If you haven't driven the Tail of the Dragon, you need to.
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
If you haven't driven the Tail of the Dragon, you need to.
Pics to come. We just came from our 6th annual gathering. After riding in a GT3 and a 911 Carerra, well, Porsche doesn't need to advertise.
What went:
996 GT3
996 911 Carrera
E46 M3
Lotus Elise
S2000 (more than one)
IS 300 (more than one)
GS 300
GS 430 (more than one)
Supra TT
S4 Avant (lol at use not calling it a station wagon)
IS 350 (more than one)
G35 (HUGE suprise) coupe and sedan
and Dave in the big daddy LS 430 Ultra with the cooler!! The "sleeper" lol...
What went:
996 GT3
996 911 Carrera
E46 M3
Lotus Elise
S2000 (more than one)
IS 300 (more than one)
GS 300
GS 430 (more than one)
Supra TT
S4 Avant (lol at use not calling it a station wagon)
IS 350 (more than one)
G35 (HUGE suprise) coupe and sedan
and Dave in the big daddy LS 430 Ultra with the cooler!! The "sleeper" lol...
Last edited by DaveGS4; 08-20-07 at 12:16 PM. Reason: added more than one is300 :)
#6
Keeper of the light
iTrader: (17)
Everyone else is running for their lives and you're out there with a video camera yelling "That's where my track is going when it cools down baby!!"
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
The funny part is the Dragon part this year was actually tame. Driving the Skyway afterwards= PRICELESS.
Let me say I am a Porsche guy, I subscribe to Excellence, I buy GTPorshe etc monthly. I have more Porsche books than Lexus. I have read tons about the GT3 and how much it was praised in every single magazine.
Riding in it, is incredible. Its obvious why it deserves all the praise. The car is remarkable, so responsive its ridiculous. The ride is not that bad considering what its purpose is. The A/C blew cold . The seats hold you butt in. Under full accelertion, it presses you back and the SOUND is glorious!!!
It had the optional PCCBs. Nothing resembling fade, the car stopped on a dime all day. Superb. Superb. Superb.
Let me say I am a Porsche guy, I subscribe to Excellence, I buy GTPorshe etc monthly. I have more Porsche books than Lexus. I have read tons about the GT3 and how much it was praised in every single magazine.
Riding in it, is incredible. Its obvious why it deserves all the praise. The car is remarkable, so responsive its ridiculous. The ride is not that bad considering what its purpose is. The A/C blew cold . The seats hold you butt in. Under full accelertion, it presses you back and the SOUND is glorious!!!
It had the optional PCCBs. Nothing resembling fade, the car stopped on a dime all day. Superb. Superb. Superb.
Trending Topics
#9
Forum Administrator
iTrader: (2)
I've uploaded my pictures to my website.
http://www.somniplex.com/gallery/Dra...ust2007?page=1
The starting pictures are from the BMW Museum in Spartanburg, SC where the Charlotte Dragon caravan (two Porsches, two Infinitis, two Lexus, one BMW) stopped on the way to the meet. VERY nice museum with some amazing historical vehicles and motorcycles. Some of the hottest MCoupe and E30 M3 racecars I've ever seen.
My 'outbound' pictures on day two morning run of the Dragon were a bit blurry... the spot I chose was too dark for the settings I selected. The 'inbound' were better in a sunnier spot.
I'll do a brief writeup of the meet tonight or tomorow in the meet thread.
http://www.somniplex.com/gallery/Dra...ust2007?page=1
The starting pictures are from the BMW Museum in Spartanburg, SC where the Charlotte Dragon caravan (two Porsches, two Infinitis, two Lexus, one BMW) stopped on the way to the meet. VERY nice museum with some amazing historical vehicles and motorcycles. Some of the hottest MCoupe and E30 M3 racecars I've ever seen.
