Raced, got beat, and Im HAPPY about it!

[Zishan]

Well yesterday, I met up with a friend who I used to race motorcycles with. He is also a huge car fan. He purchased a new 350Z a few months ago. So we met up and chatted a while and decided to meet up with some other friends. I had the bright idea to switch cars. I really just wanted to see how my car looked driving around! We cruised next to each other and I couldn't help but admire my car!! Please excuse my ego!
About a block after switching cars, we came to a light. When it turned green, we accelerated like normal. But once rolling, he got on it, and so I did also. The NSX pulled and I couldn't get the 350Z to catch up. I was getting beaten by my own NSX!! Once we hit speed limit, we let off and kept cruising next to each other, so we were never above speed limit. A moment later, I see lights in my rear view mirror.
We ended up getting ticketed for racing, me in his car, him in mine. And I'm always the person who never wants to race people that are always revving next to me. And yet we really weren't racing. He even mentioned he wasn't going at it all the way. I was trying to keep up! Well, at least I can say I've still yet to get pulled over in my NSX, and yet to get a ticket in my NSX! (knock on wood)

Comments about the 350Z
+Nice car, seemed to have more torque
+Brakes were awesome!
-The front end was too high
-The front windsheild seemed to small also

Comments about the NSX(that my friend made)
+He said the car felt German! Very solid. He commented 2x that the doors also seemed very solid when he opened and closed them.
+He loves the exotic look. He said the wheels make all the difference in the world.
+He said the seats were more comfortable. He actually made me sit in his car to compare them. He's right, I like the NSX seats better.
+Also, he said the entire interior lay out was very comfortable. He liked the drivers position and dash layout.
-He said the front lip was too low! He was scared it was going to scrape every little bump in the road.

In all, I was glad to let him take the NSX for a spin. When I told him a year ago I was looking for an NSX. He didn't understand. He said they look great, but $35-40k for a used one, he didn't understand. He was pushing me towards a used Viper RT10. Now he said he understood and said I made a good purchase and the car really looked awesome.
Just wanted to share some comments that my friend made. Glad I turned one car fan into a NSX fan!
Regards
Z

 

[Autophile]

Very entertaining post, NSX FoYoAss! But I am concerned about your ticket. How much will that cost, or have you looked into it yet?

 

[jlindy]

Is your car stock? What did you say to the cop after you were pulled over? I guess he wasn't having any of it.

 

[Zishan]

Well, yes, we both got tickets for "Racing." Neither of us spun our tires, nor did we ever go over speed limit. But I have to admit we did accelerate very fast. I don't really consider it racing, we were really just playing around.
When the officer asked for my DL, I told him it was in my car and pointed to the NSX. He smiled and asked me to go get it. And then asked my friend to go get his insurance from the 350Z. Several other officers ended up showing up after the tickets were issued. They were kinda looking over our cars from behind and watched us leave. Ofcourse, I speed off faster then I was going for getting pulled over!!
About the ticket, I'll get my lawyer on it, no big deal. We both plan to fight it as it was not on camera and we did not speed. We plan on telling the judge that we both have sports cars and loud exhausts and the officer might have thought we were racing when we weren't. And I just don't plan on playing with anyone that wants to race me anymore.
Thanks for the concern thou
Z

And my car is mostly stock with a drop, 18/19 wheels, intake, exhaust, and misc. stuff!

 

[kenjiMR]

Hey be carefull.

I had a similar situation a couple years ago. My car was somewhat loud and was spotted by a police from a distance.
I made two turns into a sub-division and was then chased down and accused for driving recklessly. I hired a lawyer, but was only able to reduce it to a exhibition of speed ticket which is 2 points. It was very humiliating since the cops treated me very poorly. (btw, I didn't have that bumper sticker back them. ) Anyway, I never street race or do anything reckless since I get all my adrenaline out at the track.

This is in California, so you may have an easier situation over there.

Anyway, be safe.

You will find the whole story if you do a search here at NSXPrime archives.

Well, yes, we both got tickets for "Racing." Neither of us spun our tires, nor did we ever go over speed limit. But I have to admit we did accelerate very fast. I don't really consider it racing, we were really just playing around.
When the officer asked for my DL, I told him it was in my car and pointed to the NSX. He smiled and asked me to go get it. And then asked my friend to go get his insurance from the 350Z. Several other officers ended up showing up after the tickets were issued. They were kinda looking over our cars from behind and watched us leave. Ofcourse, I speed off faster then I was going for getting pulled over!!
About the ticket, I'll get my lawyer on it, no big deal. We both plan to fight it as it was not on camera and we did not speed. We plan on telling the judge that we both have sports cars and loud exhausts and the officer might have thought we were racing when we weren't. And I just don't plan on playing with anyone that wants to race me anymore.
Thanks for the concern thou
Z

And my car is mostly stock with a drop, 18/19 wheels, intake, exhaust, and misc. stuff!

