[raisin]

Years ago I was an instructor at PCA driving events, and track rules required all cars to be driven by an instructor before the "student" was allowed to lap. I was fortunate enough to drive some of the rarest and fastest porsche's available (RSR's, turbo's, club sports, to name some).

Tuberoller, That club is much like the events that I attended, albeit a somewhat higher level of investment. Does it maintain paid instructors and flaggers?

bhd812, TWIFOSP has given you an excellent and inexpensive (if you consider tires cheap) script to explore the capabilitys of both you and your car. The SCCA website can direct you to your local events.

 

[BDA_ABAT]

MMmmmm... grew up with a guy who got into Vette's... one of my favorite care memories involved a 1969 Corvette L88... quite a fond memory of going really fast for the first time.

Sigh. I now drive a Honda Civic (my wife gets the Passat wagon).

Bruce

 

[Tuberoller]

A few more:

2004 Jag XKR Convertible - this is my Mom's car and she got a killer deal on it because a new 2005 XK is coming. My Mom is the classic "Jag Owner" and really,really loves this car. I drove this around for a few hours after picking it up from the body shop(bad trunklid paint). This is a big car but it feels very agile and has a great exhaust note. It almost sounds like a growl and it gets pretty nasty as the revs build. Power is good but I can feel some type of retard on shifts. The Six-speed auto trans shifts very crisply and keeps you pinned to the seat when you're driving hard. This is an absolutely beautiful car and I'm sure it will become a classic. The best thing about a Jag is the smell of the interior. I love the great smell of leather,wood and the carpets. The interior looks great and beauty of the seats,wood and gauges is something to behold. I was suprised this car rides as nice as it does with a 20 inch wheels and a sport suspension. this is a great car and it really shows how far Jaguar has come since the days before Ford. Now my wife wants one.


2004 Dodge Neon SRT-4 - This car belongs to my daughter and she left it home while she's away at school. I might drive it to NYC if she decides she needs a car. This car is a little monster. I never drove it while it was stock but my kid had the Mopar Stage 1 kit installed and this thing runs great. It sticks like a refrigerator magnet and leans just enough for you to unload the chassis and slide it into turns. I have driven this at a driving school and spanked all types of really fast cars. I have also taken this car to the drags twice and it runs 13.40 1/4 mile times with almost no effort. My daughter traded in a 2002 Ford Focus SVT for this and thinks the Focus handled better but acknowledges this thing is much faster. This car is a real "point and shoot" weapon and you can fling it around like you would never imagine. This car is the perfect dry weather commuter tool. Turbo lag is kinda bad but it comes on with a bang and a kick in the pants. I don't like the quality of materials or the fit and finish. The paint was great but the car has been back to the dealer for stupid stuff like the belt tensioner and A/C going out twice. This is a near perfect track-day and commuter car and I would suggest a test drive to anybody considering such a car.

2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 - I came this close (holds fingers 1/4" apart) to writing a check for this thing when I went to take my kid's car to the dealer for service work. The owner of the dealership attends the same church I do and he has been inviting me to come by and drive a SRT-10 since I told him about Jude's experience with it. He was gonna cut me the killer deal but I had to leave. This truck is almost comletely useless to me. I already own five completely useless cars and one more might dirve my wife over the edge. The SRT-10 is a monster in so many ways. It's fast, brutal,loud,big and evil looking. Just my kinda truck. This one was black and it looked downright sinister. I did'nt want to abuse this thing too much cause it was his personal demo but I did do a big doughnut and loved the way this truck just scorches the tires. This thing is kinda hard to get going really fast but once you do it really hauls a**. Traction is terrible and leaving hard is nearly impossible. The tires are hard,tall and are not well suited to this truck. When you lay rubber the tires really don't squeal,they just kinda howl and smoke a little even when you really spin them hard. The body rolls a bunch and the rearend gets really wiggly at any kind of real corner speed. It's fun to slide this thing around but I can see a less experienced driver getting in big trouble with this truck in a fast corner. the bad thing about this truck(and it's a real bad thing) is that it sounds just like a UPS delivery truck. I swear it,listen to a Viper or an SRT-10 and tell me it does'nt sound like a UPS truck. I fully expected folks to peek out the window looking for Big Brown as I was driving by.

 

[warubozu]

You're a very luck guy to be able to test drive all those cars. I sure wish I had such an opportunity but the only thing mentioned in your list that I had a chance to test drive was the Dodge Ram SRT-10 which my friend owns one. This truck got a lot of torque and the Viper V10 is a beast of a motor. The truck will easily fry the hides off of the 22's without any effort. For 2005 Dodge plans on dropping the Viper V10 into the Ram Club Cab and give it all the SRT trimmings.

