I just got back from a spirited drive in the countryside in the Cayman R. On one road, I was being tailgated by a large pickup truck, bordering on monster truck. He was so close, and his truck so big, that I couldn't even see the top of his roof in my rear view mirror.

I got to a legal passing zone, passed a slow car in front of me, and took off. Glanced in the mirror again and the darned truck was right behind me, black smoke bellowing out! Now I'm thinking this is ridiculous, is the guy trying to prove that his pickup truck is as fast as a Porsche? I had nothing to prove on my end, but I didn't like his tailgating, so I decided to put some distance between us as we approached a curvy section. I went about as fast as I was comfortable (and I'm not timid), keeping in mind that a lot of these curves have guardrail with no shoulder, so I had no interest in crashing.

Well, I was shocked to find that the guy kept up with me - in a pickup truck! He did seem to fall behind in some curves, but then he must have floored it in straights because he'd catch right up again. After about 3 miles of this nonsense, I gave up the idea of losing him, thinking this guy would rather crash than lose me.

Finally, I made a right turn at an intersection, and he went straight, spinning his wheels as he took off.

Moral of the story: beware of pickup truck drivers, some of these guys are crazy! (And he's not the first crazy pickup truck driver I've run across.)

 

Reminds me of the fun I had with my modified Cayenne twin turbo... Several times I would be out on some nice roads with a sports car in front of me that would try to lose me and couldn't. Surprised the hell out of them that a SUV could keep up. Of course I never tail gated anyone or caused people to think I was crazy.

My favorite time was when I had two Corvettes come screaming up on Hwy 580 over
Altamont pass in the middle of the night... They both passed me on each side as I was in the middle lane so I decided to give a little chase (since no other cars were around) and passed both of them at WOT. Boy did they look surprised at being passed by an SUV! LOL They both gave me a thumbs up when I took the 11th street exit to head home.

P.S I think the Cayenne is able to handle the power better than a pickup... I hate people that take chances with vehicles not designed to go fast!

 

^ If we were on a straight road with at least two lanes in our direction, I would have understood his doing that. But his trying to keep up with me on a road with sharp curves, marked as low as 20 mph, was a shock to me. No chance I would have considered doing what he did, even when I was younger and much dumber.

 

I usually let loose with a stream of windshield cleaner fluid...and then play dumb.

 

I haven't had anyone mess with me (yet) like you describe. I find that I have to try to keep myself from becoming the jacka$$ from time to time - The car just wants to go, so I have to watch myself to keep from becoming the guy that everyone else hates. I drive it around home, so a lot of people know it's me in the car. Does anyone else have to temper themselves like this?

 

Yes, I definitely have to temper myself like that. I try to restrict my truly spirited driving to sparsely populated areas at least 5 miles from home. Especially since the CR is very recognizable and my wife drives it more than I do, so I don't want her facing blowback for my driving. When it gets warmer, I plan to hit the track, so hopefully that will get much of this out of my system.

 

I've been tailed a few times by big trucks .. does put my nerves on end

 

I am glad it isn't just me that worries about it. I need to go to the track as well - this is the cure!

 

I stand corrected above - the track is not the cure; it is a temporary relief of the symptoms.

 

I get this way to often & will not allow it since I know at freeway speeds these raised trucks have twice the stopping distance of my S. Had one behind me last week & his bumper was higher than my trunk lid! I wish cops would enforce the bumper height laws!

 

I've driven sports cars (MG, Triumph, Mustang, Miata, Corvette, Porsche) for a long time and trucks have tailgated/raced/annoyed me countless times. There is something in the average pea-sized redneck truck-driver brain that just doesn't like sport cars.

<SOAPBOX ON>
But one thing I don't do is ENCOURAGE them. Just let'em go by. No need to prove anything to ignorant a$$holes with more testosterone than intelligence.
<SOAPBOX OFF>

Dave

 

I havent had too many trucks tail gate me like that but Ricer cars and Subarus !!!! are just out of hand around here ..always wanting to race on the streets is just STUPID and they get pissed if you dont

 

Occasionally I'll get a tail-gater. Drives me nuts cause I know in a pinch my car can stop -- and I keep a safe distance between the car ahead and my car.

What I have found works is if possible just change lanes and let the butthead by.

If the freeway is full of traffic I let off the gas and let the car slow a bit then the tail-gator drops back and I resume my previous speed. Another time or two of this and the tail-gator will swing around and often zig-zag through traffic to get past.

Then I follow the tail-gator (but not too close) sometimes for miles.

I worry too about even though I manage to stop my car in time in case there's an emergency situation that the tail-gator will run into me and then shove me into the vehicle ahead.

In one case I know of the driver of the car in the middle was sued by someone in the first vehicle for severe injuries. The driver of the middle vehicle claimed to have stopped in time but was shoved into the 1st vehicle by the 3rd vehicle. The 3rd vehicle's driver claimed something else.

Nasty mess. And the injuries to the person in the 1st vehicle were quite severe and the suit was for several million dollars.

I do not know the outcome, if the 2nd driver's attorney was able to prove his client managed to stop the his vehicle and was in fact then shoved into the 1st vehicle.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

That's what I would have done, but this was a country road with one lane in each direction, so I didn't have that option.

Also, I forget to mention that the car was wearing summer tires and it was only a little above 40 F, so that made me less willing to push it.

 

Yeah, that's a tough situation. In that case, I would follow Macster's technique and slow a bit and if that doesn't work even throw on your emergency flashers. The tailgator will probably be surprised by that and drop back (some). Its a good indicator that you don't want to 'play'.

Or, if that fails, floor it.