Doug, I've spent the last 6 1/2 years driving a Miata in St. Louis. Not quite like Atlanta traffic, but still fun. I drove the car all year. Suprisingly, the Miata did well in the snow. I'm chalking this up the 50/50 weight distribution and light foot when needed. Sadly, I had to sell the car. Now I drive an Xterra, and instead of looking for holes in traffic, I'm looking for the guy in the Miata who's about to take it from me.
I always get a chuckle out of the ricers. But maybe, just maybe, the Altezzas really do add about 10 horsepower. ;) Besides, would you really want to risk your car to a track occupied by a lowered Honda Civic with a typeR sticker and an inept driver? On 5/18/05, Doug Franklin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Tue, 17 May 2005 21:28:35 -0400, P. J. Alling wrote: > > > Doug Franklin wrote: > > >... riced out Nissan 200 SX that was worth, at best, about US$ 800 > > >... with about US$ 2,000 worth of 17" "spinner" wheels and rubber band > > >tires. The driver couldn't figure out how to operate a baseball cap, > > >either. :-) > > > Pictures??? > > Sorry. I was busy navigating northern Atlanta traffic (GA 400 > northbound in evening rush hour, if you know the area) and my hands > (and feet) were busy. My Optio digicam was in its nest on the seat > beside me, but I didn't have the time to manipulate it. Besides, I was > whizzing by Rice-San at a pretty good clip (+20 mph as I went past at > 50mph). :-) It really hacked him off that I blew past him like that, > but it was pure traffic tactics, not horsepower or speed, that did the > trick. If he'd known what I was thinking, I'd have gotten at least a > "you're number one" finger. :-) > > It was almost as funny as the soccer mom in the BMW Z3 (?, the BMW SUV) > that thought she could follow me onto an Interstate entrance ramp at > speed (I was in the slammed Miata, measured angular acceleration of a > little over 1g). Well, on second thought, that wasn't really all that > funny, since her infant was in a car seat in the back. She came within > an eyelash of rolling that beemer down the embankment into traffic as > she chatted on her cell phone. She did manage to drag it back from a > 30* rear-end excursion, which was either damned good or damned lucky. > > I'll have to dig around in my bookmarks folder. There are a couple of > really good "anti-rice" photo web sites that have wonderful examples of > the sort of crap this guy had done. You know the type. Rear wing > installed so as to generate as much lift as possible. Body kit > installed with duct tape. Eighteen gallon 'fart can' on his exhaust. > He'd done the whole nine yards of stupid crap. For half the cost, he > could have actually improved the performance of his "ride", but I doubt > he was a good enough driver to tell, or exploit, the difference. > > Hey, if that's what floats your boat, go for it, it's your money. But > to do all that and then get PO'ed when someone who actually watches > traffic and pays attention to traffic tactics blows your doors off, > well I just can't respect that. And no, I don't cut people off or > change lanes without signalling or any of that stupidity. I actually > pay attention to traffic more than one car in front of me. There are > plenty of people leaving huge holes even in rush hour traffic around > here. :-) > > On the track, I'd bet my next paycheck I'd have eaten his lunch, too. > I doubt he would have accepted the challenge, had I had the chance to > challenge him to track time (I don't race on public roads). No male > ricer has accepted yet, anyway, even when I offered to pay for their > track day. If you're gonna stuff a sock in your drawers, you probably > ought to make sure nobody's gonna call you on it. :-) > > TTYL, DougF KG4LMZ > > -- Scott Loveless http://www.twosixteen.com -- "You have to hold the button down" -Arnold Newman
