I have noticed something happening since I began driving a Mustang. It is something that has happened to me a few times before I got a Mustang, but seems to happen all the time now. More than once while driving on the Interstate in the leftmost ("fast") lane in heavy, stop and go traffic - heavy and slow moving enough that there was only about half a car length between me and the vehicle in front of me - the person behind me would go to great lengths and risks to force their way into the lane immediately to my right, inch their way past me as traffic there moved and my lane didn't, and then force their way in front of me even though there was not room for them there and traffic in my lane was moving no faster. Now, I realize that a large percentage of the general public are complete idiots who only get worse when allowed behind the wheel. I also realize that what little intellect they have is usually being directed toward recounting their unabridged life story to someone over the cellphone jammed to their ear, but this goes to new heights of idiocy. Do these people really think it makes that much difference if they are doing 25mph behind me or 25mph behind the semi in front of me, or do they simply realize that it is the only time their four door Saturn, etc. will be passing a Mustang? I, of course, let them cut me off because I don't want the right front corner of my Mustang smashed in by some piece of crap car with all the personality of a wet egg noodle.
The other day, some smart-alec lady in a Mini Cooper kept trying to pass me and trying to cut me off in pretty heavy (although not stop and go) traffic on the Interstate. She was driving like a complete idiot. I was in the fast lane, which was moving the fastest of all the slowly moving lanes. She would be behind me, then whip into the middle lane as if to pass me (even though that lane was moving more slowly and there was a big work truck in front of me), then whip back over behind me, then go through the whole process all over again. You know - one of those people who think it doesn't matter what happens to anyone else as long as she gets where she is going in a time frame she finds acceptable and, because she is in a Mini, traffic jams don't apply to her. I don't road race, but I finally took about all I could take, not to mention that I suspected she was going to cause a wreck with the way she was driving and I wanted to be a safe distance from her when that happened. When there was a break in traffic and the road ahead was clear for a little way, she whipped out from behind me - you know, in that jerky, aggressive manner as if to insinuate that it was all my fault we had been moving slowly, as if it had nothing to do with the fact we had been in heavy traffic. I hope she enjoyed the view of my Mustang's tail lights. I didn't do ridiculous speeds. In fact, I stuck pretty close to the speed limit as there was more traffic a little way ahead of us. I went just fast enough that she couldn't pass me but slow enough that I could glance in my rear view and see just how much it irked her that she and her almighty Mini couldn't accelerate fast enough to pass my all-to-common Mustang. I think it irked her even more when I couldn't resist laughing at her.
Another example was the very next day when, in stop and go traffic, this newer Impala decided he couldn't live with being behind me anymore, so inched around me and then forced his way in front, even though there was no room for him. I literally had to pull onto the lefthand shoulder a little bit so this moron wouldn't clip me. Is there a big target, invisible to me, painted on my Mustang? I mean, if you can't see a Zinc Yellow Mustang pumping out a V8 growl through dual Flowmasters, you really don't need to be on the road. I don't rev at people, etc., so I really don't understand this inferiority complex people in other types of cars seem to have. It's not like I am driving a $150,000 car, or even a brand new Mustang. Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing more often in a Mustang than in other cars you have driven?
It's anarchy out there! If you look like you don't have insurance, you will get alot more respect - from suvs, even. You sound a little timid, but not like someone I would cut in front of (at least, not without trickery or deception - but that is another post). You need to leave no more than a car length in front, to send the message that they needn't try to cut in front of YOU. If they merge ahead, be ready with the brakes! My bigcity rush hour commuting has taught me to use the right lane,almost exclusively - when there are exits every mile, there's always someone getting off, learn to dodge the onramp traffic - by catching a moving segment of the next lane, and cut back right, after all the oncomings have merged, and you will be able to dice your way through all of the sheeple whose strategy is to immediatly merge as far left as possible, causing miles of brake lights, and slowdowns for the leftmost lanes, hereby freeing up the right lane for those of us who will beat the crap out of them, chronologicly, to their destination. And again, the rougher you look, the easier it is...
It also helps to be able to identify "slowers", and get around them asafp.
I hope none of our truck driving AFM brethern are reading this...
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1992 Deep Emerald Green Mustang GT Hatch, 5 speed, 2.73s, Mac fenderwell cold air intake, '93 Cobra MAF, Mac 70mm throttle body & spacer, Explorer intakes, Mac unequal headers & offroad pipe, Magnaflow catback, Walbro 110lph fuel pump, Jet adjustable FPR, MSD Blaster coil, Accel 8mm wires, FRPP aluminum quadrant, UPR firewall adjuster, stock cable, Granatelli upper control arms.
Waiting to go on: Granatelli lower control arms, and GT40 Iron heads!
I hope none of our truck driving AFM brethern are reading this...
So....going to confession or what?
You guys ought to drive for a living and have the view as I'm 8 feet up in the air! I see it all!
I've often said if a traffic cop just rode with me for a week he'd go home cryin every night in frustration as he is not seeing even a little bit of the antics some people pull.
