Tail of the Dragon/Deals Gap - February 3, 2008

[1X83Z]

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[neanderthal]

do you think im foolish for wanting to try that in my vintage BMW 2002 when i get it running again?

no power steering. marginal brakes. barely adequate cooling.

 

[Jay]

The main problem was brake fade. I actually wanted to do the Dragon three times, but the brakes had become so spongy during the first run that I actually pulled off at one point to briefly let them cool.

The tendancy of brake fade is the brake pedal remains firm but is much less effective to the point you start to wonder if the car will stop at all. (much like braking when the vacuum servo assist (power brakes) is not functioning) If the pedal became spongy you should look at changing your brake fliud, as moisture buildup can result in some vapourising in the brakelines due to heat, causing the pedal to become spongy. To a lesser extent the rubber brake lines themselves are sensitive to heat.


Also pouring cold water on hot rotors are generally not advised as rotors are prone to cracking.



Looks like you fun though, yeah you can get quite a work up when pushing cars through the twisties.

 

[Blake]

My experience in roads with a lot of braking is that brake fade is way more significant than I thought it would be before I’d done that sort of thing. I have worries about taking my car to a track day because I’m not very confident in the brakes lasting for more than three hard laps…

Anyway, sounds like an awesome experience. Sounds like you had a lot of fun.

 

[My_Sterious]

That sounds like a fun experience M5! I believe I'll never drive it though, seems kind of pointless to fly or sail to the US just so I could drive an 11 mile stretch of road.
But yeah, I know from experience that driving, or should I even say racing, is a killer especially if you haven't got the strength of a professional racer. Here we have this one road, maybe six or seven miles long with lots of crests and blind spots and thight turns. It's a great road to drive fast, as there's hardly ever any cops around and it's relatively quite traffic-wise. We still have another guy driving ahead in case there's cops coming or on-coming traffic so the car going fast has time to react to it.
But anyway, that sounds like an awesome road

 

[Perfect Balance]

In the days leading up to this weekend, a friend of mine and I had discussed how neither of us thought that race car drivers were athletes, since all they were doing was sitting down and turning.

I find this hilarious.

so you know the appropriate gear and speed for the turn before you enter it.


even when downshifted to the lowest gear possible,

Like Cody had said, "thrashing that tiptronic"

I poured some water on them, and the water simply making contact with the brakes not only sounded like liquid on a hot frying pan, it smoked like a barbecue grill.

Not a smart thing to do, at all.




Anyway, I hope you had fun.

 

[ND4SPD]

I absolutely must drive my RX-7 there one day.

 

[Joey D]

I'm hoping to get the Cooper there sometime in the near future, probably won't be this year though since I plan on tackling Mount Washington in July. Looks like you had fun though and thanks, as always for the story 👍!

 

[1X83Z]

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[Keef]

The Blueridge parkway, Cherohala Skyway, Foothills Parkway, Little River Road (when there's not ridiculous summer traffic as I encountered), and many other roads throughout the mountains are fantastic. The Dragon's website names many of the roads and has info on lots of them. They've even got a map that shows roads with police presence and regular radar traps.

I'm glad you had a good time and found out the road really is all it's cracked up to be. In the summer it's great to see sports cars and bikes all over the place. Plus, there's car club meets almost every weekend in the area from spring to fall. I bet you'll want to go back eventually...

Oh, and thanks for the EM1!

 

[Joey D]

Hmm maybe I will see what the next couple weeks have in store for me at work and school and maybe I can go down there for a couple days.

 

[Keef]

If you're planning on going you should study maps like the back of your hand, because you definitely want to know where you're going. Otherwise you might not find out for the next 50 miles. A navigation system is even better. The only problem with that is that there are some gravel roads down there that are roads, and my buddy's Garmin unit lead us down one where we got thoroughly ticked off and ended up fording some very small streams.

 

[JCE]

That's a good read. When I get my Camaro finished or at least available to drive cross country we should organize a GTP America road trip to the Dragon's Tail. I might just buy an MR2 just for the trip if I knew in advance of when I'd be going.

The roads in Texas are mostly flat and straight or slight curvy. More like sweeping corners...only the backroads have sharp and angled corners.

 

[Azuremen]

Water on rotors?

WATER ON ROTORS? SRSLY LULZ!! U WANTS TO CRACK THEMZ!?!?!



