RX-7 Therapy [10 years ago]
09-11-11, 02:17 PM
#1
NA Powah, Every Hour!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Sacramento, CA, U S of A
Posts: 1,302
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RX-7 Therapy [10 years ago]
First post in long time, thought I'd repost this after 10 years:
So I've been watching all the coverage today and just couldn't take it anymore. I went outside and went for a walk. It helped a little bit, but my brain kept replaying the days events. Tried to do some online stuff, but everyone is talking about what happened today. Time for a drive. Yep, the cure for the tension, the anger today has spawned: RX-7 Therapy.
I hopped in my GTUs, started it up. She purred to life, and I flicked the headlight switch. Up come the Hella lead-crystal Euro headlights from Germany, with Piaa Super Whites. I back the car out of the garage, and head on out. I putt until she get's up to temperature, and hit Watt Ave. Get stuck at a light, but I take the free lane, which merges after crossing the intersection. So I've got to dog the guy next to me, a truck, no big deal. I get my revs up a bit, and the light turns green. I'm out of the hole and winding out 1st. Give him a nice sharp backfire, and get over. I see a 240SX (S13) in front of me, I keep my foot in and pass him. He doesn't chase.
Hit the onramp for 50East, keep it in second with the revs up. No one's in front so I can push it. Let the car push out at the bottom of the ramp as the right foot goes down. Under the overpass, shift into 3rd. Listen to the backfire echo off the walls. Get bunched up behind a truck merging, keep it in 3rd. Merge in 3rd, winding it out. Shift short at 7K, into 4th, 90mph. Let the car coast down to 80mph. Mellow out a bit, take the Bradshaw exit, take Bradshaw to Jackson Highway.
Get caught up in slow traffic, feel the tension build as the eyes strain for an open stretch of road. Dotted yellow, 3rd gear spinning up. Pass one...dive back in...wait...pop out again...BUZZER<shift> BACKFIRE. Start hitting around 90mph on Jackson. Flick the highs on, the Piaa's light up the world. Pass Excelsior, where Sac Raceway is. It's dark. Put the hammer down in 4th on the downhill towards a distant light. 90...100...110...coming up on traffic for the red light. See a big rig 3 cars up, I get left behind at the red but the truck and following cars make it. I sit at the light pondering my passing strategy on the big rig and conga line. Watch more cars make the left onto Jackson and two dumptrucks, and I ponder how I'm going to dig through all of them.
The light turns green. Wind out first, backfire, wind out second, backfire, keep it in third and look for holes. Again, the tension rises, watching the long line of traffic winding ahead of me. I wait, and am rewarded with the dumptrucks pulling off. Now just to take care of the conga line. I gobble them down by ones and twos, 3rd gear spinning up to 8000rpm+. It's the big rig's turn, and the two cars in front of it. Huge straightaway. Drop the hammer, pop out into the suicide lane. The buzzer lingers as I shift into 4th at 100+, the big rig is rewarded with flames and backfires. The two cars in front get to see the 4 small red circles of my tailights get progressively smaller as I keep it hammered. Flick the brights, and settle in for some traffic free motoring.
The German Glass and the Japanese Bulbs team up to push back the night. Reflectors light up from seemingly miles away, I feel like I'm playing Night Racer. Keep it in 4th, let the rotary spin spin. Try to judge sweeping corners at 100+ in the inky black. Shift into third when the corners tighten, let the 13B drag the speed down. Straightaway, into fourth and hammer again. This is repeated over and over, no one in front, seemingly no one coming. Get into the groove, listen to the Racing Beat downpipe and HKS 50mm exhaust throw flames. Feel the tension ease, the day's terrible events pushed back, the only thing that's important is the line, the apex.
See tailights far ahead, reel them in. Come up with all kinds of closure, flit by them in the suicide lane. Show them your tailights, your dual tips barking flames as you disappear into the night. Back into the groove, note the haze, the light fog in the flats. Smile as you think of that dense air getting sucked into the GReddy Airinx and down into the hungry maw of the 13B that just keeps spinning and spinning. Follow the road into the foothills, into unknown territory. Keep the hammer down, note the 45mph signs as you're well above that. Lift, let the car begin to slow as you roll into some small town.