My 'outbound' pictures on day two morning run of the Dragon were a bit blurry... the spot I chose was too dark for the settings I selected. The 'inbound' were better in a sunnier spot.
I'll do a brief writeup of the meet tonight or tomorow in the meet thread.
#10
EV ftw!!!
Looks like you guys had a blast as usual!
#11
G35x - RWD/AWD goodness
Great pics as always Dave, thanks for sharing.
Looks like you guys had a great lineup of cars. And more importantly it looks like you all had a good time. I can't wait to see some vids!
Looks like you guys had a great lineup of cars. And more importantly it looks like you all had a good time. I can't wait to see some vids!
#12
Guest
Posts: n/a
Dave's brief Dragon 2007 Debrief
Charlotte Caravan to the Dragon
The trip started with a 20 mile detour off our route for the folks in the Charlotte caravan. I thought the museum was very well done and had some of the best preserved and hottest M Coupe and E30 M3 racecars I've ever seen, along with some very historical and unique BMW vehicles and motorcycles. I'm definitely going back and hitting it up again when I have more time and doing the factory tour.
A M Coupe and E30 M3 at the BMW Factory Museum
Since our Charlotte group looked like we were going to arrive about 8pm, we chose to stop along the way at an Arby's for a quick bite and noticed an ABC (liqour) store next door while we were eating. Jeff found a $100 bottle of reserve tequilla that he had been searching for (comes in a special wooden box) which was mostly consumed once we arrived safely at the hotel. Friday night we started meet check in in the hotel conference room, hung out and watched some prior year Dragon videos. The folks who drove in from OH through the Dragon reported that there were ten police officers on the 11 miles as they passed through on the way to the hotel.
Saturday - the Main Event
Some folks got up and washed their cars, knowing there would be a bunch of pictures taken. The full group met in the hotel conference room and we started the morning with a safety review and a frank 'how can we keep from getting a ticket' with the significantly enhanced police presence on the TN part of the Dragon this year. We had a few prizes to give away thanks to Steve Ganz at L-tunedparts / Carson Toyota , Jeff (Porsche GT3) who provided an awesome framed picture he took himself of a Lemans car and Mark (ColumbusIS) who donated a set of Top Gear DVDs.
We drove our 'warm up' straight to the Tapoco Lodge where we had lunch and took pictures in the parking lot. Lunch was good, but slow... "don't forget the steak fries" - a core competency of the Lodge, along with the huge club sandwiches and great iced tea. The day was starting to get very hot and topped above 100 degrees in the lot... once we got up to the top of the mountain it cooled down a full 10 degrees though.
Leaving the Tapoco
We went to the base of the Fontana Dam from lunch and looked at this cool man-made monument. It's a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) damn built in the 50's and part of it was used in the movie "the Fugitive" where Harrison Ford jumps out of a spillpipe into a river below. Those pipes are all over the place in the mountains in the area. The top of the dam is very interesting as well - unfortunately once we arrived there (a 15 minute drive from the bottom) we found the road to the visitors center was torn up and extremely dusty and the visitor's center was closed. So much for our nicely polished rides!.
At the base of the dam, and arriving at the top to find it in ruins
From the dam we had a brief stop at the Dragon motorcycle lodge and gift shop where the 'tree of shame' holds pieces of all the motorcycles that have been wrecked on the road that year. We took off on the Dragon in two groups (fast group and everyone else) but it didn't matter... as soon as we hit the TN border we started seeing cops every couple of minutes. Slow traffic and the speed limit set at 35mph kept the drive pretty dull, although it did allow for a nice windows down, Prodigy (my annual Dragon theme music) blasting session through the Mark Levinson setup in the LS430 for me.
We gathered beside the lake at the end of the run and I was pretty depressed at our events of the day so far with the unpaved road / closed dam center / speed-limit traffic-ridden Dragon drive.... But the next part of our 100 mile or so loop in the mountainous area was MUCH better. Some nice long straightaways where several folks tested their speed limiters and great mountain roads with scenic overlooks. It was good to let our cars and minds stretch their legs after being cooped up all morning. We had a couple of missed turns and our group broke up and rejoined a few times, but everyone made it back to the hotel safely.