Anyhow, good you learned that hard driving = stress on body. Now do it in a lightened, lowered MR2 with one piece buckets and no power steering or ABS, and you'll really see the stress show I basically spent 12 hours driving roads like the Dragon going down through Oregon and part of California of the course of a day. My legs and arms where (literally) not working right when I got out of the car; they were use to driving, not walking or moving any other way.

An FYI though. You should virtually never go back into 1st gear after you leave it; the gearing is so short that the time shifting into it for a split second to get in the powerband defeats the small gain in acceleration.

Some notes if you do this again. Check your tire pressure and put the front 5 psi and the rears 8 psi higher than the recommendation on the door jam. Will prevent side-wall roll and the stiffer rear will make the car easier to rotate. Which means more dynamics; thus more chances for those sweet "Gran Turismo" maneuvers.

Welcome... kind-of... to the club.

 

[JCE]

Now do it in a lightened, lowered MR2 with one piece buckets and no power steering or ABS

MkI MR2 FTW! There's one short road here locally where my brother and would take the MR2--there's nothing like taking corners fast in a car with no help from anything. Power steering and ABS...what are those..?

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I find this hilarious.

Likewise

That tire looks familiar.

 

[YSSMAN]

w00t! Driving time in the "racy" A4! Now you know why you MUST get a car with some serious sporting potential (eventually)...

I'd love to drag the Jetta down there at least once, but unfortunately, its a bit "tired." Maybe, just maybe, I'll get a Miata and go for a blast this summer. Maybe.

 

[land sea air]

I've said it before, if there is a GTP meet at the tail I WILL go!

I don't car if I have to drive Frankenbenz even. it's just too good to pass up

 

[JCE]

I'll get a Miata and go for a blast this summer. Maybe.

That gives me a fantastic idea. Some of us should buy some old tiny car and turn it into a corner killer and meet up and do the Dragon's Tail. Get some cool decals and put 'em on the cars. I know its a pipe dream, but if enough people did it we could form some sort of club.

Miatas and MR2s FTW!

 

[YSSMAN]

Some of us live somewhat close by, and I'd be happy to maybe make a trip this summer if the Jetta appears to be in working order... She ain't fast, but shes fun to drive, and is a glutton for punishment. I'm sure it would hold up moderately well with a good set of tires under her belly...

 

[TopHat]

If only Wolfe still had that Renault Encore JCE...

 

[JCE]

Some of us live somewhat close by, and I'd be happy to maybe make a trip this summer if the Jetta appears to be in working order... She ain't fast, but shes fun to drive, and is a glutton for punishment. I'm sure it would hold up moderately well with a good set of tires under her belly...

This summer is too soon! I need to get another car and get the Camaro restored/modified.

If only Wolfe still had that Renault Encore JCE...

But, isn't he in Germany? That would be one expensive holiday.

 

[Perfect Balance]

But, isn't he in Germany? That would be one expensive holiday.

Not since I checked. Did he move recently?

 

[JCE]

Not since I checked. Did he move recently?

Or maybe he's just German like me and I assumed he lived in Germany..?

 

[YSSMAN]

He lives across the lake from Philly (well, while hes at HOPE) and I in Wisconsin, right? I'm sure we could caravan down and pick Joey up on the way...

 

[JCE]

He lives across the lake from Philly (well, while hes at HOPE) and I in Wisconsin, right? I'm sure we could caravan down and pick Joey up on the way...

I'm serious, I'd do it if we set a concrete date. I bet I could even get my brother to hurry up and get the MR2 drivable for the trip. I could take a week's vacation from work if/when we do it.

I might try and at least get a new drivetrain in the Camaro along with some suspension and tires and just take it.

 

[YSSMAN]

I'm gonna need a new exhaust and a new set of tires... Probably make sure that nothing under the hood will come loose either...

Thing is: I have to decide between something like this, an Eee laptop, a trip to Las Vegas with Jackie (?), or a trip to Florida. Thankfully I did get a promotion at work, but yeah, money is still going to be very tight!

 

[MustangSVT]

Question. What's the fastest you went through any of the corners? Did you have any corners that had like a "recommended" speed through them of around 35-40mph and if so, what speed did your car handle through it?

And yes, race car drivers are true athletes. I do professional go-karting, and after roughly 20 minutes, I can no longer feel my hands (they pull about 2g sideways) and my body is just pwned to say the least and I have to stop (had a 3 hour endurance race a few months ago, and couldn't do longer than 20 min stints).

 

[1X83Z]

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[JCE]

M5, you need to buy an old cheap small car to take with when we all go to the Dragon's Tail as a GTP team.