[quote=pete757]In my younger hooligan days with the RAF, I had another Hawk jet behind me for a bit of ‘dogfighting’ over South Wales. It all got quite interesting, testosterone filed and heated as we both continued the ‘game’ over about 10 exhausting minutes as he tried to follow me but at some point I finally ‘spat him out’ from behind me… the trouble is was he was very ‘nose down’ near the ground…
I reversed my turn expecting to see the guy but there was NO sign of him… I did a few general orbits of the area bricking it that I would see some smoke but as it was quite a hot hazy summers day I saw none… I had a very hollow feeling going on now…
I was convinced that when I got back to RAF Valley on Anglesey I would hear the story that a jet had crashed in South Wales… fortunately things were all quiet… but I felt quite bad for a few days after and to this day I still dont know how he managed to recover things so close to the ground… [/quote]
Firstly, that’s the coolest thing I’ve read on here I’m also humming “Highway To The Dangerzone” now haha!
Back on topic, this has happened to me a few times. To be honest it’s normally when I’m taking it easy that they try and keep up and if they look as if they’re struggling, I’ll back off and just let them past. I honestly think sometimes they think their cars can grip as hard as ours and whereas there are some hot hatches that probably can, Mr Mondao man doesn’t have the same luxuries.
However what I’ve noticed even more is when I’m out for a bimble on a nice weekend morning and I come up behind another car on a country / twisty lane. The amount of times I’ve thought “oh come on, you’re hardly moving…why are you braking on this bend…what are you playing at!!!” only to look at my speedo and realise that we are going at quite a pace. I think it’s because our cars don’t have the body roll that a normal car has, so I find it more relaxing at higher speeds.
If I do the same journey in my wife’s car, I think I’d be holding them up because as soon as I feel the body roll, I start to think “whooa there Shirley!”
I tried my hardest to keep a 106 behind me on a very narrow twisty and undulating road in the Lakes, on wet and leafy road. Decided to let her go past!
[quote=thommo]"out for a bimble!
That’s a new one on me . . .
I tried my hardest to keep a 106 behind me on a very narrow twisty and undulating road in the Lakes, on wet and leafy road. Decided to let her go past! [/quote]
I had a day with a GTR and I thought I was taking it easy not pressuring the GTI infront, however he looked very squiffy under braking and thats the point I noticed we were doing 90 on a B road.
Happened on two occasions;- Firsty a 2.8 Capri was following me in my AflaSud, he unfortunalty exited backwards and just recently coming off the M11 followed by an MX5;- but still thye both make me grin
Way before ‘the man’ went bonkers with his set of french curves designing the Exige…
Whilst piloting the Elan many many insurance renewals ago…
I was abiding by the local limits on a dual carriageway heading towards an M1 motorway junction when a ‘yout’ in his dads rover 216 thought that it would be good sport to attempt beating me to the exit that we were both intending to take.
Instead of giving the game away and breaking I simply employed the agility of the little sprint (not any skill on my part I might add) and maintained speed whilst negociating the underpass and required exit. Basically I ignored him and continued on my planned route and speed.
I remember looking in my rear view mirror to see the aforementioned creating a huge amount of tyre smoke as a combination of too much speed too little skill and a skip load of understeer saw him taking a different route to exit than prescribed by the highway engineers.
As is usually the case the understeer snapped into oversteer and he came to rest against the 2 posts of the motorway sign on the dusty, grassy median in the centre of the entry/exit.
As i was younger and far more cruel than I am now I simply gave him a couple of toots on the air horn and made my away home treating him to a little 3rd gear 3800rpm music.
Cock!
This was several years ago and the bent sign has only just been mended. I would chuckle every day on the way home from the office.
I do think that inexperienced drivers and modern driving aids are not in any way helping the quality of driving.
I have to admit what ever I’m driving I will avoid breaking and gear down to drag a in a tailgater every time. I hate them and they need to learn!!!
I came across a VW Passat on a country lane about a year and a half after I got my Elise. As soon as he saw me in his rear view mirror he took off and I stayed with him at a sensible distance. He then without warning dived off the road into a mud/gravel layby and I went past. Looking back in my mirror I saw his passenger leaning out the window attempting to get rid of their stomach contents…
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I’m also humming “Highway To The Dangerzone” now haha!