Can't Comprehend the Attitude

People like that give me a headache. He is prolly a nut swinger for 1320 video too where all they do is film massive horsepower cars for mile events and so on.

I'm sure drifting the on-ramps will catch up with him though.

Lesley wrote: Uh, no. As someone who owns a horse and a nasty collection of 90s E36 M3ters-on-wheels, my fingernails probably look like yours.

Egad, I love having you around here.

Suitably Canadian image, I hope..

Explain to him that he is already driving a car built for middle-aged female hairdressers and not to get his panties in a wad.

I don't get mustangs, I've never driven one that felt like a fun, well-built car.

For some reason, some guys seem to have a hard-on for them. I'd rather have the Miata.

racerfink wrote: Last weekend, I did some driver coaching for a friend of mine in his street legal Spec Miata at Sebring. With him in the passenger seat, and 108hp at the wheels, I passed a FProd 2002, a E36 M3 with a Dinan badge on the rear, and a Shelby GT500 Cobra Mustang. My friend now thinks Spec Miatas are the best track day cars ever.

Yeah. My own track sessions are few and far in between these days (I'm waaaay out of practice), but I can still manage to hound some pretty pricy machinery. And I'm never "that guy"..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8pRkhnJ9Eg

I have a similar coworker that has an 04 cobra with more money invested into the motor than he paid for the car. He never put money into anything else and a few weeks ago he broke his rear cradle mount for the diff housing. Just before that he asked me why I had put so much money into upgrading the suspension on my Audi 90 instead of putting a turbo on it. Now he knows.

Personally, I would be very diplomatic to him. Ask him if he wants to take his car racing and tell him to join you at your next autocross. Proceed to embarrass him. Be humble about it, quietly place the trophy on your desk and when he brings his car up again, enthusiastically ask him if he's coming out the next autocross.

Yep, always love it when guys with 3 lbs of hair gel and $300 sun glasses show up for our autocrosses with "Six hundred WHP" turbo Porsches. (These are, apparently, the hipster version of your "Mustang Guy") I actually laugh a little to myself during the "so what you driving?" conversations. Inevitably I get a look of distain usually reserved for announcing "I have leprosy" when I tell them the blue/green Miata is mine. The only one who's ever been close to matching times with my Miata ended up with his car puking what looked like about $10K worth of fluids on our track by run number 3. And none of them has ever come back. Miata + autocross is the miracle cure for "I has Mustang/Porsche" personality disorder.

Woody wrote: It's amazing how little some "car guys" actually know about cars.

Troof.

I was at Summit Point two weeks ago and there was a guy with a nice, clean E36 with lots of go fast bits on it. He saw me working on my car and asked if I would listen to a noise he had been hearing.

So, I go over and stick my head under the hood to find the power steering pump pulley is wobbling on loose bolts. So... I said I need to go snag a wrench to tighten it up. He actually asked me "What does that do?" followed by "Should I have it towed to a shop - I don't want to have you working on my car all day".

Some guys just have no idea how things work I guess. At least he wasn't a douche. He did know enough to repay a kindness with cold beer.

I guess it's just the difference between "knowing something" through doing, and knowing "about" something, through reading, watching, and listening. The latter can only take someone so far.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Troof. I was at Summit Point two weeks ago and there was a guy with a nice, clean E36 with lots of go fast bits on it. He saw me working on my car and asked if I would listen to a noise he had been hearing. So, I go over and stick my head under the hood to find the power steering pump pulley is wobbling on loose bolts. So... I said I need to go snag a wrench to tighten it up. He actually asked me "What does that do?" followed by "Should I have it towed to a shop - I don't want to have you working on my car all day". Some guys just have no idea how things work I guess. At least he wasn't a douche. He did know enough to repay a kindness with cold beer.

Sounds like somebody who could be turned into one of us. He drives the right car, does the right things with it, just needs to learn how to turn his own wrenches

A few years back I went to an AX with the Abomination and after the second runs I was getting some HATEFUL looks from a guy I had never met. I just could not understand what I had done; he'd walk by with a disdainful look and mutter stuff under his breath.

I later discovered he had a Porsche Cayman with thousands of dollars worth of tires, suspension mods etc and I was beating his times by a HUGE amount with a dinged up Spitfire powered by a carbed 12A which cost less than his wheels and tires.

phaze1todd wrote: Auto-x topic came up. All he cares about is drifting the on-ramp and how fast he get to 150.

Well, hopefully he only totals the car and not himself and/or other innocent bystanders near him.

I try not to dismiss any car.

