2012 Fall Dragon Run thread-10th anniversary! (10-11/10-14-12)
#1
01-17-2012, 04:46 PM
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Woodridge Illinois USA
Posts: 1,283
2012 Fall Dragon Run thread-10th anniversary! (10-11/10-14-12)
The OFFICIAL 2012 Fall Dragon Run thread-10th Anniversary! (10-11/10-14-12)
Even though its about 9 monthes away, its that time once again, time to get the annual Fall Dragon thread up and going Because this is the 10th annual it deserves some extra time to get things going and since its the 10th anniversary, its going to be epic! Now for a little bit of history about the run before I get into the "do's and dont's" of the run.
It all began on the CEG (The Contour Enthusiasts Group) back in the summer of 2003 when I first heard about this road by a fellow CEG-er, so I thought I'd check it out. I got in contact with 2 forum buddies, Eric and Josh because they live down there and knew the road pretty good, so that made it easier knowing how to get around down there. My first time down there was breath taking to say the least, I'd had never ever seen any roads like that in my life and up to that point the curviest roads I had been on were in West Virginia, tame compared to the Dragon and Skyway for sure. Once I was done with my trip I made the decision to make this a yearly thing and started planning for next year right away and have not missed a year since then, actually got to go there twice in one year (2009) but due to the rock slide that happened that year the Dragon was closed down during Easter, so all I got to do was hit the Skyway and "try" and see how far I could get, yeah "try" because of the time of the year, check this out. My then boss flies me down to West Palm Beach Florida to pick up a modded R53 Mini, so ofcoarse I'm already thinking about taking this Mini out there. After breakfast I start out, outside temp was 54 degrees but once I started up the Skyway I began to notice this white stuff on the sides of the road that I've never seen before, we call it snow, not sure what they call it down there seeing they don't really get that down there. Further up the road there was more and more of it on the shoulder and when coming around the corner right before the North Carolina state line I hit a 25 foot patch of slushy snow on the road, didn't expect this at all and got on the brakes and the rear end did a little "shimmy" but I kept it straight but turned around, well after taking pics! I turned around because I knew about the 9% grade that was awaiting me further up the Skyway and there was NO WAY IN HELL I was going to attempt that in this car, its not even mine and even if it was, NO WAY IN HELL! This is one memorable story about a trip down there, we've all got many to share for sure, that's what the trip is about and when doing so in safe manner, you're able to come back year after year and share more with the group, inspiring others to make the trip out! There is a certain amount of common sense that MUST be used out there, physics come into play as well, so PLEASE READ the rest of the opening thread closely, its in YOUR BEST INTEREST!
The trip begins with the Cherahola Skyway, a 57 mile road that goes up to over 1 mile elevation at the Santeetlah Gap (5377 feet) and like the old saying goes "what goes up, must come down" and it does with 9% grades, so your brakes and tires MUST BE IN THE BEST SHAPE, PERIOD! This can't be stressed enough as everyone who's been out there can attest. Remember this, your NOT the only one out there, it is a public road afterall! The scenery is breath taking, the road is smooth and there's sections to pull over and take pics, catch your breath or change your underwear!! There are parts of the Skyway were people take it upon themselves to spray paint the letters S L O across the road, when you see this, pay close attention, its there for a reason, trust me, there's turns out there that never seem to end so if you think its about to straighten up and it doesn't, your in BIG trouble for sure! Also once making the trip down to the Skyway there's parts of the road where there's shade and thus, the road can be and is damp from the morning dew and because its in the shade is still wet, enough to ruin your day if your not paying attenion, this too needs to have great attention paid to it as well. The last part of the Skyway snakes you through some VERY narrow roads with alot of trees on both sides, the road surface is different too, very, very smooth asphault and with the trees, again, can be damp and you'll wanna exercise a bit of caution here because there's no room for error, remember, its a public road, there's always people coming the other way and with so many of the turns being "blind turns", well, you don't see them until your entering the turn and it could be too late for corrections, just pay attention out there. Finally you'll come up to a sign that says 129, you turn left and your onto another journey, THE DRAGON!
The early stages of the Dragon are pretty tame and we'll just call it route 129 until we actually get close to the Dragon. This section is about 15 miles long and has nice, sweeping turns w/o any measurable elevation changes, so you can just "warm up here. There is a gas station before you get there, so its a good time to gas up if need be, use the bathroom, get something to snack on and/or drink and get your Dragon stickers/patches/etc here, its all right there. When your in the parking lot there's a sign across the street, well this is what it says...
