Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu From: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) Newsgroups: net.auto Subject: Re: Mustangs and GTIs (and a longer story) Message-ID: <533@eneevax.UUCP> Date: Sun, 23-Feb-86 16:52:25 EST Article-I.D.: eneevax.533 Posted: Sun Feb 23 16:52:25 1986 Date-Received: Mon, 24-Feb-86 02:26:22 EST References: <487@ssc-bee.UUCP> Reply-To: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) Distribution: na Organization: Imperial Widget Research Center, Kingdom of Maryland Lines: 80 Keywords: 'stang, GTI, Scirocco Summary: my, it's been an interesting discussion, hasn't it In article <487@ssc-bee.UUCP> thill@ssc-bee.UUCP writes: >It has been interesting reading Chuck's flames about GTI's. I own a GTI >and I have never thought of it as a sports car. After driving a 1978 >rabbit (absolutely no power) I bought the GTI because I like the old rabbit >body style and I wanted something that could do 65+ w/o the struts bouncing. >Now for the story... >... >I watched him go into the turn but unfortunately for him he hadn't slowed >down and I saw his break lights go on as he entered the first dog-leg. >Naturally it was already too late or I wouldn't be telling this story :-). >He started sliding but I lost sight of him because of a guardrail on the >right, however, I did see his headlights spin so I knew he didn't make it. >when I came around the first curve there he was rear ended in a ditch at a >35 degree angle with his lights peeping up over the edge of the highway. >I honked and waved and I have been laughing ever since. > > SOMETIMES THE NICE GUY WINS, > > Tom Hill I wrote the original Mustang article, so I suppose in a way I'm responsible for a good percentage of recent net traffic, if indirectly so. However, our site (boo hoo hoo) has NOT gotten more than maybe two of the GT/GTI battle reports, and I feel very bad when I see an article float by which makes references to some obviously interesting reading that I've missed. So, I thought I'd throw my own thoughts out to the...the, uh....masses, as it were. First, a quick update on the GT's status. It went back to the shop 4 days later due to carbon deposits and astronomical fuel consumption (~9mpg) and quickly returned from the shop...there was a leak in the vacuum system and so the EEC-IV was getting false readings. Also, they replaced a buzzing speaker. BTW, the 0-60 times are down to 6.2 with one passenger, still shifting low at around 5000. Secondly, I must say that the GTI drivers who have been posting have been very, well no, make that unbelievably mild in their defenses. On the other hand, this seems to be raising great consternation among my fellow cubic-inches fanatics, and I think I'll leave it at that. Nice story, Tom; I'm not certain whether to take it as an observation about Mustang drivers in general, or about the mentality of high-school evening road-cruisers. It is, however, amusing to bait them and haul them out onto that twisty road that You know like the back of your hand. So far I haven't been as lucky; they just give up after the hard right on Glen Rd. You get a different perspective of the world when you're flying around 90 on an undivided and shoulderless road that started life as a horse path. BTW, there wasn't a true performance option on the '82 Mustang; the GT package was introduced in '83, with the quadrashocking-and-engine-mods in '85. But, just in case you WERE reflecting upon Mustang drivers :-), I probably should sneak in the observation that Scirocco drivers are also prone to the same annoying habits. Yep, there I was, pottering along in the '83 T-bird (5.0L V8, auto trans) returning in mild drizzle from the DC Auto Show, when this Scirocco decides that he doesn't like to be passed in the right lane. Let me see, I was carrying 4 passengers in a car built for one less, and he was only carrying one. Didn't help him too much, though, since I don't like to be passed in the right lane either. So there we were, the passengers in back with their necks craned all the way around to watch him recede into the distance. I'm sorry, guys, but I blew it when I-495 splits into two, and somewhere on that exit ramp, I became extremely unhappy with the Michelins. Pumping brakes wasn't going to slow me down for the turn, and I hadn't discovered trail-braking yet. So what did I do? That's right: I panicked, and decided to try locking brakes to see which way I'd end up facing. Despite Consumer Reports' claim that the front brakes lock first, my rear end locked (as it has before), swung wide, and pointed me....right where I wanted to be. Unfortunately, the time lost in that maneuver was enough for Mr. Scirocco to make up a lot of distance, and we ended in a draw behind a long string of cars. I'm becoming a believer in 4wd now. BTW, he wouldn't follow me onto another of the local back-roads. Drats. So, what was the appropriate thing to do on a wet ramp? -dave -- David Hsu Communication & Signal Processing Lab, EE Department University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 hsu@eneevax.umd.edu {seismo,allegra}!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu "Godzilla has been spotted in Sector 5!"