You can hear the tink tink! of the HKS mufflers as they try and bleed off the awesome heat generated by the rotary. Do a U-turn and head back the way you came. Again, no one in front, no one coming. Let the trochoids do their thing. Keep your eyes peeled for Old Sacramento Road to your right. Smile to yourself as you see all the traffic you passed finally catch up after you've already stopped at a stopsign, done a u-turn, and come back.
There's the sign: Old Sacramento Road. Fun time. Bust the right, wind out second, listen to the bark of unburnt fuel being ignited into twin ***** of expanding flame. Wind out 3rd and see the oncoming ungulations in the road being thrown into stark relief by the Piaa's. It looks like a roller coaster, and you're trying to get some "hang time". Try as you might, you can't get the car airborne, but it does get light. See the two reflector arrows shine brightly for the hairpin right you're approaching at 80+. Hard on the binders, the 4 piston aluminum calipers squeezing the Bonez pads tight to the disc, heel toe into second and back on the gas.
The AVS Intermediates grip, and you keep it in second as your headlights show every pavement irregularity ahead of you. The car squirms and you can't help but laugh as all your worries are forgotten. Lift at high rpms in 2nd as you navigate the tight, seemingly blind corners. More flames as you lift, then back into the throttle. Into 3rd and wonder what the people think as they sit in their farmhouses as a lone car shrieks by at twice the limit, flames licking at it's rear. Big 4th gear straightaways, followed by 2nd gear turns test the brakes, but its not a problem. Head into the real twisties, 2nd gear only, overcook a corner, but stay on your side. Watch the blackberry bushes reach out for you, but keep your line, follow the apex. Life is good.
Eventually come to another small town, again, a U-turn and the chiming of the mufflers. And head back the way you came, a little braver now since you made it through the first time. Again, get into the rythm, push the car, push yourself. Come to the big straightaway, note a car waiting to merge on the right with it's headlights on. Hit the low beams, lift and squint. Is it a cop? Nope, an F-150. Perhaps an irate farmer that doesn't appreciate you making his road your own private Nurbergring. Screw him. Catch me if you can! Back hard into the throttle, wind out 3rd, get deep into 4th and you try and outrun an imaginary threat. You fly down the straightaway at 100+, getting the feeling you might be pushing your luck. Lift and take it easy, he'll really catch you if you wrap the car around one of the oaks lining the road.
He's gone, no headlights, no nothing. Thought so. Please, I'm in an RX-7. Back onto the rollercoaster straight that intersects Jackson Highway. Keep it hammered, this time grab 4th and see if you can get airborne. No dice, but damn its fun to try. Slow down for the stopsign at the end, then back onto Jackson highway. Wind out first, shift. A flash in your peripheral vision catches your eye. What was /that/? Look left as you shift into 2nd. Again, a yellow flash lights up the road behind you, and the bushes along side of the road. No way. Again, turn to the left as you shift into 3rd at 8000rpm. A HUGE flash, almost a strobe flicks across your retinas. Flammage. Big flammage, that you can actually SEE. Let out a war whoop as you try and throw as many flames as possible. Again, that yellow flash. Possibly the coolest thing you've ever seen.
Almost wreck since your neck is constantly craned to the left and decide to mellow out, and let the car and yourself cool down. Drive back home totally relaxed, all anger/tension spent in an hour and a half orgy of mechanical self indulgence. Aroma therapy? No thanks, I'll take RX-7 Therapy any day.
KS
So I've been watching all the coverage today and just couldn't take it anymore. I went outside and went for a walk. It helped a little bit, but my brain kept replaying the days events. Tried to do some online stuff, but everyone is talking about what happened today. Time for a drive. Yep, the cure for the tension, the anger today has spawned: RX-7 Therapy.
