Gave a Corvette a bit of a shock yesterday.

[Sticks]

I have an evil commute home. All surface streets. I'd swear that my speedo is off by 5+ mph, but every photo radar I see shows I'm dead on. Light to moderate traffic and it should only take me 25 minutes. Every night it's 45 minutes. The lights are timed for traffic speed at the speed limit.

Anyhow, there is one set of stoplights that I hit that briefly goes out to 3 lanes then back to 2 in about 200 yards. Yes, I'm that jackwagon that dives over to the right to get in front of the pack doing 5-7 mph under the speed limit (tired of getting stuck at the next 5 stoplights after. And why is it always a Subaru that is leading everyone...5mph under the limit?).

So at the light, I'm right next to a late model Vette, light goes green and I get on it (Not drag strip style, just firm, edge still only on 1x1) and the Vette is keeping pace with me. I grab 3rd and I hear the Vette lean into it a bit, and about the time I grab fourth he really lays into it. We're about to hit 45 and I'm pulling on him when I let off so I can get over - plenty of room behind him (about the same time he moves one lane to the left).

Yes, he probably would have won if we kept pushing, but I really don't think that he expected that he would have to work for it against a old dually pickup.

Sometimes I still get a grin from all the work I've put into my truck.

 

[jgillott]

Before my '07, I had a modded '01 that I played on the race track with for quite a few years. I'm also a longtime Corvette owner and I've had it down the track a few times. I can tell you without reservation that my former '01 would walk all over that Corvette in every way except for maybe trap speed. As long as I could get the truck out of the lights, I could surprise quite a few people.

One of my best stories from years ago was at a test 'n tune on a weeknight here at Pittsburgh Raceway Park. I ended up lined up against a young guy in a modded Honda. Anyway, we ran our run and I pulled down the first return lane to get my slip. After we came back and got back in line, I had a knock on my window and it was that kid and his father. He was completely amazed that I just beat him so badly and I ended up spending the rest of the evening talking to the both of them about all the things that I had done to that truck. It was really amazing to see a teenager so interested in learning something new and I certainly didn't mind taking the time to talk to him.

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

Back in the day when I had a Chebby 6.5, I surprised my fair share of people while racing light to light. Stock tires, 4.56 gears, cranked pump, marine injectors, and a Holset turbo made it happen. I always challenged the kids driving daddy's lifted Powerstroke with the Bullydog "chip" and propane injection. They tended to get really mad when they got embarrassed by the mighty 6.5 :-laf

 

[Jim W]

I am just the opposite sometimes. We have a road that goes from two lanes to one lane in each direction at a stop light. I will sometimes be the first one in the LH lane and driving my pick-up truck. Then I will have some young whippier snapper pull up in his rice burner who will try to beat me off the line. Being that I am a GRAY Hair old man driving a pick-up truck he thinks’ he can beat me. I am also an old street race from the late 60’s and early 70’s (64 years young). I do tend to drive 5 MPG over the limit too.

I will reach down and turn on the 4-wheel high; look around to make sure that the police our not in the area by checking mirrors and so forth. Light turns green and launch from 4-wheel high by by rice burner I have done it to a vet also. My wife if she is with says I get caught one of these days.

Jim W.

 

[JimB1]

Seattle Beemers are clueless re what a stiff steep winter damp uphill w/o wheel spin launch Grandpa's Cummins can do in factory meats, no mods. Pullin' up to next light their faces red to the hairline and gaze locked & bolted forward. That's worth a truck payment right there.

Jim.

 

[DonFitzwater]

I know what you mean about those subarus sticks! They are the dumbest of the dumb! Oblivious drivers at best. I like passing them in a snow storm.

 

[peobryant]

I know what you mean about those subarus sticks! They are the dumbest of the dumb! Oblivious drivers at best. I like passing them in a snow storm.

Around here I see far more idiots driving full size trucks than idiots in Subarus. The last time it snowed I had a hell of a laugh seeing all the trucks stuck in ditches while I chugged along in my reliable 'ol Scooby.

I've had a good bit of fun in my old 1st Gen too. She isn't the fastest in the world but she is quicker than a lot of people think and I've certainly surprised my fair share of people too. It is funny though, I've been in fast 2nd Gens and when the other car gets beat we'd usually get the finger, in my 1st Gen I always get either a wave or a thumbs up. I guess people like these old boxes better.

 

[Sticks]

I am not bashing Subaru's. I've loved the 2 that I've had. Run forever, go places they shouldn't, and you have to work to actually get one stuck. The Subaru drivers of today however seem to be under the impression that they just can't stop as fast as everyone else on dry roads, or the speedo is wrong.

 

[DonFitzwater]

Subaru drivers in Alaska are a different breed of tool. They drive 10 under in good weather. They drive 25 in a 55 when it's snowing. They panic brake like no other! Oh, most importantly, they will ALWAYS pull out in front of semis and plow trucks like they never even saw you. When the temps drop, the heaters can't even keep the windows thawed and you'll see the drivers scraping the inside of the windshield with a credit card.

 

[Sticks]

What, you get an inrush of Texans?

