Greatest Driving Moments

[Todd Phenneger]

Ok,
  I'll share.
  Skip to the last two if your in a hurry.  They are the good
ones. :-)  The first 4 are pretty lame.
  A few I can think of.  And not all of them in Great cars or
anything.  In chronological order.  (i prefer not to rate by
greatness)
1)  My first time driving a 5-speed.  It was my Dads Ferrari 308
GT+4 before he sold it.  Needed a new Tranny anyhow.  (Hence him
selling it, $5k was to much to come up with).  But what fun that
was to first drive a 5-speed at 14 and have it be that.  Only
got to 2nd though.
2) Racing my friends 70' Monte Carlo in my 65' Buick Riviera. 
Ahh, the feel of 401 cubes and over 400 lb ft of torque.  Thing
died at 4,200 RPM which was about 120mph in 3rd.  But that was
enough to have fun.  As long as you only had to go straight and
didn't have to stop. :-)
3)  My old Jeep Cherokee.  Many happy memories.  Famous for its
flights down Freya Ave.  (A Really Steep hill in Spokane with
two big jumps.  The second one you can FLY off of and literally
go way down hill airborne.  No roads after the second one for
people to pull out of either).  Ohh the memories.  Stupid
memories, I'm lucky I didn't hurt someone but oh the memories. 
That Jeep was the only car I ever drove that could maintain
composure down that hill above 45mph. 
4)  My first high speed drive.  Dad got a Mazda Millenia and
after a few months I just HAD to test it out.  Back roads of
Idaho on Highway 95.  Nice long straight with fields on either
side and great visibility.  Hit a little over 130mph.  My first
time going that fast and in a car that felt rock solid at that
speed.  OoooOoooo.

5) I can NOT forget my first Rally.  I co-drove in a 5ktq Rally
car with Chris Tudor.  I'd watched 2-rallies up to this point
and many on TV.  I was nervous, book in hand.  Close the window,
10 seconds.  5, Braaapp 4, Braaappp, 3, BRaaaaaa 2 BAM  gravel
flying.  Head snaps back.  10 seconds later I remember, SHIT,
I'm supposed to be telling this guy where he's going.  WHere am
I.  Medium Right I yell.  We fly to the right.  90 Left I yell. 
High Exposure.  WE turn and doing about 70mph at 15psi WOT I
look to the left.  "Exposure I think,  tHats a f*#king CLIFF". 
Chris says, whats down there.  You dont want to know, Just stay
on the damn road.  "What the hell was I thinking, people do this
for fun?"   My hearts doing probably 180 beats a minute, my
stomach is in my throat.  I've done some crazy driving before. 
(Remmeber Frey Hill up above)  but this was like nothign I'd
EVER experienced.  I'm very at home flying sideways on dirt
roads as I grew up on them.  And the harness and Cage make you
fell almost invincible so the corners didn't bother me.  It was
the 80mph speeds with large dropoffs that scared the bejiebies
out of me.
  Well, we did 4 rallies that year.  And I LOVED it.  Now my
4ktq is destined to be a Rally car.  I'm very competitive and
after a couple rallies I realized, I need to drive.  For some
riding is great, perfect.  And MUCH cheaper.  But I want to
drive.  

5) Many more little ones.  But I do actually have a best driving
experience.  With Adam Dieckerhoff.  (NW lister that was on this
list years ago)  When we went down to Pikes Peak for the first
Pikes Peak event.  My 4kq had new RE-71's on it.  205/50-15. 
Good shocks if somewhat worn suspension bushings, etc.  ANd I
was dying to let it go.  It had been wrecked a few months
earlier and was freshly back on the road.  Unmatched body panels
and everything.  But through the Montana twisties we maintained
speeds over 100mph for about an hour.  There was little to no
traffic, and the corners were all marked at 45-55mph.  Oh what a
feeling.  My first time really getting comfortable at that
speed.  I'd done Auto Crosses before, but cornering at 100mph is
a little different.  :-)   The car was rock solid stable and
even lifting at speed didn't unsettle it.  I still had reserve
grip to go around.  Adam was a little nervous at first untill I
let him drive and he discovered how well composed the car was at
that speed.  Even at 120mph around some of the longer sweepers
it just felt GREAT.  A BMW tried to keep up for a short while on
a straighter section but back in the twisties he quickly
disapperared.  Same thing with a Honda.  I got dark eventually
and we couldn't to 100 again till morning 80miles from the
border.  Which took us about 45 minutes. :-)   But on the trip
back home we did Denver to Coeur d'Alene in about 14 hours if
memory serves.  That little engine ate a quart or two of Mobil 1
on that trip but rad fine to 190k when the clutch let go and I
put the turbo in. :-)

 Happy memories.  I think I live in one of the better areas to
have fun driving.  Now I think I'll go run some errands.  4"
fresh snow on the Ground and the 4ktq is waiting outside. 
Coil-overs and Gislaved Snow's waiting. :-)
l8r everyone.
   Todd


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices. 
http://auctions.yahoo.com/