[IdahoDoug]

Thanks. Over the last couple days I've thought about how rare that chance encounter was. Were I not alone, I would not have done it. No passenger I know would have been remotely comfortable in the rain diving into sometimes 10 corners a minute within a click or two of sliding. Things were sliding around immediately, and as we got started I grabbed all the stuff that moved and tossed it into a drift in the passenger footwell. Fire extinguisher, cell phone and charger, umbrella, coat, hat, etc. And for him the same - he happened to be alone as well in a competent and powerful older car and otherwise might have come up on me hard for fun but not hung it out like that.

A few days before this happened, I finally found time to finish up a couple things. A slight dead spot on center as it transitioned from left to right turned out to be the left tie rod which I replaced Wednesday. So, the steering feel is now truly remarkable and I'm sure the coming alignment will make that even more precise.

Yeah, that was amazing. For those that appreciate such things, I hardly touched the brakes, using the engine as you would in competition to control speed into corners when possible and having it in the power band. So when I came out of curves at full throttle there would sometimes be the slightest rear jiggle of a driven tire patch losing grip. He must have been holding gears in his automatic (I think those are all autos) and doing the same thing because I did not see a single lurch from a switch to brakes and back to throttle which you'll easily see at such close quarters. Hope I find a note on the car sometime this summer....