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drag racing

Started by capn_midnight Apr 3, 2006 at 9:35 AM 14 replies 1.4k views

Original Post

Apr 3, 2006 at 9:35 AM

I am going to catch a lot of flack for this post, but I don't care, it's a funny story and I'm sharing it. I drag raced against a 1969 Chevy Camaro SS... in my 2005 Honda Civic LX... and won. Now I know what you're thinking "he's full of shit, he's lying, he's just a ricer, blah blah blah," just let me finish. I'm driving through downtown Harrisburg on Friday night, looking to meet up with some friends at one of the local bars. I'm pretty familiar with the streets and I reallize that I need to gun it away from the stoplight to get ahead of the person on my left so that I would be able to make a left turn after a few blocks. Now, this car on my left that I'm trying to get ahead of is the Camaro. I knew that if I really tried to take off, he might see it as a challenge and gun it also, which would defeat my purpose of trying to get ahead of him (and the long line of traffic behind him) so that I could make my eventual turn. This was not "the race" that I speak of. So, I pulled away from the light as normal, so as not to spin my tires, kept pace with the Camaro, for about 50 feet, then floored it and got ahead of him. We come to the next light and stop and now he is on my right. The guy must have thought that I was trying to show off, because as soon as the light turns green, I hear the unmistakable dragon's roar of a Chevy small block 327 V8. Immediately he starts spinning his tires. By the time I've pulled forward about half a car length, I look in my side mirror and see a cloud of smoke, with a car underneath it starting to sway back and forth under the epic levels of torque that this car is producing. I quickly reallize that this guy probably does not know how to properly handle that much power. He came very close to swiping into me. I clutched, reved the engine, popped the clutch, spun my tires a wee bit, and screamed out of there. My 1.7L 4cyl engine sounded like a motorcycle engine as I pulled away from the nutjob getting ready to set fire to the vehicles behind him. He eventually gained traction and was gaining on me very quickly, but I was still ahead when we reached the next light. I turned left, he turned right, and I pulled over and shivered a bit from the adrenaline. Before anyone starts talking about how dangerous street racing is and everything, I'm not a street racer. I've made a few upgrades to my car, upgrades that have increased my fuel mileage. I did not want to race this guy, I did not want to race anyone. I was basically *running away* from a crazy person that had lost control of their vehicle (like I said, he would have drifted into me if I had not because of his torque steer). That is all. But it still means I won. Chalk one up for knowing your vehicle.

idloco

Apr 3, 2006 at 10:38 AM

lol i read "drag dancing"....but the thread is from a different topic...
life sux...

nice story btw, bad driver (the guy from the camaro), i love muscle cars and i know they can do better
BOTAOE

necreia

Apr 3, 2006 at 10:43 AM

Quote:
Original post by idloco
lol i read "drag dancing"....but the thread is from a different topic...
life sux...

And I read it as drug racing...
Damn time change.

@Capn: "I turned left, he turned right, and I pulled over and shivered a bit from the adrenaline." - Came to a stop and turn, or drifted?

capn_midnight

Apr 3, 2006 at 10:44 AM

Quote:
Original post by necreia
Quote:
Original post by idloco
lol i read "drag dancing"....but the thread is from a different topic...
life sux...

And I read it as drug racing...
Damn time change.

@Capn: "I turned left, he turned right, and I pulled over and shivered a bit from the adrenaline." - Came to a stop and turn, or drifted?

I didn't drift but my tires were crying a little bit. Again with the running away from crazy nutjob.

capn_midnight

Apr 3, 2006 at 10:53 AM

A friend points out that, since I had done nothing illegal until the speeding to save my car, I should have proceeded as normal and let him swipe me. Given the time of night and the guy that was in the car, he had probably been drinking, too. I could have had a very hefty settlement from that.

simpo

Apr 3, 2006 at 1:28 PM

Quote:
Original post by capn_midnight
I drag raced against a 1969 Chevy Camaro SS... in my 2005 Honda Civic LX... and won.

Wow. you beat someone in a car 36 years older than your own? well done :P

dp++

Sr_Guapo

Apr 3, 2006 at 1:39 PM

Quote:
Original post by capn_midnight
A friend points out that, since I had done nothing illegal until the speeding to save my car, I should have proceeded as normal and let him swipe me. Given the time of night and the guy that was in the car, he had probably been drinking, too. I could have had a very hefty settlement from that.

People always say this, but it could have been serious. A lifetime in a wheelchair (or worse) is definately not worth a few hundred grand. Also, What happens if he speeds off afterwords and you don't get his tag?

I probably would have done the same thing under the given circumstances.

_the_phantom_

Apr 3, 2006 at 1:42 PM

I came here expecting stories of men dressed as women racing.

I'm disappointed.

