Rocky Mountain High - high altitude cruising with some CO enthusiasts

[AdamSheikh]

1:41 makes me happy.

Makes me the opposite of happy. Cool cars and cool video, but tell your R8 buddy keep it between the mayo and the mustard dude. Horrible lane discipline on a public road, full stop.

Just got back from Tail of the Dragon a few weeks ago and had some unnecessarily close calls with idiots blatantly crossing the double yellow. Even if you have a clear view of the oncoming lane, dial it back and stay in your lane.

/rant.

 

[Superfreak]

Makes me the opposite of happy. Cool cars and cool video, but tell your R8 buddy keep it between the mayo and the mustard dude. Horrible lane discipline on a public road, full stop.

Just got back from Tail of the Dragon a few weeks ago and had some unnecessarily close calls with idiots blatantly crossing the double yellow. Even if you have a clear view of the oncoming lane, dial it back and stay in your lane.

/rant.

Sorry you were bothered by that but I understand the concern. For my part, I generally try to only pass in passing zones and stay within the lane, but yeah others use the whole road sometimes. I’ve spent a lot of time on bikes riding canyons/ mtn roads, and one thing that always raised the hair on the back of my neck was cagers that crossed the double yellow. I’m not very close with many of the drivers but I’ll be sure to mention etiquette and safety to the group. I’ve had some conversations with some of the drivers, but not this particular driver (haven’t driven with him since last year). I live on a fun mtn road myself, so I think about safety and etiquette all the time. I do what I can to have fun, be safe and considerate. It can be a difficult challenge but I do my best to drive with respect and courtesy, and situational awareness.

Thanks for the concern, much obliged. Please consider posting some sweet videos of your own. I’d love to see the legendary Tail of the Dragon from your perspective.

 

[AdamSheikh]

Thanks for the concern, much obliged. Please consider posting some sweet videos of your own. I’d love to see the legendary Tail of the Dragon From your perspective.

I totally get it and appreciate that you understand what I'm getting at. Roads are only as safe as the least safe driver on them, so it's worth calling things out imo. And of course, its easy to get caught in the moment or take some additional liberties when its an otherwise empty road, etc. We've all been there for sure.

Wish I had some good footage of our runs! I've only got some photos from the various photographers along the Dragon. We were there for Wookies in the Woods - had an absolute blast. I posted a few of my favorites here: https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/show-us-your-mk7.316717/page-311#post-7953668

 

[Superfreak]

I totally get it and appreciate that you understand what I'm getting at. Roads are only as safe as the least safe driver on them, so it's worth calling things out imo. And of course, its easy to get caught in the moment or take some additional liberties when its an otherwise empty road, etc. We've all been there for sure.

Wish I had some good footage of our runs! I've only got some photos from the various photographers along the Dragon. We were there for Wookies in the Woods - had an absolute blast. I posted a few of my favorites here: https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/show-us-your-mk7.316717/page-311#post-7953668

Yep no worries. There’s a lot of context that I could provide to help someone that wasn’t there to understand what’s what, but it really doesn’t matter in the big picture. No safety incidents in any group drives that I’ve attended, though I did hear of a Veloster that went off the road a year or 2 ago (no injuries). The Rocky Mountains are no joke and we all have to keep in mind that we drivers and our cars do have limits, and there are others to consider even when you’re living out teenage fantasies.

I did see those pics and glad you got up north for some turns. I’ve lived in FL and the roads are among the most uneventful in the nation. I’m glad that there’s some tracks out there to get a little rowdy. Lauderdale traffic can be really crazy to drive in as well, so yeah try to keep it safe out there too!

 

[Superfreak]

Man I love life sometimes. I wanted to get a fun drive in and also get some exercise, so I texted one of my car buddies. It worked out that we met at this amazing and challenging place called the Incline, @ Manitou Springs. He took the stupid route (freeway from SW Denver), and I took the back way (~12 mins longer with a ton a fun turns). We did the Incline and we drove back the respective ways that we came. So…he missed out on something awesome:

Driving back, getting to the fun parts, I was navigating traffic (building up a huge, traffic free session into some amazing turns), and I come up on something special; an R34!?! I’m like, “Whoa, wtf is this doing here on the side of the road?” I stopped quick, asked if he was good and he told me that he was just giving traffic some time to get ahead. I was like, FUCKING PERFECT! I found my people!!! He agreed to driving back with me and holy shit what an amazing driving experience. We started with some super tight and fun turns for a bit and then the road turns to double lane and we blasted off for some side-by-side high speed sweepers. Magical. That was the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to Fast and Furious, lol. Just an amazing fun experience.

Anyway we stopped at an overlook and chatted for a while so I got some pics. It turns out that it’s a GT-T, with about 400rwhp. My R is faster but didn’t seem like that much in the straights. He wasn’t able to keep up in the turns due to tires, mostly, but I hope to drive with him again after he gets some new rubber. I’m kicking myself for not bringing my insta360 but he had a GoPro so maybe he’ll upload some content.

I hope you guys are having some kind of car fun this weekend.

 

[swcrow]

I friggin miss living there.....up there near Manitou Springs is fuuuuuuun, plus killer restaurants down in that town.

 

[Superfreak]

I friggin miss living there.....up there near Manitou Springs is fuuuuuuun, plus killer restaurants down in that town.

