The Asphalt Roller Coaster
Extremely large numbers can be hard for our monkey derived brains to wrap around. Taxes are a pain. Somehow everyone thinks there are only 40 jelly beans in those contest jars that hold 200. When numbers get big our brains start having issues.
The same thing happens when we try to think about what a high horsepower car feels like. The acceleration that some cars can dish out is simply something most people have never experienced. That most people have only been in cars with under 300 horsepower does not help the cause. Recently I had the opportunity to sit in the passenger seat of a 2007 WRX STI with 580 HP; roughly double the power the car had when it left the factory.
Just like Johnny Tremain cars can get badges of courage.
The acceleration of a car this fast is as close to an asphalt roller coaster as you are ever going to get. Recapture in your mind the feeling of the tallest roller coaster you have ever been on. The slight anxiety of knowing the decent is coming and then the sheer acceleration as you begin to drop.
Your stomach stays in place as your body rockets forward and your head snaps back into the seat. The ground begins rushing around you, mere feet away outside the window, and everything through the windshield begins speeding towards you with extraordinary conviction. Every shift brings with it a new surge that your stomach cannot catch up with as it sits about a foot behind your body. You try to count the gears but all you can think of is how rapidly the shifts are being popped off and how fast you must be going.
Then as quickly as it started, there is the second shock to the system. The power comes off and you get slammed forward as the car begins to coast. You settle back into the supportive sport seats but your body is still recovering.
My knees tingled as my stomach returned to its rightful place bringing along a sense of nausea that wouldn’t leave me for another hour. Shocked from the experience all I could utter was “Holy shit that was fast” or something equally trite and underwhelming.
That is what 580 horsepower feels like from the passenger seat. A level roller coaster that rips your stomach from your body as it hurls you toward the horizon. Everyone should go for a ride in a car like this. Even the most devout Prius driver could be won over with one ride.
A big thanks to Dom at Maxwell Power. Totally amazing car and thank you for taking the time to show me what a fast car is really like. Check out more about them at www.GETaDOMTUNE.com
Great post Sam! I actually kind of felt like I did know what it was like to be in that car at the end of it. Although, I don’t know if it’s a feeling I would like in my everyday car.
Thank you very much. That is the crazy thing about having a car like these, or even approaching this, you kind of lose perspective on what is fast. People want more and more power. This thing would probably get me arrested just because you can do so much so quickly no one can really get in your way.
My tip to anyone who wants more power out of an already modified car is to go rent a Chevy Cobalt for a day!