Strider_Hiryu

Apr 3, 2006 at 2:45 PM

Personally, I probably would've done the same thing you did. Mainly because whether or not the guy was drunk, he wanted to participate in something that you had no intention of doing, so naturally, you just broke the hell out. Obviously, like you said earlier, the guy did not have full control of his car either, so at that point, racing someone with limited control of their vehicle makes it even more dangerous.

On a side note, good job putting the camaro guy to shame. I, personally, like seeing hondas defeat american cars (drives a 93 honda prelude).

tstrimp

Apr 3, 2006 at 2:47 PM

Now, if only ricers could figure out a way to get rid of that annoying high pitched whine their cars make when they floor it.

Rixter

Apr 3, 2006 at 2:55 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if he was just showing off rather than racing, I've never met anybody who, you know, couldn't let off the gas when the tires started spinning...

edit: Especially if it really was a 327, which really aren't all that powerful anyway.

capn_midnight

Apr 3, 2006 at 4:33 PM

Quote:
Original post by Rixter
I wouldn't be surprised if he was just showing off rather than racing, I've never met anybody who, you know, couldn't let off the gas when the tires started spinning...

edit: Especially if it really was a 327, which really aren't all that powerful anyway.

327's stock dyno at around 550HP. If you're saying that 550HP isn't "all that powerful" I want to know what you're driving. Judging from the sound of the vehicle, he probably also had a complete header-through-exhaust performance system, it was really freaking loud.

but who knows, his 327 and SS badging might have been fake, just like some people like to put Type R stickers on their '03 Civics, Accords, and *Corollas*.

blueEbola

Apr 3, 2006 at 5:00 PM

Quote:
Original post by simpo
Quote:
Original post by capn_midnight
I drag raced against a 1969 Chevy Camaro SS... in my 2005 Honda Civic LX... and won.

Wow. you beat someone in a car 36 years older than your own? well done :P

dp++

It's pretty well known that a '69 Camaro SS hauls some serious ass, though this guy obviously doesn't know how to drive it. Unless if he purposely wanted to show how he can burn holes into the ground with his tires :D

HelplessFool

Apr 3, 2006 at 5:02 PM

Quote:
Original post by capn_midnight
Quote:
Original post by Rixter
I wouldn't be surprised if he was just showing off rather than racing, I've never met anybody who, you know, couldn't let off the gas when the tires started spinning...

edit: Especially if it really was a 327, which really aren't all that powerful anyway.

327's stock dyno at around 550HP. If you're saying that 550HP isn't "all that powerful" I want to know what you're driving. Judging from the sound of the vehicle, he probably also had a complete header-through-exhaust performance system, it was really freaking loud.

but who knows, his 327 and SS badging might have been fake, just like some people like to put Type R stickers on their '03 Civics, Accords, and *Corollas*.

Quote:
wiki says
"Even rarer was COPO 9560. This option installed an all-aluminum 427 in³ (7.0 L) big-block called the ZL-1. Just 69 ZL-1 Camaros were produced, probably because the engine alone cost over 4,000 USD—nearly twice that of a base V-8 coupe. Though rated at 430 hp (321 kW) gross, the ZL-1 made closer to 550 hp (410 kW), making it both the fastest and rarest of all Camaros."

I know wiki isn't the be-all end-all of research, but perhaps you are confusing which motor puts out what power?

capn_midnight

Apr 3, 2006 at 5:04 PM

Quote:
Original post by HelplessFool
Quote:
Original post by capn_midnight
Quote:
Original post by Rixter
I wouldn't be surprised if he was just showing off rather than racing, I've never met anybody who, you know, couldn't let off the gas when the tires started spinning...

edit: Especially if it really was a 327, which really aren't all that powerful anyway.

327's stock dyno at around 550HP. If you're saying that 550HP isn't "all that powerful" I want to know what you're driving. Judging from the sound of the vehicle, he probably also had a complete header-through-exhaust performance system, it was really freaking loud.

but who knows, his 327 and SS badging might have been fake, just like some people like to put Type R stickers on their '03 Civics, Accords, and *Corollas*.

Quote:
wiki says
"Even rarer was COPO 9560. This option installed an all-aluminum 427 in³ (7.0 L) big-block called the ZL-1. Just 69 ZL-1 Camaros were produced, probably because the engine alone cost over 4,000 USD—nearly twice that of a base V-8 coupe. Though rated at 430 hp (321 kW) gross, the ZL-1 made closer to 550 hp (410 kW), making it both the fastest and rarest of all Camaros."

I know wiki isn't the be-all end-all of research, but perhaps you are confusing which motor puts out what power?

ah, you are correct, sir.

Rixter

Apr 3, 2006 at 5:16 PM

327 only has about 235hp, however I guess I wouldn't at all be surprised if it was beefed up.

Also, just fyi, that's not torque steer, that's just fish-tailing.

Edit: oh yeah, wasn't there a hemi commercial where something similar happened? The guy had a hemi-powered top-fuel drag car and just sat there spinning his tires lol.

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