Hey everybody I thought I'd share some pics and videos from a small meeting I put together this past weekend with a few of my buds from Club S12. We met up at The Tail of the Dragon, which is an infamous stretch of U.S. Route 129 which crosses the North Carolina/Tennessee state line just south of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This stretch of road features 318 curves in 11 miles, and is very popular with sports car and motorcycle enthusiasts all over the eastern U.S. The text and images below are taken from my post on Club S12:
Well I pulled back into Raleigh this afternoon after a fantastic weekend in the mountains. We had a lot of cancellations, and ended up with five people in attendance, four of them Club S12 members: Johnnyfive, one_equals_two, MrBob, and myself. Between us we had three S12's and one Contour SVT. Since they were coming from relatively nearby in Tennessee, one_equals_two and MrBob didn't camp out, they just came out Saturday to the Tail of the Dragon and then hung out at the campsite in Waynesville, NC for a bit that night.
Of course the highlight of the weekend was pushing our cars to the limit on the Tail of the Dragon on Saturday afternoon, which if you haven't been paying attention is an 11-mile stretch of U.S. 129 that crosses over the NC/TN line and boasts 318 curves. There was a bit of traffic, mostly motorcycles, whose riders come from all over the country to ride this road. We spent some frustrating time stuck behind slowpokes who had no business on that road (Death to the Lumina!!!!), but when we harassed them enough to get out of the way we were able to open up. The sound of revving engines and squealing tires echoing off the mountains was very Initial D-like.
And now what you've all been waiting for, PICS!
Here's my SE and Johnnyfive's '86 turbo at our campsite on Saturday morning:
After we got up late Saturday morning, (after proving that a six-foot individual like myself can indeed sleep quite comfortably in the back of an S12 hatch with the back seats down.) Johnnyfive and I headed out for the Dragon, but not before taking a slight detour to drive the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway:
Our first minor mishap of the day occurred when Johnnyfive's '86 CA18ET sputtered out just as we were pulling of the Parkway onto a scenic overlook. Turned out the repeatedly shifting weight and g forces had shifted his custom battery slightly and loosened one of the posts.
There were scattered showers in the morning, and quite a bit of fog rolling over the mountaintops in the higher elevations along the Parkway:
There wasn't too much traffic on the Blue Ridge, which was great, but we did get caught behind a fool on a bicycle, fortunately it was on a downhill so the bike was pushing 35 mph but we still would have liked to go faster:
After leaving the Blue Ridge Parkway, Johnny and I made our way to the southern end of U.S. 129, and began climbing up toward the Tail of the Dragon.
When we were stopped at a Wendy's for lunch we got the call from one_equals_two and MrBob, they were at the north end of 129 coming south, so we decided we would meet up somewhere in the middle, a little while later as we came around a bend on the Dragon, a a black S12 and a Contour SVT fly by going the other way, and pulled off at the next opportunity. One_equals_two and MrBob turned around and came back to meet us as a little spot of wide shoulder.
Then we all headed up toward the north end of the Dragon.
At the north end we pulled off to take a break and snap some pics.
Heading back south on the Dragon, we had a couple of stops to re-attach intercooler pipes on turbos running almost constant high boost. (Funny I didn't have this problem 8-) ) But seriously guys, just listening to your turbos on those curves was worth it. Plus one_equals_two had finished re-assembling and tuning his motor after the T3 install the previous day, so some quirkiness is to be expected.
I apologize that we don't have more pics from on the Dragon, but this road takes all your concentration. The videos below were either taken by passengers or when we were stuck behind slowpokes.
Back at the southern end, johnnyfive put a dragon in his tank:
After taming the Dragon, we all drove back to Waynesville and the campsite to share some grilled hot dogs and shoot the s**t until those guys had to head back to Tennessee.
And here we are, from left to right, MrBob, myself, one_equals_two, and johnnyfive.
And I have to include shots of the engine bays of the S12's in attendance.
Here's one_equals_two's '86 CA18ET with newly-installed intercooled T3:
Johnnyfive's '86 CA18ET with Volvo intercooler:
And my '88 VG30E:
And now the videos: (right-click Save As.....)
Video 1 (Approx. 4.5 MB):
Taken by me from the passenger seat of one_equals_two's Turbo on a brief run on the dragon near the northern end to show off his new turbo:
http://www.v6-s12.com/Linked_Images/...two_run_01.avi
Video 2 (Approx. 12 MB):
Taken by Johnnyfive from the back seat of one_equals_two's car:
http://www.v6-s12.com/Linked_Images/...two_run_02.avi
Video 3 (Approx. 10 MB):
Taken by me, running at the back of the pack while we were stuck behind the infamous red Chevy Lumina that became the bane of our existence, but the temporary slowdown is the only reason I was able to take one hand off the wheel and shifter to shoot some video:
http://www.v6-s12.com/Linked_Images/..._Dragon_02.avi
Video 4 (Approx. 4.5 MB):
Taken by me, STILL stuck behind the Lumina of Doom, as we pass a gathering of bikers and a lake far below. I apologize for the defect in this video, my camera went nuts when trying to adjust to changing light conditions while recording AVI.
http://www.v6-s12.com/Linked_Images/..._Dragon_01.avi
So as you can see, a great time was had by all. We hope to do it again. I will be posting larger versions of these pics and some other on my website this week, so watch for the update.
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Nice modifications on all of the three cars, by the way... and you can pass that on to your buddies 
