Caprice countdown to 300k

[kevm14]

Only putting this here because I am filing it under awesome that I can still beat on the car at 300k and it takes it.

Lately I've been aggressive on my commute. In fact this morning the road was damp from the morning dew and I was pulling onto a road. It spun easily in 1st so I kept in it while it shifted to 2nd. Then I just put it to the floor. Registered about 55 mph on the speedo just driving down the road at probably 25 mph. Awesome and satisfying.

But the drive home this evening was a little bit of a disaster.

So there's this silver Genesis coupe 2.0T. I don't recall exactly where I ran into him but I saw him coming up, weaving his way through traffic. There was a small gap in front of me, maybe 1-1/2 cars, in Jamestown. He pulls up and I squeeze the throttle a bit to ensure the gap is closed. Next thing I know, he cuts right in front of me, no signal. Sigh. That was a mistake.

He continues weaving through traffic, getting around as much as he can before cutting someone off again with no turn signal. I follow as best I can.

There is a fair amount of traffic and we hit the end of 138. There is an ugly, summer-style line of traffic on the Rt 1N exit (goddamnit, it's MARCH - yeah it was a nice day but jesus christ people). So he passes that and so do I. He continues to Rt 1S and I am right on his ass, all the way around the ramp which must have been annoying because there was a solid slog of cars ahead of him. Been there, done that, it sucks.

On the merge to Rt 1S, there was an opening and he takes it. So do I. Now we're moving along at a decent clip but it doesn't last because traffic. I still follow but my turn is coming up and I decide to slot in behind 3 cars so I can take my right. He continues in the fast lane.

That is, until I move over into the right turn only lane for my turn. He slams on his brakes, cuts across 2 lanes of traffic and, in the most amateur maneuver I've seen in a long time, he has the wheel nearly at lock, understeering through the turn. And he's moving. So he plows wide into the oncoming lane (no one was there) and continues beyond THAT. Now he's in the grass, still correcting the turn. Unreal! Never seen that before.

He straightens it back out and continues driving. Meanwhile I am right there (because he sucks at driving). I do a 2-1 around the stupid Corolla in front of me so I can pursue this guy. It doesn't take much because I think he was kind of spooked from his terrible driving. I catch him and pull along side (yeah in the oncoming lane) and look over disapprovingly - no fingers, or shouting, just a dirty look. I move back over right behind him and he slams on the brakes, forcing me to do the same. I had to hit them so hard that my rear wheels both locked up and my Caprice went a little sideways while slowing down. I was probably a foot from his bumper. No contact. I then smelled rubber from my own tires, and brakes from him.

Then he takes off again and I keep following. These pedestrians are crossing the street and they actually are like making hand signals encouraging us to go at it which was just bizarre and surreal.

I follow him down the road and I would be lying if I didn't admit to fanaticizing about performing the pit maneuver multiple times. I had the opportunity. Alas, I followed him to a stop sign. He goes straight and I go right. I flip him a quick bird, probably not even enough for him to have seen it and continue on my way.

The goal: intimidate the shit out of someone who cuts people off in traffic with no signal and no room, and then does it to me. I think I was successful to get him to drive so poorly. Me? I guess this was so familiar to me in the Caprice after all these years that I wasn't even shaking from adrenaline after this, which is a little disturbing in a way (serial road rage?).

The other point was I am still able to punish my Caprice and it takes it. Did I mention it is still on snow tires?

[kevm14]

So Bill and I may have scoped out a donut area....in Mexico.

We found a secluded spot with a lot of sand and I couldn't help myself, so we went around twice. Oh god, it was awesome. Need real donuts (not on sand, and with the confidence to go around a bunch). ASAP.