You're very welcome!

 

True......True

 

Thanks for all the reply's Mike.

Jag

 

That's what I was thinking. When I get my MicroTuner, I'm wanting to cut down on the installation time, and go kick some rice a$$.

 

Hi LFG,

Good luck & be careful down there with those ricers - you probably already know that Florida passed a law so that street racing is now a FELONY!!

Florida (and many other states) have had so many more young people getting killed street racing ever since that stupid Fast & Furious movie, that many are making their laws much tougher about street racing.

Be safe,

 

Yes, but the problem down here was that the local newspaper is printed in English, so all the stories they wrote about the change in the law won't be understood by the majority of the offenders.

-Mike-

 

It's about time that the law started cracking down on the street racing around here. Too many kids have been killed because of it.

They go out buy some POS car add the boom box speakers, the neon lights, the giant wing and big tailpipe and bingo! they are now race car drivers. I see them every day looking cool with the seatbacks reclined so that they have to lean on an elbow while they swerve in and out of traffic.

I've done some sanctioned and LEGAL racing (and hope to do some more) and I wish I could tell these kids that they don't know the first flippin' thing about racing. Rule #1 in racing is safety and they obviously haven't even gotten this far.

SCCA racing is dirt cheap and a great way to learn excellent driving skills for the novice. Unfortuantely most of the kids would rather take it to the streets to impress their friends. The truly bad part is they sometimes kill themselves and occasionally an innocent party as well.

Sorry for the rant but it's one of my top peeves.

 

Yeah, I know street racing is illegal, and now a felony. I don't do it often. If I do, I try to make sure I'm not going to put anyone in danger (like weaving in between traffic).

I just want to see some improvements in HP and times. I would like to start taking it down to our local track.

 

Hi rksylves,

Thanks for your post, and I don't think anyone intelligent would ever object to it. Many of us here are old enough & mature enough to know the dangers inherent in "street racing."

Your point is well taken about the young cats taking a older beater, or the family hand-me-down car, throwing a few stickers & speakers on it and now it's a race car, we've seen it too many times.

One thing that will likely not change in our lifetimes is the inherent American need for our cars (or trucks) to help us (especially us males) feel "cool" in some way - that is one of the most ingrained things in a young man's heart it seems, or at least, in all my friends when we were young. Even now, many of us mod our vehicles to give us our satisfaction & cool quotient, myself included.

But it isn't cool being scraped off the pavement, or having wreaths placed at the crash site after another couple of young people have died stupidly from street racing, or not wearing seat belts, being intoxicated while driving, etc.

Florida in particular is, I think, the single most dangerous state I've ever driven in........................

I was involved in a drunk-driving accident down there in Florida back in the 80's - a young woman was celebrating her first paycheck from a new job according to her family (but the Florida State Police Homicide Investigator ruled it a suicide), and decided that with a .26 Blood Alcohol Content (more than 3 times what is need for a DUI in many states), pot & cocaine in her blood that it would be a good thing to stop on the side of the Interstate, turn her lights off, then take off at full-throttle until she hit 80-85 mph and then turn sharply to careen across the entire median. Hit us and a van beside us head-on. Happened so quick that nobody even hit the brakes, as she had turned her headlights off (there were numerous eyewitnesses). Long story short, they had to identify the vehicles involved by the serial numbers on their engine blocks, all of which were strewn across 5-6 lanes of the Interstate, closing both sides of I-95 for hours, news choppers overhead broadcasting it live on TV, the whole 9 yards. All that was left of the 3 vehicles was a big pile of rubble, literally. Killed 3 people & badly injured me, permanently.

So I like driving in Florida about as much as I like cutting off my left arm. All the seniors who retired to Florida (many of whom have no business driving), all the drunks, and then add to that mix the "racers," and you have a scenario where too many good people are dying for *nothing*.

Other states certainly have their problems, and here in Virginia we're no angels, to be sure. But I've never seen anything like Florida.........

Everyone, please be careful - having a vehicle capable of going fast doesn't make you a race car driver!

