As I've said before I have an old Fox Body Mustang that I keep in the garage most of the time and I rarely ever drive it. I just enjoy working on it. Well yesterday I decided to take it out for a spin, it was a nice sunny day and I figured she needed to get out of that old garage for a change. It's a stick shift. There is a rather large and steep hill right around the corner from my house with a stoplight at the very top. Not the best scenario for a stick shift car with a lot of horsepower that tends to spin the rear tires. I usually avoid that hill when driving the car because its a royal pain to get going from a stop but I couldn't take the long way home because I saw a random summer shower forming and it started to rain a bit, can't let the Mustang see the rain! Gotta get back to the garage! So I'm driving up the hill hoping this light doesn't turn red and get me stuck on the hill in the rain. But due to the law of nature the light turns red and I get stuck on the hill in the rain. A guy pulls up next to me and gives me a thumbs up "Nice car man!" Thanks. Everybody likes the car. Behind me a woman does what everybody seems to love doing. In an effort to go through the car in front of them they will pull up to within .05 centimeters of your back bumper. I always leave a good car length between myself and the person in front of me so I slowly try to ease off the clutch, ease on the gas, try to move, tires are slipping....damnit, but I can move a bit while they spin, trying to get away from this lady behind me. As she notices the white smoke from my tires spinning creeping up the hill she takes that as her cue to move up as well to within .05 centimeters of my back bumper again. How dumb are people...Did you not just see why I moved...? So we do this little dance again and she keep moving up. This is the longest light in the continental United States too by the way, hats off to the engineers of this city with their high school education. I'm trying to leave enough space between myself at the person in front of me because I know when this light turns green I'm going to spin the tires and when they catch it's going to launch me forward. I'm trying to leave space behind me because a stick shift car tends to you know...roll backwards slightly especially on a damn near 45 degree hill. I'm in my rearview mirror throwing my hands up telling the lady to back off. As a nod to Darwin she takes that as me waving to her so proceeds to wave back at me. I set the ebrake, and get ready to "launch", only real choice I have. I launch forward a little bit to get clearance and the lady STILL moves up again. The light finally turns green after 2 weeks and 5 days and I lock the ebrake, start spinning the tires to get traction, smoke is everywhere, the lovely lady behind me is honking her horn, then I look out my window and see a Subaru WRX driven by one of our lovely youth of today. Right when I get traction and "launch" finally the kid in the Subaru honks his horn 3 times, guns it, thinks I'm trying to race him, and SLAMS right into the back of the guy in the pickup truck who said "Nice car" earlier. They pull into a nearby gas station and I pull in there to maybe give a statement when the cops come. And low and behold so does our lovely lady behind me. The kid and the guy in the truck are exchanging pleasantries when the cops show up and the lady and the kid try to blame the entire thing on ME?! She says I challenged the kid to a drag race at the stop light and I was spinning my tires and lurching forward like they do at drag strips. The kid of course says "Uh, yeah thats right!". I'm like what? No, I pulled in here because I was a witness and I saw what happened and thought maybe the guy in the truck would need a statement or something. I explained the entire situation to the Officer, why I was spinning the tires, why there was smoke, and how I had nothing to do with some punk kid in his $30,000 WRX that his parents bought him trying to race me. The guy in the truck agreed. So the cops end up ticketing the kid, AND ticketing the lady for "reckless driving" because she wouldn't get off of my ass on the hill. The lady throws a fit, me and the guy in the truck sit back and laugh, and once its all said and done the cop walks over to us and says "Nice car by the way man, can I see it?" So for the next 30 mins or so while I wait for the rain to stop so I can go home me, the guy in the truck, and the cop all sit there looking at my car and we go over what I've done to it and what plans I have etc. And of course they want me to get in a make her scream because every man in the world loves the sound of true 5.0 V8 power. Moral of the story. Leave a space between you and the person in front of you...they tell you that in basic driving school when you are like 15 years old. Sometimes your idiocy will get you a ticket
a 302 vs. a WRX Actually that would be a close race in a straight line quarter mile. Both are around 13 second machines.
Good story in describing another lesson in life. What I like is it turned out well for you. Seems like more often than not, it's the guy w/good intentions who get stung and the idiots drive away w/a smile...... Have a good day........
