[AutoDowntowner]

Nice meet, nice pics.
How this meet happened? I missed it. I also stay in Detroit area.

[nikhilarni]

Originally Posted by vj123

[center]

2023 Spring meet

Seven of us met in AnnArbor (another member joined us at our destination) last sunday before driving along the historic US12 heritage trail


It was a good route considering the flat roads in the MidWest and was a great way to kick off our 2023 meets.

Thank you Vj123 for planning the meet to kick start the season, along with hosting me.

Congratulations on your new set of wheels ( The Camaro ZL1 ), she's a stunner.

This was one of the more relaxing meet and greet type meet-up.

This was my first long drive with new shoes, and I could tell the difference between the previous Pirelli Scorpions and the new Bridgestone Driveguards ( RTFs )

Come to think of it, I have only gotten to know this group since around Dec 2020 but it feels like we have known each for eons. There is a certain respect, joy and the camaraderie shared when driving in a group, is just very difficult to explain.

I drove from Pittsburgh the day prior to the meet. Vj123 was gracious enough to let me camp at his place.

The icing on the cake was the little drive on the speedway at Michigan Int'l speedway.

The banking angle caused my traction control, adaptive cruise control and brake mitigation systems to shut down. Clueless I was, about why it would do so. I tried turning off the engine and restarting, but had the same warning lights and messages come back on, until Rachit mentioned the same thing happened to his Infiniti as well. Till that point, I was stressing out thinking about the maintenance cost to fix it. Thankfully, once I got back on flat road, the systems came back on. Phew !

Wonder if anyone else has encountered something similar ?

Some pictures to do the talking.

VJ123's Camaro and Rohit's ST





Passing Shot of Scatpack392's Challenger 392



Rohit's Fiesta ST



Rachit's Infniti G37X



Vj123's Camaro ZL1



Yash98's VW Jetta



Nikhil's GLC 300

A funny little incident / conversation between a work colleague and me.

On my return, I took a little detour at Strongsville, OH ( Suburb of Cleveland ) for a coffee + fuel pitstop and decided to meet a colleague as well.

And when I told him, I was enroute from Detroit to meet this bunch of "Car Friends"

Conversation

Me: I am enroute from Detroit to Pittsburgh, and thought I'd catch up with you at the gas station

Him: Cool, I'll come.

At the coffee shop

Him: What was in Detroit ?
Me: Oh, nothing. I just went there to meet some Car Friends, meet them, drive , click pics of our cars ... talk ... and then drive and then click more pics and then return. Folks came from Chicago, Detroit and me from Pittsburgh. In the past, folks have driven from Philly and NJ as well.

Him: Blank Face
Me: Oh yea, one of them just got a brand new Camaro. She's a stunner
Him: Blank Face .... Oh nice ( when I showed him a pic )
Him: So you just drove to Detroit, and then drive again from there and then drive back home

Me: ( At this point, I was done with this topic. ) Yes. We just meet. Exchange notes and catch up. ( and then i switched gears to other topics ).

I sent him the links for some of the meetup up threads later.

Funny, how hard it is to explain the whole reason of meeting and driving to someone who isn't a petrohead.

[rohittunga]

First of many many meets of 2023. Last we met was in Oct 2022 when we drove on the Triple Nickel. We were all eager to join this one mostly because of the beast of car Vibin purchased. That Camaro ZL1 with 650BHP and making no attempts at being “green” or “environmentally friendly” looks sinister in black and its got the exhaust to match too.

The drive along US-12 which used to be the main route between Detroit and Chicago before interstates was splendid with rolling hills and pleasant scenery. And the icing on the cake was driving on an actual NASCAR track. Let me tell you this: the banking angle on that track is so steep that it beggars belief and has to be experienced once.

Of course before we left, we almost finalized plans for our next meet which will be in the summer and may or may not involve the Tail of the Dragon
People around the midwest area and are interested in joining better keep an eye on this thread.

Here are some pictures taken by vj123 & landcruiser123

This car will be a future classic


1100bhp with these two muscle cars........ and probably 1100 decibels in sound too!

[rachitagarwal]

Thanks @vj123 for yet again organizing a wonderful drive. The racetrack excursion was the gamechanger for the trip although I was troubled with the ESP light going over the banking, similar to @nikhilarni. Thankfully it went away soon after

Looking forward to more drives in summer!!

[landcruiser123]

Thanks for organizing the meet @vj123. As usual, it was great meeting all BHPians and having fun car talk for the whole day. Looking forward to the next meet already!

True icing on the cake moment :-
From almost being thrown out from the Michigan International Speedway parking lot (for suspected trespassing) to getting access to the podium to do our photo shoot!

Thanks to a very friendly security director! We shall not reveal your identity sir!

Sunday - I'll let the pictures do the talking:

@vj123 and his sweet new ride (congratulations!!!)


Resting in shade:

Nice and shiny:

Men and their machines:

Fair to say that gasoline runs in our veins!

I used the opportunity to visit Detroit after nearly after 5 years! Saturday-



Welcome to the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant: (their first ever)

The surroundings: (Diagonally opposite)

1909 Model T touring:
Would you belive this car costed the equivalent of $28k in 2023 and the roof was an optional accessory?



