[DanRealtor]

Great Road Trip

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Just returned Monday 2:30 am from a PHENOMENAL road trip to SD. Had plenty of seat time with Meister and CButler. I enjoyed EVERY minute of it including the "Quality Time" with our CHP friend on I-8!

First off: Props to Meister. That has to be the fastest, most dialed in, 5.7 on the road! That being said, his recent post of:

"The two SRT8s I was running with in the mountains above San Diego were totally outclassed by the combination of the instant responsiveness of my drivetrain and the superior suspension that the KW/Hotchkis combo provides my sweet C.

There was one clear winner after 45 spirited minutes of WOT flogging - Jet Chip and the KW V2/Hotchkis anti-sway killer suspension combo."

Let me say, well, not exactly. Not once did Meister (or anyone else) pass, or "Outclass" me, in 3 days.

Did Meister do the 5.7 proud and hang with the big boys? Hell yeah!

Did his numerous mods eliminate most or all of the 5.7's shortcomings? Hell yeah!

Did he surprise me with how well his car could hang with my 6.1 from 90 mph+? Hell yeah! (til 128 at least) He did not run side by side with me, but I didn't walk away from him as fast as I thought I might. Of course with the speed limiter he was unable to run with the big boys at warp speed. (we kept it under 170 all weekend, I swear)

On our Friday night and Saturday morning "Spirited Drives" he was VERY Impressive! Between his unquestionable Fighter Pilot Skills, and quite capable 300C he was ever present throgh the twisties.

On our Friday night adventure he ran up my ass (under braking) several times, making me wish he had the Brembo's and glad he didn't kiss me there!

On Saturday during the first half of our Mountain Run, he held his own, but wasn't "Waxing My Tail". Eventually I moved back and hung more with our two other friends, and watched Meister and Chris "Check Out". A good time was definitely had by all!

On Sunday we hit the drag strip at CA Speedway, and had some fun with the GSM boys. My 6.1 ran low 13's all day. I believe Meister ran low to mid 14's all day. The silver SRT-8 with 100 shot of Nitrous beat my NA SRT-8 by about 1/2 second in a head to head run. His mid 12's to my low 13's. The GSM Supercharged 300C SRT-8 beat me by a little more than 1 second. His 11.99 to my 13.04.

The ultimate "Fun Day" to me would be to all register together for the Jim Russell "Performance Driving Clinic" at Sears Point Raceway. 20 or so drivers can run their own cars on the 12 turn road course with passing allowed!

Laguna Seca would be another Ideal track, but I haven't seen any option to run our cars at that track.

And by the way. I ran Sears Point on 9/7/05 and sent 15 "Sports Car" drivers home wondering WTF just happened to them. So I doubt SERIOUSLY that even a heavily modded 5.7 will "Outclass" me there either!


Dan