Don’t try this at home kids

Courtesy of http://www.techpowerup.com

At the expense of being lampooned as a reckless driver, I feel compelled to regale my recent street racing experience. I’m sure those of you who have performance cars sympathise with the tedious attempts of boy racers, who have driven through the car wash equivalent of Halfords during a sale, in an attempt to woo the hormone infested opposite sex.

Normally with these people, I wait and see if they want to race, and after they’ve pulled away sharply, I simply take note and join in. If inclined, I casually keep level with them to wind them up, admiring how their go faster stripes don’t seem to be working.

In turn though, I concede that me trying to beat a Ferrari at the lights is a pointless exercise and don’t try, unless it’s obvious the other driver wants a bit of fun. This time though it was different, it was late and I was driving towards the motorway at speed on a dual carriage way.  This nice looking Merc suddenly appeared in my rear view, so I got out of the way as we approached the roundabout.

Recognising the chance for a bit of fun, I pulled back out in to the outside lane and chased the Merc, which to my surprise pulled over to the inside lane, resulting in us both arriving at the lights side by side.  I stopped abruptly and cleanly at the line, the Merc however overshot by half a car length, so I knew he meant business.

I was thinking this isn’t a boy racer, so forget the usual driving style of changing up when the revs hit 3K, I’ll be taking the engine to the red line at 8.5K and exploit its flat torque curve to the fullest.  The lights suddenly change and we both jumped forward, but ahead of us are another set of red lights. I can tell the Merc knows they’re going to change any second, and like me has tempered his speed.

We both start rolling to a stop at the lights, but just before we stop, suddenly the lights change and I find myself set up for a perfect start.  I floor it in first and hear the revs rising higher and higher as the speed builds, the engine now breathing harder and harder to deliver the power I’m demanding.

The engine’s screaming desire for more air and fuel is satisfied as MIVEC engages and the second cam takes over forcing the valves to open wider, the exhaust note deepens in response and a smooth kick of power takes us to the red line. The power continues building as the matched gear box is slammed in to second, dropping the revs perfectly to 5.5K so MIVEC is still engaged.  Again the red line and then in to third, the acceleration is relentless.

The red arrow shows the first set of lights and the starting point, the slip road is to the right after the sweeping s-bend the roundabout forms.

On the outside, the car is kept balanced and glued to the road as I enter the S bend and think desperatly “there’s another car four feet from us, just keep it together” but the chassis and running gear are doing what they’re renowned for, and with apparent calmness during this cacophony of sounds, feeds back to me everything is fine.

As I pass through the S bend, I hear all four tyres complaining as they deal with the g forces trying to rip them off the tarmac, I glance in my side mirror and see I’ve pulled ahead of the Merc, no surprise there, this is what the FTO was dreamed up for, but the race isn’t won yet, so keep the power on and join the motorway with the Merc firmly behind me.