The Guided Tour

The 90 minute tour is definitely the highlight of the Piquette Ave Plant visit.

One interesting anecdote from the tour was the story of about how all of Henry Ford's investors wanted him to make premium automobiles so they could make returns on their investments. Old Henry had a love-hate relationship with premium automobiles and kept buying these investors out through the early 1900s. He then went on to perfect the art of mass production and then consistently delivered the most affordable automobile that sparked a revolution!

Another interesting fact is that final assembly of cars was done (by hand) on level 3 of the Piquette ave plant! Why you ask? Becasue the floors were made of wood! Heavy machinery to make parts dominated the lower floors.

Driving to the podium @ Michigan International Speedway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sao5ZqBhUHk

[jeevadeepan]

Sounds like a super fun meet as always. Glad to hear about the Michigan int’l speedway surprise. All the pics look great and the track ones look classy and professional. Driving fast on banked curves in a track has been on my wishlist too. I missed it this time. So happy for all who were able to make it to this meet.

Congrats to @vj23 on the Zl1. Looks terrific. The supercharged small block v8 must be a joy to drive.

[Samarth parames]

Damn,
I Live in Ann Arbor, should have subscribed this space. Next time. Great Pictures

[vj123]

Rust Belt States Meetup #10 - Tail of the Dragon #2

Last summer, we drove along the roads around Smoky mountains including Tail of the Dragon (reported in pages 5 & 6) and it was one of the amazing drives i have ever had. We have been thinking about redoing the same trip again and briefly discussed about it during our last meet. Few weeks back, this topic gained traction and here we are with the below plan.

Date:
July 6 to 9

Place:
Roads along Smoky mountains (similar to last year)

Participants:
Few regulars might be missing this meet but several members have confirmed their availability. We have members driving from Chicago, Detroit and New Jersey for this meet. One member is flying all the way from Seattle to be a part of this drive and few non members are driving from Austin as well.

Accommodation:
We have zeroed in the below cabin which has amazing sceneries of the Smoky mountains.

It might be hard to explain the roads in the area by words but the recent video from Hagerty might give a glimpse of the whole experience.

Driving the Dragon

[vj123]

Rust Belt States Meetup #10 - Tail of the Dragon #2

Same destination, same weekend and a year later, we had a great meet & drive covering the best roads in the country one more time. With great cars and wonderful bunch of people, I would say that this trip was even better than our last year's ToD meet. For the first time, majority of the vehicles during our meet were from American OEMs and we also didn’t not have any German vehicles (at least by brand) in the mix. Most of us drove from different parts of the country (Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Detroit, New Jersey) and a few flew all the way from West coast (Seattle) for this meet. A few regulars were not able to make it to this meet and we also had some nonmembers joining us for the first time.

Initial talks about this trip began during our Spring meet in AnnArbor and it gained traction again in May. Towards the end of May, we were able to zero in the accommodation based on the confirmed participants and our Airbnb had some amazing views of the Smoky mountains along Foothills Parkway. Thanks to Rohit again for finalizing the detailed itinerary of the drive. We increased our drive time on both days and it had around 6.5 hours of driving (according to google). Based on our previous experience, we included new roads for the drive and they were amazing. This itinerary was perfect and we would just carry it over for future meets in the area as well. We had a chance to try out other vehicles in the group as most of them were unique in its own way. We took plenty of videos this time but they do not capture the enthralling experience of the drive especially with a group of enthusiasts in the best roads of the country with literally no traffic.

jeevadeepan with Genesis G70 3.3t



vj123 with Chevrolet Camaro ZL1



rohittunga with Ford Fiesta ST



thecarguy with Toyota Supra 3.0



Bharath (non member) with Toyota Supra 3.0



Nitin (non member) with Ford Mustang GT



Vishnu (non member) with Dodge Charger Scat Pack

[vj123]

Day 1: AirBnB - Tail of the Dragon - Wayah Road - Moonshiners 28 - Fontana Dam - Tail of the Dragon - AirBnB

We were at Tail of the Dragon first thing in the morning and there was hardly any traffic. Everyone had some fun with the 318 curves along the 11 mile stretch. After clicking some pictures with the Dragon statue, we headed over to the fuel station. I had a chance to drive the Charger and was able to enjoy the V8. After the fuel stop, I drove the G70 which was very capable and also luxurious. I was looking forward to Wayah Road based on our drive from last year and thoroughly enjoyed it with some hair raising moments on a blinder. Post break, I was the passenger until lunch stop. Moonshiners 28 had some rave reviews across forums and I was really looking forward as this was out first time covering this section. Even though it rained for a small stretch, we really enjoyed this part of the drive and had an interesting encounter with a biker. We stopped at Fontana Dam for some videos and had a fun drive to the dinner place with the Mustang behind me. Post dinner, we had a sprinted drive to the AirBnB through ToD.