I hopped in my GTUs, started it up. She purred to life, and I flicked the headlight switch. Up come the Hella lead-crystal Euro headlights from Germany, with Piaa Super Whites. I back the car out of the garage, and head on out. I putt until she get's up to temperature, and hit Watt Ave. Get stuck at a light, but I take the free lane, which merges after crossing the intersection. So I've got to dog the guy next to me, a truck, no big deal. I get my revs up a bit, and the light turns green. I'm out of the hole and winding out 1st. Give him a nice sharp backfire, and get over. I see a 240SX (S13) in front of me, I keep my foot in and pass him. He doesn't chase.
Hit the onramp for 50East, keep it in second with the revs up. No one's in front so I can push it. Let the car push out at the bottom of the ramp as the right foot goes down. Under the overpass, shift into 3rd. Listen to the backfire echo off the walls. Get bunched up behind a truck merging, keep it in 3rd. Merge in 3rd, winding it out. Shift short at 7K, into 4th, 90mph. Let the car coast down to 80mph. Mellow out a bit, take the Bradshaw exit, take Bradshaw to Jackson Highway.
Get caught up in slow traffic, feel the tension build as the eyes strain for an open stretch of road. Dotted yellow, 3rd gear spinning up. Pass one...dive back in...wait...pop out again...BUZZER<shift> BACKFIRE. Start hitting around 90mph on Jackson. Flick the highs on, the Piaa's light up the world. Pass Excelsior, where Sac Raceway is. It's dark. Put the hammer down in 4th on the downhill towards a distant light. 90...100...110...coming up on traffic for the red light. See a big rig 3 cars up, I get left behind at the red but the truck and following cars make it. I sit at the light pondering my passing strategy on the big rig and conga line. Watch more cars make the left onto Jackson and two dumptrucks, and I ponder how I'm going to dig through all of them.
The light turns green. Wind out first, backfire, wind out second, backfire, keep it in third and look for holes. Again, the tension rises, watching the long line of traffic winding ahead of me. I wait, and am rewarded with the dumptrucks pulling off. Now just to take care of the conga line. I gobble them down by ones and twos, 3rd gear spinning up to 8000rpm+. It's the big rig's turn, and the two cars in front of it. Huge straightaway. Drop the hammer, pop out into the suicide lane. The buzzer lingers as I shift into 4th at 100+, the big rig is rewarded with flames and backfires. The two cars in front get to see the 4 small red circles of my tailights get progressively smaller as I keep it hammered. Flick the brights, and settle in for some traffic free motoring.
The German Glass and the Japanese Bulbs team up to push back the night. Reflectors light up from seemingly miles away, I feel like I'm playing Night Racer. Keep it in 4th, let the rotary spin spin. Try to judge sweeping corners at 100+ in the inky black. Shift into third when the corners tighten, let the 13B drag the speed down. Straightaway, into fourth and hammer again. This is repeated over and over, no one in front, seemingly no one coming. Get into the groove, listen to the Racing Beat downpipe and HKS 50mm exhaust throw flames. Feel the tension ease, the day's terrible events pushed back, the only thing that's important is the line, the apex.
See tailights far ahead, reel them in. Come up with all kinds of closure, flit by them in the suicide lane. Show them your tailights, your dual tips barking flames as you disappear into the night. Back into the groove, note the haze, the light fog in the flats. Smile as you think of that dense air getting sucked into the GReddy Airinx and down into the hungry maw of the 13B that just keeps spinning and spinning. Follow the road into the foothills, into unknown territory. Keep the hammer down, note the 45mph signs as you're well above that. Lift, let the car begin to slow as you roll into some small town.
You can hear the tink tink! of the HKS mufflers as they try and bleed off the awesome heat generated by the rotary. Do a U-turn and head back the way you came. Again, no one in front, no one coming. Let the trochoids do their thing. Keep your eyes peeled for Old Sacramento Road to your right. Smile to yourself as you see all the traffic you passed finally catch up after you've already stopped at a stopsign, done a u-turn, and come back.
There's the sign: Old Sacramento Road. Fun time. Bust the right, wind out second, listen to the bark of unburnt fuel being ignited into twin ***** of expanding flame. Wind out 3rd and see the oncoming ungulations in the road being thrown into stark relief by the Piaa's. It looks like a roller coaster, and you're trying to get some "hang time". Try as you might, you can't get the car airborne, but it does get light. See the two reflector arrows shine brightly for the hairpin right you're approaching at 80+. Hard on the binders, the 4 piston aluminum calipers squeezing the Bonez pads tight to the disc, heel toe into second and back on the gas.
