Driving home from a new years party last night in my 94 civic ex coupe, I stopped at a streetlight, you know, just minding my own bisiness.. all of a sudden I heard a rev from the next lane.
I turned, made eye contact, then let my eyes trace over the competition. Ford Festiva -- a late model, could be trouble. Low profile tires, curb feelers, and schoolbus-yellow paint. Yep, a hot rod, for sure.
The howl of his motor snapped my reverie, and I looked back into the driver`s eyes, nodded, then blipped my own throttle.
Then the light turned... I almost had him out of the hole, my four pounding cylinders thrusting me at least a millimeter back into my seat, as smoke pouring from my front right tire... my unlimited slip differential was letting me down! I saw in the corner of my eyes, a yellow snout gaining, and I heard the roar of his engine. He slung by me, right front wheel juddering against the pavement, and he flashed me a smile as his massive motor stretched its legs. I kept my foot gamely in it, though, waiting for the CHECK ENGINE light to blink on in the instrument panel. I saw a glimpse of chrome under his bumper, and knew the ugly truth... He was running a custom exhaust -- probably a 2-into-1 dual exhaust... maybe even cutouts! Damn his hot-rod soul! The old lady passing us on the crosswalk cast a dirty look in our boy-racer direction...
Yet still I persisted, with my four pumping pistons singing a heady high-pitched song, wound fully out. Though only a few handfuls of seconds had passed, we were nearing the crosswalk at the other side of the intersection, and I heard the note of his engine change as he made his shift to second, and I saw his grin in his rearview mirror fade as he
missed the shift! I rocketed by, shifting, and nursed the clutch gently in to keep from bogging, keeping my motor spinning hot and pulling me ahead, now trailing a cloud of stinking clutch smoke. Not ready to give up so easily, he left his foot in it, revving, and I heard one wheel *almost*
chirp as he finally found second and dropped the clutch. We careened over the crosswalk, now going at least 15 miles per hour. A bicyclist passed us, but intent on the race as we were, neither of us batted an eye.
He pulled slowly abreast of me, and neck and neck, we made the shift to third, the scream of motors deafening all pedestrians within a five foot circle. He nosed ahead as we passed 30 miles an hour, then eased in front of me, taunting, as we shifted into fourth. I was staring up the dual 6" chrome tips of his exhaust, snarling,as he lifted a little to take the next corner.
I saw my opportunity, and counting on the innate agility of my trusty steed, I pulled wide into the number two lane and kept my foot buried in carpet. Slowly, I inched around him, feeling my Civic roll slowly to the left as I came abreast in the midst of this gradual sweeping turn. I felt
the Civic ease onto its suspension stops, and felt the right rear wheel slowly leave the ground - no matter, though, because my drive wheels, up front, were pulling me through the corner, and around the Festiva ... The Ford driver beat his wheel in rage as my wife`s car eased past him on the outside, my stock wheels screaming in protest, as we raced to the next light. We coasted down, neck-and neck, to the red light. I tightened my driving gloves, ready for another round, when this WIMP in the next car meekly flipped his turn signal and made a right. Civic superiority reigns!!!
I guess they're not needed on my little pony......:thumbsup
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I don't think the ford festiva driver knew what he was doing. With that type of exhaust work, he should be running 10's. You think maybe he let off a bit when he saw the cyclist?
I guess they're not needed on my little pony......:thumbsup
You might remember them from the 70's and 80's on big luxury or sub-luxury cars (Caddi's, etc.) - especially if the car belonged to an older person or a pimp. I guess if they are still in use somewhere, they are being used to help people who want their car to look 'pimp'. They stuck out to the side, usually at a bit of an angle, from the body of the car somewhere in the vicinity of the front wheels. They had a 'springiness' to them to allow them to bend without breaking and, apparently, were meant to make contact with the curb when, say, parallel parking so that you didn't scuff your tires or, horror of horrors, scratch your mag wheels.
I haven't seen many of them on cars around here since lowering Nissans, S10s, etc. to .01 inch off the ground and putting on those ridiculous tires that looked like something off of a lawnmower went out of fashion a few years back. Here is a link to a place that sells them so you can see for yourself:
OH man!!! When I saw that I thought "Oh please tell me that thing spins..."
"YES!!!"
We'll be enjoying those soon, on every rice-mobile out there. Since it spins, it gives you extra boost by creating a vacuum in your exhaust so your next hit on the throttle is like turbo'd dude!
~
Redfire 2005 V6 5-speed auto. 10 psi after-cooled Vortech tuned by FAST Specialties, JBA headers and duals with custom H-pipe, GT rear bumper, Motive 3.73 gears, Auburn limited slip differential, CHE upper and lower control arms, American Racing Casino chrome wheels, Pirelli P-zero Nero 235/55/17 tires, chrome license plate frames (um... is that a mod?). Best 1/4 mile: 13.383 @ 102.84 MPH
KILLED a Ford Festiva last night! 
