Tail of the Dragon 2010....official announcement!!!

[Harepower]

How come I get no pics of my .:R like that? Did I make the photographers mad or was I driving too easily

And as Mooney just said of course this is not a race, the Dragon is not a track, and we cannot / will not condone such behavior. Fun will be had, but we have to be safe for the masses. These lessons have been learned from a select few in the past events

[rajuncajun37]

Moar pics from the spring run.

Quote, originally posted by michaelmark5 »

[Gotsol]

I'm glad you guys are with me on the safe driving.

Don't me wrong, I still get those tires howling but never to I push it too far or wreak less.

[Basil Fawlty]

Florida TOD Caravan Thread

[M00NEY]

[DoQ Danny]

[PSU]

Quote, originally posted by Gotsol »

I'm glad you guys are with me on the safe driving. Don't me wrong, I still get those tires howling but never to I push it too far or wreak less.

I'm with you bro.

I pay way too much a month for my car to even try anything stupid.

I have a good head on my shoulders but I also still know how to have fun.

I'm not down with all those people who cross the double yellow through turns trying to prove something.

I am a sport bike rider as well so I am all about technicality. Staying in my lines is my main concern.

[breane24]

Quote, originally posted by PSU »

I pay way too much a month for my car to even try anything stupid. X2! My insurance went up about $30 a month for the R. Verse driving a 06 GLI. I have a good head on my shoulders but I also still know how to have fun. Obviously, if your into PSU! That's a great NE school. I'm not down with all those people who cross the double yellow through turns trying to prove something.

[Sodi Pop]

i really want to go but im going to be in TN for Bonnaroo in June so it really doesnt make sense to drive down from NJ twice in such a short period of time

[M00NEY]

driving your ass off on the Dragon with a ton of other R's and other bad ass cars > Bonnaroo

[Projekt R32]

screw bonnaroo TOD will be much more exhilarating than that mtv sponsored hippie fest

[DoQ Danny]

Quote, originally posted by M00NEY »

driving your ass off on the Dragon with a ton of other R's and other bad ass cars > Bonnaroo

Quote, originally posted by slimmy420 »

screw bonnaroo TOD will be much more exhilarating than that mtv sponsored hippie fest

agreed

[Projekt R32]

is there a thread, or a group of guys planning on leaving from the New England area? In southern NH here.

[DoQ Danny]

Quote, originally posted by slimmy420 »

is there a thread, or a group of guys planning on leaving from the New England area? In southern NH here.

i know PSU is organizing a meet up location in PA i think.. me and a few guys will be leaving from NYC, so we're def on your way

[r32dub88]

Quote, originally posted by slimmy420 »

is there a thread, or a group of guys planning on leaving from the New England area? In southern NH here.

where in NH are you?

[Projekt R32]

Merrimack Nh, def not trying to drive all the way down alone.

[VDubindaVR6haus]

Quote, originally posted by DoQ Danny »

EuroMedian can't wait!

A BIG shout out goes out to Danny and TJ! Very nice people and they do amazing work... Nobody will be disappointed in the quality of the video .
Soooo excited for you guys

[DoQ Danny]

awww, thank u~

[M00NEY]

Quote, originally posted by slimmy420 »

is there a thread, or a group of guys planning on leaving from the New England area? In southern NH here.

just a few pages back

[Projekt R32]

thanks!

[ErykTheRead]

Finally got around to uploading my in-car video from this summer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyfCw21zi_M

-E

[abeR]

Quote, originally posted by Gotsol »

Didn't you crash the GTI the next day? Frankly your buddy was driving too crazy for me. I've got a career, wife and house to worry about. the Dragon isn't a race track.

indeed. he was driving like an autobot on goofballs.

[aaonms]

for you cool-weather ToD veterans…
Today’s cool weather (37° this AM) here in sunny Florida got me thinking…
I used to run summer-only tires (140-160 treadwear) year-round.
When I finally hung-up my autocross helmet (again), decided to go with a bit longer-lived tire: Bridgestone RE960.
I have been very impressed with their level of performance.
As they currently have less than 6k miles on them, these will still have plenty of life in them come ToD time.
I have the OEM size, but they look narrow when compared to other like-sized offerings in summer-only tires.
Since it will most likely be cool when we are at the ToD, wondering from the veterans how the Bridgestone RE960 tires might fare for the ToD.
Also, for those who have run the more aggressive summer-only tires: How do they work when it is cold?

[M00NEY]

On the Dragon:

I have run the OEM F1's with great results.

I have run new F1 A/S's with great results.

I have run Nitto Invos with great results.

This year I will be repeating on the Invos.

What I have found is that the summers will be great, even in the cold - ONCE THEY WARM UP!!! Year 1 I had a sincere pucker moment when the first turn of a morning run (read like 40 or so degrees) was a little too quick for the not warmed up tires and ESP did some amazing magic (yep, I had ESP on for the first run of the day...) to get all 4 wheels back on pavement... That was the only issue I had, but my ass almost ripped a hole in my seat.

