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Why do so many folks feel the need to "challenge" a "fast" car?

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https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/230601935/m/2470056624

July 01, 2017, 11:25 PM
911Boss
Why do so many folks feel the need to "challenge" a "fast" car?
WTF?

So, I've had my 2017 Mustang GT convertible for 2 months now. It is not flashy, no stripes, totally stock. Not even a signature color, just "Magnetic Metallic" (grey).

One thing I have noticed since getting it is that at least 4-5 times a day, some dipshit next to me at a stop light or onramp thinks they need to "beat" me off the line. While I am a relatively sedate driver, I am not one of those ranted about in another thread about buying a nice car and driving well below it's abilities and the speed limit.

Sometimes it is a Camaro, Challenger, Charger, or the like in which case I could understand the "rivalry" of another pony car. More often than not though it is a piece of shit non-descript 4dr sedan about 10 years old. I've even see the same car that "smoked" me off the line pair up with another "basic" car at the next light and be totally sedate, further suggesting it is something about the car it is next to.

Any others with similar "sports" or "performance" cars notice the phenomenon?

And no, I don't get into it. Punching the gas only to hit the brakes for the next light or racing to the end of the onramp only to brake and merge into traffic does little for me.

Now, on an open road I will get into it and drive it like it should be, but when commuting and running errands I drive accordingly.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 911Boss,






What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???


July 01, 2017, 11:50 PM
reflex/deflex 64
I loved driving the Mustang convertible I bought for the kids. About two steps this side of a beater it was still fun.

I got pulled over more in that car than anything I've ever owned. The disappointment on the officers face was priceless. 5mph over, a single light in a cluster burned out, just crazy shit I'd not heard of since I was a teenager.

Yes the stop light showdowns as well. Honda owners hated that POS.


----------The weather is here I wish you were beautiful----------
July 02, 2017, 12:18 AM
LS1 GTO
Bought my 04 GTO new; for about the first three years it was like that - mostly with Mustangs and M3s.

It'll wear off.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LS1 GTO,






Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.



"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers



July 02, 2017, 01:54 AM
sigmonkey
When at the light and "challenged", do a little "staging" and then when as the light is ready to change (if you can see the opposing yellow), let off the brake and let the nose rise, then let off the loud pedal and watch the idjits blast off into the the wild blue yonder.

Then go on about your biddniz.

Snicker.




"the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב!
July 02, 2017, 03:26 AM
SFCUSARET
It"s not only the fast car challenge. How about on the highway. I'm driving a Toyota Taco 4x4 in the far right lane on the highway going 10 mph over the speed limit and got lots of room behind me. It always happens that someone will speed up and cut in front of me in order to get to to exit. WTF!


__________________________
"Para ser libre, un hombre debe tener tres cosas, la tierra, una educacion y un fusil. Siempre un fusil !" (Emiliano Zapata)
July 02, 2017, 05:24 AM
MNSIG
I don't know why, other than uncontrolled testosterone. Any ice cream run with my Corvette is bound to generate a challenge from some 17 year old with a huge airfoil on his FRONT WHEEL DRIVE car. Nice physics there, bud. I ignore them, which usually prompts a defiant acceleration demonstrating the full auditory glory of his fart can exhaust.
July 02, 2017, 06:55 AM
ASKSmith
Back in my riding days, I always wondered why people in Mustangs "challenged" me.

My bike ran 10.6sec 1/4 miles at 130. And that is slow by today's bikes.

To each his own, I guess..


-----------------
I apologize now...
July 02, 2017, 07:10 AM
MagicHorse
Maybe they are just a fan & would like to see you "Open her up" so they can get a taste of the joy. Kinda like a kid making the "air horn" movement when a big rig passes them so they will blow the horn.
July 02, 2017, 07:12 AM
YogiBear
Aloha,

I took OFF ALL the labels except for the Chevy Bowties from my Trailblazer SS

the first day of ownership.

Only a Chevy lover can recognize it for what it is.

I had it dyno'd, 323+ HP at the rear wheels

Looks just like any other silver SUV on the road.
July 02, 2017, 07:13 AM
Edmond
quote:
Originally posted by MagicHorse:
Maybe they are just a fan & would like to see you "Open her up" so they can get a taste of the joy. Kinda like a kid making the "air horn" movement when a big rig passes them so they will blow the horn.


That's what I was thinking.

I don't have a V8 car myself anymore but I certainly enjoy seeing the guys in them open up the exhaust and the awesome roar that comes from it.

But even when I had my Z06, I didn't get too many who wanted to test it. Big Grin


_____________

July 02, 2017, 07:56 AM
Mars_Attacks
I want a 90's supercharged Bonneville so bad.

