Problem is... (archive)

When we buy hot toys, we tend to do stupid things in them. Whether you drive a Civic or a BMW M coupe, driving fast, on the edge, means you are taking certain risks, on yourself and on others. Unfortunately this is done all too often on public roads where your own risk taking extends to those around you. What YOU think is safe is irrelevant, as you do not have the right to risk involving others, regardless of how good you think you are.

Race tracks, auto-cross courses and the like, are designed to provide the thrill of high performance driving - public roads are not. Mountain roads without run-off shoulders, or other barriers, are certainly not safe venues for discovering your driving skill limitations!

The unfortunate part of driving a car is, that after a few thousand miles in any vehicle, familiarity causes you to feel invincible and forget you are piloting a few thousand pounds of hurling inertia. Whether that moving mass has a BMW badge, or Honda badge on it, taking it for granted that you are in full control of the physics is a huge error. The secret of truly great drivers, is they never take the actions of the machine for granted, they remain connected and engaged, even after thousands of laps. Familiarity to really good drivers means they are even more connected to the machine, more sensitive to its' subtle cues and communications. Loose the connection, like most of us do in our daily drivers... it's only a matter of time before reality catches up!

Hopefully, you aren't doing something stupid when it happens. Of course you will be... because assuming you are a good driver, assuming you are in complete control, assuming that you can pull out of any situation and avoid endangering others... IS stupid.

On public roads.. drive safe and stay connected at all times... When you want to go fast, get to a track and learn just how good you really are!

: I have not seen ANY Civic Si group at an AutoX or TRACK event. And I go to every one I can find from LA to San Diego. The only Civic Si's I see are usually the slammed/dunk variety racing on the street (or driving too SLOW so to look KOOL). Mostly I see them driven recklessly on the street! And it is the RARE one that really has a properly setup suspension, most are an inch from the ground and bouncing vigorously. Also, it is usually a young, inexperienced driver that has way too much testostorones that is behind the wheel. I tend to move away from them if near me! They should stay off of Ortega and go back to what they DO know - drag racing. I am not a heartless bastaed, I feel for the loss. But if ya don't know the mountain, the mountain WILL BITE YOU!

: BTW, Ben's last comment is VERY TRUE! An M Coupe (and even a Z3 Coupe to a lesser extent) will kill you! If you go into a turn too hot, get understeer and panic, lift your foot off the throttle too suddenly - you will spin out! And at Ortega, that could mean DEATH.

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