First official road trip with my new F-150 Hybrid. Was carrying the family and a bed full of college stuff (plus the weight of the bed cap itself). I was heading north on 231 in Indiana and a fellow Gen X'er like myself was driving a Dodge Challenger SRT8. Backside of his car had a Hurst edition logo, a 'cuda emblem and the SRT8 badge. He was taking the opportunity to light them up every time we were "fortunate" enough to get stopped by one of the many traffic lights on that highway.

I pulled up next to him, thinking I could at least provide a respectable showing with my truck's 550 lb/ft of torque and the 430 hp that come on tap once the turbos start spinning. I switched to sport mode. And coast gently to a stop before the red light.

The guy looks over at my wife (I was in the left lane). He grins. My engine stops. Damn fuel economy tactic. I poke the throttle with my foot on the brake. The truck lurches forward like a bronco and the engine fires to life. The 'cuda driver starts to laugh. My engine shuts off again. Dammit. Cycle repeats itself again before the light turns green and the 'cuda screeches away. My truck's engine wakes up and I'm off -- about 3 car lengths behind but holding the distance. He lets up at 60. So do I.

This went on twice more at the next 2 lights. Same result. I was heavily handicapped by the damn stop/n/start engine feature which can't be disabled and gave away at least 1 second to the 'cuda off the line, a truck full of family and a payload in back to boot! I never did see the front of his car. LOL.

It was fun despite my shellacking. My son says I should've gotten the Ram T Rex instead of the F-150. "Would've shown him for sure, pop."

Yeah, maybe.