My pain was my own making - I got my AC parts today. Loved the drive and the challenge of staying on track, my wife sure helped! It made things more fun for both of us. Kudo's to Kevin for moving the date off of Father's day this year, too.

Looking forward to the next one.

 

It was nice meeting you and Eric (however briefly) at the event. Always good to know other people in the Viper family. Too bad you guys don't live closer. We have lots and lots of events going on all the time. Hard to top this one though. Till next time!


-Chris

 

Am I reading your sig right, Chris? No more Viper? What are you driving now?

 

I think Chris has nothing but the village bicycle now.

If we work him over maybe he'll come over to the Axis side and buy a Porsche.

 

Could have gotten a deal Sunday at FOW while we were all there to witness.

 

Frags is right I'm thinking about cars from the fatherland, but right now I'm seriously rocking the crap out of my Infiniti. Nothing definite, but I'm learning towards an E92 M3 here in the next month or so (leads anyone??) and then trying to pick up a Viper ACR in the Winter...if they're are any good ones for sale. In the meantime I'm just riding the wave of derision that I receive on a daily basis.

 

Go old school!! We need someone with an older car than mine out there.

 

You don't need me to tell you but going from Viper to the M, you will lose your mind because of how slow and quiet the M will be. Not putting it down, just know from experience. My M coupe was cute and all, but American muscle sounds so much sweeter to my ears. Good luck with the search. That's half the fun.

 

yeah I've been wrestling with old school as well. An 87-89 Carrera would do me nicely. And to your point Scott, these are in no way a replacement for the Viper....still planning on doing the ACR (the new one is just going to be a little too expensive for my taste), this is just a chance to get back into something German for a little while. As you said, shopping is half the fun!

 

This tour would be next to impossible for a solo driver without a navigator, as Mike Brown and others pointed out. Period. Shuffling through 3 sheets of paper while trying to drive a high performance route is not only dangerous but simply just stupid. This is why solo drivers follow the route in accordance with the cars in front of them.

Many cars did fill up prior to the drive and were almost empty at the end. Yes there were multiple fuel stations and places to take a break, however if you are driving on your own in a pack of cars you don't know and wanting to stay with your pack you have little choice but to stay with the group, again no navigator...and out in bum f*ck country you'd most certainly be lost. Having a navigator is critical. Otherwise a coordinated break during the course would help solo drivers.

If you were solo and driving behind someone you knew and had cell phone or walky talkie contact with them and they had a navigator, that would be fine also...so long as if you are away from the group somebody is there dedicated to directing the route.

There is no "next destination" to meet your group. This ralley has NO Checkpoints and is not broken into legs. As for "catching your group"...if you are a solo driver, regardless of how fast you or your car is...and pull over to get fuel or pee or whatever...then you have to find out where you are, sort thru paperwork...by the time you get back on the course your group is far ahead...so you push extra hard which adds more risk...start crossing over double yellows to pass slow traffic etc...(which I've seen on this event) ...and you'd be lucky to get back with your group who is also driving spiritedly and having fun at a brisk pace.

I think Mike Brown had an excellent point, Navigators should be required, as in any rally. As a solo particiopant I can tell you that I would have appreciated a navigator for sure. Or being in a group where I knew the cars and drivers around me and we had communications contact and at least one dedicated navigator.

As for plugging in the final destination and go straight there...I agree that would be a last resort and something I would have done had I gotten lost or seperated from the gorup I was with whom I knew nobody and was simply following the groups lead. But being so far out of any major highways you're already very committed to the route that you want to keep on it, so you focus on that and try to maintain course with the pack around you.

 

This is funny. I wonder if people in famine stricken villages in Africa worry about losing their way or bathroom breaks when going to the food drop checkpoint?

Oh look...it's our friend Perspective. He's right on time....and without a navigator. LOL!

 

!!! LOL says the Ferrari owner with a navigator!! lol I hear ya bud, ... comparing Euro tourers to African villiage famine stricken natives tactic ayyy! Well they can take a bathroom break whenever they want and they are familiar with roads and routes haha!

No seriosuly of course that puts into perspective, heck this whole car lifestyle is built upon excess...nobody needs these cars anyway do they. I mean we are huge consumers in this country and buy things in excess and flock to retail like it's going out of style...hence all the economic woes, overspending, highly leveraged, insurmountable debt, over-credit that we cannot pay down etc..etc.. we could probably stand to learn a thing or two from the African villiage who is more economically concious of their resources, more envirnmentally aware, and better structured as a self sustained unit.

I was just offering some feedback and hopefully helpfull suggestions for the event next year...I had a fun time for sure!

 

It was very cool meeting you as well. If the Vipers get together soon - let us know; we don't mind the drive.

 

Hey whats wrong with an E92 M3?

 

Nothing. Hence why I'm thinking about getting one. The derision comes from having nothing or, sin of all sins, driving my wife's Prius.