meth

so i get off the 405 on wilshire, and i am going home. the whole way this little VW is tryin to pick on me and i let him cuz i know there is lots of cops out in this area. he got ahead of me and ran with a dodge pickup then at a later stoplight an A4.

so anyway, a couple miles down the road as i approach home i realize that i will be paired with him at a stoplight with a stretch of a 1/4 mile that could not be inhabited by cops cuz one side of the street has no outlet, then the other side is in clear vision. so i pull up next to him, the stoplight is staggered to his favor so i am basically giving him 1/2 a car length.

the light goes green, we both bone out and we are neck and neck for the first 2.5 gears, then somewhere around 3rd i start to pull ahead, then when i got to 4th i put about 2.5 carlengths on him. i checked my speed right before i let up and i hit 97. all in all i shifted pretty good on this little run.
i am by no means a good driver, but i was shocked at its ability to stay with me, i thought i would have been that car much earlier. i didn't launch the car, he sounded like he did, i heard him screech at the start. but damn, am i that bad a driver or was that a capable car?

my 1-2 shift is kind of weak, my 2-3 is average at best, my 3-4 is pretty damn good though. how do i improve my 1-2 shift. sometimes when i shift, the car loses grip and the rear veers off to one side, what am i doing wrong? i think i'm just too slow on the 1-2.

sorry it wasn't a me vs. ferrari thread, and i apologize for any ignorance in this post, but it was my first run as i don't drive like that very often. i just saw an opportunity where there was little chance for harm and i took it. like i say i don't drive like this often if at all, but damn, that was fun!

kinetica

First off you probably didnt launch your car properly. I like the clutch dump at 6500. But also, I used to own a 1.8T GTI and with a chip/intake/exhaust/DP/short shifter/suspension/HF cat etc (very modified) I was able to run consistent 13.6-13.8s. So there are some GTIs out there that can beat a stock or lightly modded S (I always beat the S).

Veritas

Well if he launched and you didn't, he was probably chipped to just stay with you the way he did.

Malakas

I used to own a GTI as well (exhaust, chip, intake, DP) - that thing could motor. It wasn't as impressive from a dig, as it was from even a slight roll. The torque was awesome. I LOVED that car. But not as much as my new S.

cravnpup

Yep, GTI's can be made pretty quick... With a chip and turboback exhaust were're looking at 205-210whp/240-270wtq, which is pretty darn close to S2000's but with almost twice the torque.. The thing that kills us is fwd. You think it's tough to launch your S2k's? Ever try launching a turbo fwd car with 240wtq??

s2krazy01

my very first encounter was with a GTI as well. the kid pulled half a car by 4th and said he had chip/exhaust. i think if i raced him again i would pull (without the passenger, window down, and better shifting). oh well, at least it was a cool kid.

btw, how much does a down window affect speed do ya think? my friend says it's like a parachute, but i don't know if it's that bad. but prolly worse than top down?

HFS S2K

Mark,
Damn thats the first run you've ever had since owning the S! So that is how people keep away from speeding tickets and such Seems like your shifting skills need a little brushing up on. When I first got my car I would pratice on alot of long on ramps around San Diego and got really good at the blinking red part on the gauge cluster I guess thats the only way to get better at shifting is to pratice but be safe for sure! Even though you didnt know how to shift very well you still go him bro! Nice race Mark!

Kind regards,
Joe