MX-5 - 1, GTi - 0

[Rocky]

I was out on my weekly drive today. Every third week I do the "Twisty route" - just dozens of back to back, tight left/right 3rd gear turns.
I always spend the 10klms or so before the turns start, arranging myself in the very sparse traffic so that there is nothing ahead of me when I hit the turns.
Today about 3 klms before the turns I see a set of driving lights in the distance, but coming up rapidly from behind, so I increase my speed from about 80 to 100 to keep a buffer.
He is clearly doing a lot more than 100kays as he is closing quickly.
The white late model GTi catches me just before the twisties start but can't pass due to double lines, so he is screwed up behind me, all impatient to pass.
Into the twisties and he drops back about 20 metres after the first turn, and another 20 metres after the second.
By the fourth turn I can't see him in the mirrors any more - and there is nowhere to turn off or stop.
There are several long straits following the turns and he was nowhere to be seen.
I'd have thought an aggressive driver in a GTi would have put up a much better show.(???)
Maybe he was just a crap driver.

[lizard]

I was out on my weekly drive today. Every third week I do the "Twisty route" - just dozens of back to back, tight left/right 3rd gear turns.
I always spend the 10klms or so before the turns start, arranging myself in the very sparse traffic so that there is nothing ahead of me when I hit the turns.
Today about 3 klms before the turns I see a set of driving lights in the distance, but coming up rapidly from behind, so I increase my speed from about 80 to 100 to keep a buffer.
He is clearly doing a lot more than 100kays as he is closing quickly.
The white late model GTi catches me just before the twisties start but can't pass due to double lines, so he is screwed up behind me, all impatient to pass.
Into the twisties and he drops back about 20 metres after the first turn, and another 20 metres after the second.
By the fourth turn I can't see him in the mirrors any more - and there is nowhere to turn off or stop.
There are several long straits following the turns and he was nowhere to be seen.
I'd have thought an aggressive driver in a GTi would have put up a much better show.(???)
Maybe he was just a crap driver.

I would have undertaken you in the R32

[Rocky]

You are probably a much better driver than this guy, Liz.

[Okibi]

Good on the GTi driver for driving within their limits.

I had a similar experience the other night, had another car come flying up behind me, so I held it on the limit through a few corners. The other guy wasn't so quick in the corners but he closed in on me once he could open it up. Similarly he didn't get past me. He didn't need to, he turned on the flashing red and blue lights and we both parked up.

Take it easy out there, time slips and lap times decide who's got a faster car or is a better driver.

[speed]

When my car was stock I took it through some down hill twisties.
A good friend decided to come along with his turbocharged toyota powered Leyland mini.

The mighty mini never stood a chance. Front wheel drive and lack of traction meant a much slower corner exit speed, multiplied by 20+ corners.

Doing the same thing but uphill closed the gap significantly and he would smash me on every uphill straight.

Both cars and drivers have their limits, making neither better than the other, just different ;)

[kalt]

Take it easy out there, time slips and lap times decide who's got a faster car or is a better driver.

I couldn't agree more Okibi. Hopefully Rocky and the Gti driver measured their risk accordingly and weren't putting other peoples lives at risk by their actions.

Neither condoning nor praising Rocky and the Gti drivers actions because I've come to realise and accept the fact that as a car enthusiast we are all hypocrites.

(in your situation Rocky, I would have pulled over to let the GTi pass as who knows if the guy is rushing to an emergency)

[Smacca]

As an owner of both an MX-5 and a MkV Golf GTI I'm not surprised to hear this Rocky. Putting aside driver skill/experience and their level of enthusiasm/risk, the two cars aren't really comparable when it comes to carving corners. I find the GTI suffers from the usual turbocharged FWD traits - enter a corner too fast and it'll understeer, try to power out too early and it'll wheel-spin at which point the VW's overly keen traction control system (which can't be entirely deactivated) kicks in. It just can't match the corner speeds of the MX-5. My GTI also has the APR tune which turns it into a rocket on the straights, but makes attacking corners actually a more delicate exercise to avoid smoking the front tyres.

I'd love to try some of the other more focused hot hatches with sharper suspension and a mechanical LSD like the Renault Megane RS265 - surely that would give the MX-5 a run for its money through the twisties. The GTI excels at being the best all-rounder hot hatch, which comes with compromise. I find its sweet spot is on more open country backroads where the hills roll and the corners flow, not the mountain pass zigzag. That's definitely MX-5 territory.

[Steampunk]

Never occurred to anyone that the GTi may have slowed on purpose and stopped to let you go so they have a clear road?

[lizard]

The GTi was stuck in 4th

[Rocky]

Never occurred to anyone that the GTi may have slowed on purpose and stopped to let you go so they have a clear road?

No. He was exceeding the speed limit by heaps for kilometers before he got to the back of me.
He was right on it into the second corner but couldn't hack it.
If he slowed it was because his ego was getting a bruising.

At no point did I exceed the speed limit OR my capabilities.

[Mr Morlock]

Rockhampton Herald yesterdays headlines " Old MX-5 local wizard humbles GTI pretender" I don't think I would care if the bloke stopped to boil the billy- it happened.. The mighty little blue hardtop NB blitzed the Euro upstart and all done at legal speeds and a wry smile.

[StillIC]

Reminds me of the time, many years ago, that I was chased by a VL Commodore in my well sorted Datsun Stanza on grippy Yokohamas (second best handling car I have ever owned!). I took a corner I had practiced many times at a speed I knew was almost my maximum, and was in absolute shock to see the VL Commodore sticking right on me as it entered the turn. That shock lasted until it ran off the road on the exit and hit the kerb (on the outside). I drove away cacking myself with laughter.

[Okibi]

Here's the kicker.

You might be driving within your limits, the other drive might not be experienced so unable to do the same.

It's easy for a car travelling the other direction (full of ACA watchers) to make the assumption you're both "street racing".

If the other car crashes and someone is killed you're going to cop part of the blame, you'll have to face the dead kids parents. It won't be so amusing that the other car crashed.

[StillIC]

You might be driving within your limits, the other drive might not be experienced so unable to do the same.

Very true.

It's easy for a car travelling the other direction (full of ACA watchers) to make the assumption you're both "street racing".

Quite possibly, but there was not a lot I could have done about that.

If the other car crashes and someone is killed you're going to cop part of the blame, you'll have to face the dead kids parents. It won't be so amusing that the other car crashed.

This may be true. But if the other car exceeds the speed limit to catch up to me when the road is straight, and I am not exceeding the speed limit, only for that car to exceed their own driving ability at the first corner, I cannot help that, despite what people might think of me. At the time I was driving a road I knew well the same way I always drove it, whether that VL was there or not. These days, knowing what I know, I would quite possibly slow down at the corner to minimise the chance of the same thing happening. Perhaps I wouldn't, or wouldn't notice.

Please note that I am not attempting to condone or encourage anyone to try to drive cars off the road by making them match cornering speed. But this is a true story, it isn't the only time someone has tried to copy me on the road, and failed, without any special effort by me, and that kerb only killed pride and maybe a wheel/tyre. And as I said, I was shocked to see it follow me in at the same speed, *because I wasn't expecting it*. It wasn't a planned event.

[Okibi]

I'm not saying you did anything wrong. I love spirited driving as much as the next MX-5 owner.