Not really sure what model but it was a 2 seater convertible passed him on a whiny road and he immediately started to race me down..... we both stopped at a light. He was a few car lengths behind very quickly and just gave up. This is only the second time I raced anyone and last time it was a total fail against a Mustang V8 50th anniversary..... would have smoked him badly too but twice as I flew by him my gas got cut off only to realize I turned on manual shifters without realizing by the time I fixed that he was too far ahead for racing. I am not very good at this racing thing or paddle shifters my cars were all too slow for many years and I am behind on fast driving.

 

Was it a newer model? probably a Boxter. Good job anyway

If the conditions are safe, it is always fun to test your car out.

 

I can see the 35t beating a Boxter, not a 911 cabriolet though.

 

I got involved in military fighter jets and fighter combat a few years ago. The learning curve was phenomenal. The greatest revelation was that while we civilians think it’s the machine that out-classes and out-performs the enemy pilot… the fighter pilots know it’s the human who can exploit the strengths of his jet before the other guy can exploit its weaknesses, that overcomes the enemy pilot.
(For this reason, West German pilots flying old F-4 Phantoms were regularly able to trick and beat American pilots flying F-15s.) Not necessarily the better plane that comes out as champion. The better DRIVER at the time.

You did GOOOOD, RaffiNJ! Just do it in safety! I haven’t dinged my XE yet in a fierce move, but I came close just a week ago. I haven’t remembered the value of the paddles either, but I am practicing them heavily now.

The professional designers say downshifting just before those hills and quick overtake moves, is a healthy practice for every Turbocharged engine, and extends its lifespan.
It’s especially cool with the XE set to 'Sport'--- The gear you paddle to gets displayed on your instrument cluster in this funky 1950s nostalgic way, and that display only happens in Sport setting. Nice!

 

Yes it looked like one of the newer models but not certain how new or what model it was as I really did not pay attention to him as I passed him on the whiny roads, only as he started to follow me. At that point and at the light he was next to me and behind me after light turned green so could not get a good read. I did not use paddle shifters in this case, just plain automatic shifting in Sport mode. I am not racer by any means but I feel like this car is so safe I just cant do anything wrong in it, it always stays where you put it. The road from the light was a long straight road so not dangerous at all, I am not a crazy driver by any means so by the time the race was over (fairly quickly) I returned to safe driving at normal speed .

 

Keep in mind I do have my tuned so I have probably around 420hp vs stock 340.

 

what’s your gas mileage like? I’m considering doing the tune to mine.

 

To be honest this is maybe the first car since high school times where I never really checked or cared about mileage. I can tell you it feels like the mileage is very good with the car in general and I do tend to punch it a lot. The technical specs for the tune are that mileage is supposed to be better then without the tune (stock car) but you have to keep in mind the car is faster and you are more likely to drive it faster..... so overall it may even out. I did not feel like I lost milage since doing the tune, If I had to take an educated guess it feels like I fill up less frequently.

 

I hope you don't have the opportunity to discuss your tune with a member of the New Jersey State Police who probably frequent those tempting, windy roads.

 

Thanks for that useless comment bud, I know my roads don't worry. And I don't drive like I want to get pulled over.

 

Wow, amazing! It is okay to laugh sometimes!

I have driven those beautiful, windy roads in New Jersey and know how tempting they can be. I was on 539 through the Pine Barrens when I was required to have a brief, if one-sided, discussion with one of your 'State Troopers' as I was testing the limits of a car. She was not amused at the speed I reached when she turned on her radar.

Maybe I just did not know the road as well as someone who lives there.

 

Nice! it's so cool when the sedan whoops the two seater...and we get better insurance rates too!

But not only two seaters....I'm not going to fess up personally, but lets say I have it on first hand authority that the tuned XE will take on and beat a Infinity Redsport 400, as well as the Merc AMG CLA 45, off the line. And the XE was $10K less expensive. (I think the AMG CLA 45 dilutes the wonderful AMG moniker, it's not a "true" AMG.)

 

So you really do not have an XE? You just follow one around?

 

Unless the roads were wet and slippery, and the XE was AWD, it would be EXTREMELY difficult to take down a Mustang GT. Especially the new 2018 GT. It's a psychotic beast of a car.

 

The driver of a 2018 Lexus GS-F signaled me to roll down my windows after some spirited driving between us, and said "Man, that thing is Faaast!". (Tune helps a lot!)

Even though I started several car lengths behind (we were rolling at 25 MPH) I caught up to and passed him, twice.

I bet he is reconsidering his $85K Toyota purchase...

 

XE feels faster on the open road than my Vantage and in general I am amazed at the power of the XE. It's beast (well at least for me).

 

Some of my friends are so HP and stat conscious that they don't realize Lewis Hamilton could beat them around the track in half the power.

 

Not quite true, you can change the paddle settings for them to work in drive and sport mode. It’s sport mode only by default though.

 

Mustang is no competition for the XE.