More likely than not they weren't aware they were in a race. They saw somebody going slower than them in the left lane and they passed in the only place they could, the right lane. Once you accelerated, you were no longer going slow than the speed at which they had been travelling. I'd bet money they were not flooring it.

 

That's a more likely scenario.

 

LOL exactly. Most “races” are this.

 

For some trips, I will always rent a car if I drive. My friends have a ranch in Williams, AZ and I rented a Mazda CX-7. The paved road ends where you turn right and then it’s a rough dirt road for the last half mile. The Civic wouldn’t like it and I would still be vacuuming out the dust six months later.

 

they absolutely do, the 'good part' is from like 2500 to 4500 rpm... and i have to question why so many people felt the need to pass you on the right!

 

If somebody is passing you on the right and you can speed up and "beat them" (meaning someone isn't in front of you slowing you down) then you shouldn't have been in the left lane to begin with...

 

I use the left lane for passing and then move back to the right. Problem is, there’s always a lemming in the left lane which gets under the skin of many drivers. That means I am the one who gets cut off despite the fact I was not the one going at or below the speed limit in the passing lane. The left lane bandits here are frequently crossovers and mini SUVs. Those are perfect vehicles for non drivers.

 

the only time i'll speed up like that in the left lane is if i'm going to pass someone in the right/middle lane that's still some ways ahead of me, but then i see someone coming up quickly behind me, i'll give it some gas to pass the original person more quickly so i can promptly move back over and let the car behind me get past without them having to go around on the right

 

Yep, same here

 

Same, I don't want to hold anyone up.

Had some CRVs turn right into a larger two lane per side road and the 2nd one swung into the left to try and past the first......I just turned and got right behind the first and then in front of the second and put both 6-8 cars back. Why the 2nd one being a 2nd gen thought it was going to catch up and pass the 1 Gen old CRV was beyond my understanding. They made me hit 2800 rpm though

 

Hmm. Were any of you there?

Do I seem like I'd be a left lane hogger? LOL. Two semis holding up both lanes of traffic and I don't get too close to trucks.

Yes, their cars were floored I would bet money on. It wasn't a knock down drag race but yes it was fun. People do this stuff all the time. After the road cleared out I etched past the BMW which was still accelerating but then I slowed down at 115ish. I could smell his exhaust as I was coming up on him before passing him. We looked at each other. It was a race.

And that's not even what I'm getting at, I suspect that mainstream small turbo motors run out of juice at higher speeds. Whatever it was I'm sure it was a 2.0t because I'd get beaten easily if it was a more performance oriented Bimmer, I wouldn't even try. And I'm wondering some of your opinions on my little theory about 2.0ts.

Edit: It had to have been an X3 2.0t which has a 0-60 time similar to my truck 6.4 seconds. So it's decently quick. But I do wonder about it running out of steam up high like I've been saying bc he wasn''t expecting to get passed haha.

 

Wasn't there, but I just can't envision a situation where a car would pass you on the right and you can accelerate to "beat them" without it being a scenario where you should not have been in the left lane to begin with. If there wasn't somebody in front of you slowing you down and there wasn't traffic to the right of you going slower than you, you shouldn't have been in the left lane. If the semi was far enough in front of you to where you could accelerate to 115 MPH and not run into it, you should have been in the right lane.

Thats one of my complaints about radar cruise control, it leaves too much of a gap between me and cars in front of me on the highway. That does 2 things, 1 it doesn't telegraph to the driver ahead of me that I want to go faster than them, so they don't feel any pressure to move right. 2. It makes people behind me think I am hogging the left lane and they try and pass me on the right. So when I come up behind slower traffic in the left lane, I override the cruise so I can get closer to negate those two situations.

"People do this stuff all the time" like I have said before I have been driving for 27 years and nobody has ever tried to race me...ever that I can recall.

But of course a 2 liter 4 cyl runs out of steam at higher speeds and RPM compared to a NA V8.

 

That's at least partly because of the insane amount of traffic on the Interstate Highways in and close to the D.C. area....arguably second only to the L.A. region. That adaptive/radar system was designed primarily for more or less normal Interstate traffic cruising at normal speeds....not the jam-packed zoo that is the rush-hour D.C. area. When you have the number of vehicles we have here, it just becomes too difficult, if not impossible, to leave any real space between your vehicle and the ones ahead or behind you without someone invariably cutting in.

It's also, of course, not recommended to use any type of cruise-control on slick or icy road-surfaces...but you probably already know that.

 

I absolutely love radar cruise, but I absolutely hate it in busy traffic for exactly the reason that Steve mentioned (too large a gap). I don't even bother with it in stop/go traffic. However, on a road trip when you're in far less dense traffic, I find it to be super helpful.

 

I like it in bumper to bumper traffic too, it does a good job there. It’s that “want to be doing 80 but traffic is doing 70 and it’s holding people up” scenario where it irritates me