Gomez

Hymee deleted a thread started by a local newbie that asked about whether or not the 8 was suitable for street racing.......

I have been in contact with him (Hymee), and he has strong feelings about the subject which I'm sure he will post in a minute....

Ten people viewed this thread before I saw it, but no one had responded....I could not let sleeping dogs lie.

Unfortunately, my responses to this thread were also deleted, and I think my strong prose may have prompted the Hymee edit.

Here's the gist of it..........he asked the Q, I eloquently responded, Taka told him not to upset me any further, (!!), and I checked his post history.......

That's when the red mist came down............

The guy had only ten minutes earlier posted the exact Q on an American part of the forum....A U.S based member told him street racing was stupid and not to do it......so he scrolls down here and seeks the green light from us for street racing......

I lost it, but refrained from using any four letter words......I did however call him an Oxygen Bandit, amongst other things.....(I think Hymee learned a new word!!)....

Now, I started this thread for a reason......you will be wondering, newbie, where your thread has gone.......here is your chance to start again.

Just keep it sensible......don't ask any stupid Q's, and you will not bring down upon thyself the wrath of Gomez.

I don't like being edited.

Gomez.

P.S. Thank You Hymee in advance, for leaving this up....

Oh....., and my plee to thee, please don't street race.....it's not the speed that kills, it's the sudden stop at the end......

Choppy

As i replied to his new post gomez.

Dont spank them, inform them.

Public forum remember? I checked his history too, some people watch to much tv.

To many boy/girl races out there who even wear the racing gloves going to the shopping centre.

Regards
Phillip

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Maybe we could inform them with a picture or 2 of some mutilated bodies of "innocent" victims of car accidents.

Gomez

You know choppy, in the deleted thread I did request your guidance!

I see he has reposted his question. The trouble is, there seems to be tacit approval by some members of this forum for this kind of racing. This thread, for instance, has been viewed 37 times with only a reply from you......do I read into that that other viewers condone this behaviour, or is it a case of say nothing and it will go away?

Better to hurt their feelings than have someone get hurt.....

Gomez.

takahashi

Perhaps I can show him a post mortem of a car crash...!

Gomez

Good idea....start a new thread, put a warning on the header and post it.

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

I'd support that - as long as the identity of the deceased was not obvious. This is a public forum and potentially relatives/friends/loved ones could come across it. Then we would be in strife.

Cheers,
Hymee.

Gomez

Whoops, I didn't mean to post this.....I thought about it as I was typing and then changed my mind......It's a bad idea really, we don't need this place to turn into ##tt#n dot com....

Sorry, Gomez.

DragToys

I posted my views on the subject in the other thread

DMRH

Very dissapointing guys.

Seems the Australian Gov has some of you brainwashed into thinking that speed kills. Check one for the Gov "pull the wool over the dumb publics eyes" campaign.

Yes, I know that excessive speed in the wrong place at the wrong time by the uneducated & inexperienced can cause leathal situations, but so can granny heading down the road at the speed limit then fogetting to turn the wheel thus incurring similar results.

Take a "chill pill" guys. We have high performance Mazda rotary cars because we enjoy the concept of there racey image, the performance, the fun factor. Dont for a second even stand & say you have never exceeded the speed limit, had a fling against a meathead at the lights, given the RX a punt through the back roads, shown off its performance to your girl or friends, or whatever would cause you to be doing 61 in a 60 zone, etc etc (Yep, speed kills there guys....... )

Not having the ability to read the original post talked about before the personal feelings of a member clicked on the delete button, I can't be specific. Yet, I know that this will get a few noses out of joint & guys, thats the tell tale symptoms that the Aussie Gov has you hoodwinked.

Just one example I can think of (I have dozens)..... Spend some time in Europe where the average criusing speeds on the motorways are 160kph. Where 200+ is quite ok & after you get the hang of it, considered quite safe. Race down the back/country roads in France, Italy or Germany by our conditioned Australian standards & you risk having lines of people waiting to get past the slow Australian driver all wondering why he is driving so **** like. Took me weeks to break the conditioned mould (I admit it)

Its all about balance. Whether its in Europe or Australia, its still a road, its still an RX-8 & there are still risks involved. Understand where the guy is coming from before deleting his posts or modifying it to suit your own views & (conditioned??) standards. What if he was fresh from Japan & a 300km street racer club just like Gran Turismo in a PS-2. (art imitating reality) We are but a grain of salt on this forum compared to the big picture. If any of you really do think that "speed kills" perhaps you should be driving a Volvo instead of your RX-8 sports sedan...

