morning 911 drive muse

[zotman72]

Today as I slipped into my morning commute in the SC around the SE beltway of Denver (C-470), I found me thinking the airwar over Europe during WWII (again!). Geez, big a** SUVs everywhere (B-24 & B-17s, Lancasters), wide inattentive minivan drivers (B-25s, C-47s, etc.), rice rockets and the Amerkin' musclecars as Allied light escort fighters ( P-51, P-38s, P-39s Spitfires, etc.) muscle bound SUVs and Trucks are fighter bombers(P-47s, A-26s, Beauforts etc.) and the rest of the cars are just background noise. Honestly I am not driving crazy, it is just weird war out here on the roads of Denver driving an old Porsche in an safe but enthused manner. You have to literally be aware (360 every five seconds) as you never know when a nimrod Durango (Hawker Typhoon!) wants to know what radio station you are listening to and rides up your six....

Anybody else see the similarities or am I nuts?

Oh and my SC is a FW190 and the '72T a Me109e
Got to pay the rent and debrief the morning mission.....

[degreeoff1]

I like,

Personally I am thinking a James Bond nail gun arrangement out the rear bumber would do the trick, small compressor, finish stapler, lil hose, remote trunk release.....walah! no more gator's.....

Now I am kidding as the other drivers NEXT to that B-17 might not like the sudden change in direction?? however it is fun to think about it.

My 2 cents
Josh

[Paulporsche]

It's everywhere, Bill. And they're all on the radio back to HQ (translation: cell phone)!

[DaveE]

I drive a section of road every morning that's like a mini-Mulsanne (pre-chicanes), with a right-handed kink about 2/3 of the way down the straight and a sharp right at the end. It's easy to imagine my SC is a 917 for a minute or so.

[75Carrera]

Bill,

Don't think for a fifth-gear speed shift your traffic observations are unusual or even indigenious to big cities. I live in (what used to be) a small mountain community of Prescott in northern Arizona. Zipping through town and out into the forest was a pure delight. The operative word being "was"... Today baby boomers, real estate refugees from California and out of control growth have turned local driving into a much more defensive and irritating activity. Commuting in your 911 is an accepted risk anymore I suppose. Thank goodness we still have the open road between our crowded communities to feel the pull of the gears without all the craziness...

[Jamie79SC]

I thought the Land Rover was the Typhoon. The Durango is a P38...

[nostatic]

Does that mean my motorcycle is an Me 163?

Actually, since its British I suppose it is more like a Mosquito...

[Jamie79SC]

- I like to think of my SC as a Me262...


wishful thinking that is...

[zotman72]

Kewl! I am not alone, thanks guys. No way a SC can be ME-262, we just do not have hp, but we do have our torque. ME-262 would have be forced induction Pcars. Anybody else care to comment?

[ValveFloat]

Funny, I was just thinking something similar on my way back from lunch, not WWII, but more like... Fish in the sea maybe. I feel like a lone gold fish swimming among whales and sharks.
I was actually thinking about posting something here while I sat at a light looking around at the undercarriages of all the vehicles around me, "Does anyone else feel vulnerable amongst all these behemoths in their 911s?"

[Bill Verburg]

Good one, it is like a combat zone, I like to get up early and be there before the traffic starts(Dawn Patrol?). And leave early to be home for the same reason.

[masraum]

Originally posted by ValveFloat
Funny, I was just thinking something similar on my way back from lunch, not WWII, but more like... Fish in the sea maybe. I feel like a lone gold fish swimming among whales and sharks.
I was actually thinking about posting something here while I sat at a light looking around at the undercarriages of all the vehicles around me, "Does anyone else feel vulnerable amongst all these behemoths in their 911s?"

I never really felt vulnerable because I always felt like I could stop, steer, or squirt out of the way if needed. Active safety baby!

I always felt more like a pirana, small and underestimated. Just keep your distance because you never know when I might be hungry.

[Bill Verburg]

I never really felt vulnerable because I always felt like I could stop, steer, or squirt out of the way if needed. Active safety baby!

Thats illusory, what happpens when the bimbo that waited till the last sec to merge right(the phone implanted in her ear doesn't help driver awareness) does so anyway even though the available space is 1/4 of the length of her car.

Happened to a very aware frind last week, result? 5 car accident , 1 on it's roof, 2 spun 180&deg, and 5 lanes of southbound rush hour traffic stopped dead, 4 lanes of northbound slowed to a crawl by rubberneckers.

It can happen to any of us at any time

[boomvang]

You want to feel vulnerable, try driving an unmodified Miata around Long Island. The cellphone-jabbering Behemoth- driving bozos do not see you, and the little 1.6 litre just does not have the stones to accelerate away from danger. The 3.2 in my P-car is a rocket by comparison, and so I feel quite a bit safer driving now. Still have to stay on your toes, the clowns still don't see or care about anything other than their own self importance. Just yesterday I saw a woman reading a map and yakking on her cell phone while cruising at 70.

[masraum]

Yep, at least my miata is a 1.8L, I think I've got you by 17hp.

Here in Houston we have lots of intersections with multiple turn lanes. Most people want to be in the inside of the turn, so since the outside turn lane is usually empty I hang out in that one. Many, many times I've had people turn from the inside lane, but drift to the outside lane without seeing me. I'm very aware of that and drive accordingly.

Yep, Bill, anything can happen at any time. Any control is illusory. You could be going 45 in the middle of no where with no other cars around, have an equipment failure and die.

[Bill Verburg]

coupla years ago I was going to a regatta, early morning, 3 lane Interstate, one other car besides me, he was about 100 yards ahead, we're doing ~80, for no discernible reason his car slewed 180&deg hit a bridge abutment backward as I was going by.

last summer a trailer full of horses on their way to Saratoga jackknifed not too far ahead of me, dead, dying and scared ****ls horses everywhere.

I could go on and on.

[75Carrera]

Seems I've heard all this before somewhere...

"Drive fast , take chances but don't scratch the car."

"You knew I was a Porsche when you took me in..."

Even the nicest people on the planet get behind the wheel and quickly observe how everyone else on the road is a #*@#ing idiot!

[randywebb]

Active safety IS important (and includes the car's capabilities, your attention and skill), but passive safety is really critical.

That includes a strong 'cage', good seatbelts and airbags.

Maybe there should be a new category for ALB, and attitude control, etc.

Some kind of transmitter that plasted out an override siignal to all cell phone users w/in a 1/4 mile radius would be helpful -- something along the lines of "hey stoopid, shut up and pay attention."

[ValveFloat]

Some kind of transmitter that plasted out an override siignal to all cell phone users w/in a 1/4 mile radius would be helpful -- something along the lines of "hey stoopid, shut up and pay attention."

That would be fantastic!

[Early_S_Man]

There are short-range cellular [surrupticious] jammers available, and used worldwide by corporate and govt. entities ... though their use is quite illegal in the USA! Pretty pricey, but a great idea to abbrogate all the illegal cel phone use in spite of the growing legal prohibitions to do so while driving!

Of couse, a cold-war surplus Genie 1.5 kt A-to-A missile would make a nice EMP ...