 

[Zishan]

kenjiMR, I actually remember that. You had posted it here. Well, I'm not claiming innocent. But I honestly thought we would get a warning to slow down. I mean, what qualifies as racing really? I don't think we were driving recklessly. On the line, we never spun the tires, started like normally, and we didn't even change lanes once. Nor did we speed. But yes, we did accelorate quickly. I'm not too worried about it. I have no tickets on my record and a lawyer on my side who has gotten me out of some pretty bad situations. This may seem bad, but yes my laywer has gotten me out of speeding tickets where I was actually speeding.
Sometimes I feel the system here is too easy. I respect law enforcement completely, but I do feel they are too easy. This however may change soon as I heard they are moving to the point system.
Regards
Z

 

[ERicincal]

You are lucky..

From something I read, I remember here in CA, if you are caught street racing, the police have the right to impound your car right away.

I felt the same way when I had my NSX, was going to sell it, and simply lease a 350Z, but the build quality just didnt seem as nice, and the power didnt "feel" up to snuff. Maybe Im just getting older, but the G35 Coupe just seemed to feel better.

let us know how the ticket goes.

 

[jadkar]

I have a question about your 350Z encounter, I ran into one a little while back and wrote about it here.

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19488&highlight=350z

About a week after posting that I ran into the same guy on the way to work in traffic, he lowered his window and we started talking. I asked him if he had a supercharger and he said, "no, my car is stock" What was wierd is he also said that I was pulling away from him on the top end. I didn't recall that, but then again it was late at night, and hard to tell for sure. Anyway last week I fixed my TCS, now I can diasble it and I can't wait to see him again Judging from your story, maybe my car was a little faster and I just couldn't tell.

 

[Zishan]

jadkar, if you read my post, my intentions weren't to bash 350Z's. They are quick no doubt. But, my intentions were more to show how someone who doubted the NSX at first completely changed his mind after driving one.
As far as the race goes, I don't consider it a real race. When we took off, I might have been in a gear higher then I should have been. He floored it, so I did also. I believe we were both in 2nd gear. The NSX did pull away from the 350Z easily. From a light, thru all the gears, the story might have been different. I'm not sure, it felt like the NSX was faster, especially when you get into the vtec. But the 350Z seemed to have slightly more torque. A great car. Maybe I'll take him somewhere without other motorist and see how we really compare against each other.
Regards
Z

 

[Zishan]

Re: You are lucky..

From something I read, I remember here in CA, if you are caught street racing, the police have the right to impound your car right away.

I felt the same way when I had my NSX, was going to sell it, and simply lease a 350Z, but the build quality just didnt seem as nice, and the power didnt "feel" up to snuff. Maybe Im just getting older, but the G35 Coupe just seemed to feel better.

let us know how the ticket goes.

ERicincal, yeah, I think it's the same here. One of my friends got his car towed and got thrown in jail for a night for street racing. Houston has alot of street racing. Really annoying sometimes.
Regards
Z

 

[hlweyl]

I received a ticket here in Md for "participating in a speed contest" about 15 years ago. Similiar situation except we were both in our own cars. No spinning wheels, cops didn't have us on radar. He just saw what we were doing as he was parked at a local car wash.

The ticket was 12 points(thats the limit in maryland when they take your license). I would have also been booted out of the air force ROTC at the time. The ONLY thing that saved my hide in court was that the person I raced against never showed... my attorney said a few words and we left no points, no fines.

I hope you are as lucky as I was, but, if the cop tells the judge that it was a race, the judge usually sides with the cop and you are screwed. It seems like basically his word against yours.

As far as the 350z, i think its a nice car, but the nsx is a GREAT car!!!

 

[mikec]

I have a similar story as well. I had a 59 Austin-Healey 100-SIX show car which was re-powered by a 327 365HP engine, a T-10 4spd trans, and 4:11 gears. It weighed 2100 lbs. It had 4" side pipes and made allot of sound. Unfortunately, as many re-powered cars go, it didn't handle or stop nearly as well as it accelerated. It was mostly "show", and at least for me, not that much "go".