The AVS Intermediates grip, and you keep it in second as your headlights show every pavement irregularity ahead of you. The car squirms and you can't help but laugh as all your worries are forgotten. Lift at high rpms in 2nd as you navigate the tight, seemingly blind corners. More flames as you lift, then back into the throttle. Into 3rd and wonder what the people think as they sit in their farmhouses as a lone car shrieks by at twice the limit, flames licking at it's rear. Big 4th gear straightaways, followed by 2nd gear turns test the brakes, but its not a problem. Head into the real twisties, 2nd gear only, overcook a corner, but stay on your side. Watch the blackberry bushes reach out for you, but keep your line, follow the apex. Life is good.
Eventually come to another small town, again, a U-turn and the chiming of the mufflers. And head back the way you came, a little braver now since you made it through the first time. Again, get into the rythm, push the car, push yourself. Come to the big straightaway, note a car waiting to merge on the right with it's headlights on. Hit the low beams, lift and squint. Is it a cop? Nope, an F-150. Perhaps an irate farmer that doesn't appreciate you making his road your own private Nurbergring. Screw him. Catch me if you can! Back hard into the throttle, wind out 3rd, get deep into 4th and you try and outrun an imaginary threat. You fly down the straightaway at 100+, getting the feeling you might be pushing your luck. Lift and take it easy, he'll really catch you if you wrap the car around one of the oaks lining the road.
He's gone, no headlights, no nothing. Thought so. Please, I'm in an RX-7. Back onto the rollercoaster straight that intersects Jackson Highway. Keep it hammered, this time grab 4th and see if you can get airborne. No dice, but damn its fun to try. Slow down for the stopsign at the end, then back onto Jackson highway. Wind out first, shift. A flash in your peripheral vision catches your eye. What was /that/? Look left as you shift into 2nd. Again, a yellow flash lights up the road behind you, and the bushes along side of the road. No way. Again, turn to the left as you shift into 3rd at 8000rpm. A HUGE flash, almost a strobe flicks across your retinas. Flammage. Big flammage, that you can actually SEE. Let out a war whoop as you try and throw as many flames as possible. Again, that yellow flash. Possibly the coolest thing you've ever seen.
Almost wreck since your neck is constantly craned to the left and decide to mellow out, and let the car and yourself cool down. Drive back home totally relaxed, all anger/tension spent in an hour and a half orgy of mechanical self indulgence. Aroma therapy? No thanks, I'll take RX-7 Therapy any day.
KS
09-11-11, 03:02 PM
#4
I can dig it
Vert drivers date thinner women. 
This can nearly offset the weight difference between the vert and the coupe.
120 mph at night with the top down, the stars flare like burning embers set deep in the inky blackness of the sky, all the while rotary music stirs my soul as the milky way pours her river of life across the mysteries of the universe...
I gotta go drive my car NOW!!
This can nearly offset the weight difference between the vert and the coupe.120 mph at night with the top down, the stars flare like burning embers set deep in the inky blackness of the sky, all the while rotary music stirs my soul as the milky way pours her river of life across the mysteries of the universe...
I gotta go drive my car NOW!!
09-11-11, 03:35 PM
#5
It's not a big straightaway unless you're winding out 5th 
Also, it's afterburn, not backfire. Backfiring is fire burning back through the intake.
Ok, now that I'm done pissing on your parade, have fun
RX-7 therapy is why I still happily have an RX-7 instead of a wife.
Also, it's afterburn, not backfire. Backfiring is fire burning back through the intake.
Ok, now that I'm done pissing on your parade, have fun
RX-7 therapy is why I still happily have an RX-7 instead of a wife.
Trending Topics
09-12-11, 08:29 AM
#8
haha me too. On the other hand my preferred form of therapy is also my rx-7, so where does that leave me?
to the OP:
I know that feeling. I live for that feeling.
