Scott M. Stone [mailto:sstone@foo3.com] wrote:
> > Huh????? You marry a 16-year-old or something? Insurance companies
> > typically don't give a flying intercourse about driving experience,
> > they look at DOB and compute temporal age, not time with a license.
> > Hell, she's got a squeaky-clean driving record!
>
> she's 22. And that's good to hear, about the insurance... although I
> think Allstate does it differently, my premiums go down based on the
> number of years I've had my license.
Ahh. Most insurance companies I've ever talked to are primarily age-dependent.
She might not get a good break until she hits 25, although I got one at 22
with AAA Michigan, another at 25, and another at 30.
> > That said, teaching her to drive in the Durango vs. a hyperactive
> > RX7TT is probably a very good idea. And get her to an autocross
> > school there in SFR as soon as you can. Even if she never
> autocrosses
>
> I'd love to. I haven't made it out to an autox myself yet
> this year due
> to a bunch of other issues cropping up, but I would very much
> like to take
> her to one - if I can get her to agree.
The biggest thing is to ask her to try it at a school, where there isn't a lot
of competitive pressure (if it's done right, there's NO competitive pressure)
and a lot of seat time compared to a regular event. My wife did one in my '99
Cobra, although she hasn't driven the car but a couple times since, she did
pick up some things that have been useful to her on the street (mind you, my
wife Karen has been an SCCA member longer than I have, but is an admitted road
racing bigot and got started as crew for a local FVee racer and made the
transition to F&C, which is how we met). And furthermore, don't put any
pressure on her to compete -- if she likes it, she'll want to. If she doesn't
(Karen doesn't), she won't. Worst autocrossing weekend I *ever* had was the
'99 Evansville Tour, where I'd talked her into entering. That cost me dearly
-- a few weeks later, instead of going to my favorite event in Oscoda, I wound
up taking her to Toronto, putting her up in a suite on the executive floor of
the downtown Toronto Hilton -- did I mention it was Molson Indy Toronto weekend
and prices were at a premium -- wining and dining her, and taking her to see
"Phantom of the Opera" one more time before it closed. And aside from the Team
Penske and Team Ganassi people we saw in the hotel lobby, that was all the
racing I saw all weekend. (True story: US Customs agent upon our return via
the Ambassador Bridge: "Purpose of your trip to Canada?" Me: "Sucking up to my
wife." "Did you buy anything?" "*OH*, yeah." Then he asked Karen "Did it
work?" "Yes." At this point he was laughing hard enough that he just waved us
on by, didn't even look at our declaration form or ask us to pay duty.)
> I don't think it would be safe to autocross the durango
> though - it's got
> the offroad wheels/tires on it, the 15x8s with the 31.1x10" LT tires..
> would probably roll over...
I would agree with that assessment. If she can't drive a stickshift (and thus
the RX7), perhaps you can rent-a-ride for her in something with an automatic --
a Camarobird would be a good choice, but just about anything would do.
Jim Crider
autojim@despammed.com
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