Yeah it would be a close race. A WRX would get me at launch due to the AWD but I'd probably catch him in 3rd. I don't really do such things though. It's funny but I like having horsepower on paper, like I said before I never really even drive the car I just enjoy working on it and making it fast. I get my smiles from the dyno sheets. The 302 was a pretty weak motor but it can be made pretty fast with minimal money. I just like having it because its easy to work on and it gives me something to do on the weekends. I enjoy turning wrenches and smashing my knuckles.
Thanks HB, I think the reason I didn't get in trouble was because of the guy in the truck telling his side of the story. If it was just me there by myself and the kid and the lady lying to the cops then I probably would have gotten in trouble. 2 statements vs 1 will lose almost every time even though they were flat out lying through their teeth. I hate that, take responsibility for your actions, be an adult. The lady behind me may have honestly thought I was trying to drag race, she may not have understood exactly why I was smoking up the road like that. But the kid is who really made me mad. I can't stand people who would rather lie to get themselves out of trouble at the expense of others instead of just manning up and taking responsibility for their mistakes. I hope mommy and daddy tore that kid a new one when he got home, sells his car after it gets repaired and puts him in a minivan.
Some people are just idiots. having a beaut like the mustang must be a real pleasure. I can certainly understand not letting the baby melt in the rain. Since its not your daily driver, I bet with a little practice on that hill, you wouldn't have ANY anxiety about stopping and starting or hoping the light will change green before you get there. And then screw whoever is so stupid or unaware to stop an inch from your back bumper. (I learned on a manual at 13 with my stepfather. I recall a number of rather "emotional" lessons on hill stops and starts. But once I got the hang of it, all it takes now is a bit of familiarization with the "feel" of the clutch and where it engages/disengages and I'm good to go, no worries. I hope you don't take that as condescending because its not meant to be.
I'm sure you're right - you had a reliable source backing you up and the cop was also smart enuf to know the kid was just a kid and out to save his own skin..... and the woman? Who knows..... but give yourself credit - upfront, honest people come across as upfront and honest and they are believed. Body language, mannerisms, even the vocabulary a person uses speaks volumes. I've been an observer of body language for most of my life and it's interesting.... also very helpful in raising my kids.......lol.
Sounds like the import would have won over the American muscle car since it was all wheel drive on a downward sloping angle, as well as the given traction problems that were mentioned from the rear wheel drive only automobile with excess torque to the wheel. But why didn't the import driver see a big truck in front of him before engaging in a cordial drag race. And also why was the innocent lady charged as reckless, a stick shift driver assumes the responsibility of not rolling backwards into a car on a hill by riding their clutch while paused, or by having a strong take off as was described. Thanks for the story all in all. Good day sir.
I think the lady was charged for continuing to get too close to me. I'm not joking when I say she couldn't have been more than a couple inches from my back bumper. The sad part is that I had no intentions of reporting her to the cops or anything at all, I was simply there to give a statement if necessary for the guy who got the back of his trucked slammed in to. Why the kid didn't see the big truck in front of him I have no idea to be honest. I was wondering the same thing. I think he did see the truck at the last minute because he slammed on the brakes but it was too late. Maybe he didn't realize how much power his car had and it got away from him or something I don't know. The kid couldn't have been more than 17 years old, maybe he was just reckless like that. I agree that the driver of a stick shift automobile is responsible for not rolling back into someone. I was trying my best not to as described in the story. It was just a bad scenario overall made even worse by a kid slamming into the back of that guys truck. I don't honestly know if the lady got a ticket or not, it may have just been a warning or something I didn't see exactly what the cop gave her. But she was quite upset about it so I want to assume it was actually a ticket. I actually felt bad because I'm honestly not sure if she thought I was trying to race or not. She may not have honestly understood what was going on. Why she kept creeping back up to me I have no idea though. I was forced to explain to the cop why I was smoking the tires and "launching" myself, it was because of the rain and the hill and HER refusing to get off my back bumper. I had to say that because SHE was who told the cop I was trying to drag race. After I explained that to the cop was when she ended up getting in trouble...I didn't want her to I sort of feel bad about it. If she legitimately thought I was trying to street race on a busy road like that then she has every right to tell the cops on me, I don't blame her I would have done the same thing. But it was because she said that that I had to say what I said which seemingly got her in trouble...a no win situation really.
been a few years sense I drove a stick... remember the hills and stop lights well and people pulling up inches behind you.... sucked hurt my right ankle one year, bought a new car with automatic and never went back though I never had to spin my wheels let alone make them smoke, lol, not sure what that is about.... were the tires so bald it would slide downhill if you did not? confused on that one .
