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2003 SL55 AMG, 1989 348 Challenge, 1987 Testarossa, 1992 F40, 1989 Mondial t cab, 2001 X5 4.4 Sport
McLaren 570S v a gaggle of cars
My friends constantly accuse me of driving a little 'quick', and am tough to follow when the road gets twisty. My CBBSCD (Carbon Based Biological Speed Control Device), otherwise known as my wife, likes to refer to driving with me as 'practice'. To me, I'll call it qualifying, but really I'm just going about my business.
Another beautiful Sunday had me heading to one of my favorite local roads. This one goes to a place called Canyon Lake and features 15 miles of sublime switchbacks, increasing and decreasing radius corners, elevation changes, short straights and stunning views. It has also just been repaved. Sounds perfect to me!
As I am heading ever closer to the best part of the drive, I pick off plenty of Sunday cruisers in the hopes that they will be gone by the time I get to the good stuff. After the last group of octogenarians is dispatched and I am able to pick up the pace, the Macca starts to stretch it's legs, and what a set of legs it has! I dial in 'track mode', to sharpen things up and loosen the electronic nannies.
Looking as far down the road as I can, I catch a glimpse of the next pack. It looks like it just might be a group of guys that may have the same idea as me. Leading the pack is a C6 Corvette, followed by current Mustang GT, then what appeared to be an Ariel Atom w/a huge rear wing (it could have been made in someone's garage for all I could tell), then a Porsche 944 and finally some sort of 2 door Lexus with a big exhaust. An interesting crew...... I'll just tag along...... I thought!
As I approach the tail end, there appears to be someone hanging out the top of the Vette, with a camera and a walkie talkie. It wasn't long after I was spotted (it's tough to hide an orange Macca), that the road gets good and they picked up the pace. Cool.... they want to have some fun!
Less than 5 minutes in, the first 3 cars were pulling away, leaving the Porsche and Lexus and me behind. After a few technical corners, I could smell the tell tale odor of brakes (they weren't mine). It wasn't long after that the Porsche and Lexus find a place to pull over and give the point by. I'm off for the fast guys! It wasn't long before the Vette, Mustang and that huge wing were within my grasp!
As I approached, I could tell that they were picking up the pace. This road has all the elements that makes a great road (or track). It didn't take but 5 minutes and all 3 decided to pull over and wave me through. I figured they just wanted to follow....... but they were gone after 3 corners. Not necessarily a 'kill', but more of a white flag!
The more I drive the McLaren, the more it shows itself to be a sympathetic partner when the roads get serious. When a car works with you, communicates and gives you confidence to push on, you know the engineers that executed this were serious enthusiasts. They may not be making great F1 cars right now, but they are on a serious roll with road cars!
03-29-2019, 12:57 AM
