hwj

This morning, I finally got around to dropping my spare off at a Firestone to get a nail puncture patched. (I had put only 300 or so miles on my new S4 when my right rear Pirelli was impaled. I swapped the spare for that wheel, and have been driving ever since.) Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a slacker.

Anyway, this particular Firestone is on the interstate access road, but on the near side, so I would have to make a loop around before I can get to it. I remembered this little tiny backroad that would shortcut me there, so I decided to take it.

There's a school administration building at the front end of this backroad, and I got stuck behind a mommy van that was trying to figure out where to park, and it was taking her forever. While I was waiting, a white Toyota Camry appeared behind me, staying uncomfortably close to my rear bumper. Once the minivan cleared, I took off, leaving the commuter car in the dust. I leveled out at around 50mph and backed my speed down to about 40, which was still well over the posted limit of the road (25). After a couple of seconds, though the maniac reappeared, going really fast, and he was on my bumper again. "Damnit," I said to myself, "begone, foul Camry!" I downshifted and punched it again, and this time I leveled off at 70 or so, which is way, way too fast for this narrow road with about zero sight distance. Despite this, the Camry once again caught up with me after a little while. I realized this was one of those guys that, despite the fact their car can barely accelerate, will be more than happy to go a gajillion miles per hour once they get the car up that fast. The road started to end, and I came upon the rear entrance of the Firestone. I missed the first driveway, as it was hidden by some bushes, but got on the brakes and swung into the second drive. I then noticed that the Camry, tires squealling, had turned into the first driveway.

I think some of you know where this story is going.

As I was circling around to the front of the building, I saw the Camry as it pulled up to the back entrance of one of the service bays and rolled up onto an alignment rack. A Firestone tech got out of the car.

Consider this a word of warning for those of you who take your more pedestrian vehicles (should you own any) to places like Firestone or their clones for service. The guy road-testing your car might be as crazy as the guy I encountered this morning. While I shudder to think of some mechanic driving my S4 recklessly, I can at least find some comfort in the fact that the car is overbuilt and made to handle those high speeds. That four-banger slushbox Camry, on the other hand, was probably quite ill-prepared to handle any surprises on that little road at those speeds. I highly doubt the car's brakes, steering, and suspension would be up to the task of, say, dodging a deer while the guy drove 80mph. A fine line separated that Camry from being returned safely to the owner or being a smoldering insurance claim.

CP

<p>Cy...Pearl '97 1.8TQMS, APRv3.1, Neuspeed, H&R Sport, Neuspeed/Bilstein, AEZ Bimos, AVS Sports, ATE Powerdisc, Mintex, Valvoline SynPower, Mobil 1, Autometer, K&N, Air Box Mod.