View from one of the Cherohala Skyway overlooks, taking a break
For dinner we ordered pizza and wings and everyone brought down their beverages... we watched some of the day's video but somehow we didn't have the right cable for most of the cameras there. Five of us played a No Limit hold'em poker tournament (Larry - Vu's co-driver - won) and others just hung out and talked about cars and life. This is what these meets are all about. Thanks to those folks who helped clean up as well - made it much nicer )and faster) with all the pitching in when we were done.
Sunday - Another chance to Tame the Dragon
Sunday morning at 8am a smaller group went to drive the Dragon again... we had a scout (me) go ahead of the group looking for police cars and set up to take photos. There were none that I saw and eventually stopped to setup for pictures. Several groups of bikes, BMW E30s and S2000's came flying past so I was hopeful our folks could get a good run in. Unfortunatley my first location was too shady so all the pictures I got were cool blurs... Their return trip was better as I picked a sunny location. All in all, a much more satisfying drive for those who went than the one on Saturday.
VVT-I and 1sicklex tearing it up
We stopped again at the Dragon Motorcycle Lodge and spoke briefly to the E30 and S2Ki groups. I also pulled off a couple of times on the way back to the hotel to take some pictures of just one of the streams and lakes we drive by on this trip... there are literally hundreds in this area and we don't appreciate them enough and see them only as a blur when we're driving past.
We packed our cars and several stopped for some decent BBQ nearby before heading home to our respective cities.
Thanks for all who came and made this another fun event, even if the main part of the drive sucked this year due to all the law enforcement attention.
Attendees:
Porsche 911 (996 GT3 and 996 Carrera)
BMW E46 M3
Lotus Elise
Honda S2000 (two)
Lexus IS300 (two)
Lexus IS350 (two)
Lexus GS300
Lexus GS430 (two)
Lexus LS430
Toyota Supra TT
Audi S4 Avant
Infiniti G35 (two)
The rest of my pictures are posted HERE.
Charlotte Caravan to the Dragon
The trip started with a 20 mile detour off our route for the folks in the Charlotte caravan. I thought the museum was very well done and had some of the best preserved and hottest M Coupe and E30 M3 racecars I've ever seen, along with some very historical and unique BMW vehicles and motorcycles. I'm definitely going back and hitting it up again when I have more time and doing the factory tour.
A M Coupe and E30 M3 at the BMW Factory Museum
Since our Charlotte group looked like we were going to arrive about 8pm, we chose to stop along the way at an Arby's for a quick bite and noticed an ABC (liqour) store next door while we were eating. Jeff found a $100 bottle of reserve tequilla that he had been searching for (comes in a special wooden box) which was mostly consumed once we arrived safely at the hotel. Friday night we started meet check in in the hotel conference room, hung out and watched some prior year Dragon videos. The folks who drove in from OH through the Dragon reported that there were ten police officers on the 11 miles as they passed through on the way to the hotel.
Saturday - the Main Event
Some folks got up and washed their cars, knowing there would be a bunch of pictures taken. The full group met in the hotel conference room and we started the morning with a safety review and a frank 'how can we keep from getting a ticket' with the significantly enhanced police presence on the TN part of the Dragon this year. We had a few prizes to give away thanks to Steve Ganz at L-tunedparts / Carson Toyota , Jeff (Porsche GT3) who provided an awesome framed picture he took himself of a Lemans car and Mark (ColumbusIS) who donated a set of Top Gear DVDs.
We drove our 'warm up' straight to the Tapoco Lodge where we had lunch and took pictures in the parking lot. Lunch was good, but slow... "don't forget the steak fries" - a core competency of the Lodge, along with the huge club sandwiches and great iced tea. The day was starting to get very hot and topped above 100 degrees in the lot... once we got up to the top of the mountain it cooled down a full 10 degrees though.