 

[Tuberoller]

I usually have to let folks drive my cars too, which I'm perfectly willing to do. You'd be suprised how far you get by asking. I've borrowed and loaned gear to many folks here and I've never had anyone refuse to allow me to drive a car or borrow stuff. I guess you gotta be willing to return the favor.

 

[Genetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuberoller I usually have to let folks drive my cars too, which I'm perfectly willing to do. You'd be suprised how far you get by asking. I've borrowed and loaned gear to many folks here and I've never had anyone refuse to allow me to drive a car or borrow stuff. I guess you gotta be willing to return the favor.

Hi Tuberoller,

This made me think.....I have a friend who still has his racing helmet from the time he was racing on european circuits....One phone call and I'll get back to you...

Amicalement

P.S. Chances are that will end up with an ice cream truck...

 

[Elec]

Fred: It's interesting to hear your opinion of the SRT-4. On another board I visit, every time anyone mentions that particular vehicle, the thread basically goes like this for 5 or 10 pages:

"It's fast. Stupidly fast."
"But it's a Neon."
"Yeah but it's so FAST"
"Still a Neon."
"You can't possibly buy a faster new car for the money."
"I hate Neons, and I don't care what they've done to it."
"But it's been tuned! It's not like an old stock Neon!"
"If I took a Yugo and strapped a jet to it..."
"Look, it has an LSD and you can even get the MOPAR stages done and still have factory warranty!"
"It's STILL a NEON (lalalalalala can't hear you lalalalala)"

 

[NightWoundsTime]

I get the wonderful chance every single day to drive a 1984 louisville Ford dump truck, with a way underpowered Cat 3208 motor. I've even had the opportunity to strip said motor down from various angles! What a truly blessed person I am. Hey tubes if you come to florida we'll have to test drive each other's vehicles? That'd be SWEETness, especially for you

 

[bhd812]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elec Fred: It's interesting to hear your opinion of the SRT-4. On another board I visit, every time anyone mentions that particular vehicle, the thread basically goes like this for 5 or 10 pages: "It's fast. Stupidly fast." "But it's a Neon." "Yeah but it's so FAST" "Still a Neon." "You can't possibly buy a faster new car for the money." "I hate Neons, and I don't care what they've done to it." "But it's been tuned! It's not like an old stock Neon!" "If I took a Yugo and strapped a jet to it..." "Look, it has an LSD and you can even get the MOPAR stages done and still have factory warranty!" "It's STILL a NEON (lalalalalala can't hear you lalalalala)"

both people are rite to...lol

 

[Zuerst]

That's nothing... I have driven the Enzo, Carrera GT, McLaren SLR, McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, F50, F355, NSX, Murcielago, Diablo, Gallardo, Countach, Koenigsegg, Viper...

[size=xx-small]All in my little computer racing game...[/size]

 

[mjg]

I really can't stand the looks of the new 6 series, as most of the new BMW designs. THe designers are seeming to cut and paste or something from other models, and the cars lines are just plain awful.

It must be a pleasure to get the opportunity to drive all these cars. It's funny, a client/friend of my fathers has one of the most prominent exotic dealerships here on LI, he wouldnt even loan me a kia sephia if i asked.

Just one peek in his show room, and it's pretty overwheling to see a few million in cars, and so few of em!

; )

Nice review.
p.s; As soon as i get a job, a real one, i'm getting a c5, then begining to save up for my dream, a lingenfelter ls7
yet for now, my 2k2 6 speed max is pimp, performance on a budget. I got it putting down about 240 fwhp, which isn't bad at all i feel.

 

[The_Mac]

the only "real" car I've ever driven would be a friend's 1999 Viper GTS on a track. He goes out cruising on occasion and I come with him, and once he went to a track day with a bunch of vette guys and he let me take the viper for a couple laps.

I can commute in a standard car, but I'm still no where near comfortable with one in a track setting that I pretty much babied it all the way around. Still plenty of fun though.

(daily drivers for me are a 2004 taurus SEL, 2004 freestar, and used to have a 2002 explorer)

 

[SBomm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zuerst That's nothing... I have driven the Enzo, Carrera GT, McLaren SLR, McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, F50, F355, NSX, Murcielago, Diablo, Gallardo, Countach, Koenigsegg, Viper...

Impressive...a car thread that lasted 25 posts before the Supercars were brought up.

 

[mjg]

i still think the bugatti is the most wild supercar i ever seen. I think it was the only 1000 horsepower you could 'buy' in a dealer hehehe.


Supercar or not, that ligenfelter would eat those for breakfest, then ask for seconds, thirs.

low 10s on street tires, 9s on slicks. That's pretty impressive for a completly street legal machine that can be had for less then 100 grand.

My friends rx7's though are pretty nasty themselves, though they can put down close numbers, total rice burners!