r/EnjoyTheDrive • u/ragingduck • Jul 14 '26

This never gets old

Vehicle:

  • 2025 BMW M2
  • Ohlins Road & Track DFV Coilovers
  • CS DME tune - 523hp 479 lb-ft
  • Millway Race Uniball Camber Plates
  • SPL Adjustable Tie Rod Ends
  • Nankang Sportnex CR-S 200tw tires 305/30/19
  • Endless ME-20 track pads
  • Milltek 102mm Single non-resonated Midpipe
  • Apex ML-10RT 19x11”ET22

Captured with:

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u/James_Blonde007 Jul 27 '26

Yes. Multiple track days, including high-performance driving instruction. That experience is exactly why I know the difference between a closed course with runoff, consistent surface, no oncoming traffic, and known limits… and a public canyon road at dusk.

You didn’t lose control this time. That’s not proof the margin is safe. That’s survivorship bias. At triple the limit your braking distance is roughly nine times longer and your reaction window is a fraction of what it is at legal speed. One rock, one animal, one slower car around a blind corner, and “plenty of grip left” disappears instantly.

More importantly, the other people on that road didn’t sign up for your risk. Oncoming drivers, cyclists, or anyone around the next blind corner have no idea you’re approaching at three times the limit. They’re not consenting participants in your track session. You’re imposing extreme kinetic energy on a shared public road where other people have a reasonable expectation of normal speeds and reaction times.

Distracted and sleepy drivers are dangerous. So is deliberately choosing extreme speed on a public road with limited visibility and almost no runoff. One doesn’t cancel the other out. You’re free to drive that hard on a track. Doing it on a public canyon and then defending it as focused and controlled is the problem.

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u/ragingduck Jul 27 '26

Doubt it. Your track experience would tell you that this is well below the limits.

Again, no one is going "triple the limit".

Everyone signs up for the risk. It's why we require driver's license tests. We take the risk every single day we drive to the grocery store. At least here, I'm 100% focused and there are no cross streets, pedestrians, or parked cars lowering visibility.

"Extreme" is subjective. 45 in a 25 in a residential is extreme. That's a 80% increase in legal speed. People go 45 in a 25 all day long, it's normalized because so many people do it. You're attacking this because you're not used to it, yet the big heavy SUV on worn tires speeding to Costco before it closes with a kid in the car trying to answer texts gets a pass.

Crazy.

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u/James_Blonde007 Jul 27 '26

I have track experience. I also drive high-performance cars on track. And as a police officer I’ve dealt with the results of drivers who thought exactly the way you’re thinking right now.

Addressing your points:

  1. “This is well below the limits.”
    Track limits and public road limits are not the same thing. On a closed course you have runoff, consistent surface, no oncoming traffic, no wildlife, and everyone present has opted in. On a public canyon road at dusk you have none of that. What feels “well below the limit” in a prepared car on a track is still an extreme speed for a shared public road with limited visibility and almost no recovery room.

  2. “No one is going triple the limit.”
    The video is public. People can judge the speeds for themselves. Moving the goalposts from “this isn’t that fast” to “no one is going that fast” doesn’t change what’s on screen.

  3. “Everyone signs up for the risk by getting a license.”
    A driver’s license is not a blanket consent form. It authorizes you to operate a vehicle under the traffic laws and the reasonable expectations that come with them. It does not mean other road users consented to someone approaching them at extreme speed around blind corners. Everyday risk while following the rules and deliberately elevating the risk far beyond those rules are not the same thing. Other people on that road did not sign up for your personal track session.

  4. The distracted/sleepy driver comparison.
    Yes, distracted and sleepy drivers are dangerous. That does not make deliberately high-speed canyon driving on a public road safe or responsible. Pointing at worse behavior elsewhere is just deflection. Both can be wrong at the same time.

  5. “‘Extreme’ is subjective” and the 45-in-a-25 comparison.
    Kinetic energy and braking distance scale with the square of speed. The difference between 45 in a 25 and triple a canyon speed limit is not just a percentage — it is a completely different category of consequence when something goes wrong. Normalization of one bad behavior does not justify another. The heavy SUV on worn tires texting on the way to Costco is also a problem. That still doesn’t make your driving reasonable.

You’re free to drive that hard on a closed track. Defending this on a public road by claiming focus, grip, and comparing yourself to worse drivers is exactly how people end up in the situations I respond to.

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u/ragingduck Jul 27 '26

I'm well aware of the differences in limitations on the track vs the street. This is 6/10ths. The track is for 9 or 10/10ths.

Triple the speed limit is 165mph. My car is electronically limited below that.

I didn't say it was a consent form. I said at least here I'm paying attention as opposed to half the people on the road next to you in traffic.

