Without discussing anykind of illegal speeding activities ...

What is the normal time to "run the dragon" from whatever the normal start place end until the end? What is a fast time?

I do NOT want to know how prolific a driver you are running 115MPH in the curves .... just an overall time

thanks

 

Hmmm, this depends where you start/finish. I'd say on average 20-30 minutes depending on traffic as well. That's doing about 30-40 mph in the turns and higher speeds in the straighter parts. We drove pretty conservatively the first couple of times.

 

Thank YOU!, anyone else?

I Whatever the normal start and stop places may be. How long?

 

The drive is 11 miles (actually 11.1, I think) so 20-30 minutes is a good estimate (for light to no traffic conditions). I remember it taking 20something to get down it. I would always set my odo to zero when I started because 1/2 way thru I would think, man I have to be near the end, but alas I was only about 1/2 way down . 20something minutes is a pretty long time when you are working the steering wheel hard the whole time plus you got another 20someodd minutes to work it on the way back up

The actual tail of the dragon starts @the TN/NC line & ends at Tabcat Bridge.

 

Speed limit is 30MPH on the Dragon IIRC, @ 11.8 miles that's 23.6 minutes at an average of 30MPH.

I can tell you that a Purple MC can do it much faster.

Deals Gap sign to Tabcat Bridge, very, very, clean run.

Steve

 

That sounds right to me. It took me about 35 minutes but there was a little slow down at one point.

 

20-30 minutes with little to light traffic...unless you're laughing so hard that you have to stop and relieve yourself halfway through the run.

 

Oh my! My sides are splitting from laughing! Nobody can get up to 115 mph on the Dragon.... bwahahahahahahahaaaa! (And NO...this post is not meant to be a challenge.)

Most of us consider a run to be from Deal's Gap to the Overlook...not all the way to Tabcat. 20 minutes, one way, is probably a good time if there are no RVs, SUVs, semi Rigs, an over-abundance of wild turkeys, bears, or frightened newbies on the road.

 

Too late, now where are those tires with adhesive tread

From what I've heard about it sounds like that might be a wonderful stech of road to include in a stage rally.

 

20-30 minutes to drive the dragon? Yes on a crowded Saturday. Darryl Killboy has supposedly done it in 10 minutes in his modded Evolution 8 running r-compounds.

This past summer Killboy, me, and a few more locals met at the lookout point around 6 am and did a couple lightning fast runs. Rob, a guy that drives a modified turbo RX-7 with slicks led the pack, Killboy was following, next a 2004 modified GLI running r-compounds, then me, and finally Josh (formal MCS owner BattleCattle) in his new 400+whp Evolution 8. From the start to end, we pulled off a 12 minute run. Again, we are locals, drive the road weekly at a slow speed, and know all 318 turns better than the back of our hand. Darryl is all about safety and no lane crossing occured.

Ironically enough, my "upgraded" oem brake setup completely died when we were slowing down for the final turn-off into the parking lot.

From www.tailofthedragon.com...

 

 

Actually, there are a a number of production cars that would be faster on the Dragon then most bikes. Bikes have less traction so there for are slower in the corners.

Steve

 

I averaged 25minutes per run, from the Deal's Gap sign to the turnaround. I'm guessing that the turnaround is at Tabcat bridge, I just know it's where we stop at Midnight on the Dragon. The runs on a weekday are a bit quicker, while the weekends seem to take closer to 30 minutes, waiting for sightseers, etc. I don't try to go fast, just what I'm comfortable with and not risk crossing the yellow.
Annette

 

I'm driving down there next Monday or Tuesday (for the first time! Yay me!!) I'll have to post up the non-weekend dragon-virgin time. That would probably be a pretty good starting point.