Tail of the Dragon day trip

[Nate4641]

It’s been forever since I was on the forum, partly because I haven’t been driving my roadster as much lately. This weekend my wife and I decided to finally do a day trip to the Tail of the Dragon. It’s about 4 and a half hours and 270 miles from our house in middle Georgia. We got on the road a little later than we wanted, and after a few leg stretching breaks we got there around 2:30. This was my 2nd trip and my wife’s first time there. She’s did Nurburgring with me a few years ago, and that was a bit much for her, so I wasn’t sure how she would take 300+ corners in 11 miles. I was only driving like 7/10, no tire screaming, staying in my lane, not going fast enough to be hard on the brakes, etc. I only got yelled at a few times in the first few miles, but the oncoming traffic is what scared her the most. About half way through I realized she wasn’t admiring the scenery and noticed she was just closing her eyes lol. Apparently not seeing what’s coming was better than knowing what turns were up ahead.

I even ran into another Z4 M roadster which got me super excited. I saw the car on my first pass out, and I stopped at the scenic lookout on my way back and got to talk to the owner (I’m sorry I forgot your name dude, I’m really bad about that). He had a gorgeous red Roadster with extended leather he bought a few months ago. There was also a white Z4 out too and tons of other great cars out there too.

The weather was perfect yesterday for the drive. Next year we decided to go earlier in October to see more color in the trees.

Even though traffic was a bit light, I still got stuck behind some SUVs that refused to pull over. It got frustrating, but gave me a great chance to pull over and take some pics while they moved on. I ordered some digital copies from Killboy and I’ll post them once I get the download link.

[cardonaz4m]

Sweet pictures man! & thanks for letting me know about ZPosts. I'm Steven and the owner of the red Z4M. Check out the Killboy pictures. They are up now! Also, US129 Photos has some sweet content of us as well. This was my first trip in the Z4M to the dragon and I was impressed of how wells the car handle in tight corners! I really got comfortable with the car and pushed the car hard while still being safe

[wdb]

Nice! Other than SUVs how was it? What day of the week were you there? Etcetera. I have a fresh set of tires and time to burn.

[Nate4641]

Originally Posted by wdb

Nice! Other than SUVs how was it? What day of the week were you there? Etcetera. I have a fresh set of tires and time to burn.

I went yesterday, Saturday the 14th. It was absolutely amazing! The weather was perfect, sunny and mid 60's.

There were a good number of cars out there, but not really a lot of slow drivers. Unfortunately the slow drivers just seem to get in the way which is frustrating. There are plenty of spots for them to pull over, but sadly I didn't notice any signs that told people to pull over for faster cars. My wife kept reminding me that not everyone who drives that road understands that there is an etiquette in place, and they may not have researched it either. Pulling over and waiting a few minutes definitely was the better option than waiting for them to pull over or trying to pass.

The last time I was there was almost exactly 5 years ago, but it was a Thursday so there was hardly any cars on the road at all. I looked ahead of time and didn't notice any events going on, so that might have helped with the road not being packed. I don't know what it's like when there is a big Miata meet, or multiple groups all having gatherings on the same day.

[Nate4641]

Got my photos from Killboy.com

[bwright657]

I've found that slower drivers, especially in crossovers are usually oblivious to the fact that they're holding up faster cars. I try not to be too obnoxious unless they're crossing the double yellow in corners, which happens far too often. If you're there in warm weather and get stuck behind Harleys, your run is pretty much shot. In both cases I find it's best to just stop at a pull-off and wait for a gap in traffic.

Killboy keeps a calendar of the different events. I've gone for Minis, Miatas and Tougefest weekends. They were all alot of fun, especially seeing all the different builds. I haven't noticed much difference in how slow traffic behaves. Karens in crossovers seem to be oblivious whether there's one Z4 or 20 miatas behind them.

[Huz-Z]

Any of those last series of pics will slay the calendar competition !

[Nate4641]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

Any of those last series of pics will slay the calendar competition !

I submitted a couple of them I think