The above sign is to detour semi's from going on this road and I just found out that its illegal for trucks over 30 feet long to go out there from the N.C side, now we just Tennessee to follow suit and we'd be all set, the exception being the tanker truck that delivers gas to Deal's Gap, for that they should and would get an escort from the local police, atleast that's the way I think they should do it IMO. So now you head out of the gas station and pass that sign and continue along and you'll come to bridge and on the right you look up and see a huge dam and you make a right turn where the road basically goes straight up, YOUR NOW GETTING CLOSE! Follow this around and you can clearly see the road starting to get VERY twisty with dips in the middle of the turns, this is about to get interesting!!! Continue down the road and you see Deal's Gap motorcycle resort and the "Tree of Shame", a place where bike and some car parts are hung to remind people this road IS NO JOKE AND TO BE CAREFUL, IT DOES BITE AND BITES SOME VERY HARD!! From this point its only about 3/4 of a mile to the Tennessee border and you'll need to make sure not to be going too fast because alot of times there's a Tenn state cop sitting there waiting for you but once you get to the state line, ITS ON!!!!! There's 318 turns in 11 miles awaiting you with dips, elevations changes, hairpins and so many turns you'll lose count so don't even try, JUST DRIVE! There can be lose gravel on the edges of the road sometimes so you need to watch for that, along with bikers warning you about a potential accident, they will usually motion their hand down like they're dribbling a basketball, so again, PAY ATTENTION, PLEASE! Not to freak anyone out but every year the Dragon claims a couple lives, usually a heart attack or a biker dumping his bike and getting hurt from doing so, its just a fact out there and although I'm not a biker myself I wouldn't wanna see a car coming into my lane so heed this STAY IN YOUR LANE AND TRY AND STAY TO THE RIGHT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, THIS GIVES YOU SOME "WIGGLE" ROOM IF YOU SHOULD MAKE A MISTAKE! Even a car as small as a Miata looks huge to a bike, so give them a break out there, you don't wanna be "that guy" out there! So turn after turn and turn after turn you finally get to the end of the Dragon but route 129 continues all the way to route 411, there's a paved clearing on the right and rock wall on the left, right before a bridge, this is where we take a break or others turn around and have at it again right away! This is the ONLY straight road on the Dragon and its also where alot of cops like to park and hand out tickets too, so when coming up to this, WATCH YOUR SPEED
So now you've just done the Cherahola Skyway/Dragon run and your excited to do it again and you will but there's a 3rd road, route 28 aka "Moonshiners" road. This road is right next to Deal's Gap and is really a hidden gem out there, has parts like the Dragon and parts like the Skyway, sans the elevation that is. This road less traveled than the Dragon so it makes for a great drive for sure. While on this road you can follow the signs for the Fontana Dam, the largest dam this side of the Mississippi River, true story. Its really something to see inperson and if this is your first time out, you'll wanna check it out for sure. This basically sums up the roads for the most part, now let's talk about lodging.
Our homebase every year, except one, is Caney Creek Village Caney Creek Village in Tellico Plains, Tennessee These cabins are only 3.5 miles from the beginning of the Cherahola Skyway, so its very convienent for us. The cabins vary in price and ammenities but have everything you need, a bed, shower, stove and fridge, even A/C if it would ever be that hot but at the time of the year we're going, this isn't an issue. Prices are anywhere from $30-80 (that's for seperate bedrooms and room for 6) Many of us share the cabins to keep the prices down, so this is something you guys may wanna do. If for some reason there's no room left, there's other places to stay locally and worse case scenario you can stay about 25 minutes away at a more typical motel. To this day we haven't had to put others in those locations but that could change this year so look for the seperate thread for cabin reservations (probably will be set up around April sometime) Now, I know there's some who wanna stay closer to the Dragon and that's fine but after lots of discussion, this is where we're staying due to price, location and room, gotta have room for all the cars. Because of our repour with the owner, Dixie, we've never been bothered by the staff and pretty much do what we wanna do when we wanna do it and for how long we wanna do it, this is why its always important to call and make your reservations early (sometime in April) Again, because of the repour we've got with there, you don't even need to pay inadvance, you just call Caney Creek and tell Dixie your with the group that's with "Roger from Deeetroit" (even though I live in Chicago now) and your all set. Now, things come up down the road and you may not be able to make it, just call Dixie ASAP and let her know so we can get someone else into your cabin, we like to try and keep as many of the Dragon Slayers together there, the more the merrier there, trust me. Now as far as the cabin are concerned, well, they're mostly single room cabins with everything you'd need if you were staying there for the day but we're not, so that's not the most important thing here, what is is the fact that we've got somewhere to sleep, its cheap, close to the Skyway and close to downtown Tellico Plains. This is NOT the Marriot but its not the slums either and again, like I said earlier, for what we need, its perfect. As the monthes go by and we need to make room for others we can do that, people are usually willing to share their cabins for a fair amount or like I said, there's other places to stay locally, some close and some further away but even the ones further away are VERY EASY to find and get back to meeting up with us, but let's cross that bridge when we get to it.