There is nothing I have found in this world that can take the place of driving my 7 alone at night while pushing the limits. God damn I wish my car ran right now...
to the OP:
I know that feeling. I live for that feeling.
There is nothing I have found in this world that can take the place of driving my 7 alone at night while pushing the limits. God damn I wish my car ran right now...
09-12-11, 12:00 PM
#9
First post in long time, thought I'd repost this after 10 years:
So I've been watching all the coverage today and just couldn't take it anymore. I went outside and went for a walk. It helped a little bit, but my brain kept replaying the days events. Tried to do some online stuff, but everyone is talking about what happened today. Time for a drive. Yep, the cure for the tension, the anger today has spawned: RX-7 Therapy.
I hopped in my GTUs, started it up. She purred to life, and I flicked the headlight switch. Up come the Hella lead-crystal Euro headlights from Germany, with Piaa Super Whites. I back the car out of the garage, and head on out. I putt until she get's up to temperature, and hit Watt Ave. Get stuck at a light, but I take the free lane, which merges after crossing the intersection. So I've got to dog the guy next to me, a truck, no big deal. I get my revs up a bit, and the light turns green. I'm out of the hole and winding out 1st. Give him a nice sharp backfire, and get over. I see a 240SX (S13) in front of me, I keep my foot in and pass him. He doesn't chase.
Hit the onramp for 50East, keep it in second with the revs up. No one's in front so I can push it. Let the car push out at the bottom of the ramp as the right foot goes down. Under the overpass, shift into 3rd. Listen to the backfire echo off the walls. Get bunched up behind a truck merging, keep it in 3rd. Merge in 3rd, winding it out. Shift short at 7K, into 4th, 90mph. Let the car coast down to 80mph. Mellow out a bit, take the Bradshaw exit, take Bradshaw to Jackson Highway.
Get caught up in slow traffic, feel the tension build as the eyes strain for an open stretch of road. Dotted yellow, 3rd gear spinning up. Pass one...dive back in...wait...pop out again...BUZZER<SHIFT> BACKFIRE. Start hitting around 90mph on Jackson. Flick the highs on, the Piaa's light up the world. Pass Excelsior, where Sac Raceway is. It's dark. Put the hammer down in 4th on the downhill towards a distant light. 90...100...110...coming up on traffic for the red light. See a big rig 3 cars up, I get left behind at the red but the truck and following cars make it. I sit at the light pondering my passing strategy on the big rig and conga line. Watch more cars make the left onto Jackson and two dumptrucks, and I ponder how I'm going to dig through all of them.
The light turns green. Wind out first, backfire, wind out second, backfire, keep it in third and look for holes. Again, the tension rises, watching the long line of traffic winding ahead of me. I wait, and am rewarded with the dumptrucks pulling off. Now just to take care of the conga line. I gobble them down by ones and twos, 3rd gear spinning up to 8000rpm+. It's the big rig's turn, and the two cars in front of it. Huge straightaway. Drop the hammer, pop out into the suicide lane. The buzzer lingers as I shift into 4th at 100+, the big rig is rewarded with flames and backfires. The two cars in front get to see the 4 small red circles of my tailights get progressively smaller as I keep it hammered. Flick the brights, and settle in for some traffic free motoring.
The German Glass and the Japanese Bulbs team up to push back the night. Reflectors light up from seemingly miles away, I feel like I'm playing Night Racer. Keep it in 4th, let the rotary spin spin. Try to judge sweeping corners at 100+ in the inky black. Shift into third when the corners tighten, let the 13B drag the speed down. Straightaway, into fourth and hammer again. This is repeated over and over, no one in front, seemingly no one coming. Get into the groove, listen to the Racing Beat downpipe and HKS 50mm exhaust throw flames. Feel the tension ease, the day's terrible events pushed back, the only thing that's important is the line, the apex.
See tailights far ahead, reel them in. Come up with all kinds of closure, flit by them in the suicide lane. Show them your tailights, your dual tips barking flames as you disappear into the night. Back into the groove, note the haze, the light fog in the flats. Smile as you think of that dense air getting sucked into the GReddy Airinx and down into the hungry maw of the 13B that just keeps spinning and spinning. Follow the road into the foothills, into unknown territory. Keep the hammer down, note the 45mph signs as you're well above that. Lift, let the car begin to slow as you roll into some small town.
