Mailing List Road Kill Stories

VR-4 vs. F40!!!

Tonight, at the local "Solid Gold McDonald's" restaurant's usual Wednesday night cruise-in (100cars + every week) I saw an aquaintance who owns a business; he had his Mercedes 300 series (not his 600 2-seater)...he is into Ferraris, and has 5 including a '59 somethingorother, a Mille Miglia car from 50's one of 12, being restored, and a 1992 F40. Well, he apparently went home and decided to bring back the F40 because it is a beautiful night. He pulls up, says hi and waves me to get in! I hadn't yet had a ride in it, so this was cool. Well, cool no matter how you slice it...

We went for a half-hour drive up and down a cruise strip...what a chick magnet...beat up on a couple new OHC Mustangs, an old hopped-up Dart, a CBR600F3 Honda cycle...F40's are very tractable. Runs smoothly, fairly quiet, and have next to NO turbo lag when at any reasonable rpm range--much better spoolup than my car with the 15G's. Fairly stiff suspension, but on good roads you don't lose fillings on expansion cracks or anything. Carbon fiber everything; no front defogger vent because the windshield has VERY fine meshwork of defogger wires imbedded in it...wire you pull instead of an inside doorhandle to open door...somewhat cramped but not TOO bad...gated shifter there to make you shift a little slower so trans survival better. Neat blowoff valve sound. Seemed to be about 18-19psi or so boost on guage; redline 7750rpm on the twinturbo V-8. Weight: 2450 no gas! Wow! He said motor dyno'd at 518hp at Ferrari (he bought it new. Can you say, "$" ? Well, he's a pretty down-to-earth, cool guy nonetheless). Felt a little stronger than my car at upper rpm ranges, and that quick spoolup...great handling, especially tight transitions.

Of course, I had crappy 93 octane gas so not only couldn't use the nitrous, but the Computer was retarding my timing back to the stone age...still, it was about 12:30 pm, my buddy with the 12.3/116.5 Supra was there, so I ask F40 if I can follow him out (polite challenge) and of course he was interested in the contest anyway... We head out on the street, the red F40, my red VR4, black Supra and a few various taggers (turbo Buick GN, Camaro Z28). Line up, aghh he won't go from a standstill where I'd CRUSH...geez, not even a 1st gear roll where he is limited by tirespin and I'm not...about a 40+mph roll, I'm in 2nd because 1st would run out too fast to be worth it. I think that damn Ferrari does about 65-80?? in first...well, we both hit it and sure enough, he has NO lag while I do, he pulls about a carlength on me. Later, again, all 3 of us lined up, they take off and I'm asleep at the switch so watched the little Ferrari zoom away. Next chance, again I'm in 2nd dammit, better takeoff we're even he pulls slowly half a length, shift to 3rd he gets his rearend even with my front bumper, hit 4th he gets a half carlength separating us, go a bit I'm holding/maybe fading just a bit then let off. [insert maniacal laughter denoting fun!] I lead onto a freeway onramp I've never seen before, several changes in turn radii, elevation, some slightly bumpy pavement...but I thought I might've seen a cop back in traffic weaving up so I suddenly remembered I had to be home FAST. F40 follows but falls back...of course both with equal effort he'd put multiple seconds-per-lap on me!

Ferrari F40's are FAST. That was neat! I've got to get 100 octane back into the car...with my car set on kill we'd be REALLY close. With the nitrous I think I'd have him, even if only for the spoolup improvement; that F40 is hampered by the gated shifter acceleration-wise, while I am by the spoolup difference. Ya just CAN'T feel bad getting mildly beaten by a car that's over 1000 pounds lighter with 518 hp...that costs about $500-750,000 (less if you look for the previously-wrecked ones in the back of Autoweek, though!) Our cars, however, can be made AMAZINGLY fast too!

-Jack T.