The "offical" dates for the trip are Oct 11th thru the 14th (Thur-Sun) but some are able to come down a day early and take advantage of the off day (Thursday) to get some quality driving time in. The weekend is very busy, especially Sat and Sun, Friday is hit or miss actually, so this is an option for you as well. I plan on coming down a day early this year, first time for me doing this and hearing how much fun everyone had on the "off day" it sounds like a plan
I would be remissed if I didn't talk about the cars and owners we've got going. This run has a "core" of people who've been going with us for years, some have come out 4 years in a row, while others have been out with us 2 or 3 times and there's always a noob to our run but sometimes not a noob to the Skyway/Dragon itself, so you just never know until the list is made up. Last year we had a grand total of 16 cars, the previous year netted 26 cars, so you just never know. Large groups take more planning, hence why I'm setting this up so early. There's also the people that say "if I had known sooner I would've gone", well, this is soon enough. Speaking of going, how much does all this cost you may ask, well, I've got an answer for you, kinda. I took $500 with me last year and came back with about $75.00, it all depends on what you spend while your down there and how much gas your car uses, those are factors I can't say is the same for everyone but understand this, while on the Skyway and Dragon the car uses ALOT of gas!!! My old R56 Mini was getting 18 mpg out there (hwy mileage was 3 so you'll have to guess on that one. Its pretty easy to figure out how many miles the trip is from your house and you should know your mileage, so that takes care of that, the cabin prices are known, guess on food and drink and you'll have your number. "Roughing it" in the cabins (bringing sleeping bags and sleeping on the floor or someones couch) is an option too, something that can be worked out with those who've got the cabins but you can even bring your tent if your into that, that's $10.00 a night or free sometimes, just never know.
The cars that have gone out there are all over the place, one year we had my 1.6L Mini and Billy's 6.1L SRT8 Cherokee, RWD, FWD and AWD are always represented in our run, that's what makes it so much fun. Because of the different cars/skill level/nerve we usually break into like minded groups, noone wants to be stuck behind "Captain Slow" (Me) unless your a noob and wanna see the sites or drive at a nice, brisk pace (on the Skyway) but understand, the Dragon is different for different cars, your not going to be able to do what you do on the Skyway on the Dragon, each car has its strong and weak points...DRIVE YOUR OWN DRIVE, DON'T FEEL PRESSURED AND DON'T PRESSURE ANYONE! I know it can be frustrating out there once you "get in the zone" (even I get to that point on the Dragon) but there's no need to get like this, its a public road and you never know when your going to come up on site seerers or a trike (hate them) Its been proven already that a stock Miata with small mods can hang with anything out there, even driven by someone who's only got 1 year of experience under his belt. This is NOT to say you know the road, YOU DON'T! Unless you drive it a couple times a month, you just don't know this road like your route to work, trust me/us on this!
The car owners are a diverse group made up of different backgrounds, job titles, ages, ego's, personalities but we all try and have a good time. The past couple years have had the joking get a bit out of hand and I've been PM"d afterwards that although they had a good time they didn't like the endless ripping, especially when you don't really know the person (this was brought up to me by noobs) I know its all in good fun but when you don't really know someone just take it easy on them until you have a feel for them, ok Many of us look forward to this run as soon as we get home from the previous run, it can be that contagious! Once your bit by this bug, there's NO CURE!!!!! I don't wanna scare anyone off by all of this, just bring up some concerns passed along to me over the past 2 years, that's all, its not like anyone got THAT mad or anything
Finally this thread and what its for:
-questions
-answers
-pics
-general banter
-polls
-whatever
These threads may seem to get off track but its NO biggie, just the way it goes and when you factor in that its 9 monthes away, any general discussion keeps up your interest over the upcoming monthes. Also don't forget that this thread is going to be on the Contour site, the Fit site and the CR-Z site as well. As always, if you wanna invite someone who's never been, great, there's nothing like sharing the experience with a noob, its a great thing! Speaking of the other sites involved, the Fit Freak members showed up HUGE last year, netting a total of 7 different cars, a great showing and really and truely great enthusists for sure! I've got no idea how large the run is going to be this year but its going to be a good one for sure. It looks like a couple surprises are in store for us too, basically the type of cars that are going to be showing up, there will be some cool FIRSTS for sure!!!
