Speed addiction & tunnel vision as well as horizontal tear lovers

To all the speed / acceleration addicts here

What is it that kicks you? Is it the adrenaline? The feeling you are doing your best to control the situation or is it when tunnel vision sets in?

For me it is the connection between me, the machine and the road. Knowing that there is raw power to unleash and the respect that comes with it. The noises it makes in different driving situations, the feedback I get from it. The goosebumps. When the engine gets on RPM, angry and the hate is flowing, flatshift and feel how hard the exhaust stream kicks into the turbo exhaust housing. Wheels slip, I need to correct steering as the torque is delivered to the front, feel the tires around me biting into the ground.

I go for the next gear, its like a nose-diving fighter plane chases me as the rear spoiler whines louder you feel the car stabilizing and the shaking is gone. Flatshift into 5th, mechanical grip from downforce is so high that tires wont spin anymore and I can go full throttle. It is hard to hit the right RPMs now as tunnel vision sets in and I hope the tire pressure is not off.

5th gear I have to pass 9850 rpm to get into the correct RPM range for the very long 6th. The fuel pumps have a lot to do when accelerating, to pump the fuel from the catchy to the front against the G-force.

It is all these things and more that I am aware off that are happening. I understand what is going on and it is mostly under my control. This, the mix of sounds and the feedback, the raw power and the acceleration. It is so beautiful. I confess that in very rare moments, when I feel completely free, I sometimes have tears of joy running along my face. I experienced this joy with others, too. I look towards my passenger and that one is just laughing and grinning as dumb as I do.

But shifting into 6th under load is where I chicken out every time I reach these speeds. I shifted into 6th before under full load and kept flooring it but every time something happened. Someone pulling into my lane, boost pipe expanded and blew the fixing rings, almost running out of fuel, oil pressure drop (busted membrane in oil sensor, oil pressure was ok, duh). Last summer I had to deal with a cracked cylinder wall, the block was toast. Lots of stress but it is worth every minute and cent.



No matter the vehicle you use, how fast you go or if you just like to speed downhill with your mountain bike, skateboard.... What is it, that gives you the satisfaction to do it again?

This time of the year, I pull off the hard top of my 1980 450SL and just keep to the speed limit. My hotrodding days are long gone.
I'm perfectly happy just enjoying the feel of a nice classic cruising down the road and totally ignoring the batflu and clusterF**** that came with it. Back when I was a kid I had a 67 GTO, that combined with alcohol and drugs, almost killed me and sent me to the county lockup more times than I like to remember.

Be safe amigo.

a reply to: olaru12

Thank you for the safety wish. I keep to the speed limit too, until I see a gray crossed sign that tells me: speed limit = nevermore. We have sections on our highway (autobahn) that are unlimited and empty currently.

The 1980 450SL is a nice one! Had to look it up but I have seen those. The 67 GTO, never saw it in real life but I think in a movie. It looks definitely nice with those double headlights and the grill. A nice car with fluid lines and a remarkable front. Todays cars are looking so similar, all together.

For me, it's the connection between me, the machine and the road

Owning something that hits 100 miles an hour well under 10 seconds is a thrill that everyone should have at least once.

Doing 30 to 100 from a roll is even more exciting.

Not to mention the nitwit in the SUV next to me that just has to beyond any doubt get ahead of me before the lane ends because of the massive honor of being the first one to the red light. I'm always first to the red light.

"Bring your title"

a reply to: billxam
I totally agree. The hell that is going on can not be described and I wish for everybody to have this experience one time in their life.

The sad thing with these SUV is, but others do it too, if you overtake them, they think they need to floor it. Proof something or similar. It is very common here, somehow some people think that the road is a kind of battle field.

Just because I drive a fast loud car, does not mean I want to race anybody. If people are way under the speedlimit and the street is free to overtake, it should not matter in what kind of car I sit. They can have their pace and I mine, as long as they do not try to kill me by prolonging the overtaking maneuver, I am fine.

If I want to drive a race, I go to the Nuremburgring or any other kind of closed track. This should be prosecuted with tried murder.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

It's not THAT bad but it just gets on my nerves.

Why they have to pass in the lane that ends is beyond me.

I decided I wanted one last supercar before I die and I have to admit it's kind of fun toying with them.

Oh man... This is right up my cat-backs!

It's everything involved.

It's the surge of energy going through your body when you're doing 184 mph down a clean paved road on stock tires!
(10 miles in 3m 13s)

Yes... I know... Very stupid idea, but...

Knowing those tires can handle the pavement but feeling in the back of your mind that any split second could be the last second. ever!

- all it takes is just one small piece of pavement to give you one hell of a bad day.


The tunnel vision - I thought there was only one! Zoned Center!

It's how white your knuckles get on the wheel, knowing that no matter what happens, that wheel isn't going to get ripped out of your hands. As for the rest of the car.....?

It's the growl of the exhaust! Oh man... Nothing excites me quite like the monstrous growl and spit of the exhaust on my cars.

Turn on some metal - I could cruise forever. As long as cruising means infinite gas, no tread wear and minimal speed of 100mph. The more aggressive the metal, the heavier my foot.

