I was on the highway today, and to the right of me there was a Pontiac G6. There was a car ahead of him going about 60ish (a vette, but that's beside the point) and both of us were going about 70. From the way he was driving, I could tell he was going to try to get in the gap and cut in front of me, but my ego got the best of me and I hit third gear. Nonetheless, he pulled ahead even as I was hitting 8000. Traffic up ahead was clogged, so I couldn't have my way...I'm sure the G6 doesn't match up in performance and I would of eventually pulled ahead (slowly) if I had more room. I guess the lack of torque killed me.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer the 8 to any car in its price range, but I'd like to improve on this weakness asap. Not a street racing thread, but just a 'Dammit Mazda, wheres the FI?' thread. Or at least, come on PTP and Scott.

 

Popped it into 3rd goin 70? The 8 is be no means a torque monster but up in that RPM range you should have hit 90 in no time. Oh well, like you said, you werent racing the guy. (At least I hope not!)

 

I did get up that high in no time, but so did he.

Perhaps I shifted a tad too late...while I was building my acceleration he was already on the move.

 

Well, I fixed that prob w/ the turbo kit. But, if it makes u feel any better, a turd in a g35 wanted to race me from a stoplight today. He peeled out and floored it like a jackass so I let him have his fun. He was 2 or 3 car lenghts ahead of me and another light ahead had just changed to yellow. I said, the hell with it, dropped it in second (at about 35 or so), caught up to his punk *** in no time and while I passed him, with ease I might add, shifted just so he could here the good ol BOV. I believe he proceeded to crap his pants at the time . I wouldn't count on Mazda for FI for at least another 2 yrs or so, if it ever even happens.

 

I would venture to say it was that, musta been the one with the 3.9L V6. If you react after people start accelerating it'll seem like you aren't moving much at all. I hate it when that happens.

 

i dont think lack of torque killed you, engines with bigger displacement usually have a big advantage at the top end. he probably has a 3.5L V6. I doubt if it was a 3.9 V6 240hp GTP because it would have been a lot worse. actually it could very well be the GTP.. who knows.

just look at it this way, theres always someone faster... why feel bad over this? you can have a 500whp evo and still get smoked from time to time.

 

hey the only thing that matters right now is that your eight is okay.

i was reading your post waiting for the G6 to smash into your car while you slam into the vette ahead of you rolling your vehicle over several times while you sustained neck back and leg injuries.

just be happy youre still alive!

 

^^^ thats what i thought, i was thinking ohh no, he got in an accident.

 

I felt kinda bad today too. I was at my favorite entrance ramp. Nice and long with two pretty decent curves. One of the only times in my daily driving where I can truly enjoy the 8s handling. The light turned green, and I wasnt trying to compete with anyone, just wanted to have a nice spirited drive. Anywho, I notice that there is a bone stock Nissan Sentra glued to my *** the entire way. I was by no means driving as hard as I could, but that still surprised the hell outta me.

This incident of course had nothing to do with the car, just the driver. Although I think a driving school would help me push the limits a little more, I really don't think pushing the limits on public roads is a good idea anway.

Moral of the story, you are on a public road. Sure you can outperform plenty of cars on the road but a road with innocent commuters isnt the place to do it.

 

Haha, yea when he said "My ego got the best of me", I was waiting for the dire consequences as well. Luckily there was no accident!

 

right right...

Farva, great to know the greddy kit gets the job done.

Anyway...hopefully I can get some sleep tonight. The team got pwned, too.

 

I consider getting cut off by a Pontiac Sedan to be quite a dire misfortune

Yea, I'm just waiting for the worst to come.

 

I hear ya man. Two days ago I was at a stop light and a ford thunderbird with the top down was behind me. The light turned green, I drove as normal, and I noticed he was comming up on my right to pass me (which is very illegal in NJ) so I punched it and apparently so did he. I was still ahead all through second and third gear but as soon as I shifted into fourth the old man pulled ahead and I let off. Had no idea that Tbird could move like that. Guess 280 HP counts for something.
*Disclaimer* It was by no means a street race. Just one of those situations where another driver trys to pass you illegally, so you get annoyed and try to speed up a bit. I should add that traffic on the street was all one way, as well as no sidewalks or pedestrians allowed...kind of like a highway with lights. There were also no cars in front.

 

Positive note: You didnt have a girl in your car!! Kinda like getting your *** kicked with nobody watchin, not all bad, just dont tell anyone!!

 

big mike do you know if the sentra was a SE-R spec V? because those actually handles really well, one of the best autox cars out there weighing in more than 300lb less than the rx8 fitted with sticky performance tires and brakes. otherwise you probably wasnt pushing it that hard because regular sentra shouldnt even stand a chance at keeping up imo.

 

I've done the same things before. I'm guilty of 'playing around' with Mustang GTs (that one was surprising) and S2000s and either pulling ahead or at least holding my own. This is a first timer.

 

It was a new looking Sentra, and I was pushing it like I usually do on that entrance ramp, and I hardly ever have cars keeping up with me like that, so its possible it was the SE-R spec V, but I'm not sure, never got the best look at it.

