Gavin, YEARS of careful preparation. No cars, no intersections, no pedestrians. Just you, the car, and....... #@*%, a deer! The only person's safety that I risk is my own, and I like to limit that risk as much as possible. On the occasions when I've intended to "open her up," whether it has been the C5, the RS, or a car I have worked on, I check the car before I go out and I check the roads where I plan to go before making a run.
I know it sounds very anti-climactic since most drivers will just go out and hit it without this "unnecesary attention," but that is not me. During the day, with children, traffic, stop lights, etc... I do drive right around 70 on the highway unless traffic is moving faster. But let me reiterate that when I take a car out with a purpose in mind, I work to control for as many variables as possible.
Keys for me are:
-time of day in relation to number of cars potentially on the road
-the road itself: is it well maintained? is it a highway or a country road? are there houses close to the pavement? what about telephone poles? do I have a long unobstructed view of what is ahead of me? do state troopers often set up shop out here? what about water runoff? where are there intersections? how well is it lit, or isn't it?
-the car: I check the brakes, fluids, and tires for wear and psi (pretty worn right now)
-weather and temperature: as they relate to the air, the road, my tires, surroundings, visibility, and general safety.
-God: have I prayed lately, and does he intend to take me now?
99% of the time I am just another commuter avoiding oglers and folks that careen through traffic risking the safety of dozens of people while trying to get home 2 minutes ahead of everyone else. In the Summer I like to hit shows on the weekends or cruises during the week for dinner, but mostly I just enjoy cruising with the windows and/or top down.
Let me tell you how I draw a comparison to my buddy the Italian Sales Manager for a local GM dealer. I am willing to bet that he is probably a slightly better driver than I am when it comes to road courses. Since he has become sales manager, he has had his pick of cars to drive from the lot and also gets to choose what goes on the lot. In this case, he likes to rotate C5s through the dealership on a regular basis. They all get beaten on. Not driven hard, but purposefully abused. In some ways, I can see where that is liberating, but as skilled a driver as he is he will drive like that all day. I've seen him go 160 towards traffic, slow to 120 and weave between them on a 2 lane road with a 45mph speed limit, come to a stop light, cut over the yellow line and grab the e-brake while sliding/spinning through a busy 4-way intersection in the middle of the day. THAT, to me, is the direct antithesis of good driving. No matter how good a move like that might look on a video or how many guys on similar message boards might consider a move like that to be "cool," he's playing a dangerous game and there are more pieces on the board than his own.
When you get down to it, there is no reason for ANYONE to take a C5 or a GTS to redline in 5th gear on any public road. Nor is there a reason for anyone to polish their driving skills by practicing on some roads in the middle of nowhere. It's a fact that it is inherently NOT safe for the person or people involved to be engaging in these activities, and if we must then we should always consider others first. I have driven a wrecker for a friend before and seen how accidents end up and I have worked in facilities for those that survive the accidents - it can be both gory and heartbreaking. And although my main hobby involves cars (both driving AND working on them) safety is always my number one concern. Accordingly, "pushing it to the limit" becomes a rarified event.
So - am I idiotic in my approach? To some degree, yes, of course. If I could afford it regularly and there was one within 2 hours drive of me, I would be on a prepared track. But then I would run the greatest risk of all - joining the ranks of those who have depended on the invisible safety barrier in their heads that says its ok to push a car too hard and wreck it. There is a riskier mentality associated with driving on a race track, despite the fact that every driver out there is (or should be!) just as adamant about making safety their number one priority.
Seriously, one buddy is a ********* drag racer and another is on my level as far as driving. The difference is that although we can and have both pushed our cars to the limits, he takes chances while I plan ahead and play it safe. I will say that I'm probably a better drag racer than I am with my skills through the corners, but I've never paid to go through a driving school. Professional drivers would see me as an enthusiast while mid-life crisis owners would definitely see me as the guy showing them the tail lights. 
LOL
