And yet another humorous experience in Oakland County...
 

On saturday, I had to wake up at 6:30 in order to get an early start with some plumbing repair that I volunteered to help with. At 7:00am, I am on the road, heading north, when I pull up to a stoplight next to an older Saturn SC. The car looks bone stock, right down to the wheel-barrow sized wheels and tires. Except, it has a universal aftermarket muffler poking out the back end. The Saturn was in the left lane, between me and the freeway on-ramp just a block or so ahead of me. Somehow, I had to get around him - either let him pass me, or pass him, or I would miss my chance to get on to I-75. So, I decided to get around him. He saw my lowered down car, and wanted to "go for it" anyways. So, the light turns, and I get on the gas and start working my way through the gears. He was revving his Saturn pretty hard. I flew past him, and was able to get on to the freeway. I set the cruise control at 75, and sat back for the relaxing drive ahead. Moments later, the Saturn flew past me at a speed much higher than that. But I let him pass, as I had just spanked him good and hard. What really surprised me, is that the P5 pulled away so effortlessly from the SC, with just the few bolt-ons that I have in place. I thought he was quite a bit slower, but not by such a wide margin...

fs-de's make nice torque for that 0-60 run you did....

mmmm torque... i went to pick my struts and springs up which were just delivered at my mother in laws and on my way back to work i blew away a lowered ZX3 with exhaust and about 50 hp in stickers. i love how quickly this thing accelerates.

Yeah, that torque is nice. It makes our cars feel faster than they really are. I know it's imposssible, but I FEEL as if I am doing 0-60 in about seven seconds.

I have driven a Saturn SL before (actually, several of them that my company owned). They literally suck. They bang and crash over broken pavement. The panel gaps inside and out are bigger than Texas- I could store a bologne sandwich in the gap between the HVAC controls and the dash. In contrast to the sweet, thick burble of a nicely tuned FS-DE, the Saturns have sort of a muffled mini-cement mixer sound under the hood, coupled with a symphony of buzzes and rattles. And that's stock. I can't imagine making that engine more coarse and rude sounding, but this guy did it. And his bare-chapped ass paid the price for it headed north on John R.

damm i didnt kno wa pro could do all that. by any chance u know wat color that saturn was?? I might of seen his p.o.s drivin down telegraph. Hey u guys should com to the races on friday. they hav these awsome races on telegraph&joy rd. Im gonna be there around 10:00pm. i hav a green 99 pro with a big spoiler and altezza tails...if i happen to see u guys u can actually see my ride so ya can tell everyone here that i aint bullshittin about the mods im doin!!!!

oh and park at randazzo's lot....if ur coomin south it'll be on the left...and if ur commin north it'll be on the right. BTW: watch out for som cops caz they'll try to bust ya, but mostly not a big deal...

....for Michigan Protege enthusiasts, I recommend going to Waterford Hills raceway on one of the four open track days this summer, to give yourself a taste of what your car will do.

You will be required to bring a helmet, pass a brief safety inspection (where they make sure your coolant isn't leaking, etc), pay a flat fee to run the car that day, and then the fun begins. The cost isn't cheap, but track marshalls and other support are on hand, and you'll get to throw your car around some of the best curves in all of Michigan. Racing on a course like this is far more rewarding than racing in a straight line, in a car as well balanced and adept at handling as a Protege. You don't need to be an SCCA member, and you will be spaced apart from other cars that are out there so that you don't get into too much trouble. This is a great, safe, legit way to explore the limits of your car without becoming a full-fledged racer or putting others (and yourself) at risk on public roads. I will try to find out more details (dates and cost) when I get a chance. I plan on doing this for my bachelor party, so I am definitely sold on the idea myself.

As for racing on Telegraph.... that is going to be a big ticket, and yes the cops do patrol it. Particularly on weekend nights, when cops are hidden out all over big Detroit boulevards, looking to catch the drunks coming out of the bars.

BTW, at the last open track day at Waterford Hills, the amount of cars that showed up was rather light. People were able to spend a lot of time out on the course that day from what I heard, and decided to head home and call it a day when they got tired out!

oh damm i didnt know there was a track and i've been livin in michigan all my life :yell: yeah i guess ur right about that street racing stuff...but still its an altimate rush when u race a few cars or 2!!! thanx for the tip

Every Saturn Ive ever run has been extremely slow.

...if drag racing is your thing, there are several "imports versus domestics" races down at Milan Dragway off of US-23 over the summer time. Anyone can go and run... I work with a guy that took his Neon there last year.

There are a lot of good tracks in Michigan... you just need to choose the type of racing that you would like to do.

....except for the Ion Redline. Think of it as a Cobalt SS with much worse panel fit (dent resistant panels expand in the sun), a cheaper interior, and a center mounted instrument cluster (for no good reason).

And, yes - you can polish a turd. There are fast Saturns out there. Presumably built by car enthusiasts that hate the buying experience enough to sink down and buy an SL or an Ion in the first place, and repentant enough to try and make up for it by dumping a ton of cash into aftermarket parts. IMO, a stock Saturn is a sh*tty car. A heavily modified one cannot be more than a fast sh*tty car.

I will not change my tune until the Sky roadster begins to show up on dealer lots. That might just be the first Saturn that they build for "us".

Untill you get stopped....by an off duty Police Officer,

Search many posts made about me getting a ticket, and talking about my friends CRX, well, He was with a girl and some other guy, this girl is diabetic, jake says he "paniced"...was in between to trucks(one being my stepdads) and flys in between them..and flies down the road, (b/c the girls sugar had gotten low) and does probably around 100+, well he gets to the end of the road, and scott finally catches up(stepdad) and jake thinks noone saw him do it, scott did, and stayed right behind him, so the CRX pulls into a DQ parking lot, scot turns in also(by this time, scott had already called both the other police officers in the area), jake told scott his story, and tried about fifty million things.....scotts response? If she was gettin low on sugar then why didnt you take her to the hopsital you were just near?, he got a ticker for wreckless driving, he goes to court on thursday, this will be his 2nd ticket, but scott is also going to inform the judge about everything else also, such as seeing him speeding all the time when off duty...

anyways, you can even get tickets from off duty officers...be careful....

waaat!!!...i didnt know u can get a ticket from an off duty officer!! :barf: anyhow that was intersting to hear. oh btw: this butthole in a 98 STANG GT(stock) was tryin to race me the other day on ford rd in dearborn. i was just minding my own buisness when i saw this asshole comming quickly in my rearview; so then this cat cuts me off and rides in front of me. Next minute i just krank the gas and nothing but ...blowing smoke on that stang. i mean i hit a hundred in a 50mph zone. he beat me off the line cause it was a stick but then i just....wooooommm..right past him. so then he tried to catch up and i lost him; there were like 3 cars in the way and i went right between them. i looked in my rearview and he was like a mile away stuck in a traffic jam...heheheheh :FU2: .