Ok, we finally had our "ride in a Diablo for charity day" today and it was a great success(very long
08-11-2001, 06:02 PM
#1
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
Ok, we finally had our "ride in a Diablo for charity day" today and it was a great success(very long
For those unaware, this is something that we have been thinking up for a month or so now. Essentially, a person makes a minimum donation of $20 to The Primary Childrens Med Ctr here in town, and they get the chance to go for a ride(with me driving) in a '99 Diablo VT Roadster.
So, here's the events of the past 24 hours. Last night, we brought a couple of cars to this big entertainment area close to the dealership and signed folks up to do the ride. It went very well there, and to top it all off, I got a call from a girl that I used to see a few months ago, wondering what I was doing later on. Ok, long story short, we went out, drank a lot, and shot a huge amount of pool. We essentially owned the table we were on for a good 2 and a half hours and put the smack-down on all challengers.......it was pretty cool. Ok, so here's where I got stupid. I knew that I had to be at work at 8am to get ready for the first group of people showing up at 9. Unfortunately, I didn't get back home til 7:30 this morning and was not feeling my very best. Still, I got there on time and started doing our little event.
Here's my visual aid to help out with the description of the ride, which was only a total of about 1.5 miles, but I made it well worth it.
<img src="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1435687&a=13620568&p=52819304">
Anyway, so here was how each ride went. We would head South from the dealership, hitting the sweeper entrance in second gear, accelerating the whole way, then a quick stop at the 90. Turn left and then let it all hang out, heading south(this is now a 4-lane divided, deserted road) eventually hitting a top speed of a little over 130 in 4th, then heel and toeing down hard enough to almost make eyeballs fly out, cartoon-wise. This would set us up for the u-turn. The eyeballs that had just flown out are now hanging out the passenger side window through the u-turn in a desperate attempt to keep up with the pace of the Diablo.
So, we head back North at a bit less frenetic pace while throwing the car through a few slalom turns. We now approach the 90 again, heel and toe to 1st and hit the throttle to set up for the sweeper again. Eventually, after doing enough of these rides, my exit speed out of the sweeper was somewhere around 90 in second. Then, back to the dealership to pick up the next victim. Without fail, every single person absolutely loved the experience, including 2 very special riders, which I'll explain now.
So, to pull this thing off well, we really had to have the help of our local police department. Yes, we did donate some of the proceeds to their charity of choice as well. Around 10:30am, one of the guys shows up in his cruiser. Here I am, after giving about 8 of these rides already, expecting to hear this guy tell us to take it easy. Nope, he wants to go for a ride, and this is where it just gets silly. He gets into the car, buckles up, and I turn to him and ask a single word question: "immunity?" He says hell yeah, and to get a move on. I do the exact same loop with him, then come back and take his partner for a ride as well. They both had a total blast. As if that's not enough, they now want to go to the southern-most part of the 4-lane road and set up radar to see what my "high score" will be. So, on my next ride, here I go, get ready to make a left at the 90, and I see them at the end of the road, all set up. There is just no way to describe how completely and totally wrong this felt, but I did it anyway. It took every ounce of my being to keep the throttle floored as I charged straight towards what is now 3 cop cars all with radar on me. What a friggin rush......I thought I was going to wet myself the first time I did it......it got easier each subsequent time. The best I could do was 121, but they got the lock on me fairly early each time, so who knows.
Well, the whole thing was a great success. We raised a couple thousand bucks, got some good PR, helped out a few kids along the way, and made a lot of folks car dreams come true.
Now, for the downside, and don't get on my case for this, but DAMN I'm tired. All in all, I think I did that loop 89 times, put about 150 miles on the car, and I'm just total mush right now.
So, here's the events of the past 24 hours. Last night, we brought a couple of cars to this big entertainment area close to the dealership and signed folks up to do the ride. It went very well there, and to top it all off, I got a call from a girl that I used to see a few months ago, wondering what I was doing later on. Ok, long story short, we went out, drank a lot, and shot a huge amount of pool. We essentially owned the table we were on for a good 2 and a half hours and put the smack-down on all challengers.......it was pretty cool. Ok, so here's where I got stupid. I knew that I had to be at work at 8am to get ready for the first group of people showing up at 9. Unfortunately, I didn't get back home til 7:30 this morning and was not feeling my very best. Still, I got there on time and started doing our little event.
Here's my visual aid to help out with the description of the ride, which was only a total of about 1.5 miles, but I made it well worth it.
<img src="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1435687&a=13620568&p=52819304">
Anyway, so here was how each ride went. We would head South from the dealership, hitting the sweeper entrance in second gear, accelerating the whole way, then a quick stop at the 90. Turn left and then let it all hang out, heading south(this is now a 4-lane divided, deserted road) eventually hitting a top speed of a little over 130 in 4th, then heel and toeing down hard enough to almost make eyeballs fly out, cartoon-wise. This would set us up for the u-turn. The eyeballs that had just flown out are now hanging out the passenger side window through the u-turn in a desperate attempt to keep up with the pace of the Diablo.
So, we head back North at a bit less frenetic pace while throwing the car through a few slalom turns. We now approach the 90 again, heel and toe to 1st and hit the throttle to set up for the sweeper again. Eventually, after doing enough of these rides, my exit speed out of the sweeper was somewhere around 90 in second. Then, back to the dealership to pick up the next victim. Without fail, every single person absolutely loved the experience, including 2 very special riders, which I'll explain now.
So, to pull this thing off well, we really had to have the help of our local police department. Yes, we did donate some of the proceeds to their charity of choice as well. Around 10:30am, one of the guys shows up in his cruiser. Here I am, after giving about 8 of these rides already, expecting to hear this guy tell us to take it easy. Nope, he wants to go for a ride, and this is where it just gets silly. He gets into the car, buckles up, and I turn to him and ask a single word question: "immunity?" He says hell yeah, and to get a move on. I do the exact same loop with him, then come back and take his partner for a ride as well. They both had a total blast. As if that's not enough, they now want to go to the southern-most part of the 4-lane road and set up radar to see what my "high score" will be. So, on my next ride, here I go, get ready to make a left at the 90, and I see them at the end of the road, all set up. There is just no way to describe how completely and totally wrong this felt, but I did it anyway. It took every ounce of my being to keep the throttle floored as I charged straight towards what is now 3 cop cars all with radar on me. What a friggin rush......I thought I was going to wet myself the first time I did it......it got easier each subsequent time. The best I could do was 121, but they got the lock on me fairly early each time, so who knows.
Well, the whole thing was a great success. We raised a couple thousand bucks, got some good PR, helped out a few kids along the way, and made a lot of folks car dreams come true.
Now, for the downside, and don't get on my case for this, but DAMN I'm tired. All in all, I think I did that loop 89 times, put about 150 miles on the car, and I'm just total mush right now.
08-11-2001, 06:10 PM
#3
That's great. Good time for a good cause. Can't imagine
what it felt like to speed on purpose into a radar trap thinking, "they really aren't going to ticket me, are they?"
As far as your lack of sleep last night....LOL, behind that ole eight ball again??? ;-)
As far as your lack of sleep last night....LOL, behind that ole eight ball again??? ;-)
08-11-2001, 06:49 PM
#5
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
That wasn't even the end of it!.............
So, I head down south on that road again for another "high score" attempt, finally get the beast stopped, and pull up next to them all. I turn around, and one of the guys gets into his Crown Vic and pulls up next to me.........his words......."let's go." I swear this really happened, I actually street raced a friggin cop! That had to be one of the most surreal experiences of my life.......watching this guy turn into a speck in my rearview.......just unreal.
