The full quote in dirty imperial units:
I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters: not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit. For those ten seconds or less, I’m free.
– The Fast and the Furious
How was this translated to metric?
As a European: What’s a drag race?
Imagine the 100m dash at the Olympics. But for cars.
Just a short straight line. Head to head race, first one to the end wins.
it’s tractor pulling without a counterweight and with dinky little cars
Drag racing is a form of race where competitors line up at a starting line and compete to be the first across the finish line. It’s unique in that most races begin with the cars already moving, and typically involve longer races, multiple laps, cornering, etc… In contrast, drag racing is on a straight quarter mile track, which means it is a competition focused almost entirely on acceleration and top speed.
To make a track and field comparison, drag racing is like the 100 meter sprint of car races. No measure of endurance, just get from A to B as fast as possible.
Even if you don’t recognize the name for drag racing, you almost certainly recognize the distinctive car design with the large rear tires, long pointed nose, and giant aerofoils to keep the car on the track:
Virtually every professional drag race is over in just a few seconds.
Literally never seen one before. I thought the Atari 2600 game featured a charriot of sorts, not a motor vehicle.