So, the thread is up.....HAVE AT IT!
Even though its about 9 monthes away, its that time once again, time to get the annual Fall Dragon thread up and going Because this is the 10th annual it deserves some extra time to get things going and since its the 10th anniversary, its going to be epic! Now for a little bit of history about the run before I get into the "do's and dont's" of the run.
It all began on the CEG (The Contour Enthusiasts Group) back in the summer of 2003 when I first heard about this road by a fellow CEG-er, so I thought I'd check it out. I got in contact with 2 forum buddies, Eric and Josh because they live down there and knew the road pretty good, so that made it easier knowing how to get around down there. My first time down there was breath taking to say the least, I'd had never ever seen any roads like that in my life and up to that point the curviest roads I had been on were in West Virginia, tame compared to the Dragon and Skyway for sure. Once I was done with my trip I made the decision to make this a yearly thing and started planning for next year right away and have not missed a year since then, actually got to go there twice in one year (2009) but due to the rock slide that happened that year the Dragon was closed down during Easter, so all I got to do was hit the Skyway and "try" and see how far I could get, yeah "try" because of the time of the year, check this out. My then boss flies me down to West Palm Beach Florida to pick up a modded R53 Mini, so ofcoarse I'm already thinking about taking this Mini out there. After breakfast I start out, outside temp was 54 degrees but once I started up the Skyway I began to notice this white stuff on the sides of the road that I've never seen before, we call it snow, not sure what they call it down there seeing they don't really get that down there. Further up the road there was more and more of it on the shoulder and when coming around the corner right before the North Carolina state line I hit a 25 foot patch of slushy snow on the road, didn't expect this at all and got on the brakes and the rear end did a little "shimmy" but I kept it straight but turned around, well after taking pics! I turned around because I knew about the 9% grade that was awaiting me further up the Skyway and there was NO WAY IN HELL I was going to attempt that in this car, its not even mine and even if it was, NO WAY IN HELL! This is one memorable story about a trip down there, we've all got many to share for sure, that's what the trip is about and when doing so in safe manner, you're able to come back year after year and share more with the group, inspiring others to make the trip out! There is a certain amount of common sense that MUST be used out there, physics come into play as well, so PLEASE READ the rest of the opening thread closely, its in YOUR BEST INTEREST!
The trip begins with the Cherahola Skyway, a 57 mile road that goes up to over 1 mile elevation at the Santeetlah Gap (5377 feet) and like the old saying goes "what goes up, must come down" and it does with 9% grades, so your brakes and tires MUST BE IN THE BEST SHAPE, PERIOD! This can't be stressed enough as everyone who's been out there can attest. Remember this, your NOT the only one out there, it is a public road afterall! The scenery is breath taking, the road is smooth and there's sections to pull over and take pics, catch your breath or change your underwear!! There are parts of the Skyway were people take it upon themselves to spray paint the letters S L O across the road, when you see this, pay close attention, its there for a reason, trust me, there's turns out there that never seem to end so if you think its about to straighten up and it doesn't, your in BIG trouble for sure! Also once making the trip down to the Skyway there's parts of the road where there's shade and thus, the road can be and is damp from the morning dew and because its in the shade is still wet, enough to ruin your day if your not paying attenion, this too needs to have great attention paid to it as well. The last part of the Skyway snakes you through some VERY narrow roads with alot of trees on both sides, the road surface is different too, very, very smooth asphault and with the trees, again, can be damp and you'll wanna exercise a bit of caution here because there's no room for error, remember, its a public road, there's always people coming the other way and with so many of the turns being "blind turns", well, you don't see them until your entering the turn and it could be too late for corrections, just pay attention out there. Finally you'll come up to a sign that says 129, you turn left and your onto another journey, THE DRAGON!
The early stages of the Dragon are pretty tame and we'll just call it route 129 until we actually get close to the Dragon. This section is about 15 miles long and has nice, sweeping turns w/o any measurable elevation changes, so you can just "warm up here. There is a gas station before you get there, so its a good time to gas up if need be, use the bathroom, get something to snack on and/or drink and get your Dragon stickers/patches/etc here, its all right there. When your in the parking lot there's a sign across the street, well this is what it says...
