Thanks to Jonas and everyone who attended Tomcatt and made it such a great event. The best single day in the S ever!!

I thought I'd put down some thoughts for anyone who is thinking about attending next year and what I think helped make it a great weekend for me.

1. It helped that I live in PA and am used to the types of roads they have in SE Ohio. The twists, turns and dips are the kinds of roads I'm used to.
2. This is an intense, and exhilarating drive. As a rough rule, I'd say if you're not comfortable taking hairpins at 20+ MPH, sharp curves at 40+, regular bends at 50+ and sweepers at 60+ MPH, you will probably have a rough day. Maybe still fun, but a fraction of the experience.
3. You need REAL driving tires. I have Kumho Ecsta LEs, others had SuperSports, S2/S4s and other very good tires. Regular tires not meant for hard driving will leave you in a tough position to keep up.
4. Head down on Friday and meet up with an experienced group for a dry run. I was able to go down Route 26 with Sam, who lead one group during the Run. That made a huge difference in running the road on Saturday.
5. If the S is your first sports car, or your first since before the kids were born, you probably need to be in your THIRD summer before you can tackle this meet. You won't know the car enough to really be comfortable charging down a 2-lane at 70+ heading into a left-hand turn.
6. This is definitely not a "first meet" for anyone. Go to Gettysburg, Spring Fling. FInd out what radios are for and why you need them. You can't do the Tomcatt first.

Saturday was 5 hours of hard driving over 7 1/2 hours. It was draining. You had to pay attention the whole time. I was wiped when I got back to the hotel.

And I loved it.

I'll leave it to the others to correct any errors I made in my advice.

 

Well said.

 

Thanks for posting that, Frank! I'm sure that some folks don't realize what an intense drive this can be.

Nice to meet you and hope to see you again, either at Spring Fling or at the Tomcatt! (Oh, thanks for the maps...I'll try to scan them and send you a copy)

 

I'll vouch for the intense drive. I drove it in my '05 S2000 in 2005, but it was the Buckeye Run then, as Tomcatt was with us. I was amazed at how fast people drove on the hills and drops, not knowing which was the road would go once you hit the crest. I rode with Maury in his Benz in 2009 and did fine. I rode with Katherine (Tachus) and then with doddg, in 2011 and got sick with Katherine. The roads are not like our twisty canyon roads, in California. We don't have the dips and hills so much.

 

I am reminded of a couple that use to join us (who will remain nameless). She lost her breakfast on RT 555 and when they pulled off and she was tossing her breakfast in front of a house, the lady of the house game out with a roll of paper towels and when the +1 apologized the woman responded: Don't worry Honey, it happens all of the time"

I mentioned to Roy's (Canberra's) +1 (this year) Art (from Florida) that he must have experienced more elevation changes in one day of driving the TCR than in a 100 K of driving in Florida. He just nodded, and agreed.

P.S. Britton Hill is the highest spot in Florida. At 345 Feet (105 M) above sea level it is the lowest high point of any state in the USA.

 

^That made me laugh.