If you cruise up to MD from VA, there's a split between 270 and 495. Keep to your right and you hit the "fun part" of the highway. I was driving in the beater going to grandma's at my usual pace until I saw of pair of those halos coming up behind me. "BMW" is what I thought... he passed to the left of me and I got a glimpse of his rear end: 2 tailpipes and the 335i badge. So of course, my ricer azz decides to get behind him and pace at a good distance. I was already an hour late and I didn't feel like getting pulled over for speeding, so I figured if I followed someone already going fast, he'd most likely get caught first before me!

Every now and then, you find your usual "weaver" which wasn't too bad since traffic was light and we had plenty of room from one car to the next. I figured he'd travel at a good speed until he suddenly... changed his pace. I suppose he didn't like the idea of an underpowered car following him... I mean.. who likes that anyways? It's embarrassing if someone w/ 200 less HP can keep up with your brand spankin' new bimmer.

I did the math in my head:
Me - 2700 lbs | Him - 3600 lbs
Me - 164 hp | Him - 300 hp
Me - 225 wide tires | Him - 225 wide tires
Me - AWD | Him - RWD
Me - Not-so-stock-suspension | Him - Stock

In order to keep up with this guy, I had to remember never to brake otherwise it'd simply take too long to catch up to speed since I was waaaay underpowered. This guy could stomp on the gas and gain 10 cars on me within seconds! The trick was to take a better driving line and utilize the wet conditions to my advantage since the AWD system grabs traction much better than his RWD. Every time we'd hit a straight, he'd punch it and pull 5-8 cars... but would slow down dramatically at every corner... that extra 900lbs isn't doing this guy any good right about now. Not to mention he never weight-shifted ONCE, braking as hard as he can into the corner throwing all the weight to the front making the car nose-dive instead of tackling it with a neutral stance and powering through at the apex.

I made sure to stay a few cars behind to study his driving tactics (which weren't that good) His line strategy is indicated in red below: (yellow line indicates curve of road, not the markers you see on an actual road. Blue line indicates optimal driving line)



Try driving in the middle of a road and following the yellow line printed in the middle... (in this case, it's a highway lane) you'll notice that you'll start losing seconds this way + traveling a longer distance. Whereas, if you took the blue line and utilized the entire lane (without switching lanes and risk whacking someone next to you,) you maximize your tire grip and physics works for you instead of against you. Even though it's a highway lane, you still have a few feet from left to right to manuever for max handling capabilities (even in that tight space)... he however, did not use that to his advantage whatsoever!

I see this as a problem in most drivers doing these "highway spirited runs," they drive super fast at 100+ cutting 2-3 lanes or don't use their immediate lane very efficiently. And then when they hit a point where the road curves... they freak out cuz they have no idea what to do... slam the brakes... and prey to god that their suspension can take the G force without sliding out of control from their stupid insane speed.

We went through 5-6 highway curves and I could tell this guy was not very experienced nor safe. (Yes, there's a safe way to have fun) He didn't know his car very well nor did not respect its power. I saw his rear end skip/slide on one of the turns since he was taking it at a much greater rate than what his tires can handle which freaked him out. He should have corrected it w/ the wheel but instead he slammed the brakes. (which is another newb thing to do, never brake while turning! it'll totally throw the balance of the car off in the middle of a turn... especially when the tires are at their max grip)

In order to recover from such a humiliating stunt, he "redeemed" himself by gunning it as the road turned straight making use of those 300 terrifying ponies... only to be halted by oncoming traffic, bummer. This guy was too cool for me, and too dangerous for his own good so I backed away. At this point, there's not enough room in-between cars to have anymore fun since it was basically "bumper to bumper" @ 50mph.

But Nope! That did not stop this man. He wanted to prove his coolness so he drove his car like he stole it and weaved in and out of super slow traffic. Now I see a lot of ricers doing this, but I never understood the concept behind it... Why would you weave in and out when there's a butt load of traffic where no one's going anywhere? The guy bolted across 4 lanes from the very left lane to the very right... then I saw him gunning it from the very right lane to the very left using the entire highway. Goodness gracious junior, calm yourself! He ran away from me like I was the plague... except I wasn't even trying to follow... so who was he running from ? LOL

I see the guy getting further and further away... his taillights become 2 small red dots as he travels up the highway... he swerves left and right trying to make his way up... 5 mins later... BAM!!!

I suddenly see all the cars infront of me slam their brakes... all 4 lanes of traffic crawled to a snail's pace at 25mph... "what in the world just happened?" said the gf. I get closer to the section where everyone slowed down and see a suupped up Honda Civic that just got swiped on the front passenger side hurdling his car semi-sideways. His headlight + bumper smashed inward. As expected with most drivers under loads of adrenaline + weaving in and out of traffic: your sense of safety goes out the window + they tend to drive over their skill level. This was classic "hit and run" and this poor Civic limped to the emergency lane with pieces of his car all over the highway. The bimmer? No where in sight.

 

God Ahns threads are always so freakin long, Cliff notes please!!!!

 

^ you're gonna read it all anyways since we all know you're slackin off at work sucka! LOL

 

Wow, the stupidity of some people. That took a total of 3 mins to read. Unless you have ADHD just read it and shut up.

 

see that's the problem with some people. just cuz they got the bmw/merc/porsche etc they think they're all that.

too bad for the civic guy though

 

Yes I do have ADHD and thanks for that comment it was completely neccesary......if only your mother would of swallowed.

 

Since you were paying total attention to his car and driving you did pass the license # on to the guy in the civic right...

 

Next thing you know there will be news about how another Civic went airborne because of another a black Z with.

 

LOL, these civics in MD are totally getting picked on. First it was a black 350z... now it's a black 335i.

 

So, if people who drive Japanese imports are "ricers", what are people who drive German imports (especially when they drive like this)? Sausages? Wiener Schnitzels? D1ck heads?

Nice driving and explanation of HPD. Felt like I was at my PDX class time.

 

You always do tell a good story

So, you think it was the BMW that hit him?

Todd

 

German engineering lol

 

LOL Ahn you ricer! get your azz on a road course and stop harrassing noobs.. especially in the rain LOL (although I know you love it)

 

^^He cant help himself.

 

Another great detailed story! Now im ready for bed =)

 

good write up i enjoyed the read. Iv'e been in the same situation a few times and I say probably 95% of the people driving on the roads have no idea about lines and using more of the road to take a turn. There should be an advanced drivers licensing system heh.

 

I invented driving.

 

wow! another nice story!


ahn, please let me illustrate ur stories sometime! we should start a book

 

Next up: Snow battle! I'm also thinking about doing a run in the middle of a hurricane where we have rain and obstacles to dodge + take wind factor into account while driving. Sleet and hail is in the works whenever we get rid of this 60 degree weather... i need some snoooow dammit

atomic - yeah, we should totally do that, I'm down! LOL! I was actually thinking of mounting a permanent cam on the passenger headrest to get footage of all the action whenever it takes place; the only problem is that's an extra 6 lbs of unnecessary weight I don't really want to spare.

 

lol thats ok


i can make a comic book about you. It will be like initial D but better. Just send me ur stories and ill illustrate and post em up lol