The year that that happened we were staying at Topaco, which is just down the hill from the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort, so we were a lot closer to the Dragon proper with less warm-up time. Once warmed up, everything was stellar all over again, but you need to be aware that they need that time.

Where we are now, at Fontana Village, we are a few more miles from Dragon proper, but 28 is still PLENTY of fun, so you need to be mindful of that area as well.

IMO - for the Dragon summers are the most fun, but you have to baby them for the first few minutes...

[Hotdog453]

How hard do you plan to be pushing it? Honestly, any higher quality OEM tire will be fine for most driving, especially once you learn their limits and respect that.

Judge how hard you WANT to drive, then dress accordingly. Also know how your car and tires respond to wet; for example, the NT01s? Yeah, not so much in the wet.

How restrictive is the R32s ESP/stability control? Is it annoyingly so, or fairly flexible? I've gotten used to running the Evo X in fully stabilized mode, and don't find it to be a hindrance.

[abeR]

Id think most will have ESP off.

[Harepower]

The .:R's intervention threshold is pretty decent at speed, but can be quite intrusive in 1st and 2nd gear. As long as you are not trying for 8/10's it is pretty safe and unintrusive. Go for 10/10th's and you'll need ESP off to keep from having the power cut out too much to maintain pace.

Some people find the car faster bouncing off of the ESP program. I prefer to slide the rear a little and make the .:R rotate much better.

[aaonms]

M00NEY:
Understood; thanks.
Trying to justify/rationalize the purchase of new 17x8 wheels and tires or simply wasting the funds on new shocks and a unibrace

[AndyTR32]

I had a bunch of fun with ESP on the entire time. All-season tires were howlings but ESP never engaged.

[r32dub88]

x2

esp on and all seasons screaming made for an enjoyable experience and safe execution through the gap.

had a couple of close calls with esp off so i decided to leave it on.

[g60_corrado_91]

Quote, originally posted by Gotsol »

Didn't you crash the GTI the next day? Frankly your buddy was driving too crazy for me. I've got a career, wife and house to worry about. the Dragon isn't a race track.

Yes. I agree with you. I will be taking it slower this year.

Quote, originally posted by DoQ Danny »

i'm digging your vibe, lets be safe.

X2.

Quote, originally posted by M00NEY »

What I have found is that the summers will be great, even in the cold - ONCE THEY WARM UP!!! Year 1 I had a sincere pucker moment when the first turn of a morning run (read like 40 or so degrees) was a little too quick for the not warmed up tires and ESP did some amazing magic (yep, I had ESP on for the first run of the day...) to get all 4 wheels back on pavement... That was the only issue I had, but my ass almost ripped a hole in my seat. The year that that happened we were staying at Topaco, which is just down the hill from the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort, so we were a lot closer to the Dragon proper with less warm-up time. Once warmed up, everything was stellar all over again, but you need to be aware that they need that time. Where we are now, at Fontana Village, we are a few more miles from Dragon proper, but 28 is still PLENTY of fun, so you need to be mindful of that area as well. IMO - for the Dragon summers are the most fun, but you have to baby them for the first few minutes...

I agree 110% on this statement. I was running Hankook RS-2 tires, which are great when they are warm/hot. When we got in Friday night, I was driving much quicker than when I had the incident on Saturday afternoon after the cruise (I didn't take my GTI on the cruise because I was having fuel cut issues after Friday's runs). Basically when we got back from the cruise, I decided to take my car out to see if everything was running okay. It was, no fuel cuts this time, and I was literally getting ready to turn around when I saw a TR Mk4 behind me. I decided it'd be fun to play around a little bit.

Mind you, I've only been running my car for 10 minutes at the max and the tires weren't anywhere near warmed up. Let's just say that initial understeer with ESP off, me trying to overcome the understeer, resulting with the majority of the damage to the rear fender, is the outcome of driving too fast on cold tires.

Take it from me guys, be safe on the dragon. It can happen to the best of us and AWD isn't going to necessarily save you.

You'll still have a blast driving 7/10 or 8/10 without risking a crash or even encountering tickets.

Back to the tire subject, I'm hoping I can run the RS-2's again this year. I have 235/40/17's now instead of 225/45/17's. But we'll see since it's earlier this year and I'm coming from IL.


Modified by g60_corrado_91 at 10:14 AM 12-21-2009

[Aureus1]

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4694187

Unofficial New England TOD 2010 Caravan Thread!

[Harepower]

Quote, originally posted by g60_corrado_91 »

I was literally getting ready to turn around when I saw a TR Mk4 behind me. I decided it'd be fun to play around a little bit.

Who was that TR R32 you speak of?
This was an accident off the Dragon. The road from Fontana to Deals gap is too fast

[SudZero]

how do you guys think a completely stock mkv rabbit would do on the tail of the dragon?

[abeR]

just fine.

you have to realize it is just a road.. and lots of normal people are driving on it. its not a video game.. well almost.

come along!