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This happened today (well yesterday seeing as it's 1am EST.) So anyways, I have the GS model which unfortunately has the 4G37 which as you all know is 92hp stock. The saving grace for this car is that it's a manual and the engine is in strong condition so I could do some tuning. I'm running at around 115-120hp thanks to my cold air intake and aftermarket mass airflow sensor. I've played around with a few people on the highway for kicks since I got the Eclipse but I've never had a serious road race like this one in this car.
I live in Franklin NC which is a small mountain town with one big stretch of 4-lane, called Georgia Road because it goes all the way to the Georgia line. From town, it's about 10 miles down Georgia Road to the road I live off of, and it's mostly a straight 55mph stretch with a few hills. The road I actually live off of is mountain driving at it's finest - 25mph (if you were driving safely) hairpins, hills, drops, blind corners. You name it, this road has got it. It's about 5 miles from the foot of the mountain (Georgia Road) to my house, so it's a pretty good piece of driving.
Anyways, in the afternoon I was coming home from town and I was doing about 5 over on Georgia Rd, in 5th gear. This '89 Honda Accord SE-i pulled up beside me (I know the car because I had one myself a few years ago.) It's a 1.8L manual with all the luxury trim and plenty of power to get you from A to B quickly. I remember the one I had being a little faster than my Eclipse, albeit a little heavier, but anywho. So, he revs his engine and I drop down to 4th and floor it. At first he starting gaining on me but then we caught an uphill and I passed him, still in 4th and getting near the end of my powerband, so I shifted into 5th for the downhill. He passed me on the downhill and was just in front of me when we got to the road I live off of, we were doing about 110. I hit my blinker and started to slow down to turn in and to my surprise he hit his blinker too.
So we both pull in, he's in front of me and we start the long uphill climb. Right away he shifted down and floored it so I shifted into 2nd and stuck right on his bumper. For a few minutes I was behind him in 3rd and we were doing 45-50mph (the speed limit is 35mph for the entire stretch except for the hairpins.) The entire time I was thinking "This guy is pretty slow" because I routinely drive the stretch doing 60 in 4th gear with ease and I know the SE-i is more than capable on the corners. At the first hairpin (which is actually the worst one even though it's not a blind corner) he hit the brakes hard, I don't think he was expecting the corner. So I took the opportunity and I dropped into 2nd and slipped by him. This was when it got fun. Since he was no longer blocking me I started driving hard on this curvy stretch and keept an eye on the rearview. While all of this is going on I am perfectly inside my lane, never moving into the oncoming, but the guy was driving it like a road course and he was all over the place, but he was sticking to me pretty well. For the second hairpin I shifted down into 3rd and hit it at 50mph in an attempt to keep my RPM high for the exit. I could hear my tires squealing a little even with the windows up but I kept pushing through and turn and I did okay. After exiting and shifting back up I checked my rearview and I noticed that suddenly he was way back there. That's when I realized that I was winning. I took the next curvy segment at 60-70mph and kept gaining distance until the very last hairpin and pulled into my driveway which is directly after it. I sat there waiting for about ten seconds before he finally passed me, quite a lead in my opinion.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Two guys racing in cars that have practically no power compared to real Japanese muscle. But on these roads, it's not the power that counts - it's the handling. All I can say is I had a lot of fun and I feel good from my first taste of victory in my new (to me) Eclipse.
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Dec 21 2007, 01:38 AM
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