REgards

Gomez

the guy asked about street racing the 8......ie, side by side racing on city streets.....not high speed cruising.

takahashi

eh.... Gomez street racing is not on street but at the Dandenong Ranges. Mountain Highway or Healsville (to King Lake) to be exact. Oops

Ageo

In italy they have an auto strata which is a "no" limit highway. I honestly believe the main reason why people speed is because there is no where to do it (besides the track). Having a huge highway like the auto bahn in Germany or auto strata in Italy would definately ease the speed junkies in surburbian areas.

But then again who knows :p

rotarenvy

I'm glad to here someone with some reason DMRH!

while I don't condone dangerous driving I reckon there are next to no one that can clame they never brake the law. (even if they think they are a perfect driver they rairly are)

this guy everyone is going off at obviously didn't have a great grasp of english and who knows what street racing realy was. the trafic light GP? everyone is guilty of that one now and then and is it realy dangerous? and is spirited driving any less dangerous even if it's on some back road? myself I see no place on public roads to push your car to the limits.

better yet encourage these watabe street racers to join a club and compete there are lots around go to the cams web site (cams.com.au?) and you can find a list of affliiated clubs.

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

DMRH,

Here is the "resurection of the original thread": https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=27044

I think I appologised to Gomez for deleting the thread in a fleeting moment of over zealous moderating. Anyway - it is basically all back before all to read.

As for my comments on posting pics - well that was a rhetorical question in response to the "inform not spank" post.

I have never pretended to be squeakly clean. I am very much against the revenue raising of speed cameras etc. I agree with all you say about "speeding". I have driven legally at +200km/hr on German autobahns, and even faster on some roads in Australia. I can't believe the Victorian governments almost zero tolerance on speeding that must be making drivers spend more time watching their speedos than actually watching and concentrating on the on-road conditions. I have even submitted complaints to the advertising standards body about some stupid add that used to get aired on TV in Queensland.

I am a great supporter in getting people out to the track where they can "race" in a controlled environment. In fact, I would like to be involved in lobbying the govt to provide more support for things like the public drags and sprints - although I suspect that would not get very far. Not enough "popular" support, and it is counter revenue raising.

I am definately against people getting on this PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE forum and wanting to discuss street racing on public roads.

I will be firm on any furture posts in any public forum I moderate on. Perhaps I won't delete them like last time, and I have tried to make ammends for my error in judgement. I know there are plenty of members here who will jump on it anyway, and that will show some healthy debate.

Cheers,
Hymee.

Gomez

DMRH, rotarenvy et al, the newbie asked about body kits for an 8 and whether the 8 was any good for street racing.....I naturally assumed he owned an RX-8 (as you would if someone wanted a body kit for one), and I fired a salvo 'cos it's not good to race on the street.....racing is a whole different kettle of fish to speeding.

We all do 65 in a 60 zone, how many do 120 in a 60 zone????
Anyone out there prepared to put their hand up to that?
DMRH, would it bother you if your kids played in that street??

We've had a heap of "kids" killed down here street racing...I've seen the wreck of a WRX that was cut in half when it hit a pole in Sydney Rd, street racing.'Twas not pretty..

The newbie had 6 posts up his sleeve when I found he had (still has) the same thread up on the Discussion area of the forum. As I pointed out in my first post of this thread, a member up there told him street racing was stupid and not to do it...... part of the reason I went off at him is 'cos he then attempted toget a positive result from us dumb ozzie members....this newbie claims to be 14 years old, maybe he's a rich 14yo, I don't know, but he had no profile when I posted my original replies..

All this a day after Not_Amused posts to tell us Amuse nearly run him over dragging down Dandenong Rd.....ever been down dandy rd, DMRH???

Gomez.