Anyway, I was in this car a few years ago cruising through town and a little econobox pulled next to me at a light. He revved his engine and I just smiled thinking of how ridiculous it was. When the light turned green he floored it, chirping the tires. I just accelerated smoothly and briskly, but let him be far out in front. As this was in town, and from one light to the next, I never got over 35 mph. A cop pulled us both over and got us for racing, which in Pennsylvania is a very bad ticket to get. I tried to explain that "I can't speak for the other guy, and he may have been racing me, but I was not racing back". The cop was a hard-ass dick, and there was no use in explaining further.

Having some faith left in 'common sense', I took a hearing. I brought the Austin to court that day and when it was my turn to speak, I told my story and asked the judge to come see the car. I explained that it is loud, showy, and very powerful, but also legal. I told him of the other car and if there was wheelspin detected as the officer stated, that it was the other car chirping its tires. I offered to take her (yes.. a lady judge) for a ride and with her permission, would demonstrate that if I wanted to spin my tires, I could lay down two solid black tire streaks for the entire city block. The officer also stated that the other car, which was a Datsun, had "won" the race. I closed my argument by stating that if I wanted to race, the other car would not have won, and asked that common sense and reasoning prevail.

The judge turned to the officer and said "Did he tell you this when you stopped him". When the officer indicated that I had, she said "why didn't you listen to him!" and threw the ticket out.

Good luck.

 

[ANYTIME]

Hey be carefull.

I had a similar situation a couple years ago. My car was somewhat loud and was spotted by a police from a distance.
I made two turns into a sub-division and was then chased down and accused for driving recklessly. I hired a lawyer, but was only able to reduce it to a exhibition of speed ticket which is 2 points. It was very humiliating since the cops treated me very poorly. (btw, I didn't have that bumper sticker back them. ) Anyway, I never street race or do anything reckless since I get all my adrenaline out at the track.

This is in California, so you may have an easier situation over there.

Anyway, be safe.

You will find the whole story if you do a search here at NSXPrime archives.

Please enlighten us about that bumper sticker!

 

[MvM]

Mikec,

Great Story
You must have felt great when that judge threw the ticket out.
Luckily I have never been in court for anything but I doubt that if I get a ticket I'll get away that easy. Overhere, it's pretty useless to go to court over speeding tickets. And when you have to appeal it's usually because they took away your license (almost happend to me this week).

Why did you sell that car ??

 

[mikec]

Mikec,


Why did you sell that car ??

I sold it because I had it for 10 years and I got tired of it. It was a blast to drive for a half hour, but over that it became tiring; noisy, hot, steered like a truck. The car was designed for a 110 HP engine. It could not brake or corner to match the HP it had. It could be a very unsafe car if used to its potential. The body flexed like a Slinky.

I finally sold it for a good price, but it took me years to find a buyer who really wanted it. When you modify a car, you really limit its selling desirability to a much more limited audiance.

In effect, I buried it in my back yard, as I used the money to put in a pool that I use much more.

 

[hlweyl]

Great story Mike, that cop was an idiot!! Many people cannot distinguish between how loud a car is vs. how fast the car is going.

Case in point, I was coming home from my son's hockey game in my 67 camaro(nice and loud). As I drove thru my neighborhood, I heard "SLOW DOWN!!!!" from a group of adults. Being that I was going 15 in a 25mph zone this bothered me enough that I got out of the car, introduced myself and asked who has the nerve to yell at me while I was going under the speed limit. One of the guys in the crowd immediatly apologized even though I knew it was a woman's voice, he knew I was going nowhere near the speed limit. In fact, I've always made it a point to go very slow in my own neighborhood.

 

[tararan]

i hate those people who'll race anybody anywhere. and most of all i hate cops that will stereotype people.

but that's a great story mike..

 

[old_S13]

Yep, cops can apparently impound your vehicle for exhibition of speed and street racing. I usually refrain from stuff like that, but I was cought in a similar situation to what Mike just said. I arrived at a light at night out here in LA, near the Melrose area (more or less, LA/hollywood area). I was at a light and the two kids next to me were in a janky sedan and out for fun, they just wanted to try to stir up some commotion and race me.. my car attracts a fair amount of attention, not excessive.. but still a fair amount of looks. Anyway, the light turns green and I let them lead since the lanes were going to merge into 1 lane. They wanted to "race off the line" but I wasnt going to do that, not against a Accord or whatever sedan it was. Then we started going through a more secluded/residential area.. and we hit another light. It was around there that I knew I didnt want to waste time being behind these two, so I would just pass them and go.. end of story.

