Have you taken a car "out of its element"?

"caddyak" (caddyak) 01/24/2016 at 19:27 • Filed to: None

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Every car is designed to perform best within certain boundaries the marketing team decided on. But sometimes the circumstances of life or sheer curiosity place our four-wheel friends into situations where they don’t belong. Maybe you crossed the Rockies during a blizzard in a Corvette, trekked Moab in a Cube, drove a dually in Manhattan, autocrossed a Prius or even taken an X-type out of the shop.

For me it was taking my 2001 M5 with 150,000 miles on a 8,000 mile camping trip, getting it stuck on a trail in Yosemite. Our laissez-faire approach to deciding on an itinerary meant we drove about 3,000 miles further than we anticipated (Vegas was totally worth it), making my Pilot Sport summer tires almost completely bald on the rear. A surprised rain storm lead to this cover photo being taken on a Samsung Galaxy S Potato.

Let’s see what strange new hell you’ve put your car through.

bob and john > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 19:31

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motorcycle in snow. Yea id say its pretty far out of its element

jkm7680 > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 19:31

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I wasn’t driving it, but me and a few friends *accidently-ish* drifted an old Explorer. It was no fun and we almost rolled it over.

TractorPillow > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 19:34

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I used to take my classic mini to the local Alabama, good ole boys off-road trails. They got a hoot out of my throwing it around. Never got stuck because I avoided mud, but definitely had to replace some suspension parts more often than I should have.

Anon > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 19:36

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I routinely took my Mini cooper soft offroading. The year I had it my grandpa was dying of throat cancer and so I would go out to his house in the middle of nowhere to help with chores. But the roads were more of logging paths so I rutinely stratched the hell out of the bottom of the mini. I always joked that my mini cooper went off road more that most trucks!

area man > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 19:43

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Shafer Trail in Canyonlands. We were on a family vacation in a 2001 Chevy Malibu and my dad’s attempt at a shortcut led us up this path. The road itself is not that bad - more like a fire road with a few bad ruts and axle-catching rocks here and there - but the switchbacks are very tight as it climbs the canyon wall and there’s nothing between you and a many-hundred foot drop. I believe this is where they filmed the final scene in Thelma and Louise. I remember passing a group of mountain bikers and them staring at us like we were insane, which we kind of were, but we had gone too far out of our way by the time we realized how intense the climb was.

911e46z06 > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 19:52

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Kind of similar, actually. I had a ‘97 e39 528 all set up for road rally on Nitto 555Rs. On a cross-country trip, my girlfriend at the time decided she wanted to stay in a haunted hotel, so we drove up to Estes Park, Colorado where we got stuck in a blizzard. It got real slippery and real sketchy on those icy roads.

lone_liberal > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 19:57

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Once took a ‘72 Camaro up in to the mountains huckleberry picking. Driving up logging roads in that thing was an exercise in tire placement. It ended up overheating and I had to use water from a stream to keep it going. It’s amazing that car lasted as long as it did.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 20:25

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Yes.

Whoever said 2.5's aren’t any fun is not trying hard enough. Bonus I beat every Subaru that showed up.

yamahog > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 20:26

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I nominate Travis for (repeatedly) autocrossing his ‘86 Monte Carlo:

marshknute > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 20:57

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No photos of the day in question, but I would drive my NA Miata with the top down through a blizzard on all-season tires. It slipped and slid all over the place, but somehow managed to claw its way up Pittsburgh’s many hills. People at red lights would take the time to remind me the top was down (in case I hadn’t noticed).

Big Bubba Ray > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 21:06

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Last winter I used my ‘72 240Z as my daily driver. Snow, slush, road salt, close to negative temps, it didn’t matter. I took the car out everywhere no matter what while my 2005 Outback sat in my driveway. It was one of the most fun winters of my life. No heat, no radio, no nothing. Needless to say, my ex girlfriend wasn’t too fond of the car and being picked up in it haha

Opposite Locksmith > jkm7680 01/24/2016 at 21:25

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I intentionally drifted a montero all the time

smobgirl > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 21:31

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I took The Fastest Car in the World (with 3 miles on it) on some 4wd trails around Garnet, MT. Unlike Clarkson, my rental Corolla didn’t change colors halfway through the trip.

FromCanadaWithLove > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 21:51

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I took my 235 camping. Unfortunately, this is the best photo of it I could find. It handled the dirt roads perfectly horribly.

