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19-ish month check in and I finally did something fun with the car - Tail of the Dragon! It's been over a decade since I've been there, and that was in the CL, so this time was a bit different
A bunch more people that aren't on the forum showed up with some really nice cars - M4 Comp, 911 Turbo, M2, M3, X4M, S4, and a modded G35. I definitely felt out of place.
The frost on the NSX was looking like forged carbon
The mornings were dumb cold (mid-20s) but got into the high 60s in the afternoon.
The 3P did well though. I know my limits so I wasn't pushing really hard, but I could tell that the chassis is capable of way more than I am and I'm very happy with the suspension mods I've done thus far. It cornered incredibly flat and the instant torque made corner exit hilarious. The steering feel came alive too. I've had glimpses of it on some of the backroads near home but this really opened my eyes to the chassis' capabilities. I wish I had stayed Saturday when everyone did a ~6 hour 250ish mile run through the area but I had to get back home.
The downside: there are no superchargers in the area. There's plenty of level 2 chargers, and while it's better than nothing, they're slow. Our cabin didn't have anyway for me to charge either, so I was driving up to the Tapoco Tavern to use their L2 chargers, which took forever. Thankfully they had wifi. If I could have plugged in overnight I probably would have been able to stay Saturday and tag along with the group. But the drive home Saturday morning wasn't too shabby either - lots of tight curvy roads leaving the area with some nice views:
I can't wait to go back.
Last edited by civicdrivr; Nov 6, 2023 at 07:07 AM.
GT350 > E-truck for the Dragon
Maybe one of these days I'll tow Midge up there to give it a run. Hold up traffic the whole way down
950 miles from home, a bit far to run the little MG, unless I made it a long, no highways, enjoy the drive, trip.
Morgan, love this post.
Love you.
Love your pics.
Love your correct use of the apostrophe after chassis.
You're a class act.
Who's your co-pilot? She looks hot!
The Tesla was amazing...
I am surprised there's no extension cord to some inverter/transformer box solution for a situation like this...
I bet in the next year or two they will set up some superchargers around spots...that lookout on the damn would have been perfect.
Plan an hour picnic or something and you're back to 100 90%.
Morgan, love this post.
Love you.
Love your pics.
Love your correct use of the apostrophe after chassis.
You're a class act.
Who's your co-pilot? She looks hot!
The Tesla was amazing...
I am surprised there's no extension cord to some inverter/transformer box solution for a situation like this...
I bet in the next year or two they will set up some superchargers around spots...that lookout on the damn would have been perfect.
Plan an hour picnic or something and you're back to 100 90%.
@civicdrivr Sounds like he'll eventually join the dark side.
I mean what's not to love...
just needed windows cracked to keep from puking is all...
that and the range anxiety is the only turnoff...other than that, yours handled so well, low to ground
on $6000 $1400 wheels and good tires and suspension...fast as fuck...no real downside. Big ass pivoting
screen to watch the reruns of the Golden Girls on the ride home. I really am not afraid of the switch to EV
at some point. Just hope I can make mine look as cool as yours.
I mean what's not to love...
just needed windows cracked to keep from puking is all...
that and the range anxiety is the only turnoff...other than that, yours handled so well, low to ground
on $6000 $1400 wheels and good tires and suspension...fast as fuck...no real downside. Big ass pivoting
screen to watch the reruns of the Golden Girls on the ride home. I really am not afraid of the switch to EV
at some point. Just hope I can make mine look as cool as yours.
GOLDEN GIRLS!!
That is what I could not come up with last week when Rue Mclanahan was brought up. Thanks!
The shot of the open road one of the mountains and clouds are stunning. It’s great to see car folks get together like this!
last time I did tail of the dragon was in college, we had coal n steam cars back in those days…
thanks for sharing the pics, did you all drive as a big group, or divided up?
Last week was a blur. I had off from work, so I cleaned a lot around the house. Then I smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving to bring to the future in-laws. I had to put it on the grill around midnight to have it done just in time to get it off the grill and drive 1.5 hours north and be there right when dinner started. I barely slept since I kept checking on the grill to make sure temps were good. I personally thought the bird was dry, but that the first time cooking turkey, let alone smoking it, and everyone else raved about it
Then I went for quick drive.
Across the country.
In a 22 year old BMW
Last edited by civicdrivr; Nov 28, 2023 at 07:29 PM.
Last week was a blur. I had off from work, so I cleaned a lot around the house. Then I smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving to bring to the future in-laws. I had to put it on the grill around midnight to have it done just in time to get it off the grill and drive 1.5 hours north and be there right when dinner started. I barely slept since I kept checking on the grill to make sure temps were good. I personally thought the bird was dry, but that the first time cooking turkey, let alone smoking it, and everyone else raved about it
It all started back in 1995 when a small independent movie called GoldenEye was released. There was a certain drop top in it that I saw and I fell in love - that car was spiritual successor of the BMW 507, the Z3. I even got a 1:18 scale model, but in red - I still have it.
Almost two decades pass and I really wanted to get a clownshoe, but the prices were absurd, so I waited, thinking they'd come down. LOL. After that I just kind of forgot about the Z3. I didn't see them often at all, and when I did, they were usually beat to shit. But about a year ago I set my sights on one again. I was aiming for an early model Z3 M Roadster since the later S54 models were dumb expensive, though still less than a clownshoe. But finding a clean one was tough. So, I pulled back a bit and decided to locate a late model 3.0. My target was mid to late 2024 for purchase, assuming I found one that I liked.
Well, I did find one - about 9 months too early However, it was hard to ignore. It was an '01 3.0 factory hardtop car. 110k miles, 3 owners - the first owner had the car until 2004, when the second owners were noted on the Carfax. I believe they were one in the same, as I think the car was a lease that was bought out. It was an older couple, and the wife primarily drove it. It had been garaged it's entire life. They sold it in August of this year to an older gentleman that works for Mercedes. It was a third car for him but he didn't really drive it often, mainly because it was a manual. So he listed it in early November. The downside - it was in Phoenix. That's kind of far from Virginia. But curiousity got the best of me and I asked our resident Z3 owner @e30cabrio if he could check it out for me. He did, and all of the major problem areas all checked out. In some ways, I was hoping he'd tell me it was a shitbox
From there, I booked a flight for the day after Thanksgiving and had a bunch of parts/maintenance items shipped to Stefan's house. I landed a little after 1pm local time, met the seller at 2pm, was at the DMV by 3pm, and was headed to Stefans house to do some maintenance. It was all a blur, but I loved driving the car. There were definitely some issues (I'll get into that later), but it made all the right sounds and drove well. Plus I was there and wanted an adventure, so...I had to buy it
I'm still recovering and want to sleep, so I'll share more tomorrow
Last edited by civicdrivr; Nov 28, 2023 at 08:32 PM.
I was so short on time that I wasn't able to meet. Friday afternoon/evening was spent working on the car. I was trying real hard to make home late Sunday night, but that didn't happen...
I was so short on time that I wasn't able to meet. Friday afternoon/evening was spent working on the car. I was trying real hard to make home late Sunday night, but that didn't happen...