VR-4 vs. Corvette

Early yesterday evening, I was headed home on a 6-lane road and was stopped at a red light when a Corvette made a left turn on to the road in front of me and nailed it, chirping rubber between gears. I could feel my adrenalin start to flow but I couldn't get out from behind a couple of big-assed Camrys and a Ford Explorer. From between the cars ahead of me, I watched the Vette practically disappear in the distance ahead. Finally, there was a crack of light and I made my move.

The Vette was about a mile ahead of me and was just making a right hand turn as I broke free. I made it down to the light where it turned and saw it stopped at another light. It was first in line and in the left-hand lane. I pulled in behind it since there was some other car in the right-hand lane. On the back bumper was the "ZR-1 5.7L" insignia. On his back window was some kind of performance shop sticker but I couldn't tell whose. The exhaust was a Borla. From the clarity of his exhaust note I could tell that he had no cat and that he must have had some head work done. The car sounded pretty wicked.

When the light turned green, he rolled out and I gave him about a car length. He suddenly kicked it into a lower gear and nailed it. He had traction. I was still in first and was at about 3000 RPMs. This is my car's sweet spot. I floored it, jerked the car into the right-hand lane to pass as the car leapt to 7000 RPM. I made a super clean shift into 2nd gear just as I was even with his back bumper. The power in second gear came in nice and strong even though I was not quite at WOT. I literally sailed by the high-powered but now-laboring V-8 and leaned my head out the window, looked back and smirked as I pulled ahead.

When I was completely out of 2nd gear the Vette was about 4 car-lengths behind. I shifted into 3rd and my boost bellowed up to about 20 PSI. I watched the Vette begin to get smaller until I could see he had given up. I swung back into the left lane, now several hundred feet ahead of him and tapped my brakes about 5 times. Just like those Mustang guys do. I figured he'd want some more, and I was pouring fuel on to the fire.

When I got to the next light, the guy pulled up alongside and gave me the thumbs up and motioned with his hands that he was through. Oh well, it was 87 degrees out and my car was running like crap anyway...

-Bob F.

Stealth vs. old Camaro

A funny thing happened to me today at lunch. I was on my way to pick something up to eat, and got into a left-turn only lane at a light. As I was waiting for the light to cycle, I felt, then saw a couple of young (20's - that's young to me) guys in a late 60's Camaro pull up next to me on the right.

Their radio was cranked way up, playing some rappa-dappa-wappa-crappa, and they were boppin' right along with it. They looked over at me and revved their engine (it sounded kinda ... wimpy). I looked over at them and realized how laughable it was to challenge me at the light. I mean, come on, how were they going to pull off a race from two different directions? (Me going left, them going straight). I goosed the engine back at them while laughing, figuring they understood how silly this was. This prompted a quick conference between the two mental-midgets and elicited more revving from them. This was getting hilarious.

I got the green arrow to turn and did a mini-launch. When I launched, THEY launched - against a red light, directly into the front of a lumber truck that had the green arrow from the other direction. Stuuu-pid.

-Rich L.

VR-4 vs. Porsche Club

Road America is about 4.5 miles long, 14 turns, some moderate elevation changes; some call it North America's best roadcourse. The Nord Stern club from Minnesota comes here to Wisconsin once a year, renting the track. They allow a certain # of cars, including "other" makes...I went with some friends--2 NSX's and a Rippey-engined Vette, who have their cars well-set for track with negative camber etc. My suspension still has stock alignment, but Eibach springs 1" lower.

I ran the boost to about 17-18 psi only to ensure engine longevity and because that was about all the brakes would take anyway--and I wasn't flooring it much past halfway in the longstraigts anyway; took it to about 140 and cruised until braking points before Turns 1, 5 and 12. The Brembo upgrade brakes work well but "you can never have enough brakes;" I cooked the fluid once coming up to turn one (whoa. WHOA. PUMPdownshiftPUMMPdownshiftPUMPdownshift!amItoofastshouldmakeitmaybe WHEEEW!") Well, that WAS old fluid from last year--the ONE thing I forgot was my new brakefluid bottles so I borrowed some and just bled out partially. After that, I bled system completely and it worked without major fade thereafter, but was not max-out on all straights. Saw 148 once for the heck of it. The car ran flawlessly, but for the transfer case leaking alot needing Shockproof refills between each 25 minute session (turned out to be a hairline crack in case--but still worked fine).

