Last mountain drive before winter

[KPop]

I went on a fun backroad drive with my friend Brad and his 1965 Corvette Sting Ray. We're not able to do this very often with our busy work schedules, but when we do it's always a blast. This drive wasn't without some adventure and heartbreak as his Vette had engine trouble 2/3 into the drive, so we had to abort a bit early. Thankfully everyone made it back to home base unscathed.

[inTgr8r]

Looks like a great drive!

[KPop]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Looks like a great drive!

Yeah, we had a lot of fun! I'm about an hour away from the Shenandoah mountains and the back roads around there are incredible. Only downsides to the fall foliage are the wildlife. The deer are especially hard to spot with their fall coats and love to run across the road right as you're dropping down a gear. But I acknowledge that I'm driving through their habitat, so we try to be cautious and respectful.

[chickdr]

The Vette sounds great with the V8, but the S54 is no slouch on it own. Just a different kind of sound.

[KPop]

Originally Posted by chickdr

The Vette sounds great with the V8, but the S54 is no slouch on it own. Just a different kind of sound.

I'm sure if I had the CSL-style intake and cat-less headers with straight pipes, it would be a more fair comparison to Brad's vette for sound theatrics There's still something to be said about cracking 100 hp/liter without forced induction.

[garz747]

Real dull video. Turn the camera to show us the road and set the mic in the engine compartment! Staring at u is not that exciting . Check out GTA cruise -spring and fall for proper video with the z4ms

[KPop]

Originally Posted by garz747

Real dull video. Turn the camera to show us the road and set the mic in the engine compartment! Staring at u is not that exciting . Check out GTA cruise -spring and fall for proper video with the z4ms

I only have one GoPro at the moment, but would like to do something that captures the engine sound better. I had a bunch of front-facing footage, but made the rookie mistake of not using an external mic, so the sound was terrible. I'll need to upgrade my camera gear, but no budget for that right now.

[z4chick]

love it!

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by z4chick

love it!

I agree. Besides. Got to outnumber the needlessly critical folks here!

[KPop]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

I agree. Besides. Got to outnumber the needlessly critical folks here!

Thanks! A little criticism is healthy too, so long as it's constructive.

At the end of the day, we're all here to have fun, help each other out and share our passion for the Z4 and other cool cars we've owned. At least that's my reason for contributing to this forum

[Efthreeoh]

I know exactly where you were on that drive. I moved out here 20 years ago because the roads are that fantastic. Your video (at the end) does not do justice to how fun that section of that road is (522 to the power lines). If you have driven it East to West it's probably one of the best drives in Virginia. I used to drive that road every day for years and now just take it occasionally when I need a good adrenaline boost after a long day. I've probably driven that road about 1,000 times by now in the last 9 years. I call it "The 'Ring That Goes Somewhere" because it is a 17-mile race track that just doesn't loop back around on itself. It's 17 miles from 66 to the town it stops at. My best time is 19 minutes.

About the place you started talking about deer, I almost hit a black bear one morning (the 90 degree right-hand bend just after crossing the little bridge). The bear came out of the creek, went booking across the road left to right, ran up the embankment and flipped head over heels when he tripped over a log. It was pretty funny. One cold day I hit black ice right on that bend too... not so funny.

[KPop]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I know exactly where you were on that drive. I moved out here 20 years ago because the roads are that fantastic. Your video (at the end) does not do justice to how fun that section of that road is (522 to the power lines). If you have driven it East to West it's probably one of the best drives in Virginia. I used to drive that road every day for years and now just take it occasionally when I need a good adrenaline boost after a long day. I've probably driven that road about 1,000 times by now in the last 9 years. I call it "The 'Ring That Goes Somewhere" because it is a 17-mile race track that just doesn't loop back around on itself. It's 17 miles from 66 to the town it stops at. My best time is 19 minutes.

About the place you started talking about deer, I almost hit a black bear one morning (the 90 degree right-hand bend just after crossing the little bridge). The bear came out of the creek, went booking across the road left to right, ran up the embankment and flipped head over heels when he tripped over a log. It was pretty funny. One cold day I hit black ice right on that bend too... not so funny.

Ha, I keep trying to convince my friends in LA to move back to the DC metro area, at least for the driving roads. I consider them our consolation prize for not having daily beach-access and summer weather all year round, but one that I'll gladly take

We did this drive a few times this year and some kind of small or large woodland creature always runs out directly in front of our cars. It's actually kind of a buzzkill, since we're now always looking for deer and bear so it's harder to enjoy the drive. For others looking to hit up these roads, please be safe.

Oh, and 211 is like a roller coaster!

[kaybat]

cool drive.night jacket,man.