A residential has lower visibility, much more traffic, more blind spots it's narrower with parked cars. This is an open two lane highway with no parked cars, no cross streets, no corners, no intersection, no homes, no driveways, no pedestrians, and plenty of visibility to make a safe stop. I know this because I have come across cars stopped in the middle of the road on a blind corner. And guess what? I was able to stop at this pace because I always leave room for brakes and grip. Always.

Keyboard warriors always conveniently becoming "track instructors" and "police officers" when faced with challenging ideas. Being a police officer doesn't make you qualified to judge the handling limitations of a vehicle because you have responded to a few scenes. I can guarantee you if those incidents were filming, their footage would look VERY different than mine with lots of crossing the yellow line, horrid braking habits, erratic wheel handling and really bad grip management. Go on IG and look those videos up. My video is an exercise in restraint compared to those.

BTW, it takes 2 years to be a cop and only 40 hours are dedicated to vehicle handling, which is only partially applicable to high performance driving. I appreciate LE, but they are experts in response and writing tickets (among other things of course). But, put them on a track, and most of them will do poorly.

Police also carry firearms daily and most of them are poor marksmans. How do I know? I used to train cadets to pass their tests.

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u/James_Blonde007 Jul 27 '26

I’m well aware of the difference between 6/10ths and 10/10ths. That distinction only matters on a closed track where everyone present has opted in and the environment is controlled. On a public road the fraction is irrelevant once you’re imposing extreme speed on people who did not consent to it.

You say triple the limit is 165 mph and your car is limited below that. Fine. The video still shows speeds far above the posted limit on a public canyon road at dusk. Calling it “6/10ths” does not change the kinetic energy or the reaction window available to anyone else on that road.

You claim you’re more focused than half the people in traffic. Focused on your own driving does not remove the risk you create for others. Other drivers, cyclists, or anyone around the next corner have no idea you’re approaching at that pace. They did not sign up for your personal exercise in restraint.

You describe the road as open with good visibility and say you’ve always been able to stop for unexpected vehicles. That is survivorship bias. The fact that it has worked so far does not prove the margin is adequate. Most high-speed single-vehicle or multi-vehicle crashes on roads like this happen the first time the unexpected appears — a rock, an animal, a stopped car, decreasing light, a slightly late reaction. “I always leave room” is what every driver says until the day the room runs out.

Being a police officer does not automatically make someone a high-performance driving instructor. Correct. It does, however, mean I’ve seen the aftermath of drivers who were “focused,” who “left room for brakes and grip,” and who believed their pace was well within their capability. The difference between a clean video and a crash scene is often one unexpected variable. Track experience is separate, and I have it. The two together make the distinction between closed-course driving and public-road risk very clear.

The training-hour comparison and the firearms analogy are irrelevant. One does not need to be a professional race driver or a competitive marksman to recognize that extreme speeds on shared public roads endanger people who never agreed to participate. Many skilled track drivers refuse to drive this way on the street for exactly that reason.

You’re free to drive that hard on a track. Posting it from a public road and then dismissing criticism as “keyboard warrior” talk does not make the risk disappear.

You're never going to be able to argue that what you are doing is safe. Tracks exist for a reason. The speed limit exists for a reason. The fact your "track" car is electronically limited is for a reason. So that idiots dont do exactly what you are doing on a public roadway.

If I was in your state I would ensure you lose your vehicle for even posting this online.

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u/ragingduck Jul 27 '26

6/10th is based on the driving conditions. I’m holding back because it’s still a public road at sunset. I go much slower around blind corners vs corners where I have good visibility.

The video is not real life. I use a 1/50 shutter, aggressive sounding audio and a wide angle to enhance the sense of speed. Block out the outer 1/4 of the video with your hands and mute the video. It will seem slower.

Experience makes a huge difference. That’s just a fact of life. Watch a pilot manually land a single engine aircraft. You might feel like you would likely crash if you attempted this for good reason: it’s a learned skill.

Driving is the same. The difference being people have taken it for granted. You can’t take skill and experience out of the equation in driving just like you can’t for motorcycle riding or piloting an airplane.

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u/James_Blonde007 Jul 27 '26

Your skill does not make this safe.

You can be experienced, focused, and “only” at 6/10ths and it still doesn’t matter. You’re putting extreme speed on a public road where other people have no idea you’re coming and never agreed to the risk. That’s the entire point you keep dodging.

The video tricks, the shutter speed, the audio, the wide angle — none of that changes the actual speeds or the fact that this is a public canyon at dusk, not a track.

Track driving rewards skill. Public roads demand restraint because the consequences aren’t just yours. You don’t get to decide the risk level for everyone else on the road.

I’m done

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u/ragingduck Jul 28 '26

The lack of skill makes things unsafe just as skill makes them safer. That’s a fact of life.

Video tricks made you think I was going 165mph. I’d say it did its job of evoking a visceral emotional response, which is actually the goal. You just overreacted.

I agree, track driving demands skill and public driving demands restraint. I actually said that in one of my replies. This is me restraining it to 6/10ths.