Fun day in the mountains
05-26-2001, 06:59 PM
#1
I went on a long "cruise" today with a few other cars, which turned out quite interesting. We drove from Atlanta up to the mountains of North Carolina. Here was the lineup:
- 300Z TT (1990):
Borla Exhaust, 5 speed
- Alfa Romeo Milano (late 80's/early 90's?):
Intake, low profile tires, exhaust, 5 speed
- Audi A4 T (1998,1999, or 2000)
Borla exhaust, coil overs, intake, AWD, 5 speed
- Pontiac Firebird (early 90's)
Intake, good tires, automatic
- My 2000 SE
Jump over here (http://www.fourthrock.com/maxima/mee...ise_lineup.JPG ) to see the hardware.
The drive was highway, then into the very tight and twisty, hair-pin turn mountain roads, then interstate on the way home.
The Alfa Romeo, which looks like one of those boxy Volvo's, handled very well as did the Audi, with the coil overs. The 300 didn't need any suspension work: it was on a rail to begin with. The big meaty tires of the Firebird performed very well in the turns, even though it is a heavier car, as well as the torqy engine. My stuff did well, but there was still much body roll. I couldn't hang with the Alfa, the Audi, or the 300.
Power was not too much of a problem in the mountains. I had to keep my eyes glued to the road due to the twisty, turny curves and hairpins thrown in there for good measure. Coming out of a hairpin, you just had to floor it to go up the next hill and to keep up with the other cars. The OSCAI sounded kinda neat echoing off the walls of the mountains. I think the RPM's stayed at 4K+ mostly. I was in D2 with OD off most of the time. Having the car in this gear allowed for quicker acceleration, as well as better slowing down ability going down hill (let the engine help slow the car down).
The stock brakes on our cars suck. A few times I was wondering if I was going to be able to slow down to get around a sharp turn. It felt as though they were glazed over. Not a good feeling screaming down a mountain.
The stock tires (Bridgestone Potenza) on our cars suck. There was lots of tire squeel and floating, in general. The car slid around a few turns. A few times I had to back off simply because the car wouldn't stick. Our cars are not made for this type driving. I had visions of Kev's coil overs dancing in my head.
The Interstate ride back had a few stints of rolling races (50-60 MPH -> 120 MPH). The 300 is awesome. The Firebird just had lots of power. The Alfa has almost identical numbers to our Max's, and the Audi was pretty fast with a throaty exhaust sound.
It was a fun day had by all.
- 300Z TT (1990):
Borla Exhaust, 5 speed
- Alfa Romeo Milano (late 80's/early 90's?):
Intake, low profile tires, exhaust, 5 speed
- Audi A4 T (1998,1999, or 2000)
Borla exhaust, coil overs, intake, AWD, 5 speed
- Pontiac Firebird (early 90's)
Intake, good tires, automatic
- My 2000 SE
Jump over here (http://www.fourthrock.com/maxima/mee...ise_lineup.JPG ) to see the hardware.
The drive was highway, then into the very tight and twisty, hair-pin turn mountain roads, then interstate on the way home.
The Alfa Romeo, which looks like one of those boxy Volvo's, handled very well as did the Audi, with the coil overs. The 300 didn't need any suspension work: it was on a rail to begin with. The big meaty tires of the Firebird performed very well in the turns, even though it is a heavier car, as well as the torqy engine. My stuff did well, but there was still much body roll. I couldn't hang with the Alfa, the Audi, or the 300.
Power was not too much of a problem in the mountains. I had to keep my eyes glued to the road due to the twisty, turny curves and hairpins thrown in there for good measure. Coming out of a hairpin, you just had to floor it to go up the next hill and to keep up with the other cars. The OSCAI sounded kinda neat echoing off the walls of the mountains. I think the RPM's stayed at 4K+ mostly. I was in D2 with OD off most of the time. Having the car in this gear allowed for quicker acceleration, as well as better slowing down ability going down hill (let the engine help slow the car down).
The stock brakes on our cars suck. A few times I was wondering if I was going to be able to slow down to get around a sharp turn. It felt as though they were glazed over. Not a good feeling screaming down a mountain.
The stock tires (Bridgestone Potenza) on our cars suck. There was lots of tire squeel and floating, in general. The car slid around a few turns. A few times I had to back off simply because the car wouldn't stick. Our cars are not made for this type driving. I had visions of Kev's coil overs dancing in my head.
The Interstate ride back had a few stints of rolling races (50-60 MPH -> 120 MPH). The 300 is awesome. The Firebird just had lots of power. The Alfa has almost identical numbers to our Max's, and the Audi was pretty fast with a throaty exhaust sound.
It was a fun day had by all.
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