Quote:
Originally Posted by Laird Scooby
Took the 760 out for a spin today to get petrol (interim top up to check on the consumption) and some shopping. I'd been stuck behind two cars doing about 35-40mph in a 60 limit on a road where not only is it safe to do that, it's safer to do that than 30!
It's one of those roads where you need to ease out to have a look, even while maintaining a safe distance behind the car you're about to overtake because there are lots of areas of dead ground and some double bends in the distance. However being a fast road, those double bends actually need to be considered much closer.
As i've eased out to have a look, my left eye catches the rear view mirror in the corner of my eye. Some muppet in a white van that was tailgating me had decided he was going to overtake as well - no signals though.
A bit of split-second thinking on my part, indicator on, moved completely out and floored it about 35-40mph which kicked it down into 2nd so may have been 45-50mph in actual fact.
Meanwhile Numb-Nuts behind still hadn't indicated but had moved out and floored it.
As he was driving a Pugrot van, no prizes for guessing i left him standing but i didn't ease off the loud pedal until after it had gone into 3rd at about 90mph then eased the power back gradually for the bends.
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The rule of thumb I was given about overtakes on single-carriageways was "you need 20mph leeway to do it safely" - any less and you're putting yourself at risk. This does not, however, apply to White Vans which need only 0.5mph more speed than the vehicle they are overtaking because they have a special dispensation from the laws both of physics and of unintended consequences.
It was the late Bill Blydenstein who felt that mid-range torque and the 30-50, 40-60 and 50-70 acceleration times in top gear that were the hallmark of a true performance road-car; the 2.6litre FE Victor was quicker in the mid-range than SAAB's vaunted 99 Turbo.