Fast is relative

Is it difficult for most of you that race to keep a poker face when someone (relative, friend, acquaintance) talks about how fast their daily driver is?

We had a kid that interned for us last Summer. He was going on about how his new Mazda made 250 HP! My boss laughed and said "Mark sprays more than that on his Bigblock!"

A while back I used to dep / stand in for bands as a bass player. One band, I had a couple of weeks work, the lead guitarist referred to his Honda Prelude as "The Beast". I thought he was just kidding but he was deadly serious
The look on his face when I rumbled up for a rehearsal in the Challenger was priceless

Very embarrassing: Dad owned a new 1956 Studebaker Hawk with the 259" V8, I timed it to 0-60 from tollbooths many times (I was 12). So, he knew what's up, at least at the time

Years later, he looked at a 1963 Dart convertible, and asked the salesman "Which engine is that?". The lying POS, understanding what Dad wanted to hear, replied with great enthusiasm "It's the BIG engine!".
Dad bought the car.
Yes, it was a 170" slant 6.

Fast is relative" - so true. Back in the mid 80's, a co-worker had a Honda civic. It was the high powered CRX? version which was a mid 16 second car, compared the the standard version which was a second slower. But in his mind, he was driving the equivalent of a turbo Carrera, and he drove it like he stole it, foot to the floor all the time. But he was always pontificating about how American cars were pigs, slow and ill handling, but Japanese and European cars were fast and nimble. Which of course I disagreed with. At the time I was driving a 442 with a very stout 455, Nash 5 speed, and a few suspension mods. A low 13 high 12 car.
So we agreed to go for a ride with each other to judge each others car. I rode with him first. He pounded thru the gears with the little banger revving to the moon, darted in and out of traffic, having to get a good running start to pass people.
Then it was my turn. I took him on a classic death cruise. Roaring V8, tires blazing, banging gears, 0 - 100 in about 12 seconds, Shoot right up to 120 without breaking a sweat, hard launches, breaking them loose on the freeway, a throwing it around some hard corners. I was out to make a point.
He was shocked and scared to death! He said he had no idea, and was totally amazed at what the car did. It was a fun day.

These stories are great!!

Up until I had my Charger, I hadn't ridden in anything even remotely fast. I thought my Charger was quick and was happy with it, until around when I switched jobs and was working for Roush in their powertrain division. I then got to drive lots of stuff that had ridiculous power at freeway speeds and my perspective started changing.

Around that time, I met another friend who had a Regal that would go 10.0's @ 135+ on motor, and after a few rides in that, it is my new benchmark for a fast street car, and honestly I'm probably not going to be happy until I can get there with mine. That's stuck with me, even through various other cars and motorcycles. I had a Hayabusa for a while and that would give you tunnel vision in 2nd and 3rd gear, but the sensation is different than any type of car.

Last month I gave a ride to one of my neighbor kids in my Fury and wasn't expecting him to be excited about it as it feels slow to me, but his baseline was a Miata and he walked away impressed and excited for how obnoxious it was. That's a win, lol

Pretty much anything feels slow after you get used to it though, no matter how quick it is. Another friend has a Mustang that he has run both as a grudge car and in LDR trim, it typically goes low 4.30's/high 4.20's in the 8th. Even he says it feels slow after a season.

I made the mistake of taking a total novice for a ride in my street/strip car. There were some afternoon drinks happening near me, out in the country, so I decided to take my 'cuda for a drive. 650rwhp, 5800 stall converter, blah blah blah. I got a bit of attention when i rolled in, car barely has an exhaust, & an acquaintance gf asked me if my car would make it home?. She thought the engine was about to expire when I said, thats how it normally sounds & is seriously faster than her Honda. Well the conversation kept popping back up, she thought her Honda was pretty trick, so I said I'll take her for a short ride down this straight bit of road nearby. She's in the car, belted in, I start the car, 1x engine mount is solid, & instantly the vibration has her perked up. We amble down the road to the straight part & I drop back a gear & nail it. never seen her eyes so wide open lol. I turn around at the end of the straight, stopped & launched the car hard. It hooked & off we go, bang bang thru the gears & then coasted back to the party. We get there & shes asking me to bring her bf over & told me to go away. 5 mins later theyre gone. When I decide to leave I get in the car & theres this funny smell in the car, urine!!. crazy tart peed herself & was too embarrassed to tell me.I've seen her since but she steers clear of me, the bf did apologize for her. Honda faster than a big block Mopar? yeah right.

It really is fun when you take someone for a ride in a stick shift car with lots of torque. You see that look on their face when you hammer through the gears without letting off the gas and before you know it you are over 120 MPH with very little effort.

Gus

GF's nephew has an 85 Vette. He claims it runs 10s. I don't think it even has headers in it.