The above sign is to detour semi's from going on this road and I just found out that its illegal for trucks over 30 feet long to go out there from the N.C side, now we just Tennessee to follow suit and we'd be all set, the exception being the tanker truck that delivers gas to Deal's Gap, for that they should and would get an escort from the local police, atleast that's the way I think they should do it IMO. So now you head out of the gas station and pass that sign and continue along and you'll come to bridge and on the right you look up and see a huge dam and you make a right turn where the road basically goes straight up, YOUR NOW GETTING CLOSE! Follow this around and you can clearly see the road starting to get VERY twisty with dips in the middle of the turns, this is about to get interesting!!! Continue down the road and you see Deal's Gap motorcycle resort and the "Tree of Shame", a place where bike and some car parts are hung to remind people this road IS NO JOKE AND TO BE CAREFUL, IT DOES BITE AND BITES SOME VERY HARD!! From this point its only about 3/4 of a mile to the Tennessee border and you'll need to make sure not to be going too fast because alot of times there's a Tenn state cop sitting there waiting for you but once you get to the state line, ITS ON!!!!! There's 318 turns in 11 miles awaiting you with dips, elevations changes, hairpins and so many turns you'll lose count so don't even try, JUST DRIVE! There can be lose gravel on the edges of the road sometimes so you need to watch for that, along with bikers warning you about a potential accident, they will usually motion their hand down like they're dribbling a basketball, so again, PAY ATTENTION, PLEASE! Not to freak anyone out but every year the Dragon claims a couple lives, usually a heart attack or a biker dumping his bike and getting hurt from doing so, its just a fact out there and although I'm not a biker myself I wouldn't wanna see a car coming into my lane so heed this STAY IN YOUR LANE AND TRY AND STAY TO THE RIGHT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, THIS GIVES YOU SOME "WIGGLE" ROOM IF YOU SHOULD MAKE A MISTAKE! Even a car as small as a Miata looks huge to a bike, so give them a break out there, you don't wanna be "that guy" out there! So turn after turn and turn after turn you finally get to the end of the Dragon but route 129 continues all the way to route 411, there's a paved clearing on the right and rock wall on the left, right before a bridge, this is where we take a break or others turn around and have at it again right away! This is the ONLY straight road on the Dragon and its also where alot of cops like to park and hand out tickets too, so when coming up to this, WATCH YOUR SPEED
So now you've just done the Cherahola Skyway/Dragon run and your excited to do it again and you will but there's a 3rd road, route 28 aka "Moonshiners" road. This road is right next to Deal's Gap and is really a hidden gem out there, has parts like the Dragon and parts like the Skyway, sans the elevation that is. This road less traveled than the Dragon so it makes for a great drive for sure. While on this road you can follow the signs for the Fontana Dam, the largest dam this side of the Mississippi River, true story. Its really something to see inperson and if this is your first time out, you'll wanna check it out for sure. This basically sums up the roads for the most part, now let's talk about lodging.
Our homebase every year, except one, is Caney Creek Village Caney Creek Village in Tellico Plains, Tennessee These cabins are only 3.5 miles from the beginning of the Cherahola Skyway, so its very convienent for us. The cabins vary in price and ammenities but have everything you need, a bed, shower, stove and fridge, even A/C if it would ever be that hot but at the time of the year we're going, this isn't an issue. Prices are anywhere from $30-80 (that's for seperate bedrooms and room for 6) Many of us share the cabins to keep the prices down, so this is something you guys may wanna do. If for some reason there's no room left, there's other places to stay locally and worse case scenario you can stay about 25 minutes away at a more typical motel. To this day we haven't had to put others in those locations but that could change this year so look for the seperate thread for cabin reservations (probably will be set up around April sometime) Now, I know there's some who wanna stay closer to the Dragon and that's fine but after lots of discussion, this is where we're staying due to price, location and room, gotta have room for all the cars. Because of our repour with the owner, Dixie, we've never been bothered by the staff and pretty much do what we wanna do when we wanna do it and for how long we wanna do it, this is why its always important to call and make your reservations early (sometime in April) Again, because of the repour we've got with there, you don't even need to pay inadvance, you just call Caney Creek and tell Dixie your with the group that's with "Roger from Deeetroit" (even though I live in Chicago now) and your all set. Now, things come up down the road and you may not be able to make it, just call Dixie ASAP and let her know so we can get someone else into your cabin, we like to try and keep as many of the Dragon Slayers together there, the more the merrier there, trust me. Now as far as the cabin are concerned, well, they're mostly single room cabins with everything you'd need if you were staying there for the day but we're not, so that's not the most important thing here, what is is the fact that we've got somewhere to sleep, its cheap, close to the Skyway and close to downtown Tellico Plains. This is NOT the Marriot but its not the slums either and again, like I said earlier, for what we need, its perfect. As the monthes go by and we need to make room for others we can do that, people are usually willing to share their cabins for a fair amount or like I said, there's other places to stay locally, some close and some further away but even the ones further away are VERY EASY to find and get back to meeting up with us, but let's cross that bridge when we get to it.