It's always fun opening people's eyes like that. I prefer to do it on the track, but I do admit taking a hardcore 5 litre Mustang guy (and Nissan dealership mechanic!) for a spin my turbo NX2000.

He was pretty dismissive of the car, until I took him for a ride and dropped the clutch at 3500 rpm, took it to 7800 in the first two gears and halfway through third.

First thing out of his mouth was "this thing is way faster than my V8 Mustang!". Well, yeah. Thousand lbs lighter + turbocharging will do that for you

Mitchell wrote: I guess it's just the difference between "knowing something" through doing, and knowing "about" something, through reading, watching, and listening. The latter can only take someone so far.

reminds me of the time that I was a kid and the America's Cut races were on TV. I got totally into it, read about sailing, and was sure that my book learning about how tacking worked would be sufficient to control a sailboat.

At camp, I jumped into one of the little snark sailboats and took off to the far end of the lake. I was stranded there until someone came with a kayak and towed me back.

A agree, doing something is the only way to burn the lessons deep into your brain.

In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

gamby wrote:

phaze1todd wrote: Auto-x topic came up. All he cares about is drifting the on-ramp and how fast he get to 150.

Well, hopefully he only totals the car and not himself and/or other innocent bystanders near him. I try not to dismiss any car.

That is my thinking.

EastCoastMojo wrote: In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

You're just full of whimsical anectdotes during your recoup!

I had to go speak to the clerk of the course one day about the guy in the 911 GT1 car that was holding my IT2 Neon up so badly in the braking zones, and all through the twisty bits.

To his credit, he was just a beginner, and did learn, but I really don't understand people buying a great huge monster for their first race car.

Streetwiseguy wrote: To his credit, he was just a beginner, and did learn, but I really don't understand people buying a great huge monster for their first race car.

I do understand.

At every HPDE I instruct at - the beginner group has the nicest cars. Porsche Turbos, Caymans, Vettes, Vipers, Z4s, M3s... galore.

As the student groups get more and more experience they are driving crappier and crappier cars until you get to the instructors who are driving around in whatever throw-away tin can they could drag to the track for the most part.

It's because no one ever dreamed of racing a 20yr old Dodge Neon. They settle where the checkbook dictates after they realize the car itself isn't really why we race them.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote: To his credit, he was just a beginner, and did learn, but I really don't understand people buying a great huge monster for their first race car.

I do understand. At every HPDE I instruct at - the beginner group has the nicest cars. Porsche Turbos, Caymans, Vettes, Vipers, Z4s, M3s... galore. As the student groups get more and more experience they are driving crappier and crappier cars until you get to the instructors who are driving around in whatever throw-away tin can they could drag to the track for the most part. It's because no one ever dreamed of racing a 20yr old Dodge Neon. They settle where the checkbook dictates after they realize the car itself isn't really why we race them.

My current race car/challenge/E36 M3box build is a 25 year old mazda.......

mndsm wrote: My current race car/challenge/E36 M3box build is a 25 year old mazda.......

What I meant was... when these guys show up all minty fresh at the track in a 2013 997S, it's because 20-30yrs ago they were dreaming of racing a 911.

No one was laying awake at night imagining themselves flying up the esses at the Glen in a rusty econobox. So... if they can, they buy something close to their idea of what a race car is.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote: To his credit, he was just a beginner, and did learn, but I really don't understand people buying a great huge monster for their first race car.

I do understand. At every HPDE I instruct at - the beginner group has the nicest cars. Porsche Turbos, Caymans, Vettes, Vipers, Z4s, M3s... galore. As the student groups get more and more experience they are driving crappier and crappier cars until you get to the instructors who are driving around in whatever throw-away tin can they could drag to the track for the most part. It's because no one ever dreamed of racing a 20yr old Dodge Neon. They settle where the checkbook dictates after they realize the car itself isn't really why we race them.

This post is so full of truth. There are waxers then there are racers. After you do enough track days you really dont care as much about the car as much as the seat time. Hopefully people learn that before stuffing their pride and joy into a wall.

Anti-stance wrote:

gamby wrote:

phaze1todd wrote: Auto-x topic came up. All he cares about is drifting the on-ramp and how fast he get to 150.

Well, hopefully he only totals the car and not himself and/or other innocent bystanders near him. I try not to dismiss any car.

That is my thinking.

Darwin is waiting

You know its entirely possible somewhere he has posted on a drag racing forum this same post talking about the guy he thought was cool until he started talking about some little 16 second car like it was fast and acting superior because he drives his car fast in a parking lot..

^ hah hah hah ha!