Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 17:13:08 EST
Reply-To: Jahsurf@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Chris Dixon <Jahsurf@AOL.COM>
Subject: 130Mph, or even 90 -- you're still nuts
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I stand by original statement.
You're in a brick. You're on the highway going too fast. If there's no one
else on the hiway, then you're just threatening yourself. But don't tell me
you're not threatening yourself, because you are. And speaking of bearings,
bearings heat up more and spin way, way faster at 90 or 130 than at 60 or 70. In my
earlier days, I drove like a bat out of hell so I'm speaking from some
experience.
My first car was a '73 Monte Carlo with a cammed out, Holley Carb'ed LT-1
350, and I burned out the front bearings doing 55 down I-20 one day, brining me
to a screeching halt. Good thing it didn't happen the day before when I was
racing a Monte Carlo SS at 115 down GA Hwy 400.
I've owned a 62 Cadillac Coupe DeVille -- a car that didn't even come stock
with seatbelts. 410 Horsepower at the wheels, Hi compression 390 CI V8 with a
huge Carter AFB Carb, dual turndowns and headers. This car blew away nearly
everything in a straight line. One day while drag racing a Chevelle SS on Hwy 17,
my throttle stuck wide open, after the brand new return spring decided it was
made of inferior metal. The resulting backfire when I shut the motor down
(thank god it shut down) blew apart the steel air cleaner. A coupla months later,
I spun off the rear axle doing 45 mph.
I've owned a turbocharged Merkur (European Ford Sierra) XR4ti and I drove
the bejeeezus out of that car. One day it just caught fire when the AC
compressor spun out all its oil. If I hadn't had a gallon of water in the hatch, that
car woulda been toast. Another time, my V rated Goodyear Eagle flew off --
just for the hell of it, at around 60.
Point is this: Chaos theory. You never know when somethings' gonna go wrong.
And if something goes wrong in your brick at 90 or 100 or 130 MPH, you're
setting yourself up for a lot more hurt. Simple physics -- faster you go, impact
forces increase exponentially.
I'm gonna be a daddy soon, so I've slowed down from my speed demon days. In
retrospect, I can't believe I survived being a younger driver. So go as fast as
you want. But don't tell me it aint' stupid, 'cause I know it is. I've been
there. I know it's fun too. But in my mind, dropping in on an overhead wave, or
blasting down some singletrack on my mountain bike beats any car speed hands
down. I think I'll stick to that, and leave the bouncing around offroad at
lower speeds to my trusty syncro.
CD
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