The "offical" dates for the trip are Oct 11th thru the 14th (Thur-Sun) but some are able to come down a day early and take advantage of the off day (Thursday) to get some quality driving time in. The weekend is very busy, especially Sat and Sun, Friday is hit or miss actually, so this is an option for you as well. I plan on coming down a day early this year, first time for me doing this and hearing how much fun everyone had on the "off day" it sounds like a plan
I would be remissed if I didn't talk about the cars and owners we've got going. This run has a "core" of people who've been going with us for years, some have come out 4 years in a row, while others have been out with us 2 or 3 times and there's always a noob to our run but sometimes not a noob to the Skyway/Dragon itself, so you just never know until the list is made up. Last year we had a grand total of 16 cars, the previous year netted 26 cars, so you just never know. Large groups take more planning, hence why I'm setting this up so early. There's also the people that say "if I had known sooner I would've gone", well, this is soon enough. Speaking of going, how much does all this cost you may ask, well, I've got an answer for you, kinda. I took $500 with me last year and came back with about $75.00, it all depends on what you spend while your down there and how much gas your car uses, those are factors I can't say is the same for everyone but understand this, while on the Skyway and Dragon the car uses ALOT of gas!!! My old R56 Mini was getting 18 mpg out there (hwy mileage was 3 so you'll have to guess on that one. Its pretty easy to figure out how many miles the trip is from your house and you should know your mileage, so that takes care of that, the cabin prices are known, guess on food and drink and you'll have your number. "Roughing it" in the cabins (bringing sleeping bags and sleeping on the floor or someones couch) is an option too, something that can be worked out with those who've got the cabins but you can even bring your tent if your into that, that's $10.00 a night or free sometimes, just never know.
The cars that have gone out there are all over the place, one year we had my 1.6L Mini and Billy's 6.1L SRT8 Cherokee, RWD, FWD and AWD are always represented in our run, that's what makes it so much fun. Because of the different cars/skill level/nerve we usually break into like minded groups, noone wants to be stuck behind "Captain Slow" (Me) unless your a noob and wanna see the sites or drive at a nice, brisk pace (on the Skyway) but understand, the Dragon is different for different cars, your not going to be able to do what you do on the Skyway on the Dragon, each car has its strong and weak points...DRIVE YOUR OWN DRIVE, DON'T FEEL PRESSURED AND DON'T PRESSURE ANYONE! I know it can be frustrating out there once you "get in the zone" (even I get to that point on the Dragon) but there's no need to get like this, its a public road and you never know when your going to come up on site seerers or a trike (hate them) Its been proven already that a stock Miata with small mods can hang with anything out there, even driven by someone who's only got 1 year of experience under his belt. This is NOT to say you know the road, YOU DON'T! Unless you drive it a couple times a month, you just don't know this road like your route to work, trust me/us on this!
The car owners are a diverse group made up of different backgrounds, job titles, ages, ego's, personalities but we all try and have a good time. The past couple years have had the joking get a bit out of hand and I've been PM"d afterwards that although they had a good time they didn't like the endless ripping, especially when you don't really know the person (this was brought up to me by noobs) I know its all in good fun but when you don't really know someone just take it easy on them until you have a feel for them, ok Many of us look forward to this run as soon as we get home from the previous run, it can be that contagious! Once your bit by this bug, there's NO CURE!!!!! I don't wanna scare anyone off by all of this, just bring up some concerns passed along to me over the past 2 years, that's all, its not like anyone got THAT mad or anything
Finally this thread and what its for:
-questions
-answers
-pics
-general banter
-polls
-whatever
These threads may seem to get off track but its NO biggie, just the way it goes and when you factor in that its 9 monthes away, any general discussion keeps up your interest over the upcoming monthes. Also don't forget that this thread is going to be on the Contour site, the Fit site and the CR-Z site as well. As always, if you wanna invite someone who's never been, great, there's nothing like sharing the experience with a noob, its a great thing! Speaking of the other sites involved, the Fit Freak members showed up HUGE last year, netting a total of 7 different cars, a great showing and really and truely great enthusists for sure! I've got no idea how large the run is going to be this year but its going to be a good one for sure. It looks like a couple surprises are in store for us too, basically the type of cars that are going to be showing up, there will be some cool FIRSTS for sure!!!
