It was very stupid, and I don't condon it, but...

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I've got plenty of ignorant stories that involve me, my car, and usually the mouth of some smartass or ten. I haven't had too much trouble as of late since I haven't been driving my MR2 very much, but I did have some hooligan fun a while back involving my trip to Phoenix, a Lamborghini, and a Z06 Corvette. Serious.

I've got a few things to do right now, so I WILL actually get around to writing something this time.

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Bah... you WOULD have to harass me about this, wouldn't you? Jeez.

Okay, I'll relent. I'll post the story of my high speed, completely idiotic, and rampant disregard for the safety of myself and others... tomorrow. It's late, and I'm tired. On top of that, I need to start packing for my move back to AZ.

I WILL post the story tomorrow.  

Move back to AZ? What about all the young minds for youto reach in Vegas?  

I guess they'll have to suffer. I'm leaving on Friday.

Now, to the story:

So I was on my way to visit friends, family, and a potenital buyer for my MR2 turbo about a month ago in Arizona. I had filled the car up with 100 octane the day before in hopes of wringing it out good and to make my drive a little less boring than usual.

As I was driving over Hoover Dam, I spotted something in my rearview that was getting an awful lot of attention. When the opportunity better presented itself (at the big left on the AZ side just after the dam), I turned to see what it was. Lo and behold, it was a new, black, Lamborghini Miurcielago. I could see the driver and, considering he didn't look much older than myself, figured it was a rental. Behind him was another nice sight: a just as new Z06 'Vette. Traffic was sucky as usual once we climbed out of the area near the dam, but it opened up a bit a little further out. I wasn't pressing the car (running my usual boost setting-18 psi) and was driving politely when the guy in the Lambo made his pass move which, not surprisingly, was followed by the 'Vette.

Neither car got far before being slowed by traffic again. I downshifted and decided to join in the fun and got in right behind them. Before it got too out of hand, I reached over and changed my boost controller's settings to my more aggressive race setup. Boost was immediately altered to 26 psi, and I figured that this would be plenty to keep up with the two jokers in front of me. I also changed the firmness on my TEIN EDFC to a firmer setup. At this point, I decided that there was no going back. This was especially true since I saw the guy in the 'Vette check his mirror twice and finally give me the nod. The chase was on.

The Lambo must have known what was coming because the driver suddenly shot out to pass the slow truck in front of us. I downshifted to third in anticipation of the 'Vette taking off which happened within a blink of an eye. Without any hesitation, I, too, nailed the throttle and listened to the boost explode in my ear. I have a T-67 turbo that's capable of much higher HP numbers than I need on my MR2, and that thing spools fast once you're on the boil. No joke.

I'm right on the 'Vette's bumper the entire time. I watched the driver check three times to see how close I was and saw a rather pleasantly surprised look on his face that I had followed. We finally crested the last hill and left the Lake Mean area in excess of 130 MPH. There wasn't going to be any letting up from any of us, and it was apparent that all of us were insane with adrenaline fever. The 'Vette driver pulled up next to the Lambo at somewhere north of 140 with me on his tail. The highway is two lanes wide on each side and undulates mildly for about three miles. My car felt as though it were glued to the pavement as the speed slowly climbed higher and higher. We went by the Lambo at around 150; not to be left in the dust for long, he was on us. I finally decided that 165 was fast enough and backed down. The 'Vette and the Lambo jockeyed back and forth for a bit while I cruised at 140 mph for the next 10 miles or so.

Finally, we all slowed down. When I got to Kingman, I saw both cars at a Pilot gas station. After the high speed blast, I needed gas and some Gatorade (not to mention a quick restroom break). When I came out, both of the drivers were standing there looking at my car. As soon as I walked up, they both had things to say. The Lambo guy asked me (and I quote), "What the christ do you feed that thing?", followed by "[censored]! That thing is FAST!". The 'Vette driver asked me how I'd managed to stay on his bumper so tight for so long as well as asking to see my motor. I obliged him and the other guy by popping my bonnet and showing off my pride and joy. As I did so, I told the 'Vette driver that I fed it a steady diet of Vipers, Porches,'Vettes, and the occasional Lambo. With that, we all laughed.

Shortly after that, two DPS officers rode up and parked next to us. I thought we were all going to be carted off to jail and our cars destroyed. The feeling of utter fear and deperation in my stomach at that point was overwhelming. They got out, looked at our cars (along with the entire population of Kingman, it seemed), and talked shop for thirty minutes or so. The four of us finally parted ways, but the three idiots drove off in a much more SEDATE manner.


