This deserves its own thread.

Yesterday, I went out with a dozen or so other Miatas and ran Palomar Mountain. I didn't get any video, but I *did* remember that about halfway up, we passed a guy camped out in one of the turns snapping photos of us, with a big sign advertising himself. A bit of googling and I found the pictures.

Anyway, for those who don't know, this is what weekends on Palomar typically look like:











So here's me, pushing it to maybe 8/10ths, loving the new tires, trying to decide whether I should maybe re-connect the rear sway bar, and just generally feeling pretty awesome about life:




Two cars ahead of me was a lady in a blue NA, running all-season tires on 14" daisy wheels. She was running about the same speed as I was (a little slower, but not much) and she was clearly pushing it all the way to 10/10.



Just look at those right-side tires, they're both on the sidewall!



That lady has bigger ***** than I do. (ashamed face.)

 

So did you get the chick in the blue miatas name and number.

 

Her husband looked like the sort of fellow who, while not quick to anger, was entirely capable of causing great bodily harm when needed.

 

Joe: You look like you're out for a sunday drive (approx 1/10th). The blue miata looks like they're over-driving at 1000/10ths. She reminds me of the typical new autox driver: slow in, slow out.

 

Really? Judging from the photos, I would have guessed he was abnormally short.

 

holy **** @ sidewall. damn

 

He was in his own car.

Haha. I know, it's kind of embarrassing how casual I look in that shot. Good tires + good suspension + good driving line = not a lot of drama.

No, she was actually doing really well given what she was driving. Made a lot of squealing noises and got the tail out in a few places, but she was pretty much keeping pace with the rest of the group and not causing too much of a holdup.

Bear in mind that we're going uphill that whole time, so giving up too much speed is costly.

 

Yeah. I didn't even realize how hard she was pushing it until I saw those photos today. That was pretty ballsy, especially given that Palomar is famous for having motorcyclists suddenly appear with their head hanging out across the yellow line.

 

Crossing a double yellow is grounds for summary execution.

 

he should work on inflating his wife's tires, not his ego.

 

And it happens at least once a month or so, more during the summer. Motorcyclist fatalities are fairly common up there, especially in the weeks after a battalion of Marines rotates back home to Pendleton from Irafghaniran, feeling invincible and flush with cash, and a bunch of them go out and buy brand new GSXRs as first bikes.


Haha. We gave them both a ribbing about it, along with the one fellow whose NB started puking coolant out of the overflow tank all over the parking lot as soon as we got to Mother's. "Ah, it always does that up here." Yeah. You know, radiator caps are pretty inexpensive as compared to head gaskets, right?

 

looks like fun. car looks good with the new non-diarrhea look Joe

 

Noticed you're still running sun visors. I removed mine and use the blank-off plates. Don't miss them. Good for taller folks (seem to remember you discussing this vis-a-vis windshield tint).

Looks like fun. Such a pretty area.

 

Yup, it's official. I now have a name for the former paint scheme of the car: Smurf diarrhea.

To be honest, I kind of like having them. They aren't at all in the way when folded up, and yet I do occasionally find myself using them, especially now that it's starting to get dark early and my afternoon commute is due west (facing the setting sun.)

My '92 didn't come with them, and I guess I never really missed them then, but now that I have them I find them to be useful.


Yeah, I don't get up there nearly as often as I should. It's like having a mini-Nürburgring right in our own back yard.

 

That would be a 8 and a half hour drive for me to drive that road, looks fantastic though.