Mt. Tamalpais & Rouge et Noir

Ever since watching a video from a fellow G8 owner, I’ve wanted to get out to Mt. Tamalpais in the North Bay. I finally found myself at home with some time to get the G8 out for some “spirited” driving, so met-up with “The Yeti” and headed up towards Mt. Tamalpais.

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Since “The Yeti” has driven these roads before, I let him lead. Not having to lead a cruise was a nice change after the past few weeks. The drive was very enjoyable with a decent pace for such tight roads in a national park. Of course, we had to setup some GoPro cameras to record the fun!

The road up to Mt. Tamalpais is really a jewel. The climb covers almost 2400′ and is quite steep (up to 9% grade). The roads are twisty and quite “tight” (the trees and brush is close to the road), but the road quality is quite good. I’m sure on weekends you might get stuck behind slow traffic, but mid-week the roads were virtually empty!

On a performance note: I was really happy with the way the new Bridgestone RE-11 tires performed on the tight roads. The speeds were not too high, but the heavy weight of the G8 put the tires to the test. A few times I heard them squeal a little in the corners… and even once had the right front start to lock under heavy braking into a corner.

One of the best things about this drive were the scenic views of the Bay Area.

It isn’t often that I make it over towards the Marin Headlands, so the view was one I had to stop and admire. Another thing I haven’t done in a long while was visit the Marin French Cheese Company (aka. Rouge et Noir). I didn’t have anything else going on, so I figured this would be a great time to make the drive up Highway 1!

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The drive along the coast was great… the sun was out and the views were incredible. Having been away from California for so long, it was really great to get to the coast.

People always ask me why I live in California… and I think I can sum it up with an image…

Great weather… great roads… What more could I want? California Cheese!

The drive up to the Marin French Cheese Co. was very enjoyable. The roads were fairly empty, but I did get stuck behind one car that was quite frustrating. It’s one thing to be stuck behind a Prius or a minivan, but to be stuck behind a Jaguar XFR (with a 510HP Supercharged engine), is just unacceptable! While I would have loved a spirited drive chasing a Jaguar up the coast, I was forced to crawl along 10mph UNDER the posted speed limit… Ug! When I had the chance to make a pass, I was sure to let the slow driver know my disgust with a loud whine from my Maggie.

I arrived at the Marin French Cheese Co. just in time for their afternoon tour of the “factory”. They produce soft ripened cheeses like Brie and Camembert, which are two of my personal favorites. Everything is done by hand in small batches. I happened to be the only one on the tour, so was able to ask all sorts of questions about the cheese making process. After the tour I headed to the gift shop to pick-up some of their harder to find cheeses.

One of the things that really gets me about soft ripened cheese is that it needs to age to obtain the full flavor. Unfortunately, most of the time I want to buy cheese in a supermarket it is too young to eat right away… so you have to wait to enjoy them properly. By going to the source I was able to buy some cheese that was at it’s peak flavor and ready to eat… I was also able to get some varieties that are not sold in stores, like their 50% goat milk cheeses.

Overall the day was great… and much needed after being away from California and the G8 for so long. I can’t wait to get out and drive these roads again… I think a cruise up Highway 1 with the NorCal GOATs would be great!

Weekend Cruise: Sunday

Yesterday I lead a cruise through the South Bay, so why should today be any different!?! Today several NorCal GOATs came out to make the drive over to Half Moon Bay for lunch. Again, it would have been nice to have a few more cars… but having fewer cars to be concerned about made leading the cruise more enjoyable.

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We headed out up Highway 9 to Skyline Blvd. and over to the “4 Corners”. The drive was fairly routine and quite enjoyable… like I said yesterday, Skyline is one of my favorite roads in this area for being so consistently fun. A drive along Skyline wouldn’t be complete without a stop-off at the 4 Corners (where Skyline crosses Highway 84). This is a favorite stopping point for cyclists (both motor and peddle varieties) and car owners… you are guaranteed to see some great eye-candy there!

After a short pit-stop we headed out down Highway 84 towards the coast. Without much other road traffic the descent was very enjoyable. For the most part, I was trying to keep the pace of the cruise “sprited”… without pushing the others beyond their comfort level.

