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Sorry about the harsh language, but I really am quite peeved off about this one, probably because it was rather embarressing for me!

About 10 minutes ago, just leaving town (Hereford), with some beat up old F reg Rover in front (can't remember model), with a middle-aged bloke and presumably, his wife and baby in the back.

Well, I'm following him (not tailgating, merely following), we go round last roundabout before hitting A-road. He accelerates (gradually) to about 45mph, so I push the foot down a bit harder (leaving her in fourth, as I'm thinking it should be a straightforward overtake) and begin to overtake him on a straight bit of clear road (granted, there's a slight incline, but I overtake on it all the time). However, progress is a little slower than I'd like, and the rate at which I overtake becomes progressively less until we're neck-and-neck...and then he oh-so-gradually begins to pull away...just as a car approaches from the other direction! To be honest, there's no major drama - I settle in behind him again long before the car passes us, but I just thought it was so irresponsible of him to do such a thing, particularly with his passengers.

As I pull back in behind him, although feeling rather angry, I simply laugh it off, to make sure he gets as little satisfaction as possible. I'm just grateful the girlfriend wasn't in the car with me - I'd of never lived that down! Ah well, I now know better for the future!

17 years old or not, I'm fed up with 55bhp!

Ratty wrote:Sorry about the harsh language, but I really am quite peeved off about this one, probably because it was rather embarressing for me!

About 10 minutes ago, just leaving town (Hereford), with some beat up old F reg Rover in front (can't remember model), with a middle-aged bloke and presumably, his wife and baby in the back.

Well, I'm following him (not tailgating, merely following), we go round last roundabout before hitting A-road. He accelerates (gradually) to about 45mph, so I push the foot down a bit harder (leaving her in fourth, as I'm thinking it should be a straightforward overtake) and begin to overtake him on a straight bit of clear road (granted, there's a slight incline, but I overtake on it all the time). However, progress is a little slower than I'd like, and the rate at which I overtake becomes progressively less until we're neck-and-neck...and then he oh-so-gradually begins to pull away...just as a car approaches from the other direction! To be honest, there's no major drama - I settle in behind him again long before the car passes us, but I just thought it was so irresponsible of him to do such a thing, particularly with his passengers.

As I pull back in behind him, although feeling rather angry, I simply laugh it off, to make sure he gets as little satisfaction as possible. I'm just grateful the girlfriend wasn't in the car with me - I'd of never lived that down! Ah well, I now know better for the future!

17 years old or not, I'm fed up with 55bhp!

Its lucky your G/F wasn't in the car as you wouldn't have made it up the hill!!

Not implying shes fat, but you do notice a performance drop when you have two passengers in the car

True, you do notice a slight drop in performance when there's two of you, but when there's five of you, it's just plain embarressing. And not just in acceleration...you have to plan braking manouveres a couple of miles before you get to them!

Unfortunately, you get used to this sort of thing down south.

That, and people not slowing down when going past parked cars, so you are guaranteed a broken mirror sooner or later

personally i would have said hello to third gear
and afterwards if i ended up behind there may have been liberal horm and hign beam useage
(for some reason im getting an inters flash back hmmm)

I was actually amazed by something I saw on a local B-road today. I was following on of those citreon egg-shaped mpv things... We were doing a steady 55-60 when we came up behind an old mk4 escort doing around 30!! This is on one of the long straights on this road (old roman road).

That's not what amazed me though, no - it was the fact that the mpv actually overtook!!!! I mean, I thought overtaking had been banned on a Sunday or something, the number of times I've been stuck in a que of traffic all doing 40ish in a NSL, all not leaving enough space btwn them, so noone can get past...

Just couldn't believe it, someone actually driving properly for once - ignoring the escort.

dxg wrote:I was actually amazed by something I saw on a local B-road today. I was following on of those citreon egg-shaped mpv things... We were doing a steady 55-60 when we came up behind an old mk4 escort doing around 30!! This is on one of the long straights on this road (old roman road).

That's not what amazed me though, no - it was the fact that the mpv actually overtook!!!! I mean, I thought overtaking had been banned on a Sunday or something, the number of times I've been stuck in a que of traffic all doing 40ish in a NSL, all not leaving enough space btwn them, so noone can get past...

Just couldn't believe it, someone actually driving properly for once - ignoring the escort.

Could have been my brother

He drives a 1.9HDi Xsara Picasso (which is what you're talking about) because it makes a good surfing/boarding mobile for chucking all our stuff in the back. He drives it like any other car and overtakes just as much as anyone.

Never assume that all MPV's are being driven by Mums

Going back to the performance thing i notice even with my twin sub in that there is definitely a noticable difference in performance!! And talking about pratty drivers well......

After dropping my friend off at her house was on my way back down the road, as going down this road there is a fairly sharp bend to the right which you can't see down, opposite this bend (on my left hand side at the time) is a lil dead end where a few houses are, coming down being fairly cautious a damn proton comes zooming round the bend, we both brake fairly sharply, LOADS of room between us, my thoughts are as follows

Because of the area it is : - DON'T GESTURE
- DON'T MIME OBSCENITIES
Just carry on......

