Do you guys have any racing stories? Just wondering.

I was coming home from school at 2:00 one time and following me on my tail was a Thunderbird SC. I pulled into the middle lane to let him pass me and he did. As we slowed to merge onto another highway I catch up with him again. He takes off and I get right on his butt. We both had it floored and we weren't going anywhere. It was like we were driving the same car. I was the exact same distance away from him at all times. He must have been running some mods because I don't recall them being that fast, or maybe just the GP's top end isn't what it should be for the numbers it pulls. Either way, we'd slow down if someone was in the fast lane, then we'd both hit it again. It was the most boring race cause no one could break away. Finally, at 115mph he really started pulling away and I knew I was hitting the limiter soon anyway and backed off at about 120mph. So I guess I lost. It was a real boring race and a waste of speed.

-Andrew

THAT REALLY SUCKS WHEN IT’S LIKE THAT, WHERE NOBODY PULLS AWAY. LIKE YOU SAID IT’S A WASTE OF TIME AND GAS. WHILE I DROVE MY TRUCK AROUND THERE WAS THIS GUY IN A MUSTANG GT TEASING ME. HIS CAR HAD MODS, YOU COULD HEAR THEM. HE WENT TO SCHOOL WITH ME A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. I ALWAYS RACEED HIM EVEN THOUGH I KNEW I WOULD LOSE. WELL TO GET TO THE POINT WHEN I BOUGHT MY GTP HE SAW ME. HE PULLED UP NEXT TO ME AND REVED HIS ENGINE. HE WAS LAUGHING. THERE WERE TOO MANY CARS IN FRONT OF US TO DO ANYTHING. BUT 2 LIGHTS LATER, WE WERE BOTH READY FOR TAKE OFF. OFF THE LINE TOok HIM BY TWO CARS, DON’T KNOW IF HE HAD A BAD START OR WHAT BUT HE WAS BEHIND. AT 75 MPH I WAS STILL AHEAD. STUPID CAR IN FRONT OF ME MADe ME SLOW DOWN. HE PASSED ME UP FOR AWHILE BUT HE COULDN’T KEEP IT LONG. NEXT TIME I SAW HIM ON THE ROAD I REVED My CAR, HE JUST LOOKED AT ME AND DID NOTHING, It WAS my turn to LAUGH AT HIM . GUESS HE LEARNED HIS LESSON!!

see that button , next to the "a" key? its called "caps lock" , mind pushing it for me real quick? thanks

lol keyboarding 101

LOL, yeah sorry about that guys. i was in a hurry, so didn't really care how it looked!

Anyone ever race a new Neon? What's the deal with the new neon? Is the R/T version with dual exhaust, and such really that bad ass? This guy in my town has one and whenever we meet on the street he always has his lady in the car, so he never has the balls to race me. Is it all show or can it move out pretty well. Would love to know.

J

It's not all show.

5 Speed, Turbo 4-Cylinder
215HP, 245 lbs/torque

0-60: 5.9 Seconds
1/4 Mile: 14.2 sec @ 99.5 mph

Not bad times for these things. I personally would rather be shot than drive one of these go-karts, but they do hold up with some pretty fast cars. We'll have to see how this does, considering the Neon is rated very low in the reiliability ratings.

The neon rt is pretty capable 215 hp and it wieghs alot less then the GP. Dodges answer for the ricer market.

Motor Trend (Dec. 03) has the 03 Neon doing the qtr mile at 13.89 @ 101.88, 5.4 0-60, and top speed of 148mph. However, they report that the 04's will have 15 more hp and 5 more lb.ft of torque, a new limited slip differential co-developed with Quaife(sound familiar?), and increased slalom speed from 66.6 to 68.3(that's porsche territory). The increased power did not decrease 0-60 or qtr mile times(5.5 and 13.99) but it did bump trap speed at the end of the qtr to 102.72.
I've always had an affection for the Neon ever since they came out with them. I used to rent them in the Islands and beat the crap them. The were a pisser to drive. I wouldn't own one where I live. I drive too much. They are better suited for short drives than for 130 mile cruising distances.

To get back on topic, I got another good racing story. Once again, kinda boring.