Rather than take Highway 84 all the way to the coast, which is the most direct route, we turned off onto Pescadero Rd. for real some twists and turns. Pescadero is a road that I really wish was closer to home. The pavement is well maintained and the corners flow together very well. At this point I couldn’t hold-back any longer, and let the G8 stretch its legs a little. Corner after corner my G8 felt like it was on rails… this was the type of driving I built my car for! Unfortunately, a large dump truck decided to spoil our fun and I had to slow down.

Before getting to the coast the group stopped off at the Arcangelli Grocery Co. so people could get some fresh baked bread (and so the old folks could visit the restroom… again…). This also gave us a chance to stop in at church (it was a Sunday after-all). To my surprise we even had a visitor before the service who stopped to ask us questions about our Pontiacs.

The drive up Highway 1 to Half Moon Bay was decent, but it would have been much better if the view wasn’t fogged-in. As I expected the traffic on Highway 1 made the drive unexciting, but at this point people seemed to just want to eat (there was a reoccurring request for Fish & Chips coming over the radio). We ate lunch at Ketch Joanne (and it seemed like everyone had Fish & Chips).

After lunch we headed back towards the Bay Area on Highway 92 and Skyline Blvd. As we climbed up through the hills I even had a chance to show-off the torque of the Magnacharger. One of the GTOs lined-up next to me and started to rev, so of course I had to punch-it… and even going 65mph the rear tires wanted to break loose! It really is nice to know that I have more than enough power on tap to deal with the occasional challenger.

The trip back to Saratoga was the much like the trip out… until I rounded a corner to find a fellow automotive enthusiast waiting at a stop sign. Most of the time when I approach an intersection on a cruise I’m dreadful of a slower vehicle pulling-out in front of me… but I think this one time I would make an exception. Why? The car was a Bugatti Veryon Grand Sport (aka. a 1001HP, €1.4 million, monster)! It was even cooler when the Bugatti pulled-in behind us for the remainder of the cruise. Unfortunately the drive down Highway 9 was nothing like yesterday, and we got stuck behind slow moving cars.

Much like yesterday it was a great day out on the road with friends. I really wish some of the roads were less populated, but overall it was a nice drive. I was really happy to spend some time out on the road with friends… and hope to do it again soon!

Weekend Cruise: Saturday

I’ve spent way too much time in my house these past few weeks (yeah, I know I’m just making-up for being on the road so much this past year), but I needed to get out for a little while. I started asking around if people would be interested in going for a cruise this weekend.

While most of the NorCal GOATs were interested in doing a Sunday Cruise, there were a few G8’s that wanted to do something on Saturday. Sunday the cruise is planned to go to Half Moon Bay, so I figured we could do something towards Santa Cruz on Saturday. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough interest to do the “long route” (~94 miles total), so we did the “shorter than a marathon route” instead:

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A total of three G8’s arrived for the cruise (including myself), all GT models. While it might have been nice to have a few more cars, the fewer the number of people trying to stick together on the roads the easier (and more enjoyable to lead) the drive becomes. Given the simplicity of the route, and that everyone had walkie-talkies, leading the cruise was fairly enjoyable… other than the slow cars and cyclists that wanted to become hood ornaments.

The first road we drove was the Page Mill Rd. as an up-hill. I knew there were some crazy cyclists in the Bay Area, but this is a very steep road… and other than the kamakazi downhill afterwards… I can see no reason why anyone would ever want to ride up this road. Unfortunately, the cyclists don’t think like me… and there were quite a few on the road today. Having to take the time to look around corners for cyclists crawling uphill really slowed things down, but not nearly as much as getting stuck behind a slow driver! Home come whenever we drive on a road a slow car gets in the way?

Once we reached Skyline Blvd. the slow car moved out of the way and we were able to have some fun. Skyline is one of my favorite roads in this area… not because it’s fast or technical, but because it is consistently fun. The posted speed limit is high enough that you don’t get stuck vehicles crawling along. The road has just enough twists/turns to keep things interesting, without being so tight that tourists have to slow down. Today was no different, and Skyline was a pleasure to drive.

My biggest surprise came when we turned onto Hwy 9 for the return trip towards Saratoga… there were no cars in front of us. For the entire 5 mile decent we had open road to push things as hard as we desired… and push we did! At one point I even had to slow to keep from catching air over a crest. I can only hope that the drive tomorrow will be anything close to as much fun!

Tilden Park Pre-Cruise

Next month the NorCal GOATs are having a Picnic in Tilden Park, and before the event there is a cruise. This year there was some debate if the cruise route should be changed, so a few of us headed out in the morning on Father’s day to Pre-Cruise the route.