I was in rungroup 3 as I didn't have any known laptimes on my car at RA (though I've been ontrack there 3 times before). Rungroup 1 had racecars in it and a few brave souls with non-fullrace cars; group 2 was a mix of racers and very experienced drivers; 3 was for those with previous highspeed event experience/decent times; 4 was for slower cars and less experienced. In my group were the whole gamut of Porshces including many 911's/930 Turbos/a few new 911 AWD turbos/944 racers/Audi turbo setup for racing (really handled well!), BMW M3 etc. There were 5 passing areas in straights; had to wave the passer by; no passing in corners--standard stuff for "not races". The cars in this event were all pretty fast, and the drivers seemed generally very competent. In the first couple of sessions, people took awhile to let me by--you know, 'is he really faster than me' testing; but eventually people were pulling over mostly pretty quickly because they knew the big red Mitsu was a'comin on by! I was passed a total of 2 times for both days--once by a Group 1 racecar 930 Turbo who came on for a few during our session (I still suspect he wanted to teach me humility) and once on the second day in pouring rain on the first lap, when _I_ was waiting to pass a 944, an AWD 911 Turbo was RIGHT on my butt so I figured he was a racer and for courtesy let him pass me after I passed the 944.

For the next 3 laps the AWD 911 Turbo and I went at it--and I stayed (as close as safety allowed in rain) on HIS bumper for those 3 laps; watching his AWD waggle the tail braking for 8, then waggling again accelerating toward the Carousel, wipers working, trying to keep fog off the windshield...letting off the gas some because my car...hee hee...was quicker, even not 'set on kill'...both of us limited in topspeed by the hydroplaning of our BFG R1 tires. Eventually he let ME by him, and I watched him fade back, little by little. 911 AWD Turbos are REALLY cool cars, and fast as stink; that was a fun battle. He drove by me in the pits later and we gave each other a thumbs-up! My buddies were in higher rungroup, but one let his friend drive NSX in my group and saw his NSX passed by X-WING 1, my Mits...

Suffice to say, it was a GREAT time, and as the only 3000GT/Stealth there I upheld our honor pretty well, I guess. The Porsche people were nice; I got no negative comments about my Oriental ride...and there may be just a few people who gained a little respect for 3000/Stealths, a car many consider 'too heavy' etc. BTW...vs nonturbo 911's it was super spankorama. Well, with a little adrenalin exaggeration, and my car is modded, but that's how it is. Now as far as CORNER speeds the Mits also held its own, despite no neg camber vs many who HAD; but the total package including ACCELERATION off corners full-bore courtesy Mitsu AWD, and straightaway acceleration courtesy Mits and some bolton parts, was just about unbeatable in my rungroup. Next year I'll bump up to Group 2. Porsches are also great cars; and the Nord Stern Porsche Event Crew were Ausgezeichnet! (?sp, its been 13 years).

-Jack T.

VR-4 drops Exhaust!?

Guess tonight was my turn for a 'funny' experience. It's about 10:00 pm and I'm driving up and down the local 'strip' hoping some one might like to race a little.

As usual it's pretty dead - nothing but hicks in loud pickup trucks and low dollar grocery getters. I take one last drive through town before heading home and a red 'stang' goes by me slowly in the right line. (I'm in the left lane). It's a push rod 4.9 L (5.slow) but looks well kept and in very good condition.

He drives on ahead and stops at a 4 way stop that leads out of town. I speed up and hope he's waiting on me. He does wait and I stop at the stop sign. It's a young guy that looks less stupid than most rustang drivers. We don't make a big scene - we just look at each other and take off at the same time. I get to about 5-6K RPM in first gear and hear a loud 'kathump' from somewhere behind me. I have pulled about 2 car lengths ahead of him and I'm thinking he must have backfired or something. Anyway we keep going. I go to second and head for the redline.

