I think I shared this story earlier this summer but please allow me to share again. The very day I had my mandatory 800km oil change, with the added feature of also no longer having my redline limited to 4000 rpm I decided to give it a go!
It was a Friday, I had the oil change in the morning and now it was around 5:00pm. I actually headed up to my dealer as they are situated on the outskirts of town where although the speed limit remains 50 kph, it is a commercial area. I was at a red light turning left and the car behind me, a midsize car had a mother and teenage daughter in the front seat. I got the advance green arrow and I slowly made my left turn, but once completed, having no cars in front of me, in a commercial area with no residential houses and no kids, I let her go. My exhaust was in track mode and all safety devices being traction control and stability control remained on. There was no smoking of the tires, no tire squeal and no rubber tread marks however I really stepped into it! First to second went smoothy, no power shift, just quickly off the throttle, shift and back into it. That's about when in my rear view mirror I saw this black and white (new) pick up truck with roof lights flashing step out and around the car that was behind me. Everything happened so quickly quite truthfully I'm not exactly sure how fast I was going, but it was somewhere between 120-140. I immediately signaled, pulled over, and lowered my drivers window. The cop was 35ish and he simply said ownership and insurance please to which although I keep them in the centre console, being anxious I was having trouble finding them.
He then said "didn't you see me back there behind you?" I said, "officer, if I saw you back there, do you really think I would drive like that?" He found that quite funny, breaking out in a laugh! I knew then at least he was friendly.
He then asked me if I was under suspension, which I found strange and when I replied no, he said well as long as you check out I'm letting you go. He then asked me many questions about the car including horse power, year and how long I've owned it, which allowed me to bring up the fact that I just had the mandatory oil change that morning and that now I was no longer restricted to 4000 rpms. He then said "so you came out here to try it out?" I said ya, and he replied "well I would have too!"
With that, he and his partner who was also admiring the car let me go. They did a "U" turn rather than follow me and I drove the six miles home about five miles below the speed limit, shaking uncontrollably and I couldn't drive the car for three days due to my continued anxiousness. I was terrified because I had visions of being charged with stunt driving (50 over), and having my precious new car towed as well as all the other negative consequences that go along with that charge ha ha. I was fortunate that I was pulled over by a cop who was also a car enthusiast.
Most importantly I showed him respect, owned up and didn't try to lie or make excuses. Hey you caught me, at that point I know I'm guilty however I also realize they have the ability to use discretion. My thoughts at the time were to attempt to simply play into his humanity so that any charge would be somewhat lowered due to being forthright and respectful. I didn't expect to get completely off, but that was real nice!
Not to diminish this, however I doubt that he had me on radar, and in absence of tire rubber marks, squeeling or smoking tires the only thing that I think he had was his visual experience of seeing quick acceleration and hearing the roar of the exhaust.
Regardless I wouldn't have wanted to test that, and I remain grateful with him letting me go. Interestingly he didn't even tell me to slow down!
