One of these days, I'll remember which car I'm driving.....

So not too long ago, I was given the opportunity to pick up a 1995 Taurus, that runs AND drives, and is relatively rust free (Typical 15 year old spots starting, but no holes or anything) for 100$. I bought it so I could have a spare car with an automatic (Wife has a tendency to hurt herself and render driving her MINI impossible) and so I could mothball my speed3 for the winter and finally get the rest of the engine work done without having to worry about a DD. Now for the funny part-

I almost wrecked it on my way home from purchasing it. Having an ms3 with upgraded suspension bits and sticky rubber means it handles good. I'm able to toss it into corners fairly aggressively without fear of going for an adventure in the cabbage. As it turns out, a Taurus is NOT designed to do the same things the Mazda is. I was on my way home with it, and hit one of my usual cloverleaves at a normal speed for me.... in the wrong car. I trail braked it in, and gave it just a little steering input, and the car did nothing. Kept plowing straight for the weeds. Little more steering, no dice. Finally had to get all over the brakes to load the front so it would bite, and crank the piss out of the wheel.... woke me right up. Safe to say, I learned a different set of input methods for successfully driving my beater.

About a week later (this morning in fact) I drove the ms3 to work, because surprise surpise, SWMBO blew an arm out at work and is in a sling, so she can't drive the MINI. I hand over the keys to said Taurus, and make my way to the ms3. On my way into work, I hit another one of my familiar clovers. Welp, instead of doing the normal ms3 set for the turn, I did the Taurus version. As it turns out, doing that in said ms3 is a recipe for "We're headed for the median/bowl area, RIGHT NOW." Had to correct the other direction in one helluva hurry to keep myself from playing rally cross on a public roadway.

No real point to that story, just figured I'd share how i'm an idiot and need to remember what car i'm in better.

I LOL'd. Thanks for sharing

Hahahahaha well done. I'm good at slamming the brakes in automatics when I try to clutch in and shift. This usually occurs at highway speeds.

thatsnowinnebago wrote: Hahahahaha well done. I'm good at slamming the brakes in automatics when I try to clutch in and shift. This usually occurs at highway speeds.

I've done that before too. I had a rental 3i sedan when my ms3 was getting some recall work done, and I went to downshift to 3rd to set for yet another cloverleaf, and instead got a whole pile of brake pedal. No ABS+70mph= HOLYCRAPIMASTUFFTHISPIGFORSURE.

mndsm wrote: No ABS+70mph= HOLYCRAPIMASTUFFTHISPIGFORSURE.

LMAO. That needs to go who in Say What!

mndsm wrote: No real point to that story, just figured I'd share how i'm an idiot and need to remember what car i'm in better.

Or you could just slow it down a tad when you're sharing public roads with moms and babies and kind-hearted old grandmas. Sheesh.

1988RedT2 wrote:

mndsm wrote: No real point to that story, just figured I'd share how i'm an idiot and need to remember what car i'm in better.

Or you could just slow it down a tad when you're sharing public roads with moms and babies and kind-hearted old grandmas. Sheesh.

Slow it down? Soccer moms and old ladies are dangerous enough without having the be AROUND them.... I'm trying to get away!

I have tuned my rump to know exactly which vehicle I am driving. Since I suxxor at the driving thing they all still get driven the same.

I was used to driving my 5-speed Supercoupe when I bought a 6-speed Z28. It's important to remember which is which. Attempting to shift into sixth in a five speed makes a very unpleasant noise and vibration to shoot right up your arm and into your teeth. And no, Ford installed no reverse gear lockout to prevent just such a thing.

mndsm wrote:

thatsnowinnebago wrote: Hahahahaha well done. I'm good at slamming the brakes in automatics when I try to clutch in and shift. This usually occurs at highway speeds.

I've done that before too. I had a rental 3i sedan when my ms3 was getting some recall work done, and I went to downshift to 3rd to set for yet another cloverleaf, and instead got a whole pile of brake pedal. No ABS+70mph= HOLYCRAPIMASTUFFTHISPIGFORSURE.

You guys should start left-foot braking when piloting the two-pedal cars. It keeps your brain (and foot) active AND you get to practice trail-braking, too.

I LFB in the truck and using the right foot now seems, well, awkward. BTW, normal driving in the Honda's is the old heel n toe; the LFB stuff is saved for the faster, srs bzns stuff.

OP I'm with you on this one. A few years back I had a Park Avenue Ultra as my winter beater, Miata was the DD. Poor PA didn't like my driving style as I drove it like the Miata. Was kinda fun trail braking that big tank though.

The current winter beater, Regal GSE (trend here?) will be on the road soon. Again I'll have to transition my driving style from my MS3 to this. Should be interesting.

Will wrote: I was used to driving my 5-speed Supercoupe when I bought a 6-speed Z28. It's important to remember which is which. Attempting to shift into sixth in a five speed makes a very unpleasant noise and vibration to shoot right up your arm and into your teeth. And no, Ford installed no reverse gear lockout to prevent just such a thing.