I notice that his exhaust seems VERY loud now. My car starts to sound sorta 'rough' and 'raw' around 5-6K RPM in 2nd gear. I start checking my gauges to make sure all is well. Boost is holding solid, EGT's are good, A/F ratio is normal, temp is fine, oil pressure looks great. What the heck is going on? I go to third and power is still good - just doesn't sound 'right'. Anyway - to make a long story a bit shorter: The stang and I keep at each other until I get past the 140 mph mark. He managed to stay about 8-10 car lengths behind me until around 130-135mph. Most stangs have fallen off before this point. I'm wondering if he's had enough already and I look back in the rearview. He starts slowing but I also notice some SPARKS coming from the back of my car. As I slow I hear a 'scraping noise' and notice the sparks appear to be coming from the rear passenger area. The stang makes a U-turn to go back to town and I finally slow and turn down a side road. I roll my window down (had the AC on cause it's still hot) and the scraping noise is even more apparent.

I stop, get out and go to the rear. My passenger side exhaust tip is sitting on the ground. The Borla muffler is hanging low but not touching the ground. What do I do now? - I ask myself? I end up using one of my shoestrings to tie that side of the exhaust up in order to drive home. I use the rear bumper absorber to tie on to and drive home. The car is REALLY loud on the way home. I wonder to myself if this is what Bob's car sounds like? It especially resonates at low RPM levels. I finally get home and back in the garage to take a look. Turns out my cat back had blown loose at the passenger side joint located between the Borla muffler and the Y bend. These joints have not been touched since I had the Borla installed about 3 years ago. Never had a problem until tonight. How ironic it would happen while racing a rustang! I found it to be pretty funny. I just can't image what the other driver must have thought watching me drag the exhaust tip while showing sparks from 40 mph up to 140 mph - giving chase all the while. Next time I see him - and I will in a town this small - I've got to get his reaction. Not his reaction to getting beat but his reaction to watching me drop my exhaust and spark for half a mile!

-Todd S.

VR-4 vs. '97 Corvette

It was a typical day for me in school. It was 3:00PM and I was headed home after a long day at NYU. I played around with my stock VR4's turbos on 278 BQE and took Belt Parkway which is a long stretch highway with no shoulder (no cops!) and I see a red Corvette. I pull right next to him and give him a look. The winnie does not look at me but he suddenly steps on the gas. So, I stepped on the gas as well. I was on 3rd so I experienced some turbo lag. He was one car length ahead of me. Then I keep an eye on my boost gauge. I see the damn needle hit pass 14psi (12psi actually) and my car just drags me forward.

The vette was still hard on the accelerator. I saw the driver shift gears. we were going about 100 or so MPH. I was on full boost! I caught up with him and the driver looks at me. He gave me that look of astonishment. His look appeared as if he were saying" where did you come from?" hehehehee Don't get me wrong he was fast! but we 3000gts are faster!!! hehehehe I gave him a wicked smile and shifted to 4th at 120MPH. This proves one thing: If my stock VR4 can beat a new Corvette, so can you!!!

-Fastboy

VR-4 vs. '98 Firebird

I was cruising around with my VR4 and I see a firebird tailing my butt. So I floor the pedal and my Turbos started to spool up. I see him coming very fast at me but after I got full boost on my stock VR4, I see his car falling behind gradually until the space between us is 2 car lengths.

I think he gave up on the race. I lose him and then he finds me at the traffic light. He rowed down his window and he says to me: "is that a 3000gt? what did you do to it? " He says to me "I have beaten other 3000GTs, I don't understand why I lost this time" I gave him a smile and told him that this is a VR4. He looked very confused. He asked me what that meant so I said Twin Turbo! He immediately breaks in and says Twin Turbo?? He says " I didn't know they made turbo versions for the 3000gt. So I say to him now you know buddy. I also asked him if his firebird was running with the new LS1. He noddes his head but with a very disapointed look. heheehehe. that's another victory for us 3000/Stealth drivers. By the way, I think I left him with a thought "I gotta get me one of these!"

-Fastboy