Having been away from California for so long, and not one to shy away from a “spirited” drive through the hills, I decided to take a Pre- “Pre-Cruise” -Cruise of my own.

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The Pre- “Pre-Cruise” -Cruise was nice. This was the first time I had driven Redwood Rd. since performing the modifications to my G8… and it was a little disappointing. I was not disappointed in the car, rather in the driver! Pushing the car to what I felt was a safe speed on the road, I didn’t even make the car break a sweat! I’m sure I was going at least 5mph faster in the corners than the past, but it just didn’t feel like the car was working hard at all. What kept me from pushing any harder was the risk of cyclists on the road and blind corners… I guess I really need to get this car to the track!

Five of use met in Martinez and headed out on the route towards Tilden Park.

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While I have driven many of these roads before, I had never taken the trip around the reservoir on Alhambra Valley Rd. and Castro Ranch Rd. While not as fast/sweeping as taking Bear Creek Rd through the reservoir, it was very enjoyable with rolling hills and lots of great views. It really reminded me why I live in California!

After the Pre-Cruise we headed down Wildcat Canyon Rd (which was fun as always), over the reservoir on Bear Creek Rd, and into Concord for some lunch. Unfortunately we got stuck behind some slower traffic, but it gave me the perfect opportunity to test out the new brakes with some repeated 60mph-0 stops… There is nothing like the feeling of having your eyes thrown through the front of your skull!

In Concord we got lunch at a local pub, and talked about all sorts of car related things. It was really great to hangout with some NorCal GOATs, for the first time in a long time, and I can’t wait until July for the actual Cruise and picnic in Tilden Park!

CHC: Gene & Jude’s

Well, it was the last weekend for me in Chicago where I would be able to hang-out with the guys from the Chicago Holden Connection. Over the past several months has been really great to get to know another group of G8/GTO enthusiasts. I know I’ve had a bunch, and even picked-up some mod ideas!

After some hot dogs and fries from Gene’s & Jude’s (you don’t want to ask for ketchup!), we headed off to a local park for an impromptu “show & shine”… followed by a cruise and some donuts. I put together another teaser video for the CHC guys, hopefully I’ll have some time soon to work on the final video from all the events I went to!

I really have to thank all of the Chicago Holden Connection members for allowing me to be part of their club for the past few months. I’m sure people wondered what the heck an SUV (my rental car) was doing hanging around with all the G8’s/GTO’s!

CHC: Tsukasa of Tokyo

Another week in Chicago, and another meet with the Chicago Holden Connection. I seriously have no idea what I’d do with my time if I didn’t have a group of car guys to hang out with on a regular basis… especially being stuck in a Ford Edge rental car!

This week everyone met for a cruise around the country side, followed by lunch at Tsukasa of Tokyo. Not only did we get some great food, but also a great show (and some singed eyebrows!).

Better late than never: Mt Hamilton Videos

Almost a year ago a few of the NorCal GOATS got together for a cruise up Mt. Hamilton. Recently another group of GTOs headed up Mt. Hamilton, and it motivated me to finally process the videos I recorded on the first cruise.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Mines Road Redux

One of the most convenient and fun roads to drive in my area is Mines Rd. I have driven it many times in several different vehicles.

Previously I drove the G8 on the road with my GoPro and DL1 data logger. That run was before all of my modifications, so I was very interested to see how the car does now that the modifications have been performed.

In summary… Wow!

It was difficult to tell how much faster I was while driving, but the can felt so much more composed around the corners. There was very little body roll and it allowed me to carry much higher speeds through the corners… as well as to get back into the throttle quicker upon exiting the corners.

I was trying to “push” to a similar level as I did on the previous run, and the comparable lateral G-forces (top graph) from the two runs are evident of that. What was exciting to see is that I was able to enter the corners faster (bottom graph) and keep the speed up (2-3mph) through the corner. Exiting the corners I was able to accelerate quicker and achieve higher speeds (5-10mph) between the corners. As a result, in the 2.785 mile section displayed above I was able to trim 11.4 seconds from my time!

I am very happy with how the modifications have transformed the G8. I am sure I will surprise a few people with just how quick a dour-door sedan can be around a track!

GoatRun 2010

GoatRun has turned into a staple event on my calendar. This year I have spent much of my time traveling for work, but even before I started the job I put in my time for this weekend off.

