Corvette/Camaro/Viper drivers putzing down the road.

[HappyFather]

Originally Posted by cometclear

Why is it that when I come upon these cars, they are invariably driving below the speed limit? It never fails. Not once, but twice today. First it was a Viper, then, later, a Corvette. With the Vette, we are on an on-ramp, and Middle-Aged Dude refuses to accelerate until he realizes I am behind in the missus's Kia and about ready to just merge from behind to get around him. I get around and then he goes back to putzing.

In all my years, I have yet to have to pass a Porsche, Lotus, Ferrari et cetera, when I have encountered one. Is this a product of who buys actual sports cars versus "muscle cars?" Can someone explain this? The point of buying one o these cars and then driving like an 80 year-old granny escapes me.

LOL! I understand very well what you are talking about. I agree with you 100% I will tell you a story of the only time I have ever seen a high end car has ever drive faster than the speed limit.

A few years back, my wife and I were on a road trip to Las Vegas from Washington State. We were flying down the road in excess of 110 mph in her 2003 Toyota Camry. Somewhere in the middle of Nevada, a convoy of Ford GT's came poking along up behind us and followed us for many miles. We were the lead car in this convoy of $500k cars. We even blew past a state trooper going about 98 mph. The trooper did not even hit the brake lights going the opposit direction. Nothing. Many miles down the road we saw a huge nasty black cloud heading towards us with a haze of rain below the cloud. Once the convoy of Ford GT's saw the cloud in front of us, they took off from 100 mph to top speed in seconds. I have never seen or heard such an awsome display of horse power in my life. After the convoy of exotic cars passed and disapeared into the yonder, we finally hit the wall of rain that we had feared. Not only was there rain, there was hail about the size of a BB. We finally realized that we were in the middle of a flash flood and doing everything we could to keep the Camry the road. Out of the blue there was a HUGE gas station with a HUGE covered filling area. And guess what we saw parked under the cover? We saw the entire convoy of Ford GT's parked under the cover waiting the storm out. LOL! This is the only time that I have ever seen any sort of exotic sports car drive faster than the speen limit.

[GTOlover]

Originally Posted by stilldriveem

Oh yeah. Sometimes I think they are slowing down for the next red light before they ever leave the one their at! That has always been a pet peeve of mine. I can leave in my 78 Pinto for god sakes and get to the store and back before they ever leave the driveway. Of course, I am a very impatient person. Always have been. But really, I pass these guys all the time in my 40 year old cars. I just don't understand it. I am always taking corners, bumps, etc., etc., faster than most, even in my oldies.

well so you did all that flooring burned all that gas and the sports car got as far as you and did not waste a bunch of gas stop light racing on the street like a responsible driver should typically does and a person in a Corvette or M3 is not going to race a pinto to the next red light at the next intersection to only have to sit and wait till the next light.

You sound like you will learn the hard way why driving like you do is stupid reckless and outs not just yourself but other people in danger and sports cars that are stick shift do that is called engine braking since it reduces wear on the bakes and prevent them from overheating and in emergency's have faded and reduced braking can lead to a serous but avoidable accident and you probably know the cost of brakes pads and Rotors or f you brakes are shoot then driving like you do is a recipe for disaster.

Engine braking passively reduces wear on brakes and helps a driver maintain control of the vehicle. Active use of engine braking (shifting into a lower gear) is advantageous when it is necessary to control speed while driving down very steep and long slopes.

It should be applied before regular disk or drum brakes have been used, leaving the brakes available to make emergency stops. The desired speed is maintained by using engine braking to counteract the gravitational acceleration.

Engine braking is a generally accepted practice and can help save wear on friction brakes. It's even used in some motor sports to reduce the risk of the friction brakes overheating. Additionally, most modern engines don't use any fuel while engine braking which helps reduce fuel consumption.

[duster1979]

Originally Posted by GTOlover

Additionally, most modern engines don't use any fuel while engine braking which helps reduce fuel consumption.

Nice Wikipedia quote taken out of context. This line refers to Deceleration Fuel Cut-Off where the engine is completely turned off during the braking process. Not a very practical method in most cases, especially when driving in traffic.

Whether or not engine braking saves fuel depends entirely on the alternative the driver would use. It's not a more fuel-efficient practice in an of itself.

[zevin11]

I've noticed the same thing. My guess is that they've already received a bunch of speeding tickets and don't want another. This is why I like sleeper cars - much less likely to be noticed by the police.