So, the thread is up.....HAVE AT IT!
#2
01-17-2012, 07:27 PM
I'm there. Gonna wait closer to time though about lodging since I don't have a lot of extra $. Rodger: if you wouldn't mind somebody sleeping on your couch, I would be down for that.
Fit should be good to go, gonna replace my brake pads soon..starting to squeal a little. Did you ever upgrade your pads? I'm probably just gonna rock the oem's since the car doesn't see that much hard use.
Fit should be good to go, gonna replace my brake pads soon..starting to squeal a little. Did you ever upgrade your pads? I'm probably just gonna rock the oem's since the car doesn't see that much hard use.
Last edited by Hondafrk; 01-17-2012 at 07:31 PM.
#3
01-18-2012, 05:41 PM
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Woodridge Illinois USA
Posts: 1,283
I'm there. Gonna wait closer to time though about lodging since I don't have a lot of extra $. Rodger: if you wouldn't mind somebody sleeping on your couch, I would be down for that.
Fit should be good to go, gonna replace my brake pads soon..starting to squeal a little. Did you ever upgrade your pads? I'm probably just gonna rock the oem's since the car doesn't see that much hard use.
Fit should be good to go, gonna replace my brake pads soon..starting to squeal a little. Did you ever upgrade your pads? I'm probably just gonna rock the oem's since the car doesn't see that much hard use.
My pads are stock and will remain that way until it really really needs them, I too am NOT hard on my cars, I save that for the Skyway and Dragon!
I'm looking forward to seeing who's making the run from here this year, if its anything like last year it will be great, you guys really stepped up huge! Seems like all the Fits came from the south, I wonder if any other parts of the country will be represented this year by FF? IIRC there was a guy from NY looking to go and Joelle is from the northern section of the country so who knows, its early but never too early to get things cooking with these things, trust me, the other forums I'm on are already cooking on the subject! Oh yeah, here's a link to them if you wanna read, join or whatever
The Contour Enthusiasts Group
www.xceedspeed.com
The CR-Z site will be added later, I tried to copy and paste the main one from here and it was too large, never seen a limit in a thread
#4
01-19-2012, 03:35 AM
#5
01-19-2012, 09:21 AM
We'll do our best to be there! For those unfamiliar with the area, there are great driving, scenic roads all around the area. Don't feel like you have to run the dragon to have fun. It's a very beautiful part of the country just to enjoy.
#6
01-20-2012, 05:21 PM
^^^^ GAFIT is right on the money, The wife and I had a blast already counting down the days. If people save up now they should have no problems paying for the trip. Any noob (as Rodger says) who goes is going to love, You get to meet people from the forums and put a face to the name. I would love to see even more Fits this year then last ( and I won't be leaving early this year ).
#8
01-20-2012, 06:48 PM
Glad that Contour owners will be there. I had a 1995 SE v6. It was a great car and very fun to drive. I planned on keeping it longer and modding it, but I got the bug and traded it in on a 2002 Sentra specV. In retrospect, I should have kept the Contour...it was a better car.
#9
01-21-2012, 10:48 AM
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Woodridge Illinois USA
Posts: 1,283
Glad that Contour owners will be there. I had a 1995 SE v6. It was a great car and very fun to drive. I planned on keeping it longer and modding it, but I got the bug and traded it in on a 2002 Sentra specV. In retrospect, I should have kept the Contour...it was a better car.
Was it a stick? Any pics of it?It was mentioned about the cost, I've been saving $10.00 a week for the trip since I got back, that's my plan of making it easy to save
There's alot of buzz already on Xceedspeed for our run and talk is starting to pick up here. Its not necessary to post everyday so please don't feel the need to do so but if you want to, good
#11
01-21-2012, 04:18 PM
Did you ever join the Contour site Was it a stick? Any pics of it?