Wurrwulf > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 21:55

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Took my lowered ‘06 xB off-road through a spillway to pick up filled sandbags one time. Lost a fender liner but no other damage.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 21:56

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yes

Mt washington rd climbing bear mountain, a rough almost jeep trail.

m-b-w loves his SUBAROO > area man 01/24/2016 at 22:10

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Taking my Outback there in March. It looks awesome.

promoted by the color red > caddyak 01/24/2016 at 22:23

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I moved half my apartment in an Integra sedan. My parents came by the previous day and took the large pieces as well as a few scattered bits here and there, but I still had an IKEA Poang, a mountain bike, a 32" tv, various bits of bedding and furniture, and a desktop computer. I had to fold down the rear seats and fill the car past any legal limits, but goddamn it I fit it all into the car after finding new and innovative way to dismantle and stuff things into bins here and there.

It’s also a great way to achieve all that sick stance nation stance on stock springs and suspension.

stuttgartobsessed > caddyak 01/25/2016 at 02:31

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I know it doesn’t look like much but when was the last timeout saw a classic Alfa off road? To get there I had to make it down two steep sections (~30 degrees) and it definitely was not flat... Fun though.

stuttgartobsessed > jkm7680 01/25/2016 at 02:34

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I've drifted a Tahoe. Scared the hell out of everyone else in the car. Granted the road had to be wet...

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > caddyak 01/25/2016 at 04:01

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How about taking a late model Cadillac (not the 4-door Vette) Land Speed Racing. I got tired of telling folks the car can run WOT and keep accelerating till the wheels fall off just to have them skoff at me. So I almost doubled the factory horsepower and headed for the Texas Mile . (I track my car as well as AutoX, so I have no desire to speed on public byways)

Standing mile racing is a whole lotta waiting. My first time in Ohio I got one run per day. Texas was much better. In 2012 I got 7 runs. In 2014, I got 11 runs and coulda done a few more, but my crew chief kept reminding me we had to drive this car home - (1100 miles) and we can’t do that if its broke. We still had a ball!

Here’s my Crew Chief trying to take a video while screaming in my ear via radio.

The racing is serious. There’s always the potential there for a seious catastrophe. In 2012, I shredded my blower belt, spun the blower pulley off the shaft at 163MPH. INTENSE. Yet, after hours dry camping at the track is where the shenannigans are rampant. Our “Caddy Shack” was a block of 4 RVs with an open area in the middle for cooking and partying.

You didn’t think I was actually going to show you something incriminating, did you? Don’t worry, I wasn’t sober enough to take pictures anyway.

caddyak > Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight 01/25/2016 at 15:31

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That’s incredible! I really want to see a video in action. I wouldn’t at all see an XLR out of place at a speed trial. Other than the automatic that was standard, it’s a pretty competent chassis

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > caddyak 01/25/2016 at 23:07

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If you mean an in car video, it’s boring as long as everything goes right. When it goes bad... it goes bad fast and ain’t pretty.

The Texas Mile Oct 2012, I made three runs already top speed was 158MPH at 80% throttle. It was time to turn everything on and go all out. As I start the run, my crew chief said I spun the tires in first thru third, but my half mile time was over 134 so easily would be over 160 (my goal) by the end. Unfortunately, at the 3/4 mile mark the supercharger pulley let go, power fell off, and the belt began to melt belching black smoke from the hood. Numerous thoughts were running thru my head: “What’s my speed, can I still get 160 across the line? Am I still on the track in a straight line? What’s my speed? 163 Cool. Crap, how the hell am I gonna get this heap 1100 miles back home? What’s my speed? Am I on fire? What’s my speed?” I pulled over off the return road, grabbed my fire extinguisher and popped the hood – nothing… no smoke, no fire, no visible damage just the belt off the pulley. I walked over to get my timeslip, crap, official time 159.5MPH. I creep back to the pits trying to remember where I stored my spare SC belt and feeling proud that I was prepared. I park in the pits and begin cutting off the burnt pulley and as I make the final cut, Plop!, the pulley falls off the shaft. My weekend is done – no one anywhere close had a press to put it back on. 1100 miles with no supercharger, no problem (On the drive home, I felt like grandma on the way to church… forever and ever and ever.)

caddyak > caddyak 03/09/2016 at 11:46

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I didn’t think of this until recently (sorry for the Frankenstein thread), but I also took an Astra hatchback on winter tires (thanks, rental company) to the Nurburgring. Ended up doing ten laps that day and I’m pretty sure that was the hardest that poor little Astra has ever worked. It was the 1.4T with a 6 speed manual. Really, not a bad track car!

Tohru > bob and john 12/20/2016 at 15:54

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