>Suprisingly, the Miata did well in the snow. I'm chalking this up the 50/50 weight distribution and light foot when needed.
I'll bet it didn't have the factory performance tires. Here in Michigan, recent Miata's with the performance tire are either parked, crashed or get the tires changed to something more conducive to winter driving (read Blizzaks) Kenneth Waller (who lived in St Lou for 4 years - liked most things about the area but the summer heat/humidity and the winter ice.) -----Original Message----- From: Scott Loveless <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Dunces on Wheels (Was Re: OT Raw upgrades for Photoshop CS?) Doug, I've spent the last 6 1/2 years driving a Miata in St. Louis. Not quite like Atlanta traffic, but still fun. I drove the car all year. Suprisingly, the Miata did well in the snow. I'm chalking this up the 50/50 weight distribution and light foot when needed. Sadly, I had to sell the car. Now I drive an Xterra, and instead of looking for holes in traffic, I'm looking for the guy in the Miata who's about to take it from me. I always get a chuckle out of the ricers. But maybe, just maybe, the Altezzas really do add about 10 horsepower. ;) Besides, would you really want to risk your car to a track occupied by a lowered Honda Civic with a typeR sticker and an inept driver? On 5/18/05, Doug Franklin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Tue, 17 May 2005 21:28:35 -0400, P. J. Alling wrote: > > > Doug Franklin wrote: > > >... riced out Nissan 200 SX that was worth, at best, about US$ 800 > > >... with about US$ 2,000 worth of 17" "spinner" wheels and rubber band > > >tires. The driver couldn't figure out how to operate a baseball cap, > > >either. :-) > > > Pictures??? > > Sorry. I was busy navigating northern Atlanta traffic (GA 400 > northbound in evening rush hour, if you know the area) and my hands > (and feet) were busy. My Optio digicam was in its nest on the seat > beside me, but I didn't have the time to manipulate it. Besides, I was > whizzing by Rice-San at a pretty good clip (+20 mph as I went past at > 50mph). :-) It really hacked him off that I blew past him like that, > but it was pure traffic tactics, not horsepower or speed, that did the > trick. If he'd known what I was thinking, I'd have gotten at least a > "you're number one" finger. :-) > > It was almost as funny as the soccer mom in the BMW Z3 (?, the BMW SUV) > that thought she could follow me onto an Interstate entrance ramp at > speed (I was in the slammed Miata, measured angular acceleration of a > little over 1g). Well, on second thought, that wasn't really all that > funny, since her infant was in a car seat in the back. She came within > an eyelash of rolling that beemer down the embankment into traffic as > she chatted on her cell phone. She did manage to drag it back from a > 30* rear-end excursion, which was either damned good or damned lucky. > > I'll have to dig around in my bookmarks folder. There are a couple of > really good "anti-rice" photo web sites that have wonderful examples of > the sort of crap this guy had done. You know the type. Rear wing > installed so as to generate as much lift as possible. Body kit > installed with duct tape. Eighteen gallon 'fart can' on his exhaust. > He'd done the whole nine yards of stupid crap. For half the cost, he > could have actually improved the performance of his "ride", but I doubt > he was a good enough driver to tell, or exploit, the difference. > > Hey, if that's what floats your boat, go for it, it's your money. But > to do all that and then get PO'ed when someone who actually watches > traffic and pays attention to traffic tactics blows your doors off, > well I just can't respect that. And no, I don't cut people off or > change lanes without signalling or any of that stupidity. I actually > pay attention to traffic more than one car in front of me. There are > plenty of people leaving huge holes even in rush hour traffic around > here. :-) > > On the track, I'd bet my next paycheck I'd have eaten his lunch, too. > I doubt he would have accepted the challenge, had I had the chance to > challenge him to track time (I don't race on public roads). No male > ricer has accepted yet, anyway, even when I offered to pay for their > track day. If you're gonna stuff a sock in your drawers, you probably > ought to make sure nobody's gonna call you on it. :-) > > TTYL, DougF KG4LMZ > > -- Scott Loveless http://www.twosixteen.com -- "You have to hold the button down" -Arnold Newman ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com