 

I had a funny experience the other night while merging from a stop light with in my Mustang GT. It was a two-lanes-into-one deal and I wasn't really pushing from the stop very hard. I let the car on the left go ahead because I was tired, it was late, and I didn't need to prove my manhood. That guy DID, and stormed through the intersection like he had John Force sitting next to him! HOWEVER, the guy (I'm guessing) behind me in the DID feel like making a point. The first car continued it's foot-to-the floor progress, and I'd already merged into the one remaining lane when this idiot behind me decides he'll just attempt to pass me AFTER the lanes have joined into one WIDE sweeping curving lane. by this time, I'm at the middle of 2nd gear and as he rides my ***, I simply hammered the throttle down. Perhaps most cars WOULD expect to take a Mustang in a sweeper, as they're not rumored to take corners well. Wider tires, killer suspension, and enough torque to ripple the asphalt pretty much sealed the deal. When I slowed into the next right-hand turn lane, I had to WAIT for the RX-8 to come zipping by. In the dark, I had not ID'd the car by its Xenon headlamps, so I was surprised to find that I HAD outrun an RX-8 by a substantial portion. Normally I would not have behaved that way but 1, I had the right to my lane and 2, he shouldn't have been trying to pass in that location. Unfortunately, in my body-kitted car, there are few folks with other sports car who can resist the appeal of "blowing away a slow Mustang".

My later thought was that the guy in the RX-8, who WAS accelerating hard was either in the wrong gear (hard to imagine from a standing stop, unlike, say, freeway downshift passing), or that my car is truly quite quick, when I'm not drifting the rear tires through a corner. Like in a 350Z, the car's weight, and noisy engine (when up to speed) make it SEEM like it's slower than a lighter and quicker-revving machine.

You CAN make a Mustang handle, but at the end of the day, it still won't match the FEEL of a stock RX-8. Don't get me started on my crappy interior, lackluster styling, and truly primative solid rear axle... I did do 22.8-23.8 MPG during long freeway runs up and down I-5 this weekend to Sacramento and back to LA.
Eric

 

^ ^ Maybe it was an Auto Rx-8...

 

well i guess i'll contribute. i was coming home from work eariler this week and decided to take the back way home that contains one of my favorite stretches of road. there was a ford probe gt in the lane next to me (modded with a noisy exhaust and a turbo i believe and the batman symbol in the back window). we get to a stop light and i just slowly shifted to first when he guns his engine to pass me and go around the corner leading to the turn where the twisty road is. at this point i was like "well i'm not going to be outdone by this punk." so as soon as he makes the turn into the fun stretch it was on. usually when i go down this road, there's always someone going slow in front so i can never go all out, but this time there's not a car in sight. both of us hit about 70 through the first stretch with him leading and me close behind. then the blind corner comes and i hear his tires screeching as he takes the corner too fast and oncoming traffic gets a bit too close to him. but it doesn't stop there. one more corner and there's no more cars again so he punches it again and not to be outdone i go full on after him. i close in on the lead i gave him when i let up. i let it continue for a few more corners, then think to myself "wait, i'm either going to wreck, get a ticket, get arrested, or all of the above" so i turn off and let the probe continue. it was fun, and he was unable to shake me, but really, really stupid at the same time.

 

If I didn't know better I think you guys are posting kill stories.

 

one time in band camp.......................................

 

I just read this whole thread and in both cases (the G6 and the T-bird) it appeared they were on the throttle first. The 8 is no rocket, so if you let another guy in a reasonably powerful car get on the throttle first, you better have the space to catch him. I had a rental G6 the other day, it has some guts.

Not that you guys were racing, but racing 101 tells you that he who is last on the throttle at the apex looses. You see it all the time in racing; a faster car following a slower car into a corner, yet the slower car pulls ahead coming out of a corner only because they have the opportunity to get on the gas first. Its simple really.

 

On the highway if it was a GTP G6 it would be pretty close to the RX-8 acceleration wise.

 

Thursday on the way home from work I was waiting at a light to get on I-84 and some kids in a beat up truck with bungee cords holding on the front bumper pulled up behind me barely inches from me, and we are on an incline. Not a particularly steep one but enough of one. Anways, for some reason there are ton of cars around this particular night which is very unusual at around midnight. Several cars were in the lane next to me. I was the first one at the light. It turns green and I gave it a little more gas than I probably need to because I didn't want to roll into some POS truck. Anyways, suprisingly, I took off completely smoothly although very quickly. The next to me was some riced out Civic so he then accelerates and goes flying past me on the ramp. I think he thought I wanted to race or something. It was funny. I took off a little fast but let off the gas a bit right after I took off so I wasn't speeding down the ramp and was at the normal speed at this time. Anyway, the guy goes flying past me onto the freeway and starts flashing his lights and he and his passengers were sticking their fists up in the air out the windows. It was so retarded. A little further down the road he got next to me to try and race me again (wasn't racing him to start with, just trying not to roll back and succeeded). I just kept ignoring him and he goes speeding past me again and a little further up the road I see he is pulled over by two cop cars.