Most traffic jams are caused by thos drivers that think they are special. No turn signals and wait until the last moment to merge for the exit...you know the type...
So....going to confession or what?
You guys ought to drive for a living...
Half of the year, I do. I didn't create the traffic flowpattern which I described, I've just learned to exploit it. It's dot's fault for not designating the leftmost lanes for traffic which is going straight through the city without stopping, and leaving the rightmost lanes for traffic which gets on and back off within the metropolitan area. But, that would make sense, and, well, we are talking about the government here... Most people just want to make separate lanes for trucks, but I don't think it would work as well as my idea. Keep the shiny side up, Bro.
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1992 Deep Emerald Green Mustang GT Hatch, 5 speed, 2.73s, Mac fenderwell cold air intake, '93 Cobra MAF, Mac 70mm throttle body & spacer, Explorer intakes, Mac unequal headers & offroad pipe, Magnaflow catback, Walbro 110lph fuel pump, Jet adjustable FPR, MSD Blaster coil, Accel 8mm wires, FRPP aluminum quadrant, UPR firewall adjuster, stock cable, Granatelli upper control arms.
Waiting to go on: Granatelli lower control arms, and GT40 Iron heads!
I wonder about the target too. Not so much people trying to pass me but everyone who think they can keep up with me will risk life and limb to get into traffic right next to or behind me. Then of course proceed to rev and brake almost hitting the person in front of them, like we're going to have a race to the car infront of us in gridlock. Honestly I think it's the flowmasters.
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1995 GT 5.0
CAI, American Thunder Cat-back, Mac O/R H-pipe, 180* thermostat, Steeda Tri-Ax shifter, Steeda rear swaybar, Urethane bushings, MSD coil, King Cobra clutch & flywheel, GT40 Intake Manifold, ~1800 watt sound system
You need to leave no more than a car length in front, to send the message that they needn't try to cut in front of YOU. hope none of our truck driving AFM brethern are reading this...
I gotta point out that I meant late mergers,(people who are trying to beat the system) You should definitely let people in, it keeps things moving in the right lane. If they're gonna try a redneck move for my spot, then I'm likely to contest. But I'll let a person who needs in, in, unless they are really driving stupidly.
I just haven't figured out what the big truckers are doing out there, strategywise, afterall, they do have radios...
There are times, for sure, when the fact that I'm driving a 'stang provokes someone try conspicuously to not let me in front of them, usually at times when I have absolutely no desire to get in their lane anyway.
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1992 Deep Emerald Green Mustang GT Hatch, 5 speed, 2.73s, Mac fenderwell cold air intake, '93 Cobra MAF, Mac 70mm throttle body & spacer, Explorer intakes, Mac unequal headers & offroad pipe, Magnaflow catback, Walbro 110lph fuel pump, Jet adjustable FPR, MSD Blaster coil, Accel 8mm wires, FRPP aluminum quadrant, UPR firewall adjuster, stock cable, Granatelli upper control arms.
Waiting to go on: Granatelli lower control arms, and GT40 Iron heads!
It's anarchy out there! If you look like you don't have insurance, you will get alot more respect - from suvs, even. You sound a little timid, but not like someone I would cut in front of (at least, not without trickery or deception - but that is another post). You need to leave no more than a car length in front, to send the message that they needn't try to cut in front of YOU. If they merge ahead, be ready with the brakes! My bigcity rush hour commuting has taught me to use the right lane,almost exclusively - when there are exits every mile, there's always someone getting off, learn to dodge the onramp traffic - by catching a moving segment of the next lane, and cut back right, after all the oncomings have merged, and you will be able to dice your way through all of the sheeple whose strategy is to immediatly merge as far left as possible, causing miles of brake lights, and slowdowns for the leftmost lanes, hereby freeing up the right lane for those of us who will beat the crap out of them, chronologicly, to their destination. And again, the rougher you look, the easier it is...
It also helps to be able to identify "slowers", and get around them asafp.
I hope none of our truck driving AFM brethern are reading this...
Not timid. In fact, many people I know joke about how aggressively (not stupidly, just aggressively) I drive. I just don't want to risk wrecking my Mustang for a testosterone battle when the only possible result is crumpled metal. As I said, in traffic that slow, I rarely leave more than a HALF a car length in front of me and I never idle out of gear but sit with the car in gear and the clutch pressed in, ready to move as soon as traffic moves. People still literally wedge their way in, even though my lane isn't going any faster, so that it is let them in or be in a wreck, period. Having driven in this area for seventeen years, I have seen wrecks like that happen all too often. As for semis, even though Knoxville isn't as big a city as many others, we have more than our fair share of them. As I said, I-40 and I-75, the main East-West Interstate and the main North-South Interstate for this region intersect just outside of Knoxville and do not split until the other side of Knoxville. That means that almost every single Semi that is travelling from anywhere to destinations in the Southeast portion of the United States most likely goes right through the busiest part of Knoxville. My dad was a long-haul trucker, so I know that many of them are very good drivers who often have to watch out for the idiotic moves of people in cars. I also know from my own observances that some of these big rig drivers should not be allowed on a tricycle, much less an 18 wheeler. Around here, some of these guys will drive a semi pulling a trailer as if they are in a Porsche - weaving through traffic, doing twenty miles over the speed limit in congested areas, etc. As I said, I know there are good drivers behind the wheel of some big rigs, but at least a couple of times a week we have a semi that either cuts into an occupied lane and runs over a car or gets going so fast the driver runs over two or three cars when traffic suddenly slows or, my favorite, the driver goes to sleep (or is drunk, stoned, etc.) and crosses the median at eighty-plus miles an hour and plows a vehicle going the other direction. I always try to stay out of the blind spot of semis, but it doesn't really matter. Many of them will come over even when they know you are there. To some of them, it seems like a game they play. They obviously have the attitude that they are bigger than you and you will move - and if there is nowhere for you to go, it's not their problem.