It was mentioned about the cost, I've been saving $10.00 a week for the trip since I got back, that's my plan of making it easy to save
There's alot of buzz already on Xceedspeed for our run and talk is starting to pick up here. Its not necessary to post everyday so please don't feel the need to do so but if you want to, good
Was it a stick? Any pics of it?It was mentioned about the cost, I've been saving $10.00 a week for the trip since I got back, that's my plan of making it easy to save
There's alot of buzz already on Xceedspeed for our run and talk is starting to pick up here. Its not necessary to post everyday so please don't feel the need to do so but if you want to, good
#12
01-22-2012, 03:40 PM
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Woodridge Illinois USA
Posts: 1,283
^^^ My buddy has a 98' SE that came with the MTX-75 which is pretty rare but he ended up installing a Taurus 3.0L in it and is still driving it today! The 2000 Contour SVT was my very first brand new car and the only reason I sold it because I "thought" I was getting the then new 05' Mustang GT, that never happened and the rest is history
#13
01-26-2012, 12:41 PM
Great video about the Dragon. You should post this in the first post, Roger. I'm heading down tomorrow for a birthday run
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16Y...e_gdata_player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16Y...e_gdata_player
Last edited by Hondafrk; 01-26-2012 at 12:55 PM.
#14
01-30-2012, 03:41 PM
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Woodridge Illinois USA
Posts: 1,283
Thanks for the clip Honda, I've got it in my sig on the CR-Z site and btw, for anyone that would visit "homebase" www.contour.org its down again and its hard to say if and when its coming back and it sucks because its been there for well over 10 YEARS, imagine that! If it stays like this our new "homebase" is going to be www.xceedspeed.com, just an FYI.
254 more days!
254 more days!
#15
02-04-2012, 02:59 AM
If someone can figure out how to create a map like this of who's going/participated would be great.
8thCivic.com Conquers the Dragon veterans - Google Maps
8thCivic.com Conquers the Dragon veterans - Google Maps
#16
02-07-2012, 05:59 PM
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Woodridge Illinois USA
Posts: 1,283
If someone can figure out how to create a map like this of who's going/participated would be great.
8thCivic.com Conquers the Dragon veterans - Google Maps
8thCivic.com Conquers the Dragon veterans - Google Maps
Our run has a variety of different cars too, so your not seeing/hanging out with the same thing all weekend long, I mean some may like that but I like variety myself and our run never disappoints there! This year we'll have a Factory 5 Daytona replica and a well modded, freshly built AE86, both of those guys are locals and founding members of this run, along with myself. FF showed up HUGE last year, so I expect more this year from this site, its why I'm still here even after moving away from the car and yes, I still miss it but I had to have a stick, so I got the CR-Z and hey, the mileage isn't too shabby eitherOur run covers people from about 5-6 states, so we wouldn't have too many of those little markers on our map, that's for sure but like I said, 15-25 cars is more than enough, especially when you factor in people wanting/needing to sleep in and those whom decide to do the night run, something I highly recommend!!!
TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX MORE DAYS!
#17
02-19-2012, 04:30 PM
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Woodridge Illinois USA
Posts: 1,283
Just wanted to give you guys a little update, xceedspeed has a couple good guys looking to go on our run with us, recent guy just sold his Stealth R/T for an M3 and he's a track guy to boot. There's also a couple other noobs looking to come in but as it always happens every year, when its closer to the actual day, a couple more people always seem to come out of the woodwork, especially this year, our 10th anniversary
Any updates or news from you guys out there?
Any updates or news from you guys out there?
#18
02-19-2012, 04:41 PM
Tagging thread for interest...
Just started a new job so if I do decide to go I won't be able to the entire event, just would be able to be there during that weekend. Will it you all posted.
Klasse Act; do you have anything in the works for the CRZ for this years run?
Just started a new job so if I do decide to go I won't be able to the entire event, just would be able to be there during that weekend. Will it you all posted.
Klasse Act; do you have anything in the works for the CRZ for this years run?
#19
02-23-2012, 06:15 PM
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Woodridge Illinois USA
Posts: 1,283
As far as the CR-Z goes, well, here's what is going to be done to the car:
-muffler-less stock exhaust
-K&N typhoon
-17" MB Weapons w/225-45's (Continental DWS)
-possibly 2nd cat delete too
I've got the muffler-less stock exhaust right now and it sounds great, not ricey and it snaps, crackles and pops too, I love it
The intake is sitting at Hectour's right now, just waiting for the weather to warm up to install it. The wheels are coming soon, just waiting on Uncle Sam there.I'm really glad to see/hear all the enthusiasm from this site, you guys made me proud last year