Gomez

Obvious now, others DO condone this behaviour......

takahashi

Hymee I use my Cruise control even more on the 60 kmh area then the 100 kmh highway. This how bad it is come to..

I hate that f#$#ing truck that goes 110kmh on the freeway... I sometimes had to keep blocking them. I don't want anymore stone chips!

Hey guys.. what happen in the windy road of 100kmh like in Healsville or Great Ocean Road between Lorne and Angelsea. They are good winding road and legal limit is 100kmh ,.. they have advisory speed of 40 in some corners ... if I do 100 all the way without slidding and stuff - am I breaking the law?

timbo

Guys

This is a BIG issue, and it is all too easy to just dump in a few words expressing an opinion which doesn't stand any scrutiny.

As to the role of this forum, we have various laws in this country which clearly say what you can and cannot do on our roads. It is wrong and potentially dangerous to use this forum to urge or even condone the breaking of those laws. In some cases that, in itself, can be illegal -- and you should NOT assume this forum is unmonitored

However, it is absolutely correct to use the forum to discuss the merits or failings of the laws. That is what democracy is all about. Simply to urge people to break laws is anarchy -- simple to do but very dangerous. IMHO, the sign of a lazy mind.

Likewise, people not bothering to participate in, let alone even play a part in organising, track days -- be they sprints, drags or whatever -- is equally lazy. There is no need to risk either your life or that of innocent bystanders in seeing what your car can do.

In the seven months I have been on this forum, I reckon I could have attended one such session a month. As it happened, I did go to the Wakefield Park session, which was great fun. It has even made me think about maybe getting a car just for those sessions....

So, don't say there is no opportunity to do your stuff. And if those that do exist are inconvenient, well, get off your **** and organise something that is

As to fast cruising on our roads, I absolutely agree with the work that Wheels is doing , in highlighting the now clear disconnect between speed and accident rates. It is clear some of the speed laws, especially on our motorways, are designed primarily to raise revenue. Even the police who enforce them secretly admit they don't like their new role as tax collector.

Wheels has put together a good lobbying campaign on this, and they need to be supported.

That's my bit! I'll shut up and wait for the flames :p

Timbo

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

No flames from me Timbo. But is that a surprise.

Willowbank Drags - Ever 2nd Wednedsay night, and every 2nd Saturday night, on average.

Qld raceway sprints - Once a month for "Level 1" sprints, and once a month for "Level 2" sprints.

Good oppotunities.

Gomez

Yes, you are .....Officer Dibbles would charge you with either dangerous or reckless driving.....and regardless of whether you lost traction or not, its his call, and I'm tippin' there would be very few coppers who would look the other way if they pinned you for 100 coming out of a posted 40kmh corner (and I know advisory is just that, advisory)...

Gomez.

snoo

I haven't posted for a while (too busy enjoying my RX-8) but this is a topic I'm very passionate about.

The facination some people have with street racing is really disturbing. Is the RX-8 a fast car? Sure. Does it handle incredibly well? You bet. Do idiots line up against us at the traffic lights all the time? Sadly, yes. Do we deserve the right to endanger other peoples' lives by driving beyond the limits of the law? Absolutely not.

As previous posts show, there are plenty of avenues open (no, not those sorts of avenues) for people with a competitive nature, wanting to see how their car performs in a racing environment. I haven't tried this yet, but a day at Wakefield probably isn't far away for me.

What to do if you have 'the need for speed'? For Sydneysiders, I highly recommend the following:

Drive up to Wiseman's Ferry and then back along the old Pacific Highway. Take a cruise up the highway and then back along Putty Road. Drive down to Wollongong via Audley Weir. (Wier?). Go to Jenolan Caves.

Plenty of fun to be had, and all of it within legal speeds. My favourite sign is the 'advisory' speed recommending 35km/h and 5kms of curves ahead - bliss.

That said, curious to hear if anyone's been booked for travelling at a legal speed but seen as 'dangerous' by the boys in blue.

Remember, it isn't speed that kills - it's the stopping very quickly part...

Cheers,

snoo

BVD

I agree with Gomez.

I believe that there is a big difference between quick but responsible driving and fast and irresponsible, and Gomez was clearly referring to the latter.

