMW fan) drives completely inappropriately but he thinks because he's never had an accident he's a safe driver. He'll do 40+ down a one-way residential street with parked cars either side of him without thinking that someone might wander out from behind something into the path of his car. It's that sort of thing that makes me wonder how many drivers on the roads continue to chance stuff like that because they've got away with it before.
Personally I just want to get from A to B without incurring any needless expense and without anyone getting hurt. I don't understand why more people don't behave the same way. Probably because a lot of people are spoilt brats who don't understand the value of anything.
I'm in complete agreement with Kev. A historic moment.
That's something that irks me. The same goes for people who tailgate. I couldn't do that because it scares the living daylights out of me. I don't know how people do it without even seeming frightened. It boggles my mind. I can't even drive close behind someone in a race in LFS without freaking out that I'm gonna ram them, lol.
Despite your tooling around in the sports car you sound like a fairly reasonable driver. Just be careful that when you're behaving like a dick on public roads you're not endangering anyone else. Like, when you decide to drift onto the highway is there a chance you might lose control and end up sideways into a telegraph pole, killing your dad. Or might you hit a barrier and bounce back into the road with your car disabled, leaving a big, heavy, stationary object for a passer-by to drive into.
It's that sort of thing that bothers me. Think a little bit beyond the immediate here-and-now, and be aware that someone might get seriously hurt because you wanted a little thrill in a car that day. It sounds like you're alright at judging risks but be aware that often situations that you haven't accounted for might start to play out. That's why I don't piss around when I'm driving on public roads. At all.
Completely understood, and I agree with everything you say. Like I said, it was my 21st birthday, I was in a good mood, i understood what I was doing and considering the drift happened in first gear only (since I wasn't proficient enough to try shifting mid drift, lol) I wasn't traveling very fast at all, so I thought the risk was worth it. I wouldn't dare try to drift or slide a car on public roads period at anything faster than EXTREMELY SLOW (read: under 30 mph) with no prior experience. Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to be able to take even my old 232k mile Subaru Outback out onto a real track - probably my #1 dream at the moment. I have, however, done a fairly good job in all my driving years so far of containing the need for speed that's built up since I got my license. It just creeps out every few months in some form or another
But I can guarantee you even in those cases there is never any possibility for anyone else to get hurt. Like I said, I'd be way too terrified to try something with others around.
And again, the point of this thread is not to SHOW OFF MY AWESOME DRIVING SKILLZ or MAKE A POINT OF HOW AWESOME I AM, it was just to share an awesome experience I had with people who share my passion for cars and can understand how I felt the first time I got a RWD car sideways. Definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life.
Of course, now I need a faster car, lol, depressed.
Well that's sort-of my point: Not wanting to sound too patronising there's always a possibility for someone else to get hurt when you're in charge of a big, heavy, fast thing, and any time you decide to have a bit of fun with it that possibility goes up.
You did say that you'd never pushed a car into oversteer before, and it was your experience on a computer game that kept it on the road. That's a bad situation to be in. I am crediting you with being only 21 and thinking of all the silly things I did when I was 21, although none of them (I think?) involved cars. All I'm saying is by all means have fun and take some risks while you're young, but think about how it might affect other people before you do it.
Get your Subie out on a track and you'll realize that you probably don't.
Try a track day at VIR. Great course, as you probably know. 250 bucks should get you a day to fool around.
See this is the story you tell with a bunch of your mates celebrating over a drink or something.
Not on a public forum where possibly people have known others that died in car crashes or other stupid incidents like that.
Seriously FOR SHAME!
Not on a public forum where possibly people have known others that died in car crashes or other stupid incidents like that.
Seriously FOR SHAME!
Well, yes, but let's be reasonable though. As soon as you back your car out of the driveway the risk goes up of you injuring someone else. Every time you back up in general, it's statistically proven that the risk of injuring someone goes up significantly.
As for the track day stuff, I'd absolutely, positively love to, but I wouldn't be able to do it with my car. The only reason it's still running today is because I've babied it ever since I inherited it at 185k. Even now anything over 3500 RPM throws up a bit of white smoke - head gaskets are leaking again. Not to mention it drips oil, so I'd assume that would automatically nullify any chance of my taking it on a track?