It’s a good place to be, esp if you can avoid tourist traffic . I couldn’t walk correctly for about 4 days after The Incline though, lol

 

[Superfreak]

I never thought I’d say the following: I got held up by a 997 GT3RS today. The following were factors, I’m sure: Both of the GT3s that I caught were obviously not familiar with their cars’ limits. They probably didn’t trust the somewhat moist, 40-45° roads, and didn’t want to risk going into a braking zone/ corner too hot. The GT3RS seemed to be getting out the corners early enough but the normally aspirated engine loses significant power at elevation. I didn’t know any of the 911 drivers.

I was parked and waiting for some friends at the start of a mountain pass road, and had to watch a group of 911s, including several GT3s, pass me on the way to a few miles super sweet high altitude tarmac. The roads were moist and that meant no motorcycles and very few cyclists. It was early so that means less tourist traffic. The RX7s that I was driving with didn’t have any driver aids so kudos to at least one of them for getting through without incident. It was a fun little mountain run and hoping to get out to some other places with fun cars, soon enough.

The way up was fun but I wished that the GT3s would have yielded. Still, always fun to drive with a 911.

On the way up

On the way down

I hope that some of you are able to get out and have some fun drives this weekend.

 

[Superfreak]

I was finally got to drive with an M2 comp and a GTT this weekend. No traffic, no cops, it was glorious. It was both of the other drivers’ first time on this road so I led. On the way up, the gtt couldn’t keep up due to tires, mostly. The turbo spools at 4k so tight turn sections were a challenge. The owner has a ton of parts to install that should help but yeah, tires were probably the biggest factor. We switched it up and the m2 followed me down. I’ll say that I was a little surprised that I couldn’t put any distance between us. The reason I was surprised is that he’s stock. Stock alignment, suspension, Michelin Pilot Super Sports (iirc), stock brake fluid and pads, and a manual. Granted, we were going downhill, but I was pushing moderately hard and he stuck like glue. The gtt needs better brakes as well as tires so he fell back a bit on the way down. My takeaway from the drive is that the m2 is very capable, even with a manual and in stock form.

 

[Superfreak]

Happy Father’s Day! I got out again with the m2c up to about 11.6k’, and yet again I’m really impressed. I wasn’t aware that the Comp was so much different than the regular m2, but now I understand a bit more and it makes sense that it’s a really amazing performer. This car is now near the top of my list of cars to consider owning in the near future.

 

[Superfreak]

Well I finally got as high as I could, on the highest paved road in North America (14,130’). The last 5 miles were brutal with the road being so bad that we could only get to 10-20 mph, but it was cool to finally get to the summit and see these awesome goats.

Always fun to drive with a diverse group of vehicles. The G82 m4 was there and I had a great time chasing him up the mountain. I can’t believe how little lag the g82 has; it gets out of the corners amazingly well with no discernible lag. I was able to get a fun session in with the CTR chasing me down the mountain, but that car had nothing for the Golf. I do think it was driver and/ or car set up, but I can’t say for sure. It just didn’t have the pace. Fun drive for sure but I think I’ll skip the summit next time.

 

[Superfreak]

Easy mtn pass cruise with some drivers. Weeknight drives with no traffic are the best. I learned that I‘m faster than a 997.2 C4S (from a roll) and slower than a stage 2 m240 (also from a roll), and that the new lightning is slower than a c8 from a 40 roll, even at altitude. Fun drive for everyone, except the owner of a 997 C2 (engine blew).

 

[Superfreak]

On my way to meet some friends to drive this morning, a car pulled out into the road ahead. It was something that I’d never seen on the road and I almost couldn’t believe my luck.

Just driving behind a Countach, the hair on the back of my neck raised and I was in awe of this childhood legend. I really wasn’t prepared for that car to evoke that strong of a feeling. I was hoping that they were going to where I was, but then they turned off on a somewhat fun drive back to my neighborhood.

I met up with my friends a few miles down the road and the driver of the RX7 noticed his coolant temp was pretty high, so he bailed, leaving just the R and a Boxster GTS.

New meat inspires lots of confidence and we had a great drive. His n/a flat-6 did really well to keep up at altitude, and it was amazing fun to chase him on the down.

I had been thinking a lot about the Cayman/ Boxster GTS performance recently and was surprised and happy to drive with one today. It did better than I’d expected as it cornered really well but was also much faster than I’d thought it would be on the straights. Long gears (this one’s a manual) and sounded really good (stock). Fun drive but tourist season is in full effect, so we’ll have to make a better effort to get out at first light. I hope that you’re having some driving fun as well!

 

[Superfreak]

Decent turnout to drive the same amazing roads. There were some interesting cars for sure, like the GLA45, an IS500, and some other fast/ fun cars. That IS500 sounded so nice! Pretty cool that the c8, mk7r, and m2c seem to be very close in performance. I’d be willing to bet that the CTR and the GLA could be very close to the same pace if they hadn’t been further back in the pack. Such a diverse group of cars, I love these group drives.

I think the GLA45 is probably the least expensive, best step up from the Golf R, in terms of a performance Hot Hatch. I’m going to see if I can get a drive in with this guy sometime.

Fun times with fun drivers and capable cars. I hope that you’re getting out and having fun as well!

 

[Superfreak]

Fun day.