So the proton dives in to the lil road i carry on, i then look back to find it following me, seems a bit strange as it was tail gating me but i thought HEY could just be a coincidence BUT i will lock my doors, get to the end of a road wanting to turn on to this main road but can't coz there's too much traffic, i look in my mirror and the damn man has got out of his car, comes up to my door bangs on the window and tries to open my door, coz of the area he's probably inbred and so if i'm to get out of the car and carry on the argument i don't like my chances so i just put my foot down and go, but what i want to know is WHY do people do this??

Hey SiDaBa, where abouts was that?
And where abouts are you from?
I used to live around that sorta way, and still got family and friends in Crayford and Bexleyheath....

Lol I live in Crayford, but this was Swanley, know it??

Sure do... speak to you on msn ok?

The GT of fury never gets embarassed!!!

hahahahaahaslkhsalhksaklhaslkhashklashakhl

ha

Ok must just be me as hey my second post on here as yet another experience with another prat.

However got to an end of a road (on a bit of a hill) where there are cars parked either side so there is only room for on direction of trafic to go at a time. This is fine a lil morris minor infront of me was letting everyone go through, which is fine i don't have a problem with, so i pull in to a gap behind her to keep out of oncoming traffics way. But no some idiot in an old rover 200 pulls up aside me trying to force his way thro, gave a lil beep to say that i was here and would like to go. Morris Minor now goes, Rover seems to have stopped waiting for me (oh if only) and so i go to go, i head for the gap at which the same time he shoves his foot down and we both go for the gap....... both brake suddenly, he drives so far forward i can't do anything and gets out of his car (they ALWAYS get out of the car for me ), starts F'n and blinding at me, going to punch my head in etc, i just apologise (enticing him to get back in his car), luckily he does but HOW do people get so thick that they can't think of an alternative to having a go when they were clearly in the wrong??



Thank you i feel a lil better for my moan

to reply, combatitively, to the first post:

silly boy, overtaking at 45mph, you should have been in 3rd. Always! Overtaking in 4th (or 5th) with a small engine is never straightforward.
....unless it's a definate hill, then you want 2nd til 50mph for that teeny bit of extra zing. if it's the 4-speed of course.
(how do i divine that? thru too much experience of having to whip the ol' 45hp'er around too many people doing 45 on A-roads. Why is it almost always 45?)
(and from seeing a friend of a friend, in a 1-litre nova, 4-up with luggage, attempting to overtake a truck. in france. in what later was reported as 5th gear. at 40mph.... whilst we were sitting behind watching from a much quicker escort whose driver dared not risk the pass, crapping ourselves as to whether he'd make it before the bend about 2 miles ahead. the passengers said that they eventually screamed enough in unison for him to change gear for the first time ever. scary.)

sidaba, as regarding the second post, also had that happen, just around the corner from home... coming up a road that's only 2.5 cars wide, with people parked randomly one side and t'other, just sauntering up at about 20mph.... see another car blatting down in my direction, still out of harm's way, but no gaps in between, so gently pull in and brake to leave a space for them to come thru. then some prat in a red rover who'd been following on behind me decides this is their chance and starts to come past me fairly quick. I hadn't signalled, let off the brake pedal, come to a complete halt, pulled right to the curb, anything like that - just left the requisite 1.1 car gap, whilst being 0.4 the way out myself - but on they come. luckily i have half an eye on the mirror, lean on horn and just pull out ever so slightly (cant exactly "leap into the breach" with a small engined polo), hopefully enough to give them and the other car pause for thought without actually getting into danger myself. oncoming car slows quite a bit, driver of red car throws out the anchors, gives me a flash and a very dirty look.... before finding themselves face to face with another road user giving it back to them. and we do the automotive tango for a couple minutes much like three tractors at a passing place on a single track lane. like... duhh... learn to look more than 5 metres up the road or at the nearest car only, dumbass.

this town is filled with such dopes, i really dont get it. "back" in bangor at least the worst I had to deal with was hordes of confused people who somehow dont realise their car has lights, or that "LEFT TURN ONLY" and "NO ENTRY" apply to those who speak welsh as well as those who speak english. you can account for and handle such things... pure unadulterated crazy driving, there's just no defence against.

funny... its always rovers as well that seem to contain the lunacy. and it's not as if they're cheap to buy, insure, run etc. maybe they're just the default choice of the clueless and needlessly nationalistic.

even when i've been in the passenger seat of one, it's become the nucleus of bad carma. maybe they have some kind of curse.

managed to re-neducate "my" rover driver a bit into some good practices (eg that blue light means you're blinding people, that truck thats been sitting next to you for the last five miles has a 55mph limiter so you really shouldn't waver between 54 and 56 when he's trying to overtake, that black and white sign means you've left the 30mph zone, get the hell out of the outside lane you idiot... um, sorry!... etc) but i'm worried that they may slip back without reinforcement.. luckily it was bought new, as we had at the time a quite incredible family discount offer via a former employee relative, rather than as a "duh, i need a car, i think i'll get a second hand rover" decision... so its effect is weakened.