My trip to GoatRun started with a flight home from Utah, followed by the early morning meet-up for the 500 mile drive to Vegas. This year my father wasn’t sitting in the passenger’s seat, which made the trip seem a little longer, but the talk on the two-way radios made the trip enjoyable.

It was great to have another G8 in the pack this year, even if we had to wait a few minutes for him to show-up for the start (something about a car being towed). His passenger was even nice enough to snap the above photo of my car on the road.

We took the same route as last year, minus a few of the unscheduled gas stops, and made good time. This year I had my GoPro Cameras, so took a few videos of the drive down to Vegas… even had a Dodge Charger that wanted to play:

The group arrived in Barstow and met-up with the folks from SoCal and headed towards Vegas. Again, like last year, the group wasn’t very organized and broke-up quickly (a couple CHP officers didn’t help the situation). Fortunately this year a few of the NorCal GOATs stuck together and made the drive much more enjoyable. I stayed in the same hotel as last year (can’t knock free hotels!), so went and checked-in before heading to the Palace Station for the Meet n’ Greet.

At the Meet n’ Greet there was a bit of a surprise… the organizer of the event planned a really great proposal to his (now) fiance. We arranged GTOs on the top of the parking structure to spell-out “Marry Me”. I was fortunate to be involved as the photographer and videographer. It was really fun to setup my GoPro cameras in hidden locations around the room (no reason to spoil the surprise) and capture the moment.

The Meet n’ Greet was dominated, for me, by the proposal… but I did get to spend a little time talking-shop with a few of the other people.

Last year Saturday was spent at the drag strip, but this year there was no drag racing. Instead, the Car Show filled the afternoon. I was able to get a proper chance to check-out the other cars and pick-up a few ideas for my own. For some reason I didn’t apply and sun screen and found myself hiding in the shade looking like a boiled lobster. Speaking of lobster… I made a trip back to Joe’s Crab Shack for a ‘traditional’ GoatRun dinner (minus the companion).

My favorite part of GoatRun ’09 was the cruise to Red Rock Canyon. This year the cruise was not nearly as exciting. After a 15min drive on the freeway we drove out a road (not a bad one) and then back. I kept asking myself “when are we going to get to the cruise”… eventually, I realized it was the cruise. Fortunately I had setup my cameras on cars before leaving the hotel so captured some good footage.

One of the nice things about not having a passenger along for the cruise was that I could push the G8 a little harder than I would have with someone else in the car. The G8 really handled the sweeping corners well, and I even passed a few GTOs along the way! I had wanted to have the modifications to my G8 finished by GoatRun, but it didn’t come together (and I wasn’t going to rush it).

Sunday night a few of the NorCal GOATs headed back to the Hofbrauhaus. This year was a little more reserved than last, but there were still quite a few shots (and the required paddling). This year several of the wives/girlfriends came along, so rather than the crazy walk of the strip from last year… the guys took the ladies out to the theater. I didn’t want to participate in that activity, so decided to head back to the hotel after dinner.

Monday was the brunch at the Bellagio, which was incredible again… before the long drive back home. Before the brunch a few of us were going to drive out to Red Rock Canyon for some photos/videos, but it didn’t work-out. After brunch the group had an uneventful trip back up to the Bay Area.

In the end, I was a little disappointed with GoatRun this year. I’m sure much of that was because last year was so incredible! I think the biggest let-down was the cruise… I really would have liked something more interesting/involved… I figure when people are getting together from many states (as from as far away as Missouri) that the cruise would be more involved than an hour long drive out/back on a single road. There has been some talk that this might be the last GoatRun for a while, but hopefully it returns again next year… If it does, I know I’ll be there!

DL1 + GoPro = Win!

In preparation for my future Auto-X and Track Day activities, I picked-up a Race Technology DL1 Data Logger.

The DL1 collects data using GPS, two accelerometers, and a connection to the vehicle’s OBDII port. Everything is compiled into the analysis software in various graphic views. Here is an screenshot showing the GPS path (with satellite images), a graphical representation of the speed and lateral G-force over time.

Things get really powerful when you start comparing multiple laps together… in this case speed over distance for four trips over this route.

Looking at the speeds, G-forces, steering angles, etc. from run to run should be very valuable at the track.

One of the really fun things about the DL1 is the ability to generate graphic overlays that can be integrated with the video footage I record using the GoPro HD cameras!