 

These are all great points...I can say from experience I used to race pretty often, but ever since I went to the strip I dont do it nearly as often. If someone says lets run, I simply say sure lets do it Wednesday at the track. I mean there are times when I do happen to race on the street, but it is rare now, not nearly as often as I used to. I went to the track and after that I was hooked. Now I want to autocross and stuff. Not having to worry about hurting anyone or getting tickets makes it all worth the while, that plus getting a time slip that shows how fast you ran rather than just saying oh yea I blew away that Civic with the aircraft wing. The strip has changed me. Plus you can do huge burnouts and the only outcome is less tread on your tires and stands full of cheering people.

 

I may have come off a bit heavy in my previous post. Don't get me wrong, like a lot of other folks on these boards I also am looking for better performance in my F-150 as I tow a 27 foot TT. I need all the performance help I can get when towing.

Also I don't want to sound lke I'm getting down on the young folks. I understand wanting to have the baddest ride in town. When I was in High School it was a top priority to have the most kick *** car around ('69 Dodge Superbee w/ 440 6pack).

Enjoy!

Russ

 

Yes I agree there is definatley a time and a place to race. I hardly race on the road with other people. Yes I have before but it is very far and few between. I haven't done it since I race that srt-4, and before that I can't even remember. We go out to fox lake to do it. No cars, no people, just a long road (1/2 mile strait)

We havn't been there in forever, because none of my friends want to race me anymore, simply because they know I can beat them. Oh well.

 

Hi Russ,

Ahh, another old Mopar guy, eh? Me too, used to run a '67 GTX in C Mod, & a wicked 9-second (well, on slicks) Duster on the street. Those were the days..............

Wanting more performance is never a bad thing - it's what you *do* with it that matters. Most people, like Beastie mentioned in his post (good for you, Beastie!), are getting more of a chance to do it at the track, as more tracks are being opened, and they're opening in the middle of the week too, not just on weekends.

I must confess to the occasional "street encounter," but these days (and thank God I lived to reach "older & wiser") I will not take chances where anyone else could be hurt even in a worst-case scenario.

I think most of us understood your post Russ, don't worry.

 

while i wont disagree that street racing is dangerous, seems like here in houston there are not that many tragic accidents(i know it only takes one to change your life) seem s like the most tragic accidents are from alcohol and people falling asleep, cell phone use could not be far behind.
it ok to jump someone a$$ for street racing, just dont forget the people who have 1 beer, have an arugment or drive while they are too tired. from what i have seen 5 to 7 k gets you out of a dwi, most have cell phones and everyone of us has driven when we were probably to tired.

does any one have a number as to how many are injured or killed as a result of street racing and also do you consider a stop light to stop light run up to say 55 or 60 a street race that someone should serve time for?
while on the subject, do you think that it is ok for suzuki to sale a motorcyle capable of close to 200 mph 10 second (maybe 9) quarter mile time to a 20 year old that has a descent job and can afford the note?

 

Hi BrotherDave,

You raise a number of valid points, to be sure - the 10 second motorcycle being sold to anyone who can afford it really sticks out, and is a tough one - I don't think we should discourage automakers from making great performance available, but when it comes to motorcycles, I'm not a good enough rider to utilize that kind of performance. For me, I put motorcycles and 4-wheelers in completely different categories. I'd never think of having a 10-second crotch rocket, but only because I *know* I can't begin to ride well enough. Bikes have ZERO rider protection, so if you crash, you get hurt, at almost any speed, under almost any circumstance. Bikes are a tough one...............

Your points about driving under the influence, driving when tired, & driving while using a cell phone are all valid, to be sure, and the vast majority of us here have probably done one or more of those in our lives, absolutely right. And I'd bet that we see far more wrecks from all those causes than we do from "street racing." It's just that ever since that darned movie, we've seen so much more attention paid to this, and according to a number of states (who knows what data is accurate?), now there are *more* deaths in street racing and particularly of young people.

You're absolutely right in that there are plenty of *other* causes of accidents, to be sure - look at the Autobahn in Germany, where I grew up - the average person over there can easily handle a 100 mph vehicle cruising speed, and their roads are made for it. But when there *is* an accident, it's usually a doozie.

Speed by itself is not to blame for all these deaths - it's the fool behind the wheel, whether they're drunk, tired, or what have you.

Good points,