Tail of the Dragon - Killboy Store





Wayah Road



Bridal Veil Falls



Somewhere along US 64



Fontana Dam





Tail of the Dragon

[vj123]

Day 2: AirBnB - Foothills Parkway - Tail of the Dragon - Cherohala Skyway - Ocoee Loop - AirBnB - Tail of the Dragon - AirBnB

After clicking pictures and videos outside AirBnB, we had a slight change of plan and covered the entire stretch of Foothills Parkway back & forth as one person was planning to leave early in the evening. Last year, we only covered a part of it as it was under construction. Roads were almost deserted for the entire stretch sans a few cyclists and I was able to push on the long sweepers & tight curves with the Fiesta behind me. Entire stretch had some great sceneries but I wasn’t able to enjoy most of it. On the way back, I had some good time with a McLaren 570S who was in front of me. I was tempted to follow him and miss our planned stop over. After taking a break, I was the passenger until we arrived at the Tail of the Dragon. We stopped to switch over at the beginning of ToD and there was a JDM car club with amazing cars but we didn’t have time to look around. It was late morning and we experienced some traffic in the ToD. I was able to push a bit towards the end with a Veloster N following me. Cherohala Skyway was fun with long straights and it didn’t have any traffic to the most part. Post lunch, I drove the Charger for a while covering the initial stretch of Ocoee Loop. Then I spent some time with the Supra which was a great fun car and the whole package (chassis, engine and transmission) worked cohesive exceeding my expectations. This was our first time covering Ocoee Loop and it had some amazing tarmac with almost zero traffic. I was trying to catch the Fiesta in those tight twisties who was in front of me. After the break, I was a passenger while we were heading over to dinner. Everyone was charged up post dinner and we went on a dusk run to ToD through a mountain road experiencing some close encounters with deer and police. There were thunderstorms on the way back and we took it easy.

AirBnB





Foothills Parkway





Cherohala Skyway







2022



Same place, same time and a year later

[rohittunga]

vj123 has summed up beautifully. I’ve got nothing more to add, except to say what a pleasure it was to do Tail of the Dragon two years in a row with a group of like-minded enthusiasts.

Driving almost 1600kms, flying for over 4.5 hrs. or 4000kms just to be part of this trip makes mine or vj123’s or jeevadeepan’s ~650 miles look miniscule. We were once again blessed with wonderful weather (i.e., bright sunshine) throughout the 4 days we were present.

To makes things a little different this time compared to last year, we decided to explore some new roads and suffice to say they did not disappoint. I always have a laugh at the people who come up with these cheesy but catchy names for the driving routes. Moonshiners 28? Devil's Triangle? Tail of the Dragon? Gambler NC209? Snake 421? I can go on and on. These are the names for some of the scenic driving routes in this area. But hey as they say, if it's stupid but it works it ain't stupid!

Got a GoPro this time and played around with the angles. First thing we did was place it on the rear bumper of the Camaro. And let me tell you one thing: the thunder of that massive 6.2L V8 coupled with the whine of the supercharger must be experienced!

And this was like a swansong for the petrol minded enthusiasts that we know and love. Let me explain. Dodge Charger / Challenger is no longer being made; Chevrolet Camaro is no long being made. The Fiesta ST is no longer being made. From this year’s car line up, it’s just the Mustang, Genesis & Supra that will soldier on. And I don’t know for how long before they’re hybridized or electrified.

I was riding my luck towards the end of this trip. Before leaving I did a basic checkup of the car, and it was OK. I thought I had about 40-50% brake pad life remaining. But little did I know how quickly they get eaten up when driving in a spirited manner. The first thing I did after coming back was order a new set of pads front and rear. And let the pictures speak for themselves. Went with EBC BlueStuff NDX pads.

I had literally Z-E-R-O material left on the front brake pads. Here is a side by side comparison of old vs new


The rears were only slightly better


Was lucky enough to not damage the rotors. I replaced the pads, did an oil change and the car is as sweet as ever!



Here are some pictures and videos from my side. Listening to the exhaust of the ZL1 is highly recommended.





Here is a small montage of this year's lineup at EXACTLY the same spot as we were last year

https://youtu.be/qv6rPft_2s4

GoPro mounted on the ZL1's rear bumper

https://youtu.be/lbWb8tLMWtI

Had little bit of fun chasing the BMW.... I mean the Supra up the Tail of the Dragon

https://youtu.be/PvDd0Ff3mGY

And here are the rest of the videos just to give the readers an idea of the scenery and complexity of the roads we were driving on.

https://youtu.be/H9dN2ZnthsM

https://youtu.be/EDWkdWwfFEw

https://youtu.be/oFLMYGTLrk8

https://youtu.be/hlOCS1EstJg

https://youtu.be/O-oa3-G37dc

https://youtu.be/VK5RgoOOVOc

https://youtu.be/HVi0x8vdZME

[landcruiser123]

Great reports @vj123 and @rohittunga.

Looks like you all had too much fun! I missed this one big time. :( Summer meetups organized by the Rust-Belt group are certainly getting grander and drawing folks from faraway places like Seattle and Texas. Certainly highlights the passion that unites all of us enthusiasts!

I hope to be part of the next one!

[Ashir]

Subscribing here as well. Hope to join you guys on your next drives. I just moved to Detroit, MI from Seattle, WA. Mobike008 talked so much about these meets; its time to be part of one.