Tail of the Dragon

This year the guys' weekend was planned for northern Georgia, just a stones throw from Tennessee.  I elected to drive, logging miles on the FR-S.  I also elected to insert Highway 129 into the route, since roads like that are the reason I own an FR-S.  After a scenic, uneventful, and ultimately boring jaunt for 6 hours down Interstate 81, I exited off in Knoxville, loaded up on gas and headed down 129.

Before you get to the section of road known as the Tail of the Dragon at Deal's Gap, you run past the Chilhowee Dam.  The leaves on the hills were very vibrant fall colors.  After the dam you run alongside Chilhowee Lake.  The view and vibe were spectacular and a perfect, tranquil lead-in to the Dragon.

It was a beautiful day.  I can see why so many motorcyclists, car enthusiasts, and people in general enjoy this drive.  Had my intentions not been testing the suspension and making the tires howl a little this would have been as scenic and enjoyable as our leisurely trip down Skyline Drive.  In fact, colors seemed to be at- or near-peak in this area of the country this past weekend.

I don't have any pictures from the run on the Dragon, for obvious reasons.  I started out enthusiastic but still mild by some standards, and almost immediately ran up on a Jeep Cherokee out for a leisurely drive.  Buzzkill.  I pulled off at one of the designated areas to let them get further down the road.  When I felt the elapsed time was adequate, I looked to resume the journey when I heard the roar of tuned exhaust coming up quickly. Three BMW 3-series of assorted vintage blew by and I headed out afterward to follow.  No sooner had I got into second gear when I saw the rest of the BMW crew that had lagged behind.  I was now in the middle of a BMW car club of some sort attacking the Dragon.

It was clear that many in the group were very familiar with the road.  Or, they were just in a really big hurry.  Regardless, given the fact that 3 were in front of me and 4 were behind me, I was committed to the pace.  Having lead cars in front made tackling the road much easier for the first time, helping to call out braking zones by watching the cars in front and how they moved over the terrain.  The FR-S was very flat, very stable, and appeared to be limited only by the all-season tires and the skill of the driver.  Keeping up with the pace was not an issue.  In most instances the traction assistance didn't come on at all, and if it did it was expected since I was digging hard out of a hairpin turn, hard on the gas and the tires would slip a bit.  It's pretty cool to be on a quick pace through a mountain road, and the bonus is that when there are enough of you, slow traffic gets out of the way quicker.

The Tail of the Dragon was a truly phenomenal drive.  There are so many different sections, so many turns, so much elevation change... so much personality.  I could see driving it numerous times repeatedly and getting something different out of it every time.  Hitting turns with varying approach angles, speeds, etc.  The Dragon was predominantly a second gear run with rare 1st gear or 3rd gear instances.  It was a major rush to drive, and was perfect to insert into the overall route.  I was grinning from ear to ear, laughing at times.  It was just pure Fun, in a Fun car.  Below is a picture of some of the BMW group after I was able to let them all regroup near the end of the run, and the FR-S at a scenic overlook.  Man, the smells coming from the car said it all!

I had to cut the trip short due to Hurricane Sandy coming, a hurricane with the same name as my mother-in-law, heading straight for the house.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Leaving Georgia at 6am, driving on the country roads in the dark, I decided to try the Dragon once more, hoping that by the time I got there at least some amount of daylight would show up.  And that the rain would stay away.  I got one out of two, there was no rain but it was still dark enough to require the high beams for the first 6 or 7 miles.  I was pretty much the only car out there.  The road was damp in places, the weather chilled, and leaves accumulated in certain sections due to lack or traffic.  Not ideal, and I had to back the pace well below where it was on the preceding trip.  Nonetheless it was a great drive and got the juices flowing better than any coffee.  As I neared the end and the sunlight began to appear I stopped snap a pic, given the fact that there was no one else around for miles.

These are the trips, the roads, the experiences that I bought the FR-S for.  I could have done these in the old Miata, and it would have been a great experience as well.  Different, top down, and raw.  But I never had the confidence in the old Miata to push it that hard on roads like this.  It also did miserably in the rain, without air conditioning and the flimsy top that Miatas have, and would have been equally miserable on certain legs of this trip.  Lastly, for the highway legs, the FR-S did awesome.  MPG was in the low 30's, stereo via USB as flawless, and the seats are as good at 80mph and straight as they are at 40mph and curvy.  The FR-S is loud on the highway compared to just about everything else in the $25K price range, but it's inviting and pleasant compared to the old Miata on the highway!  It's really an apples and oranges comparison when it comes to highway travel, but the car's can't be compared in a vacuum.  Some will excel at certain things and make compromises elsewhere.  The FR-S was essentially designed around this philosophy of compromises in certain areas in order to excel in others.