Nissan GT-R as Arbiter

"torques" -- watch too much Top Gear lately?

I don't know why but that word just sounds retarded.

If you insist, at least say 588 to be consistent. Newton-meters.

@wk-

Exactly.

I can't stand the use of Nm, those numbers mean nothing to me. I'm really good at unit conversions but Nm to ft.-lbs. is one of those ones I can never remember or do in my head.

As for the car, I can jump around traffic pretty well in my 173 ft.-lbs. from 1950 RPM GTI, no downshifting necessary.

Ha ha ha wk, that is what I thought too.

At any rate, I'm feeling the same way cruising around a college town with my big V8. Grandma doing 29 in a 30 doesn't bug me now, but man, she bugged me when I had my minivan!

Odd. While it's not a GTR, I have completely the opposite reaction in my e92 M3. I used to get moderately irritated with slow drivers in my odl car, now they infuriate me. Maybe it's just the curse of driving a BMW that compels me to drive like a douchebag.

yup, when you have power, nothing can block you......except a highway patrol cruiser.

"As for the car, I can jump around traffic pretty well in my 173 ft.-lbs. from 1950 RPM GTI, no downshifting necessary."

You must not be living in Southern California, where most car's is packing 300 lb-ft, and most drivers use all of it any chance they got to try to block you. Your 173 lb-ft GTI would be blocked by all the minivans and SUVs with huge V6 and V8 here.

I dont understand why people do that. My brother likes to be a pusher and nearly ride their bumper. I prefer to just pass them on the inside and give them a dirty look, but most of the time im the one thats given a dirty look! What Grandma, your the one doing 49 in a 55 and everyone else is doing at least 65! WTF!

My rage has moderated as I've aged. First I close and then back off a bit, hoping that's enough to make them realize there's someone behind them who wants to go faster. ~25% of the time that seems to be enough.

Next I'll close and stay there, the "push out of the way" method. This hits maybe another 25%. As an option, maybe the brights will be flicked a bit (super effective in Europe, and kind of cool--even if I'm on the receiving end.) The brights aren't as effective in the US I've found, it seems to keep people planted in the right lane, perhaps confusing them.

Finally, I'll pass on the right.

If you're doing the math, most people driving slow in the left-most lane are clueless idiots who should be in the far-right lane.

Left lane speed regulators are the one group of people I feel torture is justified for. Allow me to quote Clarkson:

"I reserve my special level of hatred, my mental Defcon 4, for people who drive up the A44 at 40 mph. I don't think we should be allowed to kill people who drive too slowly. It is never right to take a life. But I do think we should be allowed to torture them a bit. Saw their legs off maybe, or shove a powerful air hose up their jacksies. Forty may have been all right in 1870, but it's simply unacceptable now. If all the world did 40, it wouldn't work anymore."

This past weekend I drove from LA to Tucson. On the way out, it was driving paradise. Everyone drove in the right lane, stepped over the left to pass, did so quickly, then got right back over. It was as if the second coming of the Christ happened, and He took away all the bad drivers and left the competent ones to enjoy the desert on their own. Glorious. Coming back, on the other hand, you had dullards driving line abreast across all lanes of traffic at 55 mph. In the middle of the desert! And not even in the area with the (blatantly well announced and forewarned) speed cameras. And it never ceases to amaze me when I'm driving on a multi-lane freeway that someone in some crap-tastic clunker spewing smoke will enter the freeway, immediately swing across all lanes of traffic, and plant themselves in the left lane going 50 or so. WHYYYYYYYY? We really need to change who we license. Sure having the power to pass is all well and good, but these jerks travel in packs and they spread line-abreast across the road, or you get stuck behind on a two-lane with no passing allowed or safely available.

And flashing lights or pulling up closer simply doesn't work. If it isn't out 20 feet in front of the windshield, on their cell-phone, or written on their Starbucks cup these Darwin-debunkers are not going to see it.

I have no sympathy for left lane dwellers. The way to deal with them is to pass them on the right and start moving into their lane when your car has barely passed theirs, all the while keeping a watch to make sure you don't clip them. The objective is just to make their blood pressure level goes higher.

Mere 3200?? Who doddles around in that rev range? Or is that where the turbo's kick in?

"430 torques" Have you been listening to too much Clarkson?

In Colorado they fine people who are driving less than the speed limit in the left lane if there are 5 or more cars piled up behind them. Brand new law

I realised that once I had a fast car, I lost the interest or mental need to drive fast unless absolutely necessary (e.g. to overtake). It also coincided with when I got my full licence in Aus (as opposed to Provisional). Maybe it's all in the "I don't need to prove anything" mindset?

That's cool.
I want to start saying I got 485 powers, 434 torques, and 193 speeds. I also got 109.4 wheelbases.
Damn, language is so much easier now.

That'll show those physics geeks. haha.

Looking at that butt ugly GTR should be punishment enough.