It's being able to feel like you're part of the machine as you clutch, shift and throttle! You instantly become one with the machine.

Is it weird that I think my cars love me back? They're like plants. If you talk to them nice, they purr right on along. If you get bitchy with them, they get bitchy right back. If you treat her like a dirty little sl... *evil grin*

My cars have also been more reliable than any woman I've ever dated. Though the 3 best gals I've ever dated loved muscle as much as I.


I gotta show them off...

My Babies... My Betty's

This was my first big step into sub 4 second cars. I've never turned back since:

2008 C6 LS3 Corvette (Betty)
- 436 HP (3.9s)






From there... I was instantly addicted to Horsepower and mad Torque so I made a few changes.

My Back B!%(#
2016 Dodge Challenger Hellcat (Swamp Cat)
- 707 HP (3.5s - This car does 60+ in first gear!)









My Side B!%(#
2014 Z51 3LT C7 Corvette (Betty) - And I swore I would never buy a C7
- 460 HP (3.7s)





My Daily B!%(# (Blueberry - or Blue)
2015 Subaru WRX STI Cobb Stage III+ (-TGV)
- 308 RWHP (3.9s) - Crazy fun All Wheel Drive








now...
I have an insatiable hunger for a C8 Corvette. I will happily take any 3LT model.

Unfortunately I don't make that damn much money! But hey... Who knows. Maybe the prices will have to go down a good deal due to our current situation.


Thanks for the post!!

a reply to: billxam

Im such a red-light racer, it aint even funny.

Pissed off a girlfriend once in the C6, taking off from a red-light.

I was sitting at a light and there was a minivan next to me in the right lane. It was a lady driving. I heard her rev a little. Maybe she was flirting, I dunno. Light turned green and off I went. All I heard was STOP STOP STOP GD!!

I laughed and said... 'That minivan wanted to race.... You know that's my kryptonite".

She screamed back... "No... She did't and wasn't trying to race"!

Me thinking - "wow... she noticed it was a woman and she didn't even look... she knew.... hahaha awesome! She's jealous".

I was so in trouble. She didn't talk to me without some kind of malice for days after that.

They make Civics, Accords and soccer-mom looking SUVs out perform the top of the line Lamborghini and Ferrari models from yester-years, going fast is over-rated nowadays. Especially when the roads are full of spoiled little kids that shouldnt be trusted with a E-scooter in a padded parking lot.

I love old cars that have a tremendous amount of work gone into them to keep the tire screeching. Sexy 2 door coupes and convertibles with classic lines and shapes, 4 doors are 2 too many. Nothing like dropping the clutch and holding on to dear life when the front end comes up.

IMHO the style of cars has gone downhill since the turn of the millennium, there have been a few exceptions though.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

Driving like that on public roads is foolish and selfish. It doesn't matter how good you think you are. You're going to get someone else killed.

I'm a wreck chaser, and my county has an extremely high fatality rate per capita. I see it a lot. Drunk drivers and aggressive drivers are nearly always the cause of these fatalities. Children get killed in brutal ways because someone wanted to go 120 mph on the interstate.

Keep it on the race track.

1. Chevy Impala with Bose audio...

2. Rush: "Moving Pictures"... loud.

3. Coffee. Black.

Best weekend ever.

She may not be the fastest car on the road... but, there is a reason the cops drive them. Deceptively fast, and handles incredibly well. I took her through Montana... she starts getting loose at about 125. The spoiler helps... I can feel the rear end "sit down" at about 100.

My wife opened her up, once... it kinda scared her.

I love my car.

a reply to: filthyphilanthropist

Please. Idk if I write it here or elsewhere but that is exactly what I do.


Add: I seldom break speed limit and when it is, it is because someone thinks he has to step on the gas to not let me overtake. Then there is the thing that we Germans have a very different drivers license education than for example the USA. We are used to high speeds and we have dedicated overtaking lanes. That does not prevent accidents but makes a huge difference in safety.

We do not overtake from both sides.

I really value your input and your concerns but it is not exactly like you think it is. For the highspeed run I initially wanted to go to a high speed track with two 5km long straights and 45° angles curves, but that one is not available this year.

It is totally legal to go to such speeds, currently the Autobahn is empty.
Yesterday night, I did not go for it, I thought it was raining because I saw the street wet but it was just fog / damp on surfaces. I did not even get into the car even though time is a problem for me currently and I may have to wait a long time to be able to do it.

I do not think I am invincible, if I want to go nuts I would go to Nürburgring. Fun fact, it is more dangerous there due to normal people going to a race track the first time and being idiots.

I gave you a star anyways because you went out of your way to write that.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

Way, way back when I took my driving class 50 (!) years ago, my instructor was also an evasive driving instructor. Free lessons. I was doing Rockford Files U turns before he was!

I liked it so much I took my mom's credit card and blew $500 on Bondurant back in the 70s when he was at Mid Ohio.

