For those who are invincible

[latexeses]

I was in town driving my pickup and had a couple kids tearin a$$ up the street in their plastic cars and it brought to mind this video.

Someone I know got me looking for the video and it comes to mind every time I see kids being careless in fast cars. I'm not sure this guy was racing anyone but the results on the street they were racing on in my town a couple years back was fatal.

We all take our chances and I guess the precieved chance of loss depends on how many close calls we have had.

Should be a must view for anyone with kids who take chances. Sobering

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkyRvW1cBB4&NR=1

[Crazcnuk]

Chalk that up to parents buying thier kid Chrysler's 2nd fastest car too.

Whatever happened to dad's 5-10yr old station wagon being a first car?

[DGXSER]

You know the reality is that there but for the grace of God go I.

My first car WAS my prents 1968 Chevy Biscayne Station Wagon. Had a Chevy 307 in it IIRC. And it WOULD do in excess of 100 MPH. Even better was my friends parents 74 Ford LTD wagon with the 460. Now that thing would move out!!

So what car does not make the difference. If either of those wagons had gone off the rode into those trees like that, the result would have been very similar, if not worse, since they did not have air bags. JAT

[latexeses]

The sort of cars that I couldn't afford when I started to drive was because they were too new, cost too much and I made too little.

Now they cost too much and I make too little to afford them today.

I had a friend in high school in 1973 that was driving a 72 Chevelle 396 four speed.

I am probably alive today because I drove around in a '55 Chevy pickup truck when I was that age. Who knows?

Now I know why my dad made the sort of noises he did back then. Thanks Dad.

[Crazcnuk]

"So what car does not make the difference."

Makes a huge difference. If you think that wagon was anything like an SRT-4 you're a little behind the times.

The Neon SRT-4, stock, is 230hp and half the weight of your wagon. The SRT4 tops out at 150mph, and can hit over 100mph in the 1/4mile. It tips the traps at 13.8 sec, which is actually slow, considering my Monte Carlo has done 12.23sec @ 112mph, but it's also over 500hp. I did take out a Viper, twice once.

it was 2nd only to to the top of the line viper in acceleration for Chrysler vehicles.

I too started with Dad's wagon, in my case a 1972 Pontiac LeMans. It had the Pontiac (american) 350 with a 2-spd powerglide transmission. After I redid the engine, at 16, it did over 140mph. it didn't accelerate like a drag car however.

[trbig]

"So what car does not make the difference."

Makes a huge difference. If you think that wagon was anything like an SRT-4 you're a little behind the times.

I believe the point, was leaving the road at over 100mph.. which his old family wagon would do with chevy's 307 (Their worst motor ever made IMHO), the results are gonna be about the same, or worse. Who gives a chit HOW modern the car is, how fast you can get there, or how much over that you can do, OR what the 1/4 mile times are. When triple digits are achieved, in WHATEVER car and you leave the road sideways... the outcome is beyond your control.

And here I clicked on this link thinking it was actually about invincible superheroes like me.. lol.


Tod

[XSokieSPECIAL]

and here i clicked on this link thinking it was actually about invincible superheroes like me.. lol.

hmmmmmmNOWwe'llbringyoubackdown to your normal sized head.

[XJOK2PLAY]

hmmmmmmNOWwe'llbringyoubackdown to your normal sized head.

You're a nut, Greg!!! HeHeHe...

I seem to recall a gravel parking lot, accompanied by 10mph speeds, have already taken care of that...


Shiver to think sometimes of how fortunate I've been as well... numerous close calls.
Guess we all can say that, if we stop and take a 'get honest w/ ourselves'
minute...

like he said... 'There but by the grace of God go I'... Amen, Brother.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

You're a nut, Greg!!! HeHeHe...

Do you realize how long it took me to do that?

And I had to do it twice to get it--well -- kinda right.

I think I need to borrow some money and buy myself a life.

[Crazcnuk]

"Who gives a chit HOW modern the car is, how fast you can get there, or how much over that you can do"

Because it was the whole point?

It doesn't matter if the old boat will do 100mph, if it takes 1/2 hour to get there it's probably not going to catch you off guard.

The point is that the smaller, lighter, much more (relative to weight) powerful car is far easier to lose control of, hence the 'careless' part.