You can hear the tink tink! of the HKS mufflers as they try and bleed off the awesome heat generated by the rotary. Do a U-turn and head back the way you came. Again, no one in front, no one coming. Let the trochoids do their thing. Keep your eyes peeled for Old Sacramento Road to your right. Smile to yourself as you see all the traffic you passed finally catch up after you've already stopped at a stopsign, done a u-turn, and come back.
There's the sign: Old Sacramento Road. Fun time. Bust the right, wind out second, listen to the bark of unburnt fuel being ignited into twin ***** of expanding flame. Wind out 3rd and see the oncoming ungulations in the road being thrown into stark relief by the Piaa's. It looks like a roller coaster, and you're trying to get some "hang time". Try as you might, you can't get the car airborne, but it does get light. See the two reflector arrows shine brightly for the hairpin right you're approaching at 80+. Hard on the binders, the 4 piston aluminum calipers squeezing the Bonez pads tight to the disc, heel toe into second and back on the gas.
The AVS Intermediates grip, and you keep it in second as your headlights show every pavement irregularity ahead of you. The car squirms and you can't help but laugh as all your worries are forgotten. Lift at high rpms in 2nd as you navigate the tight, seemingly blind corners. More flames as you lift, then back into the throttle. Into 3rd and wonder what the people think as they sit in their farmhouses as a lone car shrieks by at twice the limit, flames licking at it's rear. Big 4th gear straightaways, followed by 2nd gear turns test the brakes, but its not a problem. Head into the real twisties, 2nd gear only, overcook a corner, but stay on your side. Watch the blackberry bushes reach out for you, but keep your line, follow the apex. Life is good.
Eventually come to another small town, again, a U-turn and the chiming of the mufflers. And head back the way you came, a little braver now since you made it through the first time. Again, get into the rythm, push the car, push yourself. Come to the big straightaway, note a car waiting to merge on the right with it's headlights on. Hit the low beams, lift and squint. Is it a cop? Nope, an F-150. Perhaps an irate farmer that doesn't appreciate you making his road your own private Nurbergring. Screw him. Catch me if you can! Back hard into the throttle, wind out 3rd, get deep into 4th and you try and outrun an imaginary threat. You fly down the straightaway at 100+, getting the feeling you might be pushing your luck. Lift and take it easy, he'll really catch you if you wrap the car around one of the oaks lining the road.
He's gone, no headlights, no nothing. Thought so. Please, I'm in an RX-7. Back onto the rollercoaster straight that intersects Jackson Highway. Keep it hammered, this time grab 4th and see if you can get airborne. No dice, but damn its fun to try. Slow down for the stopsign at the end, then back onto Jackson highway. Wind out first, shift. A flash in your peripheral vision catches your eye. What was /that/? Look left as you shift into 2nd. Again, a yellow flash lights up the road behind you, and the bushes along side of the road. No way. Again, turn to the left as you shift into 3rd at 8000rpm. A HUGE flash, almost a strobe flicks across your retinas. Flammage. Big flammage, that you can actually SEE. Let out a war whoop as you try and throw as many flames as possible. Again, that yellow flash. Possibly the coolest thing you've ever seen.
Almost wreck since your neck is constantly craned to the left and decide to mellow out, and let the car and yourself cool down. Drive back home totally relaxed, all anger/tension spent in an hour and a half orgy of mechanical self indulgence. Aroma therapy? No thanks, I'll take RX-7 Therapy any day.
KS
So I've been watching all the coverage today and just couldn't take it anymore. I went outside and went for a walk. It helped a little bit, but my brain kept replaying the days events. Tried to do some online stuff, but everyone is talking about what happened today. Time for a drive. Yep, the cure for the tension, the anger today has spawned: RX-7 Therapy.