Being able to pilot a vehicle properly is so, so much fun. If God didn't want me to drive fast, he wouldn't have made horsepower!

a reply to: billxam

I got two safety driving course with my own car as birthday presents. First the normal one and then the advanced where you really get to know your car. J-Turns, drifting, slalom, it was so much fun!

This is where I learned to heel-toe, revmatch downshifts while working the brake at the same time to get the weight shifting to the front wheels and tackle that curve. The feeling / learning, next time you need the brake a split second earlier so the RPM is right when I launch out of the curve.

I like driving precise, you will not catch me overdriving the boundary into the next lane anywhere. I have a lot more fear to be killed by someone that can not take any curve without cutting into my lane. The common driver today is a lot more dangerous to their surroundings than someone who takes things serious.

How many young AND old people use their mobile while driving? A lot. You see them passing you and searching around somewhere in the region of the passenger seat not even looking at the road.

I do not have to speed to drive fast. But when I see people in front of me struggling with taking S-curves, I deem them far more dangerous than me crusing concentrated through the country roads, doing a pull here and there where it is possible.

Someone that never went to the boundary of their cars and their own limits is dangerous as #. Because they are the ones who let off the gas in a RWD car when the rear begins to come alive. The ones that do overreact if something happens and are oblivious to physic laws, these are the dangerous people.

a reply to: billxam

If God didn't want me to drive fast, he wouldn't have made horsepower!

Amen Brother

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

Someone that never went to the boundary of their cars and their own limits is dangerous as #. Because they are the ones who let off the gas in a RWD car when the rear begins to come alive. The ones that do overreact if something happens and are oblivious to physic laws, these are the dangerous people.

Spot on. White and Black Icy roads are a good example. Someone who has experience with their machine wont be shaken to hell when the car starts sliding. A lot of people just lock up and end up in someone elses lawn or living room.

The first car I owned was a 1970 RT/SE Challenger rag top with a 318. I was terrified until I took it out on the interstate and got used to it. At the time, I worked for a Mopar magazine and that's where my love of track and muscle began. Sitting in my uncles 2001 Vette is what made me feel that HP and Torque pushed to the limit. At that moment, I knew what I had to do...

Dingading dang my dangalong linglong...

Just kidding. I had to get my own vette. That's where the real fun came in. Long before that, I've always had cars with bigger engines like my 76 Monte Carlo. Lime green white rag top tank if I ever seen one. It was fast for it's time. It had a 350 and man the stuff I did in that car.

Now... I'm not a complete ass. I wont go on the interstate and race. Well... ok... Sometimes but that's only because they forced me and it was after 2am most of the time. Never on a crowded road unless some jerk off tried to get in front of me and slow down like some idiot... Seems to happen often. Right lane you POS!

I just like going fast. It doesn't matter what it is. Whether it's a bike, boat, plane, car, or truck. I will push it to it's limits. It's in my genes; I've got fuel in my blood.

There hasn't been a single vehicle I've owned that I haven't pegged out the speedometer and wished it would go faster.

Feeling the connection between me, the sensations through the steering wheel and pedals touching me, the sound of the engine purring, roaring, then whining as I work the pedals. Pushing it through turns and feeling the weight of the it all.

The speeds I wish to reach are illegal here in the States. Even on a track I've been told to slow it down on more than one occasion. It's infuriating.

The fastest I've ever gone is about 180 mph, and I want to break 200mph.

It's easy to go zero to sixty. It's easy to floor it to 100. Once I hit 100 it was nothing. I needed to go faster. Once I hit 120 it was nothing. I needed to go faster. Once I hit 160, it was nothing. I needed to go faster. Once I hit 180, I knew 200 was possible.

I know it won't stop there.

I want to push myself to go faster not just straight, but through turns. I want to tackle the most aggressive turns possible.

I always wanted to race professionally, but I've never had the chance.

a reply to: StallionDuck
Something that really helps keeping calm in such situations - that can happen anytime, fast or not-...

Is the knowledge that if freak out, it's just making it worse. Knowing this helps me keep a cool head and don't overreact

a reply to: AutomateThis1
Sometimes it has reasons for speed limits on a track. A lot of people underestimate momentum and overestimate traction. Normally these speed regulations are for tourists without affiliates at the track.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

Yeah, I know the reasons for it. But as a regular Joe who's never had so much as a friendly sponsor I never get to push it on the track without getting a warning.

I've had people who were on teams make positive comments to me, but whenever I ask about "getting in" they just beat around the bush.

I'm my own mechanic, the driver, and whenever I do get into building a car no one else helps. It's just me.

The only outlets I have are backroads and mountain roads.
Every car I've ever driven I've pushed it and learned what it's capable of.

Racing used to be the only outlet I had where I felt free. Now no matter how many liability waivers I sign, no matter how reinforced my car is. No matter the amount of safeties I weigh my car down with I'm still told no.

No. No. No. That's all I ever hear.

That's why I stopped going to tracks. I don't have fun at them. I feel like I may as well go to one in a family sedan that struggles to hit 120.

The spirit of racing to me is breaking boundaries and pushing not just the vehicle but one's self to limits.

How can I know what my limits are when I'm handicapped?