SE-Rage
05-10-2001, 10:25 AM
12:30 AM, Wednesday night. Finals next week. Just more pressure I don’t need. I just want to go home and sleep in my own bed. I take Highway 13, the normal route. I like the way that the highway twists and turns up in the Oakland hills; that and there’s never any of those fine people who protect and serve. The best thing about this time of the late night/early morning is that there are never any drivers on the road. Good. I hate traffic.
I enter the highway, picking up speed on the downhill onramp. I get to highway cruising speed rather quickly and shift into 5th as I stop accelerating but maintain my speed. I can’t tell how fast I’m going, the dashboard light is out again. Piece of shit. Do Honda’s ever do this? As I try to remind myself of the superiority of my 10 year old, out of date, beaten and frayed Sentra, I slowly approach an Integra. With repulsive rims. Even in the dark the ugliness attracts the attention of my vexed eyes. What the fuck is that annoying glint coming from behind the car? Jesus Christ. A hunk of polished sheet metal about the diameter of a toilet seat. Shit. That’s what this car is. Shit.
I pull up next to him, pacing him side by side. He gives me a look. It’s on now. I turn on the dome light so I can see when to shift. Damn, I have to get this fixed; I look ridiculous. I hold the clutch and then press the gas. God, I love that throaty growl. Well, as throaty as a 2-liter can get. (Hey, the cold air intake and the $50 custom exhaust give it a good roar.) Then I hear his smaller 1.8-liter whine. Haha, no chance. We both slow down to about 50 mph as the highway suddenly turns into a steep uphill climb. He suddenly takes off.
Well, at least he tries to. I quickly shift into 2nd and go after him. I see the needle climb quickly, 50, 53, 57. I’m pulling on him. Nice. As I hear my engine scream towards its limit, my left foot instinctively smashes the clutch as my right hand takes itself off the steering wheel and takes the stick and shoves it into 3rd all in one motion. Left foot, off, right foot, down. My engine’s screaming quickly dissipates into a low roar, and then proceeds to climb in volume again. By this time I’m half a car past that Honda and still slowly leaving him behind. I can tell his puny engine is having problems climbing the hill. As we approach the top of the hill, I’m appreciating the .2-liter advantage I have over the guy as I extend my lead to a full car. (Hey, I’ll take any displacement advantage I can get.)
Gravity helps pull me down to the bottom of the valley as I see my lead increase dramatically. I look in my rear and see that he finally hit the peak and is heading down. I’m still in the left lane, but I see the highway curve to the right. I enter the apex on time, abiding by no lines to complete the turn. I’m about 2 and a half cars ahead and in his lane now. Well, sort of. Shit, I’m banging on the door of 90. I take my right hand off the wheel as it grabs the stick again and pulls it straight down into 4th as my left foot depresses the pedal. He gains the ground he lost with the help of gravity. The road straightens out as I regain the lead I had and increase it some more. Bad turn? Low exist speed? Oh, poor baby. 110. I look in my rear and his headlights are becoming more and more distant. I guess he gave up. Time to chalk up another win for Nissan over Honda.
I don’t get to say this often, but got torque?
I enter the highway, picking up speed on the downhill onramp. I get to highway cruising speed rather quickly and shift into 5th as I stop accelerating but maintain my speed. I can’t tell how fast I’m going, the dashboard light is out again. Piece of shit. Do Honda’s ever do this? As I try to remind myself of the superiority of my 10 year old, out of date, beaten and frayed Sentra, I slowly approach an Integra. With repulsive rims. Even in the dark the ugliness attracts the attention of my vexed eyes. What the fuck is that annoying glint coming from behind the car? Jesus Christ. A hunk of polished sheet metal about the diameter of a toilet seat. Shit. That’s what this car is. Shit.
I pull up next to him, pacing him side by side. He gives me a look. It’s on now. I turn on the dome light so I can see when to shift. Damn, I have to get this fixed; I look ridiculous. I hold the clutch and then press the gas. God, I love that throaty growl. Well, as throaty as a 2-liter can get. (Hey, the cold air intake and the $50 custom exhaust give it a good roar.) Then I hear his smaller 1.8-liter whine. Haha, no chance. We both slow down to about 50 mph as the highway suddenly turns into a steep uphill climb. He suddenly takes off.
Well, at least he tries to. I quickly shift into 2nd and go after him. I see the needle climb quickly, 50, 53, 57. I’m pulling on him. Nice. As I hear my engine scream towards its limit, my left foot instinctively smashes the clutch as my right hand takes itself off the steering wheel and takes the stick and shoves it into 3rd all in one motion. Left foot, off, right foot, down. My engine’s screaming quickly dissipates into a low roar, and then proceeds to climb in volume again. By this time I’m half a car past that Honda and still slowly leaving him behind. I can tell his puny engine is having problems climbing the hill. As we approach the top of the hill, I’m appreciating the .2-liter advantage I have over the guy as I extend my lead to a full car. (Hey, I’ll take any displacement advantage I can get.)
Gravity helps pull me down to the bottom of the valley as I see my lead increase dramatically. I look in my rear and see that he finally hit the peak and is heading down. I’m still in the left lane, but I see the highway curve to the right. I enter the apex on time, abiding by no lines to complete the turn. I’m about 2 and a half cars ahead and in his lane now. Well, sort of. Shit, I’m banging on the door of 90. I take my right hand off the wheel as it grabs the stick again and pulls it straight down into 4th as my left foot depresses the pedal. He gains the ground he lost with the help of gravity. The road straightens out as I regain the lead I had and increase it some more. Bad turn? Low exist speed? Oh, poor baby. 110. I look in my rear and his headlights are becoming more and more distant. I guess he gave up. Time to chalk up another win for Nissan over Honda.
I don’t get to say this often, but got torque?