1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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8:30 at night I headed out for a social dinner. I was looking forward to the drive down the canyon road to the coast for a number of reasons. Mainly because it has been hot up where I live and the coast is always cooler. Then there's driving this fun 82c900T rig. I'd recently gotten rid of an annoying ping after properly timing the distributor, replaced the brake fluid, plus put in a new set of "performance" plugs just today. I'd already been out earlier and was surprised to find that I picked up at least 1 psi more of boost. I was looking forward to a test at sea level.
The usual traffic for this time of day was all I had to deal with for the 6 mile downhill drive to the coast. In front of me was a line of cars that eventually whittled down to one as they turned onto their respective side streets. That single car was a large early 70's classic. Some sort of Impala or Delta 88. I could see the dual exhaust and hear it rumble. Now, I can appreciate a well kept classic like the next classic SAAB owner, but he was moving just a bit too slow for my tastes. So just before the "serious" part of the descent is a 200 yard stretch of straight-a-way, and with no visible oncoming traffic, I flashed my brights and zoomed past the guy.
Soonafter about 1/8 of the way down, coming up from behind was that Impala driver. Not that I was flying, but no way did he need to be going that fast without a reason! That size of car is just not meant for rounding the curves that lie ahead. Then he pushed up close behind, letting me know I was being challenged. Or maybe he hated SAAB's. I actually laughed, realizing that he was way out of his league. Or was he??? So I picked up speed. Nothing drastic, just enough to let him know that I knew what he wanted. Because he stayed with me I knew he was serious. So I let it out. Just this side of screeching around bends. All with oncoming traffic. At night. I knew the curves well. Did he?
Once the serious stuff began, I started to gain a lead. If my car was lurching about, I can just imagine what his ride must have felt like! At the last 1/8 mile is a mild S curve that levels out into a nice 2000 feet or so straightaway, leading to the final 2 mile drive with varied turns and some good long straight-a-ways. He was already some 90 feet back by this time, but if I was going to really make my point with this guy, it was on that final S curve and following straight-a-way.
The best way to quickly pass through that set of curves is to use the entire road, which I often do on my way up. But with oncoming traffic, this is just not possible. So as luck would have it, I had a brief break in the oncoming traffic to allow me to fly through using both lanes. I knew he could see that bold move and also knew he would be unable to do the same. Already at a good clip coming out of that last bend in 4th gear, I opened up full bore and just took off! And I never saw him again from that point forward. Wayyy fun!
, Thu, 31 May 2001 21:56:53
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