Leaving the Tapoco
We went to the base of the Fontana Dam from lunch and looked at this cool man-made monument. It's a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) damn built in the 50's and part of it was used in the movie "the Fugitive" where Harrison Ford jumps out of a spillpipe into a river below. Those pipes are all over the place in the mountains in the area. The top of the dam is very interesting as well - unfortunately once we arrived there (a 15 minute drive from the bottom) we found the road to the visitors center was torn up and extremely dusty and the visitor's center was closed. So much for our nicely polished rides!.
At the base of the dam, and arriving at the top to find it in ruins
From the dam we had a brief stop at the Dragon motorcycle lodge and gift shop where the 'tree of shame' holds pieces of all the motorcycles that have been wrecked on the road that year. We took off on the Dragon in two groups (fast group and everyone else) but it didn't matter... as soon as we hit the TN border we started seeing cops every couple of minutes. Slow traffic and the speed limit set at 35mph kept the drive pretty dull, although it did allow for a nice windows down, Prodigy (my annual Dragon theme music) blasting session through the Mark Levinson setup in the LS430 for me.
We gathered beside the lake at the end of the run and I was pretty depressed at our events of the day so far with the unpaved road / closed dam center / speed-limit traffic-ridden Dragon drive.... But the next part of our 100 mile or so loop in the mountainous area was MUCH better. Some nice long straightaways where several folks tested their speed limiters and great mountain roads with scenic overlooks. It was good to let our cars and minds stretch their legs after being cooped up all morning. We had a couple of missed turns and our group broke up and rejoined a few times, but everyone made it back to the hotel safely.
View from one of the Cherohala Skyway overlooks, taking a break
For dinner we ordered pizza and wings and everyone brought down their beverages... we watched some of the day's video but somehow we didn't have the right cable for most of the cameras there. Five of us played a No Limit hold'em poker tournament (Larry - Vu's co-driver - won) and others just hung out and talked about cars and life. This is what these meets are all about. Thanks to those folks who helped clean up as well - made it much nicer )and faster) with all the pitching in when we were done.
Sunday - Another chance to Tame the Dragon
Sunday morning at 8am a smaller group went to drive the Dragon again... we had a scout (me) go ahead of the group looking for police cars and set up to take photos. There were none that I saw and eventually stopped to setup for pictures. Several groups of bikes, BMW E30s and S2000's came flying past so I was hopeful our folks could get a good run in. Unfortunatley my first location was too shady so all the pictures I got were cool blurs... Their return trip was better as I picked a sunny location. All in all, a much more satisfying drive for those who went than the one on Saturday.
VVT-I and 1sicklex tearing it up
We stopped again at the Dragon Motorcycle Lodge and spoke briefly to the E30 and S2Ki groups. I also pulled off a couple of times on the way back to the hotel to take some pictures of just one of the streams and lakes we drive by on this trip... there are literally hundreds in this area and we don't appreciate them enough and see them only as a blur when we're driving past.
We packed our cars and several stopped for some decent BBQ nearby before heading home to our respective cities.
Thanks for all who came and made this another fun event, even if the main part of the drive sucked this year due to all the law enforcement attention.
Attendees:
Porsche 911 (996 GT3 and 996 Carrera)
BMW E46 M3
Lotus Elise
Honda S2000 (two)
Lexus IS300 (two)
Lexus IS350 (two)
Lexus GS300
Lexus GS430 (two)
Lexus LS430
Toyota Supra TT
Audi S4 Avant
Infiniti G35 (two)
The rest of my pictures are posted HERE.
Here is Dave's write-up in the SE forum.
#13
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Wonderful write-up and pics - thanks Dave!!!!
#14
Lexus Champion
#15
Forum Administrator
iTrader: (2)