I wanna go fast!

Today my parents left to go celebrate July 4th with one of their friends. I decided that I would stay at their house and dog sit my siblings. As an added bonus, my folks left the keys to their 350z track edition. I had almost forgotten how fun it is to drive fast cars.

When I first started driving, all that I drove were sports cars. My first car was a 1979 Triumph Spitfire. My father brought it home when I was 14 and it became a father son project for the next few years. To date it has been my favorite car, ever.

When I was 17 I was no longer physically able to drive the Triumph so my father was kind enough to purchase me a '94 Camaro. The Camaro met an untimely death in 1997 (I wasn't driving), and with the insurance money I was able to purchase a 1997 Z28 that was fire engine red with T-Tops. I have never driven so fast before in my life. The governor would kick in at 165, and I am proud to admit that I experienced that on more than one occasion. When I was young I was a much more aggressive driver and I assumed that speed limits were suggestions for people who didn't know how to drive.

In 2005 I traded in the Z28 on a 2005 Xterra, and I have never regretted the decision. After switching to the SUV, I no longer travel at dangerous speeds and I don't get speeding tickets anymore. It is almost as fun to drive over stuff as it is to drive fast. It doesn't hurt that the X is no slouch. It has a 0-60 time that would beat the first Camaro that I had.

That being said, having the keys to my parents’ 350z today made me feel like I was a kid in a candy store. When I drive the Xterra I'm always listening to the stereo. It is a Rockford Fosgate system with an 8" sub under the drivers seat. The stereo in the 350z sucks. It has never sounded good. From the beginning it has sounded like the speakers are blown and no one seems to be able to fix it. Funny thing is, when I drive the Z I don't care. I don't even turn the stereo on. It is more fun to listen to the engine than music. It responds like you are stuck to the road, and it corners like an ice skater on razor sharp blades. There are no amenities, and the car makes no apologies. They didn't call it the track edition for nothing. It is loud and unforgiving. The ride is rough, and the throttle is so responsive that I swear you just have to think faster and you are there. I really wish that I could take this car cross-country. It's a shame that there is no storage in that wonderfully impractical car.