Tail of the Dragon
 

So, got a call from a friend of mine the other day saying they were going to make a "quick" run up to the Tail of the Dragon from Atlanta on Sunday. Wow, what a blast!

Quite frankly, I had heard so much about the drive, that I never thought it would be worth it. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Traffic was light to non existent on the way up, weather was beautiful and cops were present :nono:

I'm interested to know how many other 996er's have made the run? Recommendations on other roads while there. Thinking of taking the wife up next time and making a long weekend of it.

Oh yeah, here's a couple of pics from "killboy" (no affiliation)
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/Thum...4&g=04RK015705

I have in my BMW. It is a very nice ride indeed.

Few cars, lots of bikes. Did not see any cops but I was very careful. There are tons of resources on the web with speed trap locations, etc. Escort is your friend anyway.

FM

I have done it on my Harley several times, never in the Porsche. Try the Blue Ridge Parkway if you want a beautiful drive for a day or two.

I did it in an Austin-Healey in the late 60's...ran out of power, but really enjoyed the many switchbacks and corners that can't be found anywhere else.

i did the the Tail back in OCT... i drove down from Toronto to ATL for a friends wedding... i was there on a Thursday... Traffic was very light, and Zero Cops... i took US 129 all the way from Nashville to ATL... it gets even better a hour later near ATL :burnout:

I've done the TOD twice with my Boxster. Good fun. There are better roads, though. I call this one the Twisted Pickle:

Yep, there are many, many nice roads in northern GA and surrounding areas. I just spent the weekend in the Helen GA area. Not in the P car unfortunatley, but the Dodge Avenger stood up as well as can be expected with she who must be obeyed in the passenger seat and the brakes all heated up and odiferous.

Try the Cherahola Skyway sometimes too...Went there about three months ago and had a great time on the road.

One of the photos in my signature is from a drive on the Dragon last year. Fun roads out there no matter where you go.

Never been there in the cab but on a bike a few times.

Try also 421. Is not as long but a blast to drive and not too far away from TOTD.

About 10 years ago my wife and I spent a long weekend exploring all of the roads in that area in her old '97 BMW Z3 1.9. We've been thinking about doing it again in the Carrera.

A friend is driving through it today on a motorcycle.

And if you enjoy this sort of thing, please go to a race track. It'll be safer, you'll learn more, and have a better time.

Couldn't agree more on your comment. At no time on a public road do I feel comfortable taking a PCar to its limits - just too many external factors for which you don't have control.

On the track, its very different - brake, downshift, enter turn, accelerate, apex, exit, accelerate, repeat :)

Having said that, its still a blast in a somewhat controlled environment to go out and have a little fun on the open road! It just makes the ownership experience that much more enjoyable.

The Tail of the Dragon is like the longest autocross you will ever do. LOL!
I also recommend looking at roads just east of Asheville, NC. US 64 heading east through Bat Cave to Lake Lure. You will not be disappointed. Neither will your wife. Stop in Bat Cave to do some shopping (her) right there on the main road. Also you will be at the home of Chimney Rock which was for several decades the host to an SCCA National Hillclimb event. Drive it. And tour the peaks at the top. The movie Last of the Mohicans was filmed there.
While there, drive Black Mountain Road (Rt 9) north to the border.

Ahmet, did I get those route numbers correct?

We ran it a few times when I got my 993

I ran it once last spring. It's a great drive but the 996 has far, far too much power for that kind of road. Unless you're being reckless (I wasn't, not only would I not push it 9/10 on that road due to safety, it was also raining) you'll never pick up any real speed--more like an autocross than anything else.

It was fun though, just felt robbed seeing as I never got out of 2nd gear in there, definitely better roads for the 996 in that area.