Well, the light turned green and I gave it a tad of gas.. just to get the car moving. These jokers just floor the car.. now I'm thinking "great, I need to put the hammer down on them." I push the clutch in, rev the motor a bit, and dump.. turning the tires for a sec before I launch and pass them. Ugh, I dont know WHERE these cops pop out of sometimes, but as I am driving ahead of the kids (and I am not really speeding, 45 in a 35 isnt speeding in my book).. the cops catch up and follow me into the left turn lane. I already knew I was busted, I already knew these kids were scott-free.. so the light turns green and I carefully make a left and signal to them that I am pulling over before they even turn on their lights -- which, of course they do.

Having a roll-cage and racing harnesses doesnt help the appearance of the car, the officer walks up and says "I got you for exhibition of speed and speeding, hand me your drivers license." The female cop was confused as to what kind of car it was, she just says "its got no plate.." as if its a VERY serious offense. Then she finally figures out what kind of car it is. In the meantime, I play the role of being a mark and just shuttup and keep my hands on the wheel. The female officers says "You know, we can now tow you for exhibition of speed and impound your vehicle." I didnt respond, just shook my head in emberassement as if I have committed murder. Anyway, head down and hands on the wheel for a good 10 minutes, the male officer comes back and says "sign here, you'll need to take your car to get this signed off" -- HE GOT ME FOR FRONT LICENSE PLATE ONLY. I pretty much lucked out. Then as he was walking away, he says "You're hitting corners awefully quick, look at your rear tires." Then he says "Jesus, LOOK at these rear tires.. what are you doing here man!?!?" I guess missing chunks off of the corners of your wheel isnt a good thing, but I tell him its a track car and that the tires were used at the track. He then calm responds "Oh, okay cool.. take care and drive safe."

 

[rodH]

WOW, nice job!!

as a Z owner who has driven a NSX my father used to own, I found this topic interesting. I LOVE NSXs (along with 911s). My dads NSX was probably the FUNNEST car I have EVER driven, NEXT to a 360 Modena (but only slightly). Even though it isn't as powerful as a SL55 he recently got or a jim wolf 300ZX TT (went through 2 clutches in 1 year), it is VERY VERY fun to drive and a dang pretty car. It has kept GREAT style for many years, and continues to do so (look at a ZO6, a 360 and a NSX and they ALL look equally as "modern". It is a timeless design, soemthing I hope my Z is/becomes.

a few questions, were you guys BOTH racing 100%?? I would love to see the sae race with the respective owners in their OWN cars (is his broken in yet??).

I can't even remember what the older NSXs did, was it about a 5.0 0-60??, If so, you should beat the Z pretty easily.

Actually I am pretty flattered about this topic, the fact that you are comparing a $90k NSX (ok it was probably "only" $60k back int he day) to a $35k 350z, is very nice to hear.

NSXs RULE, but since I can't afford one (hey, I can admit it), my Z will have to do, and I am VERY VERY happy with it.

heres a pic

 

[rodH]

btw, hom much faster does your mods make the NSX??

one last pic

 

[KGP]

He was pushing me towards a used Viper RT10. Now he said he understood and said I made a good purchase and the car really looked awesome.

My neighbor brought home a 96 RT/10 a few weeks ago. No dis-respect to Viper owners, but the car was a rattle-trap on wheels. Shutting a door sounded like a combo of loose bolts and taped-on fiberglass. I lost a whole lot of respect for the car, at least that particular 96 RT/10. I would never consider that car over my NSX. I sure hope the newer ones have better build quality and fit-n-finish.

 

[rodH]

Re: Re: Raced, got beat, and Im HAPPY about it!

My neighbor brought home a 96 RT/10 a few weeks ago. No dis-respect to Viper owners, but the car was a rattle-trap on wheels. Shutting a door sounded like a combo of loose bolts and taped-on fiberglass. I lost a whole lot of respect for the car, at least that particular 96 RT/10. I would never consider that car over my NSX. I sure hope the newer ones have better build quality and fit-n-finish.

what did you expect?? you mean you had respect for it in the 1st place??

 

[Zishan]

I have much respect for the Viper! As far as muscle cars go, the things a beast! I raced one once and we were side by side! Man its fast. Oh, I was on my yamaha r1 thou, and I was having trouble keeping my front wheel down. As far as the bulit quality, NSX all the way. I'm sure the newer one has been built better. But to say the least, I respect the Viper.
As far as the 350Z and NSX run, like I said it wasn't really a run. I got on it all the way, and I couldn't keep up with the (my) NSX. And then afterwards, he said he wasn't on it all the way, just enough to keep me in the 350Z behind him. I personally feel the NSX would be faster. I don't know the exact spec's of both cars as I really don't care what's faster. All I know is that I enjoyed driving the 350Z, but I love driving the NSX!
Regards
Z