Friday Night's

Friday nights are always special. Even women of loose virtue expect an increased patronage on Friday nights. So when a former OMTI associate such as myself gets a green card to stay out late on a Friday, you know something is going to go down when I have only just gotten my pay check and I have in my possession a BMW X3 and the company of a Japanese car faithful always looking for a good fight.

2003 Toyota Camry LE

2004 BMW X3 2.5i

In company of the Friday night hang out was General Ologun, a 5ft 8” colleague who had previously raced a co- colleague in his 2001 ML Mercedes till he almost crashed it. General Ologun won that episode. I, being a German car lobbyist could not stand the shame as Capt. Gucchiano was relentlessly battered and pounded on that race home to Ajah.

On my shoulders rested the responsibility of the German bias, this race was before the world cup finals. The Germans had not stamped their name in world matters since WWII. I knew it was going to be a closely fought race and I immediately went on the offensive.I almost ran him off the road of the back stretch coming off water copration Rd into Ligali ayorinde. If I was going to redeem the pride of the Deutschland Capt. Gucchiano had let go to the dogs, I had to employ all kinds of mind tricks. That dangerous and intimidating overtake had signalled the start of the race.

Fast forward to 2 roundabouts later on lekki epe. I had taken the alternative route. The General took the toll. Hazard lights flashing I parked by Marwa round about and knew the General was going to come out all guns blazing. The general misconception in this part of the world is that bigger vehicles and newer vehicles are always going to be faster. You cannot be further from the truth. The chart below should better explain just how close this race was going to be:

	BMW X3 2.5	Toyota Camry LE
Year of Manufacture	04	03
Hp	184	154
Fuel Consumption	17/23 Mpg	24/34 Mpg
Cylinders	6	4
Gears	5	4
0-60 times	8.4	8.6
Curb weight	1814 kg	1425kg
Engine displacement	2.5L	2.4L

 Source
Refrence

Any advantages of 30Hp I had was offset by the almost 400kg additional weight the X3 carried along with it. The flash speed with which I was left with at the roundabout while waiting for the race on the open road, opened up a nearly 5 second lead for the General.

I had driven his measly Camry and I knew it had one fatal flaw; the brakes sucked. Lekki Epe road is now notorious for the number of roundabouts it has. This race was going to be won or lost at one or more of the many roundabouts. I approached the braking zone for the next round about at 140km/H. I watched up ahead as the General tried to brake and his Japanese crap struggled for grip, twerking about like Miley Cyrus on stilettos. I waited late and slowed down, going into the roundabout at 70Km/H. With a gentle flick right and then left and a right foot on the accelerator I was I approaching nearly 100km/H in just a few seconds and I was right on the Generals ass. It was now neck and neck and on the next stretch I had weaved past him thanks in part to good lane prediction and the fact the X3 had a manual Mode. Under hard acceleration, the Bmer would hold gears all the way to its redline before up-shifting. The Camry couldn't do that.

Much more than the raw power the X3 offered, I was mostly impressed by the fact that this here was an SUV that accelerated better than a closely powered car and handled like it was a dream. What killed it for me was the fact that above 150Km/H, there was a deep roar coming from the engine. The last car I heard that from was from Blue angel (a 504 GR), accelerating above a 100Km/H.

By chevron toll gate, I had opened up more than 4 seconds advantage and to kill the race I had to choose the perfect toll booth. I was torn between booth 1 and 4. A last second mind change saw me swerve from booth 1 to 4 at almost 120Km/H and braking very late ensured the race was over. The General could not brake half as hard as i could and he had to offload his weekly scrub bymega chicken bustop.

It wasn’t much of a race beyond this point, I simply like Lewis Hamilton in the last British Gran Prix had to nurse the X3 home.