Car stuff admin on 10 Mar 2005 12:05 am
180% of 30 is 54
I’m surprised it took this long to get pulled over for speeding in my WRX. I’m more surprised that I didn’t get a ticket. (Thank you nice Police man.)
I’m really glad I didn’t say anything like “Hah! That’s nothing! You should see this sucker move!” That woulda been bad.
He said that a ticket for 24 mph over the limit also includes a mandatory court appearance. I’m glad I didn’t ask him what 55 over the limit (on the highway) would get me. I’m assuming that it would get me an arrest and a revoked license. Possibly a severe beating.
Just yesterday, coincidentally less than 100 yards from where I was pulled over today, I was curious about how fast my car would accelerate from 50 to 60. The answer is: virtually instantaneously. Therein lies the crux of the matter — if the turbo is engaged (i.e. anything above 3k RPM) and you’re in the right gear, the car will accelerate as if controlled by telepathy (i.e. as soon as you think it).
Such telepathic acceleration is wonderful when you’re behind a car with stinky exhaust and don’t want to sit behind it while you’re stuck waiting for the train. Merely think about passing it and *presto* you’re in front of it. That passing maneuver was such a non-event that I thought the cop was pulling me over for not coming to a complete stop at the stop sign (it was marginal…).
This is how a WRX works: from a dead stop you accelerate for 2-3 seconds and then you coast back down to the speed limit, or whatever is generally accepted as the speed limit. That’s not even the fast WRX, the STi. That’s the standard WRX. The STi is a lot faster. The STi screams “Please write me a speeding ticket! If you can catch me. Punk.” Also the STi is not available as a wagon.
A high performance car will let you drive around other cars as if they are parked, even though they are, apparently, moving. This is a good thing. Speed lets you maneuver. It is far, far better than having a P.O.S. that can’t get out of its own way. I don’t know how far that argument will get you in court, and happily I don’t need to find that out… at least this week.
Tomorrow I need to remember to keep it below, say 40-ish, on that stretch of road, or go the slightly longer route where the limit actually is 50 (probably).