I have been in California for a few days. Previously I had asked my dad to drive his cars. I was allowed on Saturday, and got the extra added bonus of driving my step-mom's car. Write ups with more pics to follow.
FAST Cars I got to drive in CA
I have been in California for a few days. Previously I had asked my dad to drive his cars. I was allowed on Saturday, and got the extra added bonus of driving my step-mom's car. Write ups with more pics to follow.
The Astin Martin DB-9
The machine is a beast. It is big, heavy and ready to go. IIRC the Astin-Martin is an 8 cylinder but with insane amounts of torque. I think the hp is 460. It does not idle. If you let your foot off the brake, the car lurches forward with a loud growl, one rotation of the tires. The Astin Martin, according to my dad, "likes to go straight and fast". I believe he is right. I brought it up to 95 mph and it was like nothing. It rides steady and moves as one big smooth unit. This was the second car I took out that day. I was still getting used to the whole paddle shifting thing. Accidentally brought her up to 8000rpm. There is no red line indicator on the tachometer.
i like the ferrari 360 spider better....i have a model of it on my shelf even.... LUCKY!!!!!!!!
2002 Ferrari Spyder
This was by far the most exciting and fun drive. The Ferrari gets a lot of looks, even in their northern California community. This was the first one I drove that day. My dad asked if I wanted to drive it back from the coffee place (I was stunned he would allow us to take coffee in that ride!). I first told him I didn't know how. He explained to paddle shift mechanism, and I only downshifted by mistake twice. You have to hold your foot on the brake at stop signs or it drops into neutral. As soon as you stop, the car automatically downshifts into first gear. The accelerator is quite touchy. It took a few tries and some finesse, after I made Dad spill the coffee once...good thing it landed on him not the seat.
2010 Masserati GranTurissmo
This was the third drive of the day and the vehicle that was tops in overall drive-ability. Like the other two, it was a paddle shift system with the option of being full time automatic and it had the sport suspension option. My step-mom wondered what would happen if we dropped it into sport suspension at highway speeds and I told her I thought that would be a bad idea. I made it to 95 mph with the other cars, but I think I brought the Masserati up to 90mph. The handling was great, the take off is intense, as I found when some Ford F250 tried to creep up off the red light line. Good thing there were no cars running the opposite red light. The Masserati turned like the Ferrari, not as tight but quite well. It had the power of the Astin Martin. I was told that the Masserati had more hp than the other two cars. (oh, and the Ferrari is a 12 cylinder, 420hp).
It was a good Saturday, followed by lower level seats for the Sharks game.
All I can say is "Wow, lucky."
Wow, that's awesome!
i want a spider!!!!! even a convertible!!! did you do the cool thing and floor it???? i would have many times!!!!!
OK. I'll bite. What does your dad do for a living to afford such luxuries?
Man would i love to have any of those....
those three cars are on my top list of my dream cars. very lucky
That is really sweet! Looks like you had a great time Stephanie!
Fastest thing I ever drove was a Ferrari, I am not sure what name. 12 cylinders and engine mods had it pushing 600hp. My ex partner had one and let me take it for a drive. You are obviously a much more conservative driver than I am as I was doing 145 in 3rd gear from a stop by the time I entered C470. I then took it on some back roads and was trying in vain to get the back tires to break loose doing 30mph corners at 80.
Since I drive fast cars like I drive motorcycles...like I just had a severe head injury...I try to stay away from both..What I really liked about the Ferrari was that the harder you pushed the car, the better it drove and handled. Shifted smoother, etc. That was the first and last time I drove it even though it was offered to me to go to Steamboat Springs for a 3-4 day weekend. I had to say no and the 200 or 220 reading on the speedo would have been a bit to much to resist..
I also drove a Pantera from here to Reno back in the early 80s. A friend of my wife needed the car to be driven there and was willing to pay for it, plus expenses and a plane ticket back. I had fun. Nothing like being able to wind something like that up at 2-3 o'clock in the AM on a very blank and straight stretch of highway....Fastest I have ever driven a car. I got it up to 165 and then weenied out....Of course I never looked in the boot to see what I may have been portaging across the country.....
Great fun to get to drive some sweet rides like that...
I likey!
Robert B, I did not floor dad's cars...I do want to be able to drive them again! After he saw pictures of what I do to and with my FJ, I was not about to get nuts with his ride.
We could not go faster. It was Saturday afternoon in a busy suburb in northern California, in an area heavily patrolled by the police and CHP. Ok, we certainly could have gone faster, but being a newbie and wanting to not get a license revoking ticket, I kept it under control.
Pete, you are right, it did shift better and higher speeds. The paddles right behind the wheel took some getting used to. First time I tried to shift it, I turned on the windshield wipers!
My dad did well in auditing acccounting... no, really. My stepmom retired as the CFO of Verisign.
Here is the other ride I didn't get to drive:
On a related note, I did manage to snap a picture of a tech redoing the paint job on what I think was an Audi or maybe a BMW. He is applying a matte vinyl paint sheet. It gets washed and waxed just like any other paint job. Looks pretty cool.
HOLY COW!!!!! Those are some seriously high powered rides!
You just had to show pics of a 911 GT3.......
Wow! That is super cool. Thanks for the pics.
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