 

[DonFitzwater]

These sooby driving cornholes could take driving lessons from texans! It's hard to believe how bad they are until you have to take part in the morning commute around Fairbanks or anchorage and constantly be on the lookout for what they might do next.

 

[BIGNASTY]

I have an evil commute home. All surface streets. I'd swear that my speedo is off by 5+ mph, but every photo radar I see shows I'm dead on. Light to moderate traffic and it should only take me 25 minutes. Every night it's 45 minutes. The lights are timed for traffic speed at the speed limit.

Anyhow, there is one set of stoplights that I hit that briefly goes out to 3 lanes then back to 2 in about 200 yards. Yes, I'm that jackwagon that dives over to the right to get in front of the pack doing 5-7 mph under the speed limit (tired of getting stuck at the next 5 stoplights after. And why is it always a Subaru that is leading everyone...5mph under the limit?).

So at the light, I'm right next to a late model Vette, light goes green and I get on it (Not drag strip style, just firm, edge still only on 1x1) and the Vette is keeping pace with me. I grab 3rd and I hear the Vette lean into it a bit, and about the time I grab fourth he really lays into it. We're about to hit 45 and I'm pulling on him when I let off so I can get over - plenty of room behind him (about the same time he moves one lane to the left).

Yes, he probably would have won if we kept pushing, but I really don't think that he expected that he would have to work for it against a old dually pickup.

Sometimes I still get a grin from all the work I've put into my truck.

A Close friend and now neighbor of ours owns a Vette its a 2012 or 13 I cant remember it's a REALLY FAST!!! ZR1 Vette, if your truck can stay up with this thing, ?????? well, I just would like to see your truck

When we flew down to Calif to drive it back, was an enlightening experience for an old fart like me that had a few mussel cars in my day.

 

[AH64ID]

A Close friend and now neighbor of ours owns a Vette its a 2012 or 13 I cant remember it's a REALLY FAST!!! ZR1 Vette, if your truck can stay up with this thing, ?????? well, I just would like to see your truck

Apparently the 2013 ZR1 is a 11.5 second car, there are trucks that do that. On a 8000 lb truck it would take 935hp to run with the vette, so not your everyday truck but not rare.

My truck on the other hand would be luck to break into the 15's with a manual, even with over 400hp.

 

[BIGNASTY]

The guy that owns the vette is sitting here at the breakfast table, I told him about this.

He said you drove it most of the way from Ca to MT what do you think :-laf

 

[AH64ID]

The ZR1 is a fast car.

 

[BIGNASTY]

With a top speed of over 200, MPH its most assuredly not a quarter miler!! but lets see a truck driven on the street do 140 MPH for a very!! long time and not even be breathing that hard doing it.

Two different ideas!!!

 

[Sticks]

I don't know what year or model the Vette was, just late model. I was pushing hard, the Vette I'm sure was doing stages of what he thought would keep him ahead. I would grab another gear, he had to give more throttle. It was just at the last point when I heard it really open up. I know it would have handed me my arse if he got on it from the go. I also know given by the last punch that he did not expect to have to do that against my old Dually = Shock. He certainly was not toying with me.

Hard to toy with a manual trans vehicle that has sudden burst of acceleration when the boost and fueling match.

 

[mfurrh55]

What, you get an inrush of Texans?

NO, California got that

 

[BIGNASTY]

Sticks
Later we were talking about this post, the vette and your truck.

I would have to agree after rethinking it, that both of the vehicles aren't that fast in a quarter mile. While I was in the Military I had bought a 1970 plymouth barracuda 426 hemi, it was pretty fast stock. When I got home and with a little bit of tinkering (cause I know how to work on things WITHOUT COMPUTERS) I put in a pretty wild lump stick, better ignition, dual quad tunnel ram some head work and exhaust, made a rear end and gear change, tubb-ed the rear to get some rubber under it, cause the rubber HAD!! to be under the quarter panels to make the APPEARANCE!! of being street legal :-laf

The best that a one leg man with a clutch could muster was 10.30 around a 130 MPH? in the quarter, not to bad for a car that could!! have been driven on the street to Whittier Blvd. Calif, but most times was trailer-ed, the fuel mileage wasn't the best in the world, and the RPM was a little bit less than conducive to long distance travel. So when it was brought up about slip times, I got to thinking (a dangerous thing for me) you both should have faster cars, :-laf

Times have changed, if I were to still have the Cuda and fire it up in a Calif residential area they would surly have me arrested!! Took a young Montana Girl (now the wife) for a ride when she came to visit, She proudly exclaimed, She's not afraid of ANY CAR!!! Until I let the clutch out at RPM and stood on the go stick I looked over at her with eyes wild with speed, to find out she was indeed afraid, of ME!! not the CAR :-laf Not to many times have I heard the girl use foul language, but she seemed to find her stride with words that day #@$%!

 

[JR]

The new vettes are definitely a good example of an American super car, that wasn't always the case. My buddy used to own a mid 80s with a 350. It was all stock, but I could hang with him with my modded 280z at Nelsons ledges (a closed course track). It was pretty even low to mid range but that 280z made some serious rpms up on the top end and I could always out run him on the back stretch.