North Carolina offers some wonderful MINI drives in the mountains, the better one is known is the "Dragon". If you wander the hills, you can discover, either by yourself or word or mouth, some other interesting roads.

I entered the Mini Dragon with a late model Corvette behind me. As he was trying to keep up, I kept hearing a crashing noise. I could only glance in the rear view mirror at him before I realized he was bottoming out his suspension. Just no way he could stay with me. Weather was great, and the road was deserted and dry.

Some of the curves on this road HAD to be laid by hand - no paving machine could be used, because they are so tight. I don't know if it was the feeling of my MINI pulling me instead of my former Miata pushing me, but the feeling was so different. This car really feels like it is on rails - someone else said the you run out of nerve before you run out of car - VERY true. I couldn't get the tires to protest at all; no slide could be induced.

The Dragon is a good road, but IMO, this is the next level. Only 4 1/2 miles (hence "Mini Dragon"), but the best 4 1/2 miles I have found.

From Valle Crucis, take NC 194 to Banner Elk. Signs are posted on both ends recommending that trucks and busses stay off this road because of the curves - they can't take them.



edit: and yes, at the end, back at the bottom, I got car sick...

 

The Dragon gets all the "pub" but there are countless roads in the mountains of N. GA and w NC that can make you "sick". Witness the "gaps" in N GA.

 

Wish I had time to find them all... :smile:

 

I used to go to the "gaps" and have to get out of the car after about 1/2 hour because I was so car sick and I have a pilots liscence.

 

When I was growing up, there used to be a SCCA event at Chimney Rock - from the bottom parking lot to the top. It ran for 50 years before the owners of Chimney Rock closed it down. A WONDERFUL road. It was a yearly event for us...


This road rivals that one.


(BTW: I believe that the Chimney Rock run is now at Banner Elk?)


edit: oh, and I didn't "throw up" - just had to get out and walk around for ~10 minutes to settle everyting.

 

Sounds like a fun road!

I've never gotten car-sick when I was driving. . . . only as a passenger. . .

Maybe I am not driving the "big" Dragon hard enough??? I'll have to do some on-site research in a couple weeks!

 

I have never thrown up just dis-oriented and dizzzy

 

I never could stand driving around the curves of the N. GA mountains at any speed other than about 30 mph without getting sick. Of coarse I wasn't driving a MINI. I had tremendous fear of heightts and couldn't ride a rollercoaster. All this until the MOTD this past spring in my new 05 MCS. Now, I can't go fast enough or high enough to get sick. All fear of the rollercoast is gone as evidenced by my trip to King's Mt. in Cincy during The Italian Job promo. The MINI has changed my life in so many ways. Since installing the new suspension system I've been to the N. GA mountains and done things I would/could not do before. And, I'll be on The Dragon and some other "little" Dragons later this month. I fully expect to smell something...either me or the tires

 

PM me sometime and we'll meet up for a drive

 

Hey, RevLimiter, were are you located. If you want some great roads, try the road from Brevard to Highlands. Once in Highlands run the Horse Cove road. About 8 switchbacks in two miles. I'm going the last of October and plan to drive a lot of the roads up in Highlands.

 

Before anyone gets the impression that I was screaming up the side of a mountain with speeds approaching the speed of light, I need to say that there only about three sections of this road that you can get out of second and into third - forget anything above that! About 90% to 95% of the climb is in either FIRST or SECOND!

And if the guy in the Corvette could have kept up, I would have pulled into a driveway to let him by. I'm not proud...

 

Will have to get out the map to see that one. Thanks, Red Ryder.

I am in Albemarle - I gotta be crazy to drive ~130 miles to do a 4 1/2 mile run, and then drive home. That's what happens when your wife works in DC and I see her (maybe) every other weekend...

 

I've been down the Dragon in both Corvettes, a few different sport bikes (R1, GSXR1000) and the MINI. The MINI's smaller size is what allows it to run the Dragon quicker than any of the above, although the Z06 has better grip and power. I was getting the MINI's tires to "protest" on most turns and had the car pretty light going into "Gravity Cavity". What a blast. The MINI is my favorite Dragon runner now.

BTW, the Cherohola Skyway is also a great road to have some fun on.

 

Ah, my Brothers,

You are preaching to the converted. I've been bragging about the roads in WNC and N. Ga for a LOOONG time. Most people just have no idea how great it is to drive around here (I'm in Hendersonville). Come, bring your MINI, and enjoy. The only hard part will be to leave.

I don't even own an auto with an automatic anymore. We have 4 cars, two with 6-speeds, 1 five-speed, and one 4-speed. The roads demand it. They must be served.

 

That sounds like a road we ran a couple of years ago. I don't think it was as I think we were near Saluda. I was just trying to keep up so I don't know where I was. But as already noted, there are no end to roads in WNC that are amazing fun.

This one had really tight switchbacks and climbed like stairsteps. There was a parking area where there were a lot of kayakers. The two guys out front had loud exhausts so by the time I got there the kayakers were either cheering or yelling obscenities, I'm not sure which. Met a poor SUV coming down with his craft tied on top. I KNOW he was not happy with us. I'd like to go find that one again.

 

You guys(and gals) make me green with envy with your ready access to the fun roads that you refer to. Although driving on these flat,straight, boring roads around here is enjoyable just because of the MINI, it is a far cry from the enjoyment of experiencing more challenging pathways. Still...LETS MOTOR!

 

I have found countless roads that would give the Dragon a run for the money, although most are not nearly as long. But the best thing about the Dragon is there are no driveways, no intersctions, no chance of a yocal pulling out in front of me on a Power Run.

Steve

 

Queen B took us on a pretty crazy road while up at the dragon this year. It was a little bit gravely but had some SICK turns. We had a blast on both this road and the dragon. My buddy put his g meter in my car and we pulled 1.3 g's with my new Yokohama Parada spec 2's.