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For my friends in the '97 900 Talladega and the '88 Silver SPG:
Well well well. I must say, the day was very interesting and exciting.
By the way, what did you get, Scott? Had to ask, the Bimmerphile that I am... :)
What made the run so fun was that all the cars were essentially equal, with minor strengths here and there, depending on the application. I had the low end, Mike definitely had mid-range, and Jim's was pretty strong all around, especially right around 3,000RPM - really strong punch there. However, he really needs to dump the Nitto's, almost slammed Mike into me :)
I must say, that when Mike passed me at 130MPH or so, I was quite impressed with how fast he was gaining. I spotted him in the rearview and realized how quickly he was coming up, so I of course tried to match. Not sure if I could've done it, but a Suburban going 55MPH ended that test :)
You could certainly tell that no one was sand-bagging, as there really wasn't any room to. This was quickly evident on our way back to Cooter's from the other side of the mountain. Jim leading, was squealing the whole way back, up the mountain, down the mountain. Everytime I saw him hit paint I thought, "Aw shit, this is where we look for Jim in the valley." Then, very absorbed in our driving, I suddenly hear honking. I glance in the rearview only to notice that I can't see anything but Mike Heyse! No raod, no surrounding foliage, just Mike, his windshield, and the upper inch of his front grille. It was clear after we pulled over, when we were overpowered by the stank scent of burning brake compound, the smoking "guns" on the rear of the '88 SPG were evidence enough of the scorching of the rear rotors. Well, the same thing happened to me...I just had the benefit of distance thanks to a stop sign. On the backroads I coasted into a main road and almost got T-boned by a hog truck!
We really only did one run up and down the mountain, but I must concur with Mike and Jim, the backroads were truly exhilirating! Scary too, especially when you turn a blind curve at 75MPH to pass opposing traffic (dually trucks!) on roads that barely fit two cars side-by-side. There were wonderful high-speed S-turns on near-perfect pavement at one point - that's what sticks out in my mind. I'm not talking like what you expect when you see those 30MPH warning signs, I'm talkin' about a good 6 to 8 turns linked together that one could take at 75MPH or so. You could see far ahead to monitor the lines to take, actually use heel and toe, push the limits of pneumatic trail and then some...beautiful. The undulations were very Judge Roy Scream, if you know what I mean. Like a roller-coaster ride that lasted the better part of an hour. You don't get that very often, and probably shouldn't...
We all made it back in one piece that day, hearts pounding, cottonmouth, and everyone had to pee really badly too, but it doesn't really hit you at 100+ MPH on unmarked narrow back-country roads :) Better than last year, where the "casualties" were many. Also, less than half the attendance, which probably made things easier on all of us. You tend to get less of a chain reaction from wild braking maneuvers when there are only 3 of us.
After a couple beers, Jim and I decide to go driving - just kidding, we did wait a while and catch up on each others' lives, but we both had some mods done since last year. I had the pleasure of getting behind the wheel of the Talladega to experience the the new software upgrade. Very nice punch at around 3000RPM, where you can watch the A-pillar mounted boost guage promptly jump to about 17lbs of boost! A much improved kick in the pants from last year. You go Jimbo!
Well, this is where I have to put in my moment of gloat... :)
My favorite part of the day was on the return to Cooter's when Mike and I were gunning full-bore up the first stretch of the mountain. Jim had gone up well ahead of us. I just remembered Mike saying how he really wanted a piece of the M3. Anyway, Mike went second and I went after him, and much to my surprise, was able to pass him, barely. Just had to mention that, couldn't resist, sorry Mike... I really wasn't faster, as we didn't get to go much above 100MPH, where we probably would've traded places - I think he was gaining before the first turn. Props to my man Mike!
Awesome runs - awesome cars - hope we can do it again soon, with some additional drivers for added fun.
Leo :)
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