Jealousy

[luxury1]

Do you guys experience a lot of jealous actions by drivers of lesser cars. My Benz generated a lot of craziness like this in terms of people cutting me off, not letting me in and the occassional keying and I am starting to see this already with my two day old boxster. One common thing is people getting within a couple of inches of my rear bumper (especially truck and suv's).

I could care less really because they are just telling me how bad they feel about themselves but I wonder if any of you get this???

[limoncello]

Sometimes yes ("si" for Rail). Isolated, but I've had a couple of instances. Some kids in a pickup threw a fast food cup over their car towards mine. Bad shot, they forgot their own momentum and missed by a large margin, actually landed closer to the car behind me. Tailgated by a couple of SUV's and recently a semi.
Tailgated by an old American van on the interstate. I found some clear pavement, eased up to about 105 and never saw it again.

Not too many Porsches around my area. Curious if areas with more Porsches tend to get treated as more commonplace.

Sidebar: had several police cars follow me when I first got it. We have a good neighborhood association that coordinates crimewatch, etc. with the county sheriff. Once they got to know the car and me, has never happened again. I think they were just keeping an eye on things, and the car draws attention.

Being speed yellow may not help.

[insite]

Man, I hate tailgaters. Why is it so difficult to understand that a 2,800 lb Porsche can stop just a LITTLE quicker than an H2?

[blinkwatt]

Fellow employees at work seem to be the worst when it comes to my car. I do not brag,gloat or act stuck up about my car in any way and they always make comments. Here is a example,a co workers car was stolen and I asked what he was going to get after the insurance company took care of it. He said in a sarcastic tone "Well I think I go buy one of those nice cars I've seen in out employee parking lot,I heard some punk 18 year old drives it." Or another time I needed to barrow a truck from someone at work and they said, "Oh so now your little Porsche cant fit anything big,now you need a big boy car huh?" and he continued on with comments. I guess you just learn to deal with it.

[wild1poet2]

Originally Posted by luxury1

Do you guys experience a lot of jealous actions by drivers of lesser cars. One common thing is people getting within a couple of inches of my rear bumper (especially truck and suv's).

Not sure if it is jealousy or competitiveness but I do notice this sometime. Usually its another pricey car. Especially BMW's. I see them in my rear view weaving thru traffic to catch up. They make a big effort to pass; even in rush hour traffic!!

Sometimes they try to stick with you on the exit cloverleafs. I love to bring them into the corner too fast for their cars and watch them wallow with the understeer.

Trucks seem to show respect for some reason.

Around Boston, everyone tailgates and cuts everyone off. Courtesy is a sign of weakness to be exploited. Never signal lest you give away the element of surprise.

[Perfectlap]

a very attractive friend of mine sat in the passenger seat the other night and said "everytime I see one of these toy cars I think of you".

or the other night I pulled in front of this nightclub and some girls waiting for a cab were checking out the Boxster and one of them said "oh yeah that's the cheap one". Purely coincidental, she was the only ugly one.

But the positive comments far outnumber the not so positive. Probably 100-1
THe guy at the fast food place drive-thru (no I didn't eat in the car) asked me if I was going to leave a tip for his Porsche fund. He wasn't kidding.

[RandallNeighbour]

Houston's no different. Idiots abound on our roadways, and tailgate every car, but especially mine to get a good look at it. No rear badge = increased inquisitiveness as to model year and whether it's an S or not.

Both my rear fog lights work, so I just let off the throttle and pull out the rear fog lights and they always slam on their brakes. If they come up a second time, they get the real tap of the brakes. Then I scoot away by downshifting and moving lanes between another couple of cars, which they simply can't do nearly as quickly as my little 2.5 Boxster!

[AtlantaBoxster]

I notice the opposite. Living in Atlanta, I put on my turn signal and people make the effort to let me in. I was recently given a loaner from the shop, (A Chrysler minivan) and when I would put the signal on, the cars made an effort to close the gap with the car in front of them, ensuring no space for the loaner minvan.

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

a very attractive friend of mine sat in the passenger seat the other night and said "everytime I see one of these toy cars I think of you".

Hey Perfectlap, good thing she didn't say, "Everytime I see my baby nephew running around after his bath, I think of you!"

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

But the positive comments far outnumber the not so positive. Probably 100-1
THe guy at the fast food place drive-thru (no I didn't eat in the car) asked me if I was going to leave a tip for his Porsche fund. He wasn't kidding.

Hey, ya can't fault the kid for trying! With an attitude/approach/line like that...the kid will probably have one before Blinkwatt did!!

[rbennett]

There are hardly any other Porsches in my city, I see a Boxster about once every 5 weeks. So people think I am driving some very exotic sports car!

On a daily basis, I get a rice burner (ya know the type I'm talking bout, big stainless steel mufflers with a big rear wing) pull along side of me and start racing their engine.

I never acknowledge them

[wild1poet2]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Houston's no different. Idiots abound on our roadways, and tailgate every car, but especially mine to get a good look at it.

