I need better brakes for next time (I wasn't willing to trust my Z's base stock pads). Too bad I won't be able to make next year's event (Deployment >.<)

 

Stay safe sir and thank you for your service to our country. try our sponsor Carbotech for awesome street and track pads. www.ctbrakes.com

 

I'd rather someone just total their Z so I can have some fun

 

As a rule I won't push a car for a couple miles just to give them a chance to clear off. If they don't get the hint I start creeping. Especially when I know I am in a much less capable car. In my Z i have a hard time judging the same thing. My car was built almost specifically for those roads.

 

this^^ we got behind a group of slloooowwwww bikers that would not get out of the way on the way in on 28 thursday. but, because of that, we were only doing 40 in a 45 passing a well hidden charger that was gunning for people speeding. i was thankful for the hold up for about a min, then i got pissed off again

 

That's ok. After you let me take my wife for a ride in your beast, she was.

Vibrating seats FTW!

 

My lightning was built for those roads:
5.4L w/16psi boost
5 link rear end
dual coilover fronts
BBk
315s/335s
and MOAR cowbell than you can shake a stick at, but there is no reason to push someone to failure

 

I figured out a new trick this trip. The Harley drivers always seem to have an "eff you sportscar" attitude and force me to pass them... but I had a good run behind some sport bikes on the way up the dragon where I was keeping up with them, but not pushing them or tailgating. We all pulled over at the bridge and they came over to talk and check out the car...

Here is where the magic happened - they put me in the middle of their group on the way back down the two guys in front of me were laying it down to their knees and it was an awesome ride. Every single Harley pulled out of their way when they saw the sport bikes coming, and we had a clean run all the way down the dragon.

 

thats how its done, you know the secret. twas fun in the truck too. Keeping up with R1s and such, in a truck.

One easter weekend when there was noone around we took a few drifting turns where you could see all the way through, Killboy took this shot

http://www.zdayz.com/gallery/2005/

go towards the bottom of the page, you will see that but right above it is Buddy who let it get away from him and look where he ended up

 

My non-Brembo brakes on the Z were fine this year since I'm a little more familiar with the road. The two straight aways where you have to get into fourth were the only ones that I feel like I taxed my brakes and could have benefited from stainless lines/Brembos/BBK. I probably engine braked and decel'ed more than hard braking just because it's a lot of whipping from one turn to another. I wasn't trying to tear anything up, but I figure if tranny goes out, it's an excuse to get a CD009, if clutch goes out I can get the JWT combo.

 

True.

 

We all have to remember that different people are dealing with different limitations. Some people may not have perfect sight, may have a physical condition, may have a condition with their car, etc that forces them to drive a slower speed than you to remain safe. As Bryan said above, we should never "push" another driver by tailgating. Maintain a safe distance and match their speed. If you don't think that they get the idea, a quick ONE TIME rev of the engine or flash of your lights should help to make sure that they see you back there. If they won't pull off and you can't safely overtake them, then pull over and wait for them to get well ahead of you. Even better, sit back and enjoy the views that we usually ignore when we're zipping along that road.

I don't think that you want someone else's death on your hands because you wanted to take a corner 10-20mph faster purely so that you could "go faster". This isn't a personal attack, because I probably had your same view when I was younger, didn't have a little girl to make it home to, and hadn't personally seen the results of others attempting to outdrive their capabilities.

 

People who are "trying" to go fast are a different kind of problem than people who are just trying to "screw everyone else".

One warrants empathy, the other warrants 50 cent at ~130db. Bikers get tired of that pretty quickly.

 

I love the two shots where you're lighting them up and getting some good slidewayz action.

The black Z, ummph. It hurts me to see the pic with the tail end up in the air, but the next one with the Z sitting in the woods is pretty funny - my first thought was that they are ok and probably have a hurt ego more than anything else.

 

Amen to that!

 

yeah, I've been lucky enough to be on KB.com a couple of times

 

I'm going to make it a year-long project to somehow get my wife to go with me next year. I might not rent a cabin at FVR, but I definitely want to bring her along to see how much fun this can be.

 

I really enjoyed 276 through Dupont, Brevard, Caesar's Head, and Pisgah on the way home. It would have been great behind the wheel of the Z instead of the Frontier (BTW, Bryan - I loved driving your Titan in comparison). Maybe by next year I can get a caravan together to drive up that direction.

Side note if anyone in upstate SC or western NC is still itching for some more mountain driving - I think that a buddy and I are going to make a trip back up in 2 or 3 weekends and take 276 up and back. He's never driven the Dragon and has a turbo PT cruiser. I'm going to either let him lead or make sure that I'm way ahead of him, because I don't want him trying to keep up with me on those roads in a vehicle that is much higher than my dropped Z and has less traction than my 255/285 rubber. Anyone that wants to join us for a spirited, yet safe drive, let me know.

 

Honestly, I enjoyed 129 south of the Dragon, and 28 a lot more than the Dragon itself.

Fri night on the way back to the hotel in Robbinsville, I can't remember which route we took, but the road was empty and we were freaking tearing it UP! So much fun

 

yea i prefer hellbender over the dragon myself