No I don't find it condescending at all. I too learned how to drive on a stick shift oh so many years ago and most of my vehicles have been stick shift. Any other car or truck that I've owned wouldn't have any issue going up that hill in the rain. The issue is that this car is very light, the back tires are literally one level above street legal drag radials, and it puts a fairly decent amount of power to the wheels on stock gears. On a nice hot day those tires stick like glue to the road but if that road is wet then you might as well be driving on ice. I remember hitting a water spot on a highway one time and it kicked the back of the car out, terrifying. I've always been extremely anal when it comes to driving it for that reason, I never take it out if I even think its going to rain. I've gotten caught in a slight downpour on a straight away road before and it spun the tires going on flat ground at a stop sign. That was why when I saw those clouds forming the other day I high tailed it back home as soon as I possibly could. The way the road works is that there is a long road that goes into that hill that is the main way back to my house. I could go about 10 miles around it and go into my neighborhood the back way. I would have done that had I known it was about to start pouring, it was one of those summer showers that forms and dumps rain then disappears all within about 10 mins. I thought I could make it home before the rain hit once I saw the clouds form. That was my mistake. But I really had two choices, drives 10 miles in the rain with slippery tires or drive 1 mile over this hill and try to beat the rain. It started raining right as I got going up the hill and I knew I was in trouble big time. I am far from a professional driver or anything like that but I challenge anybody to get up that hill in my car without spinning and rolling backwards. Like I said that car spins and slides on a straight away when the roads are wet. Up that hill I didn't stand a chance. That was why I locked the ebrake and started "burning out" trying to dry the water off of the tires hoping to get at least enough traction to launch myself far enough to get up the hill. I can handle it in the rain on straight roads, its not fun but enough finesse would have gotten me home. In this particular case it was the car, not the driver To be honest that car is made for a nice hot track on a summer day. It's "street legal" by definition but lessons such as the one learned the other day are the reasons why I don't like taking it anywhere.
The tires aren't bald per say but they might as well be. They are "street legal" drag radials designed to be hot and for hot roads. That's why you always see people at the drag strip burning out before they get to the line to launch. They aren't showing off they are heating up their tires so they will stick to the ground and give them good solid traction. They work wonderfully on a nice hot day and they stick to the ground like an Indy car. But if they get wet then you are screwed because they don't have the tire tread designed to displace water. They turn into "slicks" in the literal sense of the word and when on a nice steep hill that is a very bad thing. I won't roll down hill if the roads are dry because when they are dry they act like normal tires and I can finesse the clutch and gas pedal to keep me from rolling. But when they are wet the second you give it gas those tires start spinning like they are on ice and the only way to move is to dry them off by smoking the water off. Not an easy thing to do when someone is literally 2 inches from your back bumper. I'm just glad I had a working ebrake. It's actually something that I JUST recently repaired too. I never worried about it because I'd just park it in 1st gear if I was parking on a hill or something. Without an ebrake to keep me in place on that hill that day I would have been screwed because I don't have 3 feet to work the gas, brake, and clutch at the same time lol. I would have been rolling backwards down the hill into everybody no matter how fast my tires were spinning.
Avoid San Francisco if you don't like steep hills. I unknowingly rode a motorcycle there and struggled at stoplights going uphill, really had to ride the clutch.
I would have very very slowly rolled back against the old hags bumper and used her car as my emergency brake.... then laugh like cray while she blasts her horn at you.
Ahh, the ol' torque over traction problem with big tires in the rain. I know EXACTLY what that means. Back in the day I had a GTX 440, absolutely terrifying in heavy rain and I used to pull off the highway precisely because the damn thing became a surfboard if it hit standing water at speed. But man it could go fast in a straight line. Anyway enjoy. I luv the burble of an American muscle v-8 exhaust. A symphony. There's nothing like that feeling and big grin when you get behind the wheel and start your "baby" up.