James Bond just had Q install an Oil Slick kit in his Aston Martin for tailgaters.

[SD987]

"Never signal lest you give away the element of surprise."

Good one ! SD987 has a new funny line to use !

"Both my rear fog lights work, so I just let off the throttle and pull out the rear fog lights and they always slam on their brakes. If they come up a second time, they get the real tap of the brakes. "

I only have one fog light wired but I agree...this technique can be effective. There are alot of cars that can go faster than a Boxster, but very few that can stop quicker. Occasionally I'll get hassled by someone who needs to be reminded of this.

My pet peeve is people pulling out in front of me, in all circumstances but particularly if I'm making a turn around a corner (say a left-hand turn while someone coming toward me is making a right against a red). I don't think folks are prepared for how the Box can turn on a dime and come so quickly out of a turn.

Maybe because Porsches are so common in SD, I don't notice exceptionally annoying behavior from other drivers when driving mine. I get just as many racing come-ons driving the SLK. One oddity I've noticed recently is that alot of pickup truck and SUV owners mistake the torquey feel of their engines for general performance capability. They often engage in "racing" behavior when pulled up next to me, and of course are quickly slapped-down like red-headed stepchildren.

[slogans7]

Even though there are a lot of nice sports cars in my area, I have noticed a lot of drivers just act stupidly around me, particularly on freeways. It's typically younger drivers in their little trucks that are jacked up two floors or the Honda's with the giant exhaust pipes. I get cut off and passed by people apparently stroking themsevles that they beat out a Porsche, who didn't know he was in a race.

I also recently bought a little Vespa for tooling around my little town, and find that drivers are incredibly polite when I'm on it.

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by slogans7

I have noticed a lot of drivers just act stupidly around me, particularly on freeways. It's typically younger drivers in their little trucks that are jacked up two floors or the Honda's with the giant exhaust pipes. I get cut off and passed by people apparently stroking themsevles that they beat out a Porsche, who didn't know he was in a race.

I also recently bought a little Vespa for tooling around my little town, and find that drivers are incredibly polite when I'm on it.

Tell me about it,I was speeding down this long street and I happened to pass up what I beleive was a 300zx. I pass him and 5 seconds later I hear this loud ass exhaust,I thought I blew a gasket. I look in my mirror and I find this damn rice rocket trying to catch up to me. I just let him fly by,knowing its not worth a ticket. Stupid misguided young people.

[donv]

I once had some really freaky front grille-less painted-over-logo mini-van glued to my Boxster's butt for over 10 miles on two highways before a stupendous act of evasive driving (IMHO ) on my part.

I was driving with courtesy the whole time - going about the speed of traffic, using my blinkers, etc. All of a sudden this van pulls up so close I can't see his bumper. Sped up, too many people in front of me, he caught up. Slowed down and moved out of the high speed lane, he stayed right behind. Slow, continued variations on these ad nauseum for several miles... finally came the time to move to the secondary highway on my route and he started to follow, so I gave it a bit o' throttle on the ramp - thought one of his tires were going to blow, based on the sound, but the idiot kept coming fast.

OK, no way am I going to let this guy follow me to where I'm actually going to stop.

Finally found a point where I could put on the sting... watched for a point where I was coming up on an exit and had two car lengths free on the left, put on the left blinker, started left (as does he) and then I ducked right into the single car length open on that side. Now I'm behind him and take my next exit... and he's stuck for several more miles. Loop around and take the back roads to my appointment.

That guy was psycho, the worst of the experiences so far. Usually folks are nice (sometimes get the "what type of car is that?" or more often kids yelling out what appears to be the standard kid phrase "NICE CAR!" - usually in unison from the backseat of a SUV ) but sometimes if I just simply pass someone they seem to go postal (and I'm not a weaver). In most cases, if I simply slow down they lose interest... but not that death van guy...

[Rail26]

I was being tailed one day also...and my little Lola was sodomized by a Buick. 6,000 clams later I think the girl who was carelessly tailgating and talking on her cellphone learned her lesson.

[luxury1]

I hate this stuff. The lesson is that we are in the porsche and have to be defensive no matter what. It sucks but that is the price of having one of the best on the road... I can't imagine what Ferrari owners go through...

[Adam]

My car gets nothing but respect in my area even from cops. Not alot is faster here except for a few C5's. Even if someone tailgates me(which is very rare) I get on the gas and they go bye bye. If in the event a "muscle car" wants to party they get a good wiff of the exhaust. Some people gawk but most people don't know what they are looking at. That sucks that you guys get the hated on by the public...most people here are nothing but nice Most of the time it's just driving as usual and the car doesn't attract much negative attention.

[fab]

I just had a recent experience. Driving on the highway in the high speed lane I was approaching a mini van. I backed off because personally, I HATE tailgaters. The mini van moved over 1 lane. I started to pass the mini van and then the BOOZO started to move back over. I had this sick feeling. I punched it on the gas pedal and see ya!

Fab