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R8 and a Shelby over the river and thru the woods

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 1:09 am
by wtdash
Headed east on I-90, the freeway winds its way up to Snoqualmie Pass about 55 miles from downtown Seattle. While only slightly over 3,000 feet, it is closed multiple times during the winter due to heavy snow (and unprepared drivers blocking the road).

In a trip up and over the pass earlier this year, my wife and I were in my SS as we approached the summit. I was letting the needle hover over 80. With about 10 miles left to climb, a Shelby GT500 convertible caught us in the fast lane. I moved over and the 'Stang continued on, punching a 90 mph hole in the mountain air.

I picked up my pace as I now had a 'rabbit' (I usually stay back a bit so I don't p'off of the other driver and have time to react (LINK or HERE).

About a minute later I notice a silver Audi R8 5 lanes over - in the 'Slow' lane blasting an even bigger hole (albeit w/a much lower Cd). The Audi slowed down as I attempted to keep pace and my wife snapped a shot thru her passenger window. (I have to commend my wife's restraint here as she would normally tell me to slow the hell down!)

As we crested the top, the 5 lanes merged to 3 and traffic interrupted our brisk pace. The Shelby driver was showing either frustration or gratitude @ those who finally got out of his way as his hand appeared above the topless Pony car...although it appeared it was a single-fingered wave. The Audi was content going w/the flow as we drove along the shoreline of Keechelus Lake.

Due to the GT's 'freeway angst', I let him go and I never caught back up. The Audi disappeared into the traffic behind me for the time being as the lanes dwindled to two.

After 30+ miles we ascended Indian John Hill and the road opened to 3 lanes. I was making up time lost in the congestion behind us. And once again there was a silver blur in the slow lane making my forward progress appear retrograde. I slid over to the middle lane and matched (ha!) speed w/the V10-powered AG (Or maybe it was 'just' the V8 version - I'm not that much of an Audi aficionado). As the triple-digit speeds put pressure on my TD05, we soon approached the off ramp for the rest area. We both slowed to avoid anyone trying to share our space due to a 'Lack Of Planning On Their Part Not Constituting An Emergency On Our Part'.

Heading back down to the low-lands outside of Ellensburg, I ended up in front of the German, and although I pulled over to allow the autobahn-bred Quattro room to pass, he pulled in behind 'til I left the freeway to fuel up on Ellensburg's 'strip'.

Never caught sight of either car again as we made our way across the 'Kansas' portion of WA state (except for the scenic Gorge). But a rare and enjoyable experience on the 1st half of our journey home.

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Re: R8 and a Shelby over the river and thru the woods

Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:56 pm
by Legacy777
I've had a few similar fun experiences like this on my travels across the country.

BTW, I enjoyed your story telling. :)

Re: R8 and a Shelby over the river and thru the woods

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 8:22 am
by AWD_addict
I've found plenty of rabbits on my many drives over that pass.
Seems appropriate that the R8 driver was more chill than the GT500 driver.