I hopped in my GTUs, started it up. She purred to life, and I flicked the headlight switch. Up come the Hella lead-crystal Euro headlights from Germany, with Piaa Super Whites. I back the car out of the garage, and head on out. I putt until she get's up to temperature, and hit Watt Ave. Get stuck at a light, but I take the free lane, which merges after crossing the intersection. So I've got to dog the guy next to me, a truck, no big deal. I get my revs up a bit, and the light turns green. I'm out of the hole and winding out 1st. Give him a nice sharp backfire, and get over. I see a 240SX (S13) in front of me, I keep my foot in and pass him. He doesn't chase.
Hit the onramp for 50East, keep it in second with the revs up. No one's in front so I can push it. Let the car push out at the bottom of the ramp as the right foot goes down. Under the overpass, shift into 3rd. Listen to the backfire echo off the walls. Get bunched up behind a truck merging, keep it in 3rd. Merge in 3rd, winding it out. Shift short at 7K, into 4th, 90mph. Let the car coast down to 80mph. Mellow out a bit, take the Bradshaw exit, take Bradshaw to Jackson Highway.
Get caught up in slow traffic, feel the tension build as the eyes strain for an open stretch of road. Dotted yellow, 3rd gear spinning up. Pass one...dive back in...wait...pop out again...BUZZER<SHIFT> BACKFIRE. Start hitting around 90mph on Jackson. Flick the highs on, the Piaa's light up the world. Pass Excelsior, where Sac Raceway is. It's dark. Put the hammer down in 4th on the downhill towards a distant light. 90...100...110...coming up on traffic for the red light. See a big rig 3 cars up, I get left behind at the red but the truck and following cars make it. I sit at the light pondering my passing strategy on the big rig and conga line. Watch more cars make the left onto Jackson and two dumptrucks, and I ponder how I'm going to dig through all of them.
The light turns green. Wind out first, backfire, wind out second, backfire, keep it in third and look for holes. Again, the tension rises, watching the long line of traffic winding ahead of me. I wait, and am rewarded with the dumptrucks pulling off. Now just to take care of the conga line. I gobble them down by ones and twos, 3rd gear spinning up to 8000rpm+. It's the big rig's turn, and the two cars in front of it. Huge straightaway. Drop the hammer, pop out into the suicide lane. The buzzer lingers as I shift into 4th at 100+, the big rig is rewarded with flames and backfires. The two cars in front get to see the 4 small red circles of my tailights get progressively smaller as I keep it hammered. Flick the brights, and settle in for some traffic free motoring.
The German Glass and the Japanese Bulbs team up to push back the night. Reflectors light up from seemingly miles away, I feel like I'm playing Night Racer. Keep it in 4th, let the rotary spin spin. Try to judge sweeping corners at 100+ in the inky black. Shift into third when the corners tighten, let the 13B drag the speed down. Straightaway, into fourth and hammer again. This is repeated over and over, no one in front, seemingly no one coming. Get into the groove, listen to the Racing Beat downpipe and HKS 50mm exhaust throw flames. Feel the tension ease, the day's terrible events pushed back, the only thing that's important is the line, the apex.
See tailights far ahead, reel them in. Come up with all kinds of closure, flit by them in the suicide lane. Show them your tailights, your dual tips barking flames as you disappear into the night. Back into the groove, note the haze, the light fog in the flats. Smile as you think of that dense air getting sucked into the GReddy Airinx and down into the hungry maw of the 13B that just keeps spinning and spinning. Follow the road into the foothills, into unknown territory. Keep the hammer down, note the 45mph signs as you're well above that. Lift, let the car begin to slow as you roll into some small town.
You can hear the tink tink! of the HKS mufflers as they try and bleed off the awesome heat generated by the rotary. Do a U-turn and head back the way you came. Again, no one in front, no one coming. Let the trochoids do their thing. Keep your eyes peeled for Old Sacramento Road to your right. Smile to yourself as you see all the traffic you passed finally catch up after you've already stopped at a stopsign, done a u-turn, and come back.
