It’s the off-season for autocross, most local tracks close up before this time of year, and one can only play so many video games before cabin fever sets in.  What are some activity-deprived enthusiasts to do?  Mercifully, the local topography supplies a very entertaining solution in the form of 300+ curves along the 11 miles of U.S. 129, otherwise known as “The Dragon”.  3-Zero, as well as some others popped up to this particular ribbon of asphalt spaghetti this past Saturday on a rumor that a magazine might have some interesting new cars up in the hills for a photo shoot.  Unfortunately, that part didn’t pan out, but we had a bit of fun anyway.  If you aren’t a motorcyclist, or don’t care about the ambient temperature, this time of year is great for mountain driving.  Thin traffic and good visibility through the trees makes for much safer motoring than in the busier summer season.

Setting pace at about 80% of maximum safe tempo,  we only encountered a handful of other cars whilst twisting and winding our way to the Tennessee-North Carolina border.  We were not significantly held up until about 9 miles in (try accomplishing that in mid July).  After cruising the last couple of miles in the wake of a large pickup truck, we parked up at the border for a quick chat and to make sure no one had shaken anything loose.  A little brake fade on a couple of the heaveri cars, but nothing a little cooling time wouldn't fix. Our stop at the crossroads also drew the attention of some young passers by in a kitted-out BMW 330 Ci, which, as we discovered, they knew absolutely nothing about.  I can’t regale you with the whole story since Ace did most of the talking, but the end result was that he had to get on the ground and point out the rear diff, indicating to the young fellows that, “No, I’m serious, it’s rear-wheel-drive…” For the record, the new Mini is the only car in the past two decades that BMW has build with front wheel drive.  Apparently “junior” had wrecked his Mercedes up at the dragon, so his parents had gotten him a BMW this time around.  We hesitantly allowed them to lead the way to the overlook and back.  You can see the return leg in the video below.  It’s not hard to see how he could throw a car away with the erratic braking and occasional lane crossing.  I might go so far as to speculate that the traction control systems on the 330 were the only things keeping him out of a tree. 

Once we divested ourselves of the extra baggage/rolling road hazard, we took some pictures, talked briefly with a snappily-dressed fellow in a Cooper S, and then took it to the house before the rain hit.  No “moments”, no incidents, no breakage; overall just a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. 

Hope everyone else is enjoying their off-seasons, and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year if we don’t see you until then!

-Wheelman