I was in my brother '93 5.0. I know it's a Ford, but this thing is solid with 330hp and 50k miles on it. I borrowed the car for the day and was out crusing (racing) my friend with a modified '94 Z28. I lost to him off the line twice. So now we were just kinda riding around. We got split up in traffic so he pulls into this restaurant so we can regroup. As we are pulling out, we both are just messing around and throw the rear end out a little. This Integra pulls out behind me, my buddy makes the next light, but I didn't. I'm not even thinking of racing this guy. The Integra appears stock. The light turns green and he spins his wheels. I notice this and just floor it. We were dead even until 120mph when I really started pulling on him. The only time I pulled on him was when he shifted, the 5.0 has a shift kit that chirps the wheels and takes off. It was a hell of a sleeper. I won, but was still put to shame for him keeping up that long.

Sorry for the long story. I have another racing story, but it pretty much comes down to me driving my father's Jaguar XK8 and having my ass handed to me by a GS430.

-Andrew

I was time trialing my Chevelle at the Long Island dragstrip when I found myself next to a Volkwagon GTi. I am used to seeing Vettes, Camaros, Stangs, a 442, Buicks, etc... I could live with a loss to one of those guys, but this time I had the honor of American muscle at stake. I was still trying tune my carb and timing, so I wasn't running as fast as I should have. I could dig up the time slip but I remember running about 14 @ 105(no traction). Thank God it was enough to stay in front of the VW. Later that day, a guy with a 10 second Camaro was telling me how it feels to be "spanked" by a little Honda. I still laugh about it.

Out here in Houston there was the place called Rankin road. It was behind some wearhouse and every Friday and Saturday a bunch of people would gather and race. The street was about 1/4 mile long. We would see everything, from neons to high performace muscle cars. I was pretty cool place to go run ur cars until the cops decided they had enough and busted allot of people. Anyway, I saw a Minvan out smoked a Camero Z28. It was the funniest thing but it put up a good show!

Back in the 80's I put myself through school with a classic Mustang resto shop. I bought, restored, and sold old Mustangs(64-69). I sold over 30 of those pieces of crap and made a lot of money. I picked up a 67 rolling chassis(non-fastback) and built a boss 351 Cleveland and 4spd top loader to put in it. The motor dyno'ed at 630 hp @ 7800 rpm. These engines had no low end what-so-ever. The car was a monster. The sound of the motor was the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I was driving around with a buddy when a 79 or 80 malibu pulled up next to us at a light in front of a shopping center. The malibu had something wild under the hood(it was loud). I found out later it was a 70 LS7. When the light changed he jumped in front of me with authority. My buddy was laughing his ass off until second gear when the solid cam kicked in at about 6000rpm. It was like a rocket launch from there. By third gear the malibu could do nothing but watch as this fire mist red missile passed him at light speed. We both pulled over and he started asking if I had nitrous. I opened the hood for him and educated him about the Cleveland. We became friends and he eventually worked for me until Bush's recession forced me to sell the shop in 89. I never made it to the track with that car so I have no idea what numbers it was running. 0-60 could not have been very good but I'm sure the qtr mile times were in the elevens. I miss that car.

This is a friend's story. A very quiet kinda guy. Not really a racing story, but I liked it anyway. He had a GTO which everyone called a "goat" in those days. I guess it was a gutsy car.

Took place prolly 30+ years ago on a Sandy Eggo freeway at 2:00 in the morning. He's a fairly new Navy pilot. On the freeway, pretty much all alone when two cars pass him on the right. First car pulls in ahead of him, second car drops back a little, and they've got him boxed in. Then they both start slowing. By the time they were down to about 25 mph, he decided he'd had enough. Moved his car up to the one in front, made contact, then floored it. Guy in front was braking, but it wasn't doing him much good. Then he trys to out accelerate, but that just allowed the speed to jump that much faster. Guy along side was keeping up, not too hard considering the goat was accelerating two cars at the same time.

He stayed on the guy until they hit 120 mph at which time he chopped the throttle and layed on the brakes. The other two kept on going, then shot down the first off-ramp they came to. Friend swears they had to have rolled or crashed at the bottom considering the speed they were going.

Yep, quiet kinda guy. Just the kind that could climb a tower some day and start shooting.

Although he was navy, there had to be some marine training there. Typical marine battlefield situation: You've got your back to a 50 foot cliff. There are three of the enemy to the front, five to the left, and two to the right. All you have is a 75 foot rope and a bayonet. What do you do?

Correct answer is one word: ATTACK.

Regards, Gary in Sandy Eggo