My Senior year of high school my car ran 13.20s or so, but it ran real good MPH around 110-111 because the stock converter really clipped the 340 down low. I went to Vo-tech in the afternoon and of course everyone there had a race car, or thought they did. I was totally honest about what my car ran, but everyone had 12 second cars, or their brother did or something. There was possibly a few after school acceleration contests where my honest 13 second car absolutely murdered "12" second cars lol.

One of my favorites was a kid that had a real nice 455 lemans. It was a super nice car but it was just stock and probably worn out. He did a burnout in front of me at an intersection and the race began in tandem style. I was able to mover over and pass him like it was a combine on a country road. Lots of confusion back at school a that a 455 could be so slow compared to a 340 lol.

I think the last good street action I had was in my wifes 18 Hemi Durango. Some guy in an M series BMW was deep staging on me and his lane was the one that ended. I knew the light cycle better than him and got the holeshot, he had to tap before his lane ended lol.

Always had too chuckle when someone would walk in to my pit area look at my 9.0 second Cuda and ask what does it do 0 to 60.

Probably 1/8th mile.

I had a guy talking trash that his 318 Poly car ran 10's and was just as fast as my Bigblock car.

Then he realized mine was 1/4 and his was 1/8th mile times..

"runs 10s"
Time from the eighth, speed from the half

Not as much of "a thing" since Drag Week took off, but I used the chuckle when people would see my car on the track and then in the pits later. Had more than one person ask where my trailer was, until it dawned on them that I actually drove it in (unless I had to point it out to them).

The other comparison is when even you think the other guy's car is faster. A friend of mine w/ an Olds 442 took me for a ride and I thought it would kick my Super Bee's a$$. Then we went to the track together and he was a few tenths slower, which kinda shocked both of us.

My "other car" is a Lexus SC300 with the Supra turbo 3 liter L6 engine, with mods now about 520 hp.
It won't launch (can't spool up the stock converter), but the 40-70 (parkway merge event) is 2 seconds.

Those are cool cars. One of my co workers had one and it was awesome. It was the stock I6 but still a neat car. He sold it a couple of years ago and kick himself over that all the time.

Passenger seat always feels faster.

This reminds me of the kid at test and tune a couple years ago. He asked how much hp my Dart had I told him around 600, he informed me his Mustang had over 800. I asked whose dyno it had been on? He said it hadn't been on one, but his friends Mustang had over 900 hp and would just barely get by him at the stripe, so his had 800. Somehow , later in the night we ended up beside each other in the lanes, my Dart ran a mid 6.30 pass and his 800 hp Mustang made a mid 7 second pass. He and his very hot and scantily clad girlfriend came to my pit afterwards and she was hammering him because I busted him on the tree.

So what I find really funny is for YEARS I have been babbling to my wife about the car. She has no real interest in cars, so I think in one ear out the other. A couple of years ago she tells me about a coworker who just wouldn’t shut up about his brutally quick late 70’s stock small block Camaro. On and on and on he babbles months on end in this condescending mansplaining way. She finally has had enough, and BAM! Every detail about the car, every track its been to, the quickest its been. 1/4! Mph! 60’! WHAM! Details about the class I run. I can just see the poor dude standing there with his mouth open staring…………then she goes for the throat! “You should go to the next race. your car just has to look stock you’ll fit right in.” She worked with him for 5-6 years more, never brought up the subject of cars again. I felt a little bad for him. One thing this hobby has taught me, you might not realize the old dude standing next to you has forgotten more about racing than you will ever know.

In 1968 my dad bought a new SS396/350hp Chevelle.
4.10’s and a 4 speed.

He drove me to school in it that first day.
Hammered it through the gears a few times on the way.

Sure seemed pretty fast at the time to the 9yo me.

1st weekend of ownership it was out at Islip dragway on Long Island.
In totally off-the-showroom condition it ran tire frying 15’s.

I belive this phenomenon is still very alive and well. Just attend any cruise night or car show and listen to the conversations. I always enjoy the "opinions" of the uninformed

Decades ago, I rode a Kawasaki H2 750cc 3-cylinder 2-stroke, when introduced was the fastest production bike at 74 hp.
Now it's 12.0 ET is not even in the top 20.

my charger is slow, it will never be fast, and there will always be someone faster than me.

https://youtu.be/IGnCZZlvywE

Nope, 1/4 mile. It gets real fast after a six pack of Natty Light.

And you're still alive?

I used to think my 70 Cuda 440 4 speed was pretty quick…
Then I bought this

I never experienced any of the bad manners complained of for the early models, like head shaking on hard brakes (later had longer swingarm, which increased the wheelbase and shifted the CG forward), only wheelied too easily.
Oddly enough, a 100 lb. passenger tamed it down quite a bit, opposite of what I was told.
Decades later I sold it to someone in Germany who restored it.

iI looks like he has lost more than one fight in his lifetime judging by his front teeth, I wonder how many street races he has lost