On the subject of speed, I’d certainly agree that government obsession with using speed restrictions as their main road safety measure smacks of laziness and cost cutting and fails to address a lot of other important issues. But let’s be honest, there is also no doubt that speed IS at least ONE of a swag of factors involved. The faster the impact speed the worse the damage – that is an unarguable fact.

Governments have the unenviable task of trying to balance the needs and skills of a wide variety of different road users (and community members who live near those roads) and trying to find some sort of roughly workable compromise. Unfortunately the place where they draw the line will never suit everybody. It certainly won't suit owners of cars like ours. But maybe we also need some better quality roads and better driver education before we’ll get the allowable speeds to match? I don’t think I’d like to put Autobahn drivers and speeds on the average Aussie road up against the average Aussie driver….

Maybe we also need easy access to more venues where drivers can have a bit of a thrash? Some midway ground between regular public roads and the full track competition thing.

BVD

And on the theme of ‘does speed kill?’ - some "fast dead friend" stories:

I’ve been a licenced driver for 40 years now, and have driven something like a million kilometers in Europe, Australia and the US (some well, some badly). Over that time (at a quick rough count) about a dozen of my friends and relatives have died in road accidents. About 50/50 between cars and motorbikes.

If I look down the list at what caused their accidents I would say that roughly half would have been avoided, or the deaths reduced to injuries, if a driver hadn’t been speeding. One particularly sad example involved a guy who I was at college with who was one of the more ‘spirited’ and enthusiastic car thrashers among a bunch of similar guys (we were all motor engineering students after all…). One day he overdid it – not that badly really but enough to smack heavily into a bank. It could have been just a case of a learning experience, a fright, and a bill for some panel beating, but it killed our classmate who was a passenger. It wouldn’t have happened if he’d been travelling at the recommended speed. He wasn’t that bad a driver he just made one mistake of the type any of us can make and that, combined with too much speed, killed Paul.

Another accident involved a friend on a bike, carrying a young girl who lived in a shared house that I also lived in. He was a good rider who was enjoying a ride along a nice curvy country back road not far from here. He could have easily taken the bend at the speed he was doing, despite being well over the limit, and in fact we all regularly did on our bikes (mine was a Norton Commando 850 which handled very well - a fact that once saved my life when a Bloody Volvo Driver pulled out in front of us from a side road. Coincidentally I had the same girl on the back at the time).


But on that day he apparently struck something unexpected (I think it was something like a patch of loose sand or gravel drifted onto the road, or maybe gumnuts. Anyway, something that would have needed a sudden change of line, loss of grip or whatever). If it had been just them and the corner they could have taken it fine at that speed. Or even if the hazard was still there they could have made it OK, provided they were doing the speed limit. As it was they both died. What a waste.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, all the accidents that involved speeding also involved fairly young people with great enthusiasm for living life. Luckily for me on the occasions that I was doing foolish things (such as losing control and spinning a car on a public road) I managed to miss the other traffic. And as I got older I also became more aware of all the others who might share the same bit of road – such as kids on bikes, old people (in and out of cars) horse riders, tractors, dogs and cats, wild animals etc, etc. Last week I came round a corner on a local back road and there was a guy trundling down the road on his ride on lawnmower! I know that my grille can stop bugs – not sure about ride on mowers though… And of course there are always those unexpected hazards and road surface problems like my friends struck.

So, much as I would like all the other road users to bugger off and leave me to enjoy driving the way I’d like to – at the speeds that both my car and I can handle - I have come to accept that some kind of restrictive compromise is inevitable and essential if so many different needs are to be catered for on the same road. Certainly I do sometimes interpret the limits in a somewhat elastic manner. For instance I took part in a most enjoyable navigation rally on Saturday and may just have strayed a tad over the limit once or twice…. But I pick my spots and times with more care now, and mostly curb my impatience and am content with being a lot more selective about the appropriate time and place to enjoy the various aspects of this fine car .

So guys, please do drive carefully and with some thought for the others who may totter into your path. As the old saying goes “You may be right, but you may be dead right…”

Gomez

Thank you BVD, never were 1000 words more wisely spoken...