'09 MS3 on the Dragon

[BillTheCat]

I wrote up a long post about my Dragon experience in my MS3 (The Grey Ghost) in the Lounge forum. Figured I'd post the video over here as well.

I am a Dragon vet, but have always run it in a modded MINI Cooper S. So this being my first run in the MS3, and on stock rubber, I wasn't pushing real hard. The run actually lasted in the range of 19 minutes, including a 5-minute sightseeing tour behind a couple of Harleys who were too oblivious to pull off & let me pass for a while. Because of YouTube's 10-minute limit, I had to edit half the run out & just fade clips together.

'09 MS3 Sport- first Dragon run

By the time the week was over, I was getting my clean runs down into the 14-16 minute range. But I had already lent out my camera mount to a friend. Grrrr. No video.

 

[mr_mazda329]

I miss the dragon. I had my miata out thee a couple times.

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

We are leaving Wed. morning for the week down there. Been there a lot of times and this will be my second time there in my speed3. All other times were on two wheels. I had a lot of fun last year with the car and look forward to it again. The speed does surprisingly well there for FWD. We were getting 12-14 min. Overlook to the state line runs at dusk when LEO would take off and no traffic.

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

To keep this going here is a link to a night run we did.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5619899712351955166

 

[BillTheCat]

We are leaving Wed. morning for the week down there. Been there a lot of times and this will be my second time there in my speed3. All other times were on two wheels. I had a lot of fun last year with the car and look forward to it again. The speed does surprisingly well there for FWD. We were getting 12-14 min. Overlook to the state line runs at dusk when LEO would take off and no traffic.

Yeah, my usual routine, since I stay at Fontana every time, is to run the road near the speed limit out to Tabcat. Check for road hazards, LEO, etc. on the way out. If clear, have fun on the way back.

I only rode a bike for a year, and it was a cruiser. Cruisers don't look like fun out there. But I can imagine a sportbike would be one heck of an adrenaline rush.

 

[hectik1]

Going out there October 1-4th this year. Going to be a blast. 2nd year with the MS3.(wrc)

 

[dkswim]

EECMM will be out there june 12-14

 

[schmitty]

What time of day was this? There is like zero traffic.

 

[BillTheCat]

I edited out most of the traffic, including a 5-minute sightseeig tour behind 2 Harleys. But yeah, this was around Noon on a Wednesday. The lack of traffic is one reason I like to go up early in the week- I can get in more clean runs that way & then chill on the weekend & watch everyone else get frustrated. (The MINI Cooper meet up there usually attracts 600+ people, most of whom want to get in multiple runs, so things can get crowded.)

 

[jezterr]

nice to see someone not cutting corners like a douchebag.

 

[BillTheCat]

nice to see someone not cutting corners like a douchebag.

Funny you should mention that. One of my friends in the MINI club was appalled at how many MINIs he saw crossing the double yellow this year, so he made a video to give them all their moment in the sun. When he announced the idea, we had just polished off a bottle of tequila, and I suggested the title:

FAIL of the Dragon.

 

[nazgul350r]

Looks like the verts were a big offender.

 

[BillTheCat]

Looks like the verts were a big offender.

I noticed that, too. You'd think with being topless & all, they could see better, but maybe all that exposure to sun & wind is impairing their judgement. Or maybe the type of person who buys a cabrio is just more likely to be the type of person who doesn't give a flying &*#%.

 

[dkswim]

bill what do you do is see you on at the odd hours im up???

 

[BillTheCat]

bill what do you do is see you on at the odd hours im up???

I work for Verizon, but not the wireless side. I do geeky phone switch programming in the wee hours. When medium & large businesses order changes to their services, sometimes making the changes requires completely disabling all of their lines for a while in order to work our magic. So we do it at oh-dark-thirty when most businesses are closed & will never notice.

I'm just glad my boss doesn't care if we surf the net as long as all our work gets done & we're not being naughty online.

 

[paylew]

I can't wait to get out there, I've never been.