You know you are a racer when....
 

Following the Foxworthy idea: you know you are a racer when you try to push the microwave cancel button just in time that 1 second doesn't show on the clock but the 4 beeps don't start, just the one cancel beep.

Trite, I know, but I estimate that time to be in a drag racer's light reaction time of .020 second. I get it about once in 4.

You've got too much time on your hands.

... when you look at a turn to find the correct line and apex, no matter how fast you're going.

... when you look for your outs in all situations on the road (or the grocery store aisle).

OK, I admit to that one, even in stop-and-go traffic. SmileWavy

Man, I do that EVERY morning with my coffee.

When you are driving on the On-Ramp, and watching the car in front of you say out loud to no one in particular, "Man, that Voyager really blew the apex."

...when you are driving a shopping cart.

When you congratulate yourself on hitting the perfect apex in your daily car.


To self:
Man, Iwish my car buddies could have seen THAT one!


Self: You rock, man!!






I do the thing with the microwave oven, too.

I compare every turn on the roads to the turns on the four tracks I drive.

"That was just like turns 14 and 15 at Thunderhill..."


KT

Dang. Guilty.

People in the back seat get nervous or scared when I take some of the corners.
My wife says to them: "Don't worry, he's a driving instructor".


KT

+1

And I thought I was the only one...I try to hit cancel before the first beep :)

Guilty, It drives my friends bonkers.

do it with the microwave and toaster oven - to make it harder i do other things at the same time so i am not there watching the clock at the ready.

take thing out and put things into the fridge - i rarely miss my goal

Totally guilty.

I've been known to use those "your speed is" signs as trap speeds too.

When stuck behind a slow car on a curvy road, you start looking for the arm to come out the window, signalling a pass. That's if you're a club racer, not wheel to wheel.

And yes, I try to hit every apex even in my 85-HP Westfalia.

[QUOTE=procon;3898188]when you downshift & stand on it while while driving through a tunnel, just to make noise. QUOTE]

I'm not a racer (yet ;)).... but that is EXACTLY what I do when I drive the spyder thru a tunnel! It sounds INCREDIBLE!!!! Wish the tunnels around here were longer.

angela

..when you devote a good hour trying to make your sons matchbox toy car go threw a set of tunnels made of LEGO on the living room floor. Son given up on me long ago and gone to play out side.

Correct Corner apex every day - gulity (and drives my wife crazy - so added points)
Microwave count down - guilty
I even have my son (8) asking how much cars he likes weighs. He told one of my neighbors that his brand new jaguar XK would probably be too heavy for the track. :) I was so proud.

I do this too; it's a sickness. ;)

- Apex thing - yeah, with my daily driver, shopping cart, and Snapper lawn mower. (You should see the strange mowing patterns on my yard!!)

- When driving with the wifey in my daily driver, when approaching any off or on-ramp, she instictively states, "No late apex, Z - no late apex!!"

- How many of you go to the grocery store, and when turning your shopping cart into the isles use the proper 11-18 degrees of slip angle? ;)

-Z-man.

...you stir your coffee with an H pattern shift.

A few I found on another site:

You are happiest when your street car's tires are worn to racing depth and the wear bars are showing.

When you hear 'overcooked it', instead of food you think 'off the track'.


When something falls off of your car, you wonder how much weight you just saved.

You sometimes hear little noises from your passengers when you get on the throttle right after turning in.

You thoroughly enjoy showing the tailgater behind how to drive around a highway off-ramp.

You have enough spare parts to build another car

You have car parts in your cubicle at work

You think the last line of the Star Spangled Banner is: "Racers, start your engines!"

You astound the clerk at Sears by bringing in a snapped breaker bar every other week or so

You complain when cars in front of you on highway off-ramps don't stay on the line, causing your exit speed to drop.

You refer to the corner down the street from your house as "Turn One."

You look at the fire hydrant at that corner and see an apex marker.

You always do a toe & heel downshift while whoever might be your passenger gives you a real funny look.

The local police and state Highway Patrol have a picture of your car taped to their dashboard

You would choose a rollbar over air conditioning if it were an option

You know the "racing line" of every turn in your daily commute, including your alternate routes, and practice hitting them every day.

You take your helmet along when you go to buy new eyeglasses or check out cars

Your faster on mtn roads with your tow vehicle than others in BMW's

you've checked meat that your grilling with a tire probe

you argue with people that racers are athletes !

you know that the gas pedal WILL get you out of problems more than the brake pedal

You get into a situation in your street car and you go to threshold braking...and start modulating the brakes (forgetting that the ABS is there)

you go to work Monday morning to relax

when thinking of what car to get your teenage kids you wonder how it will be as a track car and if they will mind

I assess every car on the road (sports cars, ricers, lux cruisers, delivery vans, pickup trucks) on a power to weight ratio, then account for wheels, tires, and stance, and if they are serious setups or just for style.

Then I realize that most people buy cars to get from point A to point B and wonder, "What's the point of buying a car you can't take to the track?"

So, why'd ya buy the Jeep then? ;)

I have been racing the microwave counter for years.

You use it to trailer the one you do take to the track, that is the only point I know of...
does that make them more or less nervous?

I do the apex thing every day driving to work, car guys ALWAYS notice this and tend to comment, "nice line" or "you turned in early"

Good point. But it has big tires for offroading... so it's still a fun time vehicle.

Har! I do that all the time.

You know you are a racer when everything posted here seems perfectly normal.

How many of you catch your passenger trying to help brake.

I told one person "I had the brake pedal removed form that side, it kept slowing me down". :rolleyes:

None of your co-workers will ride with you to a meeting across town. and they won't let you drive thier cars either.:confused:

Heh heh. On the morning drive to work today, I was just thinking of these two:

When you start looking for braking markers and turn in points on frequently traveled roads/corners.

When you heel-toe (or at least double clutch) for corners, in your synchromesh-gearboxed street car.

And finally: When you consider tailgating to just be "pushing the other guy into a mistake" on the road.

when after a hard nites drinking and the bed starts to spin you..... "BOTH FEET IN!!!!"

I do the "perfect line" thing everyday. I also do the "tunnel" thing too. I have a nice set of overpasses next to each other that really echos the sound well.

:cool: that's training!

I do, but sometimes, since laps in the grocery store are not timed, REALLY hang the tail out just for fun.

You know you are a racer when....
 

You wake up with a stiffy and tell the wife its just stuck in 4th. ;)

Meh -- you're just a drifter wannabe... :eek:

-Z

when people who know you and your car come up to you and say they think they came across you in traffic, but weren't sure it was you cause it just all happened to fast.

As I cooked my lunch today, I thought about this thread from waaaay back in 2008. I think about it most every time I use the microwave.

Funny. PPOT is part of my paradigm. And I am sure there are more...