Was this foolish? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Probably not. But, I will say that I had a blast driving my car damn near wide open and being able to say that my little Toyota can hang with some of the fastest cars on the planet.

Believe me or not, this is a true incident. No BS involved.  

160 eh? i got up to ~118 last night. headlights up, its was late. now i need new windshield trim. lol. downhill FTW. we cant all have toyota turbos...yet  

I could have gone faster (it'll do 180, I'm sure), but looking that far ahead to avoid death is stressful enough. No need to add 20 MPH more to the fold.

To be honest, I'm surprised that I'm not dead for all that foolishness. Bah... there's always tomorrow... or my GSX-R! I've got a few race stories from that, too... Am I really that big of an idiot when it comes to driving fast? DON'T ANSWER THAT!

All told, at least I can say that I have actual, proven race driving instruction. That, however, doesn't discount the fact that I was dumb in any way.  

im getting a bad habit of going 100+ every weekend i come home  on the interstate. but only when i think there are no cops around ie 2+ am. i should slow down.  

You know, with your knowledge, and mastery of the english language, you should see about being a part timer for Primedia. Then, there would be worthwhile articles, and you could be a full fledged mod. You still selling the MR2, or did this trip change your mind?  

Im not so sure about the 180 claim. I did a google calculation on the topspeed of my car. Now I have an e153 tranny with some pretty tall rear tires, 245/45/17. Anyways, according to the google calculator, my car was capable of 172mph.
Now I am not sure if the gearing for your tranny is much different from mine, if you have a celica's final drive gear (I think its 3.83 versus our 4.25) I could beleive it, but yea, I got the tallest tires I can stick back there it seems like and according to googles topspeed calculator I can only do 172.  

172-180 is only like 8mph off, and this is an online  calculator it could very well be off by 8mph...and lest's not forget that his mr2 is about twice as powerful as yours...  

The online calculator allows you to accurately measure how tall your gearing is good enough for what mph. I would say its fairly accurate as to how far your gearing can take you up to a certain speed, actual topsepeed of a car is determined by power, drag and gearing as well as several other factors.
WEll, if he raised his redline by 1000+ rpms, I could see it being feasible along with some oversized rims, however stock redline on an e153 tranny with tall tires does not add up to 180mph. Heres how I did the math.
e153 tranny's gearing
1. 3.23
2. 1.91
3. 1.25
4. 0.91
5. 0.73
Final gear is 4.28
http://www.jadesupra.net/gears/index.html  

I redid the math using that calculator, says my gearing is good up to 176 mph with my setup. Seeing as how he has a highly modified 3sgte thats probably had its redline raised, I Had no idea these things could have top speeds potentially in the area of 180mphish.

I would only attempt 180 if I had a trunk mount IC, water injection for my upgraded SMIC,  and was running 100 octane. It could spell disaster for the motor doing a topspeed run using 93 octane and just a plain upgraded Air/Air SMIC.

Kudos to 2gnt, but yea, only under your conditions that you had the racing gas in the tank would I have tried to keep up with those cars, otherwise youd probably be in need of a new motor swap right about now. The MR2 Turbo is probably one of a few cars you can dump 20g's into, and race with exotics like the ones you described.

By the way, if you dynotuned it for an altitude of 4300 feet, using bonneville salt flats fuel, you very well could make a topspeed record, atleast for MR2 Turbos.

THe records on the mr2oc board currently, well there is no record. THeres one guy who did a standing mile for his built 3sgte, but no one has done a topspeed run. I would recommend doing this 2gnt, just for the sake of being the one who set the record.  

I'm guessing on the top end speed, but I don't put it past the motor. The only thing that holds me back from going any faster is, as you've mentioned, gearing. I'm looking into getting a different gearing setup, but I don't know if I really want to go that far since I may sell it within the next week or two after I relocate. I'll have to mull over it and see.

FEAR THE MR2!!!  

Thanks for the compliment on my grammar. I should have a firm grasp on it considering that it's part of my chosen profession.

As for writing for Primedia, I'd consider it if something were to happen; however, since I'm not in the field of communications, marketing, or and other form of media, I doubt they'd even give me a look. I have written some military fiction that I had an author friend of mine look over a while back- he came away rather impressed. Maybe I should go back to that, eh?  

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The only thing that holds me back from going any faster is, as you've mentioned, gearing. I'm looking into getting a different gearing setup, but I don't know if I really want to go that far since I may sell it within the next week or two after I relocate.

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