If you have a $15,000 deposit and a desire to find out what I mean, I'll let you do 'normal' pass on the highway with my Monte.

[DGXSER]

You know Cnuk, I have an 84 Cutlass with that same 502 in it, with the factory ram air intake with FI. Its hooked to a th400 and a Currie 9" with 3:73 gears. Been down the track at 11.23 in a 1/4 mile. I know the kind of tire shredding instant speed power your talking about. And I was ALOT more dangerous in those wagons than I ever have been in the Cutlass which is also street legal and plated.

IMO, those kids did not just sneak up on those speeds. I'll bet the boy in that accident had cruise control locked at 100 +. BTDT in a Plymouth Sundance. Yeah, I use to be almost as crazy as Tod. So, it could have just as easily been a Honda Civic or a Ford Focus and he would have been in the same postion. Again, this is JMO, YMMV.

[wingnut]

Its the difference between flying a Cessna 150 and a F22. Things happen so much faster with all that power that control becomes much more critical. Given that the impact trauma is identical at those speeds its a fact that you can get out of control so much easier with higher acceleration rates. Driving a R1 or a YL1 into a tree makes you just as dead, you just might have had a little more time to miss the tree with the YL1

[Winterhawk]

I still drive my 1993 Yamaha powered SHO every day. It rips up the mustang 5.0's and most other newer cars. Not bad for 2 grand...LOL It will not do 11's. I think it is around 13 something but will do about 150mph. My 1989 SHO shut the throttle off at 146mph.

[trbig]

Because it was the whole point?

It doesn't matter if the old boat will do 100mph, if it takes 1/2 hour to get there it's probably not going to catch you off guard.

The point is that the smaller, lighter, much more (relative to weight) powerful car is far easier to lose control of, hence the 'careless' part.

You aparently MISSED the whole point. If you want to think about it YOUR way though, it's way easier to lose control in an old land yacht than something modern with good suspension and handling. So it takes a half hour to get to 100. So what? Once you get there, the thing doesn't turn, it doesn't stop. In your suggestion, you're saying it's easier to lose control of a sports car designed for speed than the old family wagon at equivelent speeds. My first car was an old 69 Ford Ranchero with a 351 Cleveland that would haul azz and would go faster than the aerodynamics of the car would allow. (Front end would start hopping) I've also driven the Z-06 Corvette and easily did 130-140 in just 3rd gear of a 6 speed. At 120.. which one do you think it would be easier to lose control of? By your reasoning, you say the Corvette, but I'm gonna have to go with something 1/2 the HP weighing 3 times as much with old drum brakes trying to stop on tires 1/3 of the width going twice the speed it was really meant to with that suspension rolls so bad you think you're on two wheels sometimes. Your argument makes no sense.


You seem to be scanning over the point.. again. In whatever vehicle.. no matter how high or low performance, no matter your actual top speeds, no matter the car's cost, no matter the motor, no matter your 1/4 mile times, and no matter what the innitial reason you left the road, be it animal, clipping another car, pothole in the road, mechanical failure, just plain screw up, whatever. At those speeds, things happen fast. At those speeds, no matter what you're driving, you take chances. Some you win.. and as we've seen.. some you lose.

I seem to recall a gravel parking lot, accompanied by 10mph speeds, have already taken care of that...

Ever heard of Achilles' heel? Well I have Tod's elbow. I just had the misfortune of landing on the only mortal portion of me.


Tod

[Crazcnuk]

"you're saying it's easier to lose control of a sports car designed for speed"

No, Im saying it about a NEON!

A highly powered car that was NOT designed for it ( I just traded off my 2005 SX2.0), combined with an inexperienced driver who, as DG points out, may have been stupid enough to have the cruise on.

As to DGs other point, I have no problems with my high powered car either, but then I've been driving for over 30 years, and the Monte for over a decade.

It's not the vehicle per se, it's the combination of high power, so-so handling, road conditions and inexperience all in one neat little package.

And yes, my Monte can go faster than 12.2sec too, I just didn't want to bump into Super Pro. Too much electronics. So I stayed in Pro class.

I had my Pontiac Lemans over 140mph on a fairly regular basis. I know how it turns. I did several silly things with it, but never had an accident. Some of it is obviously luck. Some is that some people shouldn't drive. Mother nature takes care of them, too bad they often take others with them.