If I've been driving an automatic for a while, I usually put the car into 1st/reverse with the clutch engaged and the brakes on the first time I get back into a manual

And of course when going from a manual to an automatic I stomp the dead pedal on the first few stops.

Biggest problem with either LFB the taurus, or even heel toeing for me anyhow, is my ankles. Years of youth abuse and disdain for medical professionals has left me with approximately 50% of rotational movement of my ankles. Couple that with the fact that I'm a fatass, and the taurus has a HUGE footwell, and it makes it tough. I'm quick with my feet, but not that good lol.

I have that problem moving from my Honda Fit to my wife's Cooper S. The brakes are so much better I regularly try to launch myself through the windshield. There tends to be much apologizing when I am driving.

It seems I've always managed to own 2 cars that are complete polar opposites.

There's just no mistaking the non-existent steering feel and waterbed quality ride of a Grand Marquis as a semi-sporty hatchback.

I went from the MR2 with race-compound brake pads to the Rondo that is way overdue for some brakes. You simply cannot late brake when you are on the backing plates!

My 'forget which car I'm in' moment had slightly more expensive consequences. After a year or so of very successfully autocrossing my Miata I managed to convince my self that road racing locally would be no more expensive than autocrossing Nationally. Dumb ass mistake that I still regret today. But ho hum the young and the stupid. So I sold my Miata and bought an ITC Fiesta. After a winter of working on it I went to my drivers school. Had a great day building up to speed (Glacial in the case of the Fiesta, but speed nonetheless), doing what I was told and staying out of trouble. Come one of the afternoon practice mini 2 lap races I'm in the grove and start going for it a bit harder. This is where I came a cropper. In the Miata you could do a 2-3 shift as fast as you like, basically pushing straight forward and the spring would move it across the gate and away you go. In the Fiesta the gear shift had the precision of a wooden spoon in week old porridge and throws measured in furlongs. No problem, I'd been ubber careful all day. But now the red mist was heating up and I was going into the zone, the dumb ass motherberkeleyer zone that is. So exiting a corner, max rpm in 2nd, slam it into 3rd and bring up the clutch with foot still on the floor. Only it wasn’t 3rd, it was 1st. I figure I spun that poor little Kent engine to about 11,500rpm. Sheared most of the flywheel bolts, trashed the end of the crank, the (illegally lightened by the Previous owner) flywheel, the clutch and put a hole through the bell housing. Sigh. Well I rebuilt the trans with an LSD and a legal flywheel, but I missed that first season.

My forgetting what car I was driving was almost very expensive.

I had a blue Fiat spider 1800. Nice little car that handled great. The radio station I worked for was giving away (With help from Donald Trump) a dozen Mercury Capris (the roadster). We had a blue one to use for the summer..

One of the first times I drove it, It was night coming back from a live remote and I was on a familier back road and took the usual corner like I always did.. and almost understeered our giveaway car right into a tree...

Sometimes I expect my truck to turn and/or stop, but usually I do not.

Will wrote: I was used to driving my 5-speed Supercoupe when I bought a 6-speed Z28. It's important to remember which is which. Attempting to shift into sixth in a five speed makes a very unpleasant noise and vibration to shoot right up your arm and into your teeth. And no, Ford installed no reverse gear lockout to prevent just such a thing.

It's similar when you have two MINI's - an '03 MCS and a '07 MC. Former is a 6 spd, the latter a 5 spd. Reverse is at opposite spots on the shift pattern.

My g/f complains every year when she has to "relearn" the MCS' handling when the snow tires go on/come off.

I've found I can push my truck through corners at some scary speeds... however, since I run W965 Blizzak snow tires year-round - and they run about $170 each - I generally keep the sports-car treatment to a minimum.

Now, all you must do is make the Taurus handle the same as the Mazda. Problem solved.

I had exactly that same thing happen once. Thats what I get for going from an RX8 to a 1987 Econoline. I never even noticed that ramp was decreasing radius with the rx8...

Hoop wrote: Now, all you must do is make the Taurus handle the same as the Mazda. Problem solved.

This is impossible, but we can at least fight the understeer. Trim the rolly poly springs, max out the rear toe and positive camber, and throw on some kind of tires that aren't from walmart. Make sure all the brakes work.

decreasing radius ramp in a taurus with studded tires, compared to a Neon R/T on some nice Potenzzas

RoosterSauce wrote:

Hoop wrote: Now, all you must do is make the Taurus handle the same as the Mazda. Problem solved.

This is impossible, but we can at least fight the understeer. Trim the rolly poly springs, max out the rear toe and positive camber, and throw on some kind of tires that aren't from walmart. Make sure all the brakes work.

Brakes are new. 3 of the 4 tires are not from walmart. A Yokohama, a Goodyear and a Bridgestone. The 4th- is actually also not from Walmart, as it is from Fleet Farm (Farm and Fleet to some of you other midwesterners). I almost gifted it with the Star Specs off of my ms3... but then realized Ford liked to use silly bolt patterns and not play nice.