Video: My "OH S%!&" moment for the weekend

[Shifty]

Last weekend I took a fast run down-and-up Hwy 23 in Arkansas - The Pig Trail, as it is known - with a group of cars. The group consisted of a 500hp Audi S4, 400hp STI, 380hp VW Jetta, 280hp Beetle, and two Porsches (a 944 and 914, both modded) all on R-Comp rubber. I was on my 620 and my buddy was alongside on his ZZR1200.

During the run back up, the Jetta and S4 lead with the 944 third in line and my buddy and I on our bikes behind him. The Jetta and S4 pulled away pretty quickly, and with two bikes nipping at his heels the 944 driver got a little too overzealous. This video is from inside the 944. What you don't see is how much speed I had coming around that bend that I had to scrub off in order to avoid him! First time for me balancing traction between a hard cornering manouver and panic braking, I think I did pretty well. Luckily I had built in some following distance through the curves for just such an occasion!


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijw1_OSswOs"]YouTube- Porsche 944 spin on pig trail[/ame]

[curseboy]

looks like he tried to setup for the corner too late, was he not familiar with the road?

[Shifty]

He is familiar with the road... he apparently went in a little hot, downshifted and didn't get revs matched properly. As I said, he just got a little too focused on chasing down that ridiculous S4 and Jetta.

[thetable]

Cars and bikes don't play well together. Just glad everybody made it out unscathed.

[zuma]

Nice to see you got out of that one, Shifty. Nice hearing from you again too.

[Shifty]

Nice to see you got out of that one, Shifty. Nice hearing from you again too.

Thanks! I lurk every now-and-then... ... and every time I log on I remember how cool this place is. Truth be told, I still post here more than any Ducati forums.

[his-royal-freshness]

944= no traction control or abs, he shouldnt have been trying to keep up with the more modern cars to begin with

[teddy]

Icanhaz380hpJetta? Pleez?!?! turbo'd vr6 or what? i heard that the vr6 bottom end is good for nearly 30lb of boost if you space out the head from the block to lower the compression ratio....any truth in that from your experience? water cooled stuff is still pretty new to me (aside from the ritualistic water pump and t-belt job on the wifey's 2.slo)...I come from air cooled background....

[thetable]

944= no traction control or abs, he shouldnt have been trying to keep up with the more modern cars to begin with

944 properly setup and on the right tires with the right driver will surprise some people. I've been passed by a few on track. Near perfect weight distribution from the factory, minimal electronic nannies, minimal weight, and decent power.

[Free Coffee]

Doh! 'Glad you weren't on his bumper.

[JasonChen]

Porsche's RR layout makes them tricky to handle.... steering feels completely different from the usual FR or FF. glad you made out ok!

[Sasquatch]

First, damn glad it did not end bad.


Second, I have lost too damn many friends..THE F'N ROAD IS NOT A RACE TRACK!!!


If you want to race, go do a track day for your own safety, and those around you!

sorry, but im getting sick of losing friends on regular roads.


Otherwise, cool vid, and great looking part of a seeming very twisty road. Dont get me wrong, I love the twisties, and I love them at a speed well over the posted limit...but after losing so many friends in the past 2 years, I have realized it is just NOT worth it.

Racetrack for the MTFW when it comes to speed with out worrying about cars, trees, debris on the road, etc.

[thetable]

Porsche's RR layout makes them tricky to handle....

944 is FR

[Shifty]

Icanhaz380hpJetta? Pleez?!?! turbo'd vr6 or what? i heard that the vr6 bottom end is good for nearly 30lb of boost if you space out the head from the block to lower the compression ratio....any truth in that from your experience? water cooled stuff is still pretty new to me (aside from the ritualistic water pump and t-belt job on the wifey's 2.slo)...I come from air cooled background....

This Jetta is actually a 1.8T APR Stg3 car. We were supposed to be joined by a 480-500hp Beetle as well but it sprung an oil leak right before the trip... the Bug has a VR6 shoehorned into it with a GT28RS somehow wedged in there as well. It makes me happy. There are some well-built VR6 cars in our group, a few are S/C and some are turbo'd, running around 300hp at fairly low boost.

I know the road's not a track, but in our defense we weren't racing and we were keeping safe distances! I think anyone here would be lying if they said they had never taken (or thought about taking) their bike out for a spirited ride in the bends!

[1100Kat]

Nice save, glad it was accident free. Pics of S4 pleaseeeeeeee if you have them