Spirited (performance) driving...when and where (if at all)
05-04-2007, 04:08 AM
#21
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My Ride: 2010 523i. Alpine white, dakota leather, 8 speed auto, VDC, bluetooth, HID lights, parking sensors, sport seats, black window trim, tinted rear windows
1988 Ferrari 328 GTS, nero on rosso corsa.
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Come to Eastern Europe :-). Returned from Berlin to Warsaw yesterday afternoon. Had the cruise control at x20 km/h on the A2 motorway in Poland for quite long stretches - brand new, empty, great surface, wide sweeping curves, fenced off from wildlife intrusions. Easily did over x40 km/h on it several times and would feel comfortable doing 300. There is a stretch of 90 km from the border to where the A2 now starts of wide single carriage way - quite twisty, hilly, wide, great for overtaking columns of cars. Here other traffic is used to faster cars overtaking so moves out of the way and in general a lot of people are doing 130-160 km/h on single carriageways. GATSO's are still reasonably rare and in any case their locations are downlodable into GPS navigation systems on Pocket PC's that most people use for navigation. I always slow down in built up areas and on speed limits to 50 and 70. You rarely get radar gun checks in any other places.
Incidentally - I was pushing along on the single carriage road at quite a pace, at some point even passed a Merc S 63 AMG S class only to be overtaken later by an empty Mercedes Viano minibus
The downside? See enclosed pics (also posted in Lounge before I found this thread).
Incidentally - I was pushing along on the single carriage road at quite a pace, at some point even passed a Merc S 63 AMG S class only to be overtaken later by an empty Mercedes Viano minibus
The downside? See enclosed pics (also posted in Lounge before I found this thread).
05-04-2007, 04:58 AM
#22
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My Ride: 535d Sport, carbon black, media pack, visibility pack, grey leather, heated seats, sun protection glass, voice control, Eibach ProKit, 19" 166 style wheels, e-maps ECU remap to 325hp and 640NM, top speed limiter removed
That's what my car looked like when I came back from Germany from the Easter holiday.
I am lucky enough to go back to Germany about 3-4 times a year and always get rid of my high speed desire there for the next few months. Here in the UK, i prefer to use nice twisty B-roads, where you don't need break neck speed to fully enjoy the driving.
UK motorways are pretty useless in terms of traffic and also risky. Also everybody can go fast there, no real fun.
When back in Germany over Easter I also went to see a few customers. One trip was 172 miles door to door with about 10 miles of it non motorway, the rest motorway only but nice sweeping one. 1 hour 43 minutes door to door. I couldn't tell you where I went past, as full concentration was on the road and traffic for the whole time. A constantly tingling skin from the adrenalin, too. Top I could do for a few stretches, due to traffic was about between 160 and 165, but in general I never seemed to be slower than about 125mp/h plus.
Great fun and has calmed me down for the time being.
I am lucky enough to go back to Germany about 3-4 times a year and always get rid of my high speed desire there for the next few months. Here in the UK, i prefer to use nice twisty B-roads, where you don't need break neck speed to fully enjoy the driving.
UK motorways are pretty useless in terms of traffic and also risky. Also everybody can go fast there, no real fun.
When back in Germany over Easter I also went to see a few customers. One trip was 172 miles door to door with about 10 miles of it non motorway, the rest motorway only but nice sweeping one. 1 hour 43 minutes door to door. I couldn't tell you where I went past, as full concentration was on the road and traffic for the whole time. A constantly tingling skin from the adrenalin, too. Top I could do for a few stretches, due to traffic was about between 160 and 165, but in general I never seemed to be slower than about 125mp/h plus.
Great fun and has calmed me down for the time being.
05-04-2007, 07:51 AM
#23
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hehe..this is a good thread !
for me the "urge" issue is rather straightfoward as the German autobahn is 20 minutes from my house.
But picking up from the other good posts I would conclude that when you decide to push it, you need local knowledge of your area, situational awareness and scouting out continuously for marked cars, etc. I would never drive hard in unknown areas and urban areas - this is reckless.
I am all for rules and regulations but consider the following fine balance of these points:
- we are probably the last generation to get to drive big engines before the "eco's" take over
- buy a 6 figure BMW (at least here..) and drive it 55mph ? I THINK NOT !!!
- drive hard > have an accident, take out yourself or even worse, someone else = be aware of the consequences.
Drive safe !!
for me the "urge" issue is rather straightfoward as the German autobahn is 20 minutes from my house.
But picking up from the other good posts I would conclude that when you decide to push it, you need local knowledge of your area, situational awareness and scouting out continuously for marked cars, etc. I would never drive hard in unknown areas and urban areas - this is reckless.
I am all for rules and regulations but consider the following fine balance of these points:
- we are probably the last generation to get to drive big engines before the "eco's" take over
- buy a 6 figure BMW (at least here..) and drive it 55mph ? I THINK NOT !!!
- drive hard > have an accident, take out yourself or even worse, someone else = be aware of the consequences.
Drive safe !!
05-04-2007, 09:46 AM
#24
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My Ride: '06 535d M-Sport Individual
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Its easy to lose sight when the red mist takes over if "racing", but just remember we're all basically just squishy lumps of flesh at the end of the day and it deosnt take much to mash your head when you hit something hard.
I had a brush with the grim reaper a few months back (not racing I might add) after being hit head on by a car that had lost control doing 60mph around a bend and I was doing 50 but fortunately we both walked....just, and it wasnt even my fault!
