TheBog
08-15-2006, 03:57 PM
Disclaimer: Yes, my car is slow. So was his. However, I think our cars were pretty evenly matched, so it's a much better race than some 325i vs. LS1 or whatever mismatched race that gets posted up here sometimes. And hey, I've got a Miata, there's not too many BMWs I'm competitive with...in a straight line.:devillook
So there I was, coming home from chilling at a friend's house at about 2 am last night, on William Cannon for all you Austinites. It's a four-lane road, and there was absolutely no traffic - it was Monday night, after all.
There's an apartment complex to my right up ahead, and in the parking lot I see an E36 of some sort pulling out of the gate pretty quickly. He almost gets onto William Cannon, but then stops abruptly and lets me go by. So I figure he's probably in a hurry, and might be up for some "spirited" driving. :D
The light turns red up ahead (Westgate and Wm. Cannon), and I stop and wait for him to pull up beside me. I scope him out of the corner of my eye. Twentysomething bald white guy, with a backwards ball cap :help and loud music playing.
The light turns green, and I pull away somewhat aggressively, just to let him know I'm interested. He hangs back a few lengths, pacing me, than as I slow down and start cruising again, he accelerates and blows by me. I spot the 318i badge and single exhaust pipe. Oh, it's on. :evil2
I stay with him, and the next light is red up ahead. I pull up next to him, look over and grin stupidly at him...he's looking over at me with that intense street racer stare. I make a show of looking around for cops. The streets are clear, the opposite traffic lights turn yellow, he's inching forward a little bit in anticipation, I slot my shifter into first and raise the revs to 2 grand...
Green! I slip the clutch and go WOT, getting a much better launch than he does. Wind 1st out to 7000 rpm, shift to 2nd (slowly...my 2nd gear synchro isn't in the best of shape :( ), check my mirror, and he's already 1 car length back, but still with me. Wind out 2nd...he's now 1.5 lengths back and we're coming to a hill, shift into 3rd, oh crap we're doing 60 mph already, and I don't know what's on the other side of this hill, so I shut down. He goes flying past me, and runs the light up ahead which is turning red. :nono I stop for the light.
Well, he knows I won, otherwise he wouldn't have run that red, but I want to catch up to him and talk to him, so when the light turns green I take off and push my car hard to try and catch him. I pass light after light without seeing him, then up ahead at another red, I see a stopped car...I get closer, yep, it's an E36!
Just as I pull up next to him, the light turns green and he takes off again once he spots me beside him. I pace him, not wanting to risk a ticket. Finally we come to another red, and I'm able to pull up beside him again. I motion for him to roll down his window, and he does.
I tell him nice run, and that his car's pretty fast. He turned out to be pretty cool, and gave props to me and my car as well. He said he was stock, with 144k miles :) , I forgot to ask if it was stick or not. He said he was heading to a party, so I said good luck and turned off and went on my merry way.
So anyway, I finally got a race with a 318i, which I thought would be a good match for my car. The race pretty much happened the way I thought it would (I pull on him, but as the speeds get higher I stop pulling) due to my weight advantage and shorter gearing. So, if you're on here 318i guy, good race and nice car, but you KNOW I beat you...;)
Cliff notes: Miata takes 318i by a few lengths up to 60 mph, then 318i does a flyby and runs a red light, Miata chases 318i down, driver turns out to be cool.
So there I was, coming home from chilling at a friend's house at about 2 am last night, on William Cannon for all you Austinites. It's a four-lane road, and there was absolutely no traffic - it was Monday night, after all.
There's an apartment complex to my right up ahead, and in the parking lot I see an E36 of some sort pulling out of the gate pretty quickly. He almost gets onto William Cannon, but then stops abruptly and lets me go by. So I figure he's probably in a hurry, and might be up for some "spirited" driving. :D
The light turns red up ahead (Westgate and Wm. Cannon), and I stop and wait for him to pull up beside me. I scope him out of the corner of my eye. Twentysomething bald white guy, with a backwards ball cap :help and loud music playing.
The light turns green, and I pull away somewhat aggressively, just to let him know I'm interested. He hangs back a few lengths, pacing me, than as I slow down and start cruising again, he accelerates and blows by me. I spot the 318i badge and single exhaust pipe. Oh, it's on. :evil2
I stay with him, and the next light is red up ahead. I pull up next to him, look over and grin stupidly at him...he's looking over at me with that intense street racer stare. I make a show of looking around for cops. The streets are clear, the opposite traffic lights turn yellow, he's inching forward a little bit in anticipation, I slot my shifter into first and raise the revs to 2 grand...
Green! I slip the clutch and go WOT, getting a much better launch than he does. Wind 1st out to 7000 rpm, shift to 2nd (slowly...my 2nd gear synchro isn't in the best of shape :( ), check my mirror, and he's already 1 car length back, but still with me. Wind out 2nd...he's now 1.5 lengths back and we're coming to a hill, shift into 3rd, oh crap we're doing 60 mph already, and I don't know what's on the other side of this hill, so I shut down. He goes flying past me, and runs the light up ahead which is turning red. :nono I stop for the light.
Well, he knows I won, otherwise he wouldn't have run that red, but I want to catch up to him and talk to him, so when the light turns green I take off and push my car hard to try and catch him. I pass light after light without seeing him, then up ahead at another red, I see a stopped car...I get closer, yep, it's an E36!
Just as I pull up next to him, the light turns green and he takes off again once he spots me beside him. I pace him, not wanting to risk a ticket. Finally we come to another red, and I'm able to pull up beside him again. I motion for him to roll down his window, and he does.
I tell him nice run, and that his car's pretty fast. He turned out to be pretty cool, and gave props to me and my car as well. He said he was stock, with 144k miles :) , I forgot to ask if it was stick or not. He said he was heading to a party, so I said good luck and turned off and went on my merry way.
So anyway, I finally got a race with a 318i, which I thought would be a good match for my car. The race pretty much happened the way I thought it would (I pull on him, but as the speeds get higher I stop pulling) due to my weight advantage and shorter gearing. So, if you're on here 318i guy, good race and nice car, but you KNOW I beat you...;)
Cliff notes: Miata takes 318i by a few lengths up to 60 mph, then 318i does a flyby and runs a red light, Miata chases 318i down, driver turns out to be cool.