There's the sign: Old Sacramento Road. Fun time. Bust the right, wind out second, listen to the bark of unburnt fuel being ignited into twin ***** of expanding flame. Wind out 3rd and see the oncoming ungulations in the road being thrown into stark relief by the Piaa's. It looks like a roller coaster, and you're trying to get some "hang time". Try as you might, you can't get the car airborne, but it does get light. See the two reflector arrows shine brightly for the hairpin right you're approaching at 80+. Hard on the binders, the 4 piston aluminum calipers squeezing the Bonez pads tight to the disc, heel toe into second and back on the gas.
The AVS Intermediates grip, and you keep it in second as your headlights show every pavement irregularity ahead of you. The car squirms and you can't help but laugh as all your worries are forgotten. Lift at high rpms in 2nd as you navigate the tight, seemingly blind corners. More flames as you lift, then back into the throttle. Into 3rd and wonder what the people think as they sit in their farmhouses as a lone car shrieks by at twice the limit, flames licking at it's rear. Big 4th gear straightaways, followed by 2nd gear turns test the brakes, but its not a problem. Head into the real twisties, 2nd gear only, overcook a corner, but stay on your side. Watch the blackberry bushes reach out for you, but keep your line, follow the apex. Life is good.
Eventually come to another small town, again, a U-turn and the chiming of the mufflers. And head back the way you came, a little braver now since you made it through the first time. Again, get into the rythm, push the car, push yourself. Come to the big straightaway, note a car waiting to merge on the right with it's headlights on. Hit the low beams, lift and squint. Is it a cop? Nope, an F-150. Perhaps an irate farmer that doesn't appreciate you making his road your own private Nurbergring. Screw him. Catch me if you can! Back hard into the throttle, wind out 3rd, get deep into 4th and you try and outrun an imaginary threat. You fly down the straightaway at 100+, getting the feeling you might be pushing your luck. Lift and take it easy, he'll really catch you if you wrap the car around one of the oaks lining the road.
He's gone, no headlights, no nothing. Thought so. Please, I'm in an RX-7. Back onto the rollercoaster straight that intersects Jackson Highway. Keep it hammered, this time grab 4th and see if you can get airborne. No dice, but damn its fun to try. Slow down for the stopsign at the end, then back onto Jackson highway. Wind out first, shift. A flash in your peripheral vision catches your eye. What was /that/? Look left as you shift into 2nd. Again, a yellow flash lights up the road behind you, and the bushes along side of the road. No way. Again, turn to the left as you shift into 3rd at 8000rpm. A HUGE flash, almost a strobe flicks across your retinas. Flammage. Big flammage, that you can actually SEE. Let out a war whoop as you try and throw as many flames as possible. Again, that yellow flash. Possibly the coolest thing you've ever seen.
Almost wreck since your neck is constantly craned to the left and decide to mellow out, and let the car and yourself cool down. Drive back home totally relaxed, all anger/tension spent in an hour and a half orgy of mechanical self indulgence. Aroma therapy? No thanks, I'll take RX-7 Therapy any day.
KS
Rob
09-13-11, 04:42 PM
#11
Moderator
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
Posts: 30,825
Received 2,591 Likes
on
1,840 Posts
awesome kevin!
09-14-11, 11:27 PM
#12
NA Powah, Every Hour!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Sacramento, CA, U S of A
Posts: 1,302
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
09-16-11, 11:32 AM
#16
NA Powah, Every Hour!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Sacramento, CA, U S of A
Posts: 1,302
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
09-16-11, 03:34 PM
#17
Repost! :OP
Haha, great repost. I can remember how driving my RX7 moved me 10 years ago. I wish I could drive that way today.... I have to much to lose now to drive that emotionally.
I have yet to take my RX7 out for a real drive after finishing the paint job 2 weeks ago. 1.5 years down for paint..... Forgot just what it is like. This post may just be the inspiration for the first run.
Haha, great repost. I can remember how driving my RX7 moved me 10 years ago. I wish I could drive that way today.... I have to much to lose now to drive that emotionally.
I have yet to take my RX7 out for a real drive after finishing the paint job 2 weeks ago. 1.5 years down for paint..... Forgot just what it is like. This post may just be the inspiration for the first run.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
MILOS7
3rd Generation Specific (1993-2002)
10
08-19-15 07:25 AM