Your strategy of staying in the right hand lane might work except for the fact that there is always construction on the Interstate around here. As that is also run by a government department, it can't be done in any manner that makes any sense. During a months long construction project, you might have construction in a particular zone in the leftmost lane one day and the right lane the next, only to move back to the leftmost lane the day after. You just kind of have to guess by traffic flow which lane they have decided to close on any given day. Add to that the fact that there are currently two back to back exits - two of the three busiest exits in Knoxville, I might add - which are being completely redone (complete with one lane of the Interstate closed at each of those exits) at the same time and you see why no logical system of driving ever works around here - because there is no logic to construction or traffic patterns. I have driven once in Chicago during morning rush hour and in Atlanta and Nashville during morning and evening rush hours on several different occasions and I have repeatedly said that despite the heavier traffic I would ten times rather drive in one of those places during rush hour than in Knoxville in even moderately heavy traffic. In fact, last year we were staying in a cabin in the state park at Gulf Shores, Alabama the week Hurricane Ivan hit. We were told to evacuate about a day and a half before it slammed into the Gulf coast. As you might imagine, traffic was a nightmare, but I can honestly say that even people who thought they might be fleeing for their lives didn't drive as crazy as Knoxville traffic on an ordinary work day. Some friends of mine moved to L.A. a few years back and when they returned here for visits they would always comment how L.A. drivers would never survive in Knoxville because Knoxvillians are so much more aggressive and how they never realized how insane Knoxville drivers were. These are people who moved from Knoxville to Atlanta and then to L.A., are stuck in L.A. rush hour traffic for two hours on the way home almost every day and drving in Knoxville still unnerves them. Add to all this the fact that we have many more people coming through this area (with no idea where they are going and completely unused to the insanity) to vacation in the Smoky Mountains and you get an idea of how nuts it can get. Especially when you consider that a lot of the vacationers drive small cars all year long and then suddenly think they can drive their RV the same way as their Neon. The only place I have ever been where I can say the drivers are honestly more nuts than some of the people around here was Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. You must have to have nerves of steel and ice water in your veins to be a taxi driver there!
You guys ought to drive for a living and have the view as I'm 8 feet up in the air! I see it all!
I've often said if a traffic cop just rode with me for a week he'd go home cryin every night in frustration as he is not seeing even a little bit of the antics some people pull.
Most traffic jams are caused by thos drivers that think they are special. No turn signals and wait until the last moment to merge for the exit...you know the type...
Did the over the road thing for 44 yrs and retired 16 months ago,did the 4 western provinces and the 8 western states and had enough of the morons on the road.
I get that crap all the time. Those are the people that I'm happy to demonstrate the Mustang's capability to......
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I Hate GM, deal with it.
One shot, One Kill! Don't waste ammo, it's pricey!
2005 GT Screaming Yellow: SLP Loudmouths
Ibanez guitars, S&W revolvers, Glock Semi's
Republican write in Presidential Candidate 2012
I drive in the worst (depending on which study you read, we sometimes rank as low as 2nd behind LA) traffic congestion in the country. And yes, I have to constantly battle shoe-size morons that probably couldn't pass a decent driving test to get a license (Georgia's test is an absolute joke - I know of a friend from Canada who passed the test and got a license by ACCIDENT when he went down to pick up a study manual and ended up in a line to take the test... He was a non-driver at the time!).
My car has baer brakes and hawk shoes, and she'll stop quicker than most cars on the highway - a good thing, since I frequently have to warm them up and clamp them down to avoid killing idiots. Recently I had a problem with a guy with an SRT-4, who would come sweeping up beside me in rush hour traffic at a 4 lane merge area and rev his raspy exhaust, looking for a race through multiple lanes of wildly merging traffic. He did this several times, with what looked like increasing frustration, until finally he missed a gear when he did it the other morning and blew hell out of his neon! Its obvious he had some aftermarket gear (probably the Stage 3 Dodge kit) on her, and had bypassed any safety features in the EEC system. The poor little car ended up on the side of the road, oil pouring on the pavement and smoke streaming to the sky...
Hated to see a nice car trashed, but there IS justice in the world!
tripleblack
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tripleblack
"You can never be free until you let yourself go."
Are people this desperate to pass a Mustang? 