Just to make some punk kid think his $50k car is slow getting owned by a POS grandma car.


____________________________

Eeewwww, don't touch it!
Here, poke at it with this stick.
July 02, 2017, 08:00 AM
V-Tail
1960, in NYC, I was riding my BMW R-50. Stopped at a traffic light, a Bentley pulls up next to me, the driver lowers the window and asks if I want to drag.



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
July 02, 2017, 08:51 AM
RogueJSK
At least once a week, some jackhole will try to race my wife when she's out driving her WRX.
July 02, 2017, 09:19 AM
RHINOWSO
I understand your pain.

There is another similar issue I see as well - why do people feel the need to challenge a car going faster than them (typicallly on the highway). I.e., you pass a car legally on a 4 lane and next thing you know they are speeding up and trying to pass you? WTF??
July 02, 2017, 09:25 AM
prairieviper
It is adolescent behavior, unless, of course, you happen to be a teenager and then I can understand it. Revving your engine, squealing your tires and such because you think you have a hot car or want to challenge someone else who does, is just childish.

During my younger years, I owned some pretty hot cars and yes, I came into contact with these types of people. I never even acknowledged them. Nowadays I'm either in my Chevy Silverado or my wife's Jeep Cherokee so I don't attract the 'mine is bigger than yours' types.


"In God We Trust"
July 02, 2017, 09:26 AM
guardianangel762
This happened all the time with my Mustang. I found the best thing to do is just lick the window while staring at them like they are sexy.

Stopped that real quick.


___________________________________________________
But then of course I might be a 13 year old girl who reads alot of gun magazines, so feel free to disregard anything I post.
July 02, 2017, 09:56 AM
Chris Anchor
Years back I was running a souped up Dodge Cummins with a giggle switch but from outside it looked totally stock. I'm at a light one day when a couple of kids in a lifted Chevy pickup pull up and want to race the old man thinking I'm easy pickings. I hit the switch, the light turns green and I left them in the smoke. I guess they may think twice with the next old man in a pickup. Chris
July 02, 2017, 10:46 AM
911Boss
quote:
Originally posted by MNSIG:
I don't know why, other than uncontrolled testosterone. Any ice cream run with my Corvette is bound to generate a challenge from some 17 year old with a huge airfoil on his FRONT WHEEL DRIVE car. Nice physics there, bud. I ignore them, which usually prompts a defiant acceleration demonstrating the full auditory glory of his fart can exhaust.


That might be for some, but half the time it is skanky wimmin in some POS Corolla or the like. And don't even get me started on fart cans...

quote:
Originally posted by guardianangel762:
This happened all the time with my Mustang. I found the best thing to do is just lick the window while staring at them like they are sexy.

Stopped that real quick.


Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin



quote:
Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
I understand your pain.

There is another similar issue I see as well - why do people feel the need to challenge a car going faster than them (typicallly on the highway). I.e., you pass a car legally on a 4 lane and next thing you know they are speeding up and trying to pass you? WTF??


This too! I usually go about 7-10 over (flow of most traffic around here) and stick in one lane on the freeway, no weaving in and out like I have fork my way to the front of the pack at Daytona. If someone is going slow, I'll pass on the right instead of riding their ass or hoping the move over.

Invariably some douche, usually in a BMW, takes exception to being passed while going at or below the limit and all of a sudden he has to show me his car is capable of passing others and going at the flow of traffic. Half the time they 5-6 car lengths ahead and then slow down again, with the process repeating until one of us gets off the freeway. Roll Eyes






What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???


July 02, 2017, 10:58 AM
Orguss
I had a 2000 V6 Mustang. I did a lot of cosmetic mods with a few power mods. I never put it on a dyno but I'd be lucky if it had 180hp at the wheels. But because of my license plate, I used to get challenged all the time by Chevy guys with three times the horsepower whenever I drove it, along with the occasional ricer. I would always ignore them. After I sold it, the dumbass who bought it used to park it outside in Oakland, which is predominantly GM territory. It got vandalized repeatedly until the entire $3000 sound system was stolen.

With my Taurus, I used to get challenged at stop lights until I took off the vent badges, which read "SHO". After that, nobody cared about me unless I was driving fast.



"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes"
July 02, 2017, 11:47 AM
Kevmo
I will admit in my misspent youth when i had my ratty Nova that looked like a utter POS but was hiding a well built stoker motor I used to enjoy "Corvette fishing".

Now I drive a Honda Civic...One day my daughter and I were at a light and a woman in very throaty sounding Mustang pulled up next to us, I managed to catch her eye and started revving my mighty 1.4 giving her the "lets go" wave...I beat her off the line because she was laughing her ass off .