Tantalizing things...

[jsbowden]

So, last Sunday (not yesterday, but the previous) we drove down to Va. Beach to visit some friends. There were some people I meant to get together with, but circumstances dictated otherwise. In any event, the peeps we were hanging out with have a 2007 Porsche 911 (997 chassis) which is damn fine bit of machinery. We didn't get to drive it, but we will, oh yes, preciousss...we will.

While chatting about German cars and what not, it came up that I've never really pushed my car to see just what it can do. I play a little on the corners, but really, I'm not even close to the limit, and on public roads, I'm not going to be. The condition of most of the roads and the presence of other drivers dictate being fairly conservative. I'm fine with this, but I would like to drive outside the box, as it were, just to see what it's like.

Well, said Porsche owner and his brother (they've both owned various flavors of noted high end German auto maker's line) mentioned that they do track days at the VIR on occasion. It was just sort of an idle thought, but it's done gone and got all stuck in my head. I'll bring my BMW, they'll bring the Porsches, and, another of our friends has an 04 Corvette with some performance mods. I'd be outclassed, but I'm okay with that since it's not an actual race or anything. I just think it'd be a seriously fun day.

Comments

Re: Naw...

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

But then you'd have a Volvo POS. I don't know about Mercedes, but I know BMW will ship your car to the states (they even have special factory pick up plan...you drive your car around Munich and Nurburgring for a few days, then they ship it to the stateside BMW dealer of your choice for final delivery.)

Re: Naw...

[knotheadusc.livejournal.com]

Beamers are pretty expensive, though, aren't they?

What the hell... by the time we're done in Germany, at least one of Bill's ungrateful urchins will no longer be getting child support... and I plan to have all credit cards paid off within the next year.

Re: Naw...

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

Depends on what you buy. Also, you're get much better pricing in Germany than over here. Especially if you look at Merc. Daimler is like GM in Germany. Benzs are taxi cabs over there for a reason...they're cheap.

Re: Naw...

[knotheadusc.livejournal.com]

What's wrong with Volvos, other than the fact that they're now owned by Ford?

Re: Naw...

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

There's nothing wrong with them, but they aren't exceptional either. They're generic euro-car at this point. Volvos are no safer than their counterparts, and considering the size of their turning radius, I'd argue that they aren't as nimble as they could or should be.

Re: Naw...

[knotheadusc.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... Well, I've never driven one. There are a lot of military sales options open to us, though. We could buy a Saab.

Re: Naw...

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

Saabs are nice cars. GM at this point, but still semi independent and doing their own engines and design (unlike Volvo, which is pretty integrated into the Ford whole).

Re: Naw...

[knotheadusc.livejournal.com]

I just found a BMW that I like... but it's about 50 grand!

Re: Naw...

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

135i Convertible?

Re: Naw...

[knotheadusc.livejournal.com]

No... it's a 335i.

Re: Naw...

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, the current version of what I drive. If I were buying one today, I'd get the 135i. Same engine, but lighter. I saw one up close a few weeks back, and they're much better looking to me than the current 3 series. But yeah, my 330Ci Conv. was 50k.