It a fine line and the impact, should it have occured a few inches in a different direction would have caused a very different outcome.
I generally drive in a spirited manner most of the time and although I dont proclaim to be any kind of driving god I have been trained in the art by some of our Police forces finest instructors.
One of the key issues here is that they teach you to drive with constraint and to the road conditions. Applying the correct techniques, the only real speed limit is goverened by your environment (and a watchful eye for speed traps!) and its never an issue of temptation to floor it to see what the car will do...you already know.
Id recommend anyone who wants to explore the performace of their cars to go on an advanced driving course because it will pay dividends, not only from a safety point of view but will give you the skills to drive these cars to their maximum potential without coming a'cropper with the added side effect of being able to put the frightners on more powerful, poorly driven machinery!
I had a brush with the grim reaper a few months back (not racing I might add) after being hit head on by a car that had lost control doing 60mph around a bend and I was doing 50 but fortunately we both walked....just, and it wasnt even my fault!
It a fine line and the impact, should it have occured a few inches in a different direction would have caused a very different outcome.
I generally drive in a spirited manner most of the time and although I dont proclaim to be any kind of driving god I have been trained in the art by some of our Police forces finest instructors.
One of the key issues here is that they teach you to drive with constraint and to the road conditions. Applying the correct techniques, the only real speed limit is goverened by your environment (and a watchful eye for speed traps!) and its never an issue of temptation to floor it to see what the car will do...you already know.
Id recommend anyone who wants to explore the performace of their cars to go on an advanced driving course because it will pay dividends, not only from a safety point of view but will give you the skills to drive these cars to their maximum potential without coming a'cropper with the added side effect of being able to put the frightners on more powerful, poorly driven machinery!
05-04-2007, 01:28 PM
#26
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Spirited driving might be interpreted differently for everyone. For me it is going to an quit stretch of Autobahn and then kicking the car, trying to max it out. That is for me when my adrenalin rushing through my body, especially when overtaking slower cars at such high speeds.
Luckely the German border is 20 mins away from my place, and a perfect new (and quit) Autobahn is just 30 mins away (the A31, for the guys who might know it). So every now and then a couple of friends and myself like to take it out on the Autobahn in different cars. Some might have noted that from my signature already.
But lately I have been started to act a bit careless, as I have been taken it out on the Dutch Autobahn as well. Just picking up some friends at night from the nearest city, trying to see what the S-class or A8 gives me on the Autobahn (which is familiar terrain, and empty between 4am and 6am).
Although I haven't got any speeding tickets until now!
Luckely the German border is 20 mins away from my place, and a perfect new (and quit) Autobahn is just 30 mins away (the A31, for the guys who might know it). So every now and then a couple of friends and myself like to take it out on the Autobahn in different cars. Some might have noted that from my signature already.
But lately I have been started to act a bit careless, as I have been taken it out on the Dutch Autobahn as well. Just picking up some friends at night from the nearest city, trying to see what the S-class or A8 gives me on the Autobahn (which is familiar terrain, and empty between 4am and 6am).
Although I haven't got any speeding tickets until now!
05-04-2007, 05:29 PM
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I thought I was the only one. Yes - tough in the states, nonetheless, I agree with - Know your road! My personal policy - Never at night! Too much danger. I'm always looking for the opportunity to let it loose - lots of winding roads in my neck of the woods and long stretches of visible highway moving from high to low views without too much grade - which I think are the best for avoiding trouble. My thrill - taking cars that roll-up and give me the look. When I had the 330ci conv. - 6 speed I even took a 911 to task with a cat that I think couldn't work it. Haven't tested the 5 yet. These cars were made to run, and I can't imagine not "letting them breath" every know and then - I've been lucky so far. Hopefully I can keep it that way. What I find strange, which I wonder is just a personal quirk, is that I can only let it go if I'm playing certain types of music i.e Jeff Lorber/Surreptitious.
05-04-2007, 05:40 PM
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Well, in NY State, where I live, it is usually an unwritten law ( I think it may be in the Constitution) that you can go 10 mph over the speed limit without being hassled. Well, maybe in New Jersey you have to be a White-American, but I have always assumed that it was my god given right as a natural born American to drive 10 mph over the speed limit, and I have never been stopped for doing so.
05-04-2007, 05:46 PM
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Isn't it ironic how the SRT cars are put on a pedestal for their power/performance while the 550 is tested against Hybrid Lexus and Infinity by the magazines. My old man has a 300C SRT-8 and the 1/4 mile times for it and the 550 are within .2-.4 seconds of each other. That's not much. With my K&N filter and Dinan exhaust, I'm sure its even closer. But still the magazines won't pair a 550 against a V-10 S6 Audi or any SRT car. I bet its in part becasue the results would be sobering for the competition. Maybe now that the 550 sport comes with the body kit included, the magazines will take it a little more seriously...Its a massively powerful car.
Regards,
DRP
Regards,
DRP
300C SRT (Or whatever crap its called) vs the M5
to buy the full DVD. Its awesome.
05-04-2007, 06:20 PM
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Kamdog - I guess I've been really lucky - brother been rollin up 95, 76, 202, 476, etc. and settled on the Main-Line - not many of us here either - still no issues. However, I do recognize what time it is. Interestingly enough I was pulled over for making an illegal turn in the neighborhood - chilled - and got away with a "don't do it again".