$250 is doable though, I didn't realize that was how cheap it was. Does that give you the right to just take a car out and go? Or are there all kinds of strings attached? I know overseas you guys have all sorts of track days for cheap, but America is so full of lawyers they simply can't seem to do it.
Stang, always remember what I said. You wont die in an accident.
Kev, I know alot of drivers like B. They haven't had an accident yet, so therefore they're a good driver. But it'll catch up to them one day.
Vehicular manslaughter is a big deal over here.
Kev, I know alot of drivers like B. They haven't had an accident yet, so therefore they're a good driver. But it'll catch up to them one day.
Vehicular manslaughter is a big deal over here.
True, but there's a reason why they don't have equivalent statistics for drifting around on-ramps. Do you imagine it would be statistically safer?
FWIW I am shit at reversing, my girlfriend is much better at parking than me, it's embarrassing.
If it makes any difference, I have been in an accident, and no I don't think I'm invincible. But I do think I know my car well enough to take an on-ramp that I am also familiar with with a bit of speed with no other cars in sight.
It's different for different organizations, but out here dripping oil will fail the tech inspection I'm afraid.
250-290 will buy you almost 3 hours of free track time out here on the west coast, at Infineon or Thunderhill. Laguna is a little bit more expensive (350-400). Sometimes the prices get below 200 for nearly 2 hours. Some places do it even cheaper (nearer 150), but you get a lot less track time. I'd imagine it would be cheaper out east, tracks generally cost less to rent out there from what I understand. But I'd still expect to pay 250-300 per day, just to be safe. You can usually rent a track day car, which is usually a quieted club racer of some kind (track days usually have decibel tests). Expect to pay 500 to 1,000 for the rental car itself if that's what you want to do. But as long as it's mechanically sound you can take pretty much whatever you want out. I saw an El Camino once. Even Minivans sometimes get thrashed out there.
If you've never been on a track before you might require an instructor to sit in with you for an hour or so, and you'll be put in a novice class with mandatory point-bys (either by hand or turn signal, depending on the organization) and possibly designated passing zones. But other than that, you're free to go as fast as you want, as long as you want (sessions are usually 20-40 minutes with multiple sessions in the day). Sometimes you'll even get an "open track" day which is exactly what it says - hit the pit lane and go, as long as you want, from sunrise to sunset. Those are the best ones.
I'd love more information if someone has it on where exactly I could go on the east coast for that kind of price. I've done some internet research in the past, but all I ever come up with are those $2-3K "weekend track day" specials with classroom instruction and all that crap.
If anyone around this area (Virginia) or even up north (I'm from New Jersey) knows of local places where I could do this, I would LOVE some input. Thanks in advance for anyone who can help me out.
If anyone around this area (Virginia) or even up north (I'm from New Jersey) knows of local places where I could do this, I would LOVE some input. Thanks in advance for anyone who can help me out.
I didn't said driving safely is for pussies, I said that crying about somebody driving unsafely is for pussies.
Why am I not surprized at this?
I didn't know Steve was that good!
If all else fails, you can join NASA and do their HPDE system. It's cheaper on the surface at 360 for two days, but you go out during a race-weekend and there are hundreds of enthusiasts that show up and other classes to run. You should still get at least two hours of track time over the two days, probably more. There's an event coming up at Virginia International Raceway. The only road course I'm aware of in Virginia is VIR.
I'll try to dig up some trackday-only org for you. But NASA will get you on-track and maybe even get you a race license if you want to go all-out and can afford it later (HPDE is their licensing method, as well as a trackday service).
If you want, you can contact VIR administration and they will know who to look up for trackdays only.
EDIT: Asphalt Ventures holds open track sessions at VIR for 300/three hours or 350/four hours. The site hasn't been updated lately though. You might try contacting them still.
Tarheel Sports Car Club runs time trials and HPDEs at VIR as well, and seem more organized than AV. 350/375 for two days/2.5-3 hours. VIR seems expensive to rent...
... maybe not. TrackDaze do events on the east coast/VIR and you can choose to do one day or both days. 190 each day, 2 hours of track time per day, or 370 for two days/four hours.
My first ever, real-life LFS experience.
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