Touge

[mranlet]

...damn... chill out.

I'm a mountian veteran and whole-heartedly agree with Ghost, not because I like him, but because he's right. I drive my hill not to be the fastest or beat up on other people but for the sheer pleasure of it. I've never made a run where I wasn't smiling uncontrollably - in fact I'm smiling just thinking about it

When I had my Turbo Wagon, there was nobody that could touch me - it was like I could create my own roller-coaster on the spot with that car. After it died, I kind of felt like I had lost that part of my life and in a way I did. Now that I have a CRX and am by my old hill for the summer I do feel like I've been reacquainted with a lost part of me and it is awesome.

Right now, even though my driving ability is more developed than it was even with the Legacy Turbo, I'm no faster with such a slow little car. Yeah, the suspension is far superior on this car than it was on the wagon, but everything is off-camber and unbalanced and such.

I also find that listening to the car can be better than any number of gauges. A trained ear can hear is an engine is running lean or rich, whether the timing is on, advance, *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored*, if the engine is running hot, or even if there is brake fade. When I drive, I look only at the road and listen to the motor, suspension, brakes, and tires (who almost at full squeal the entire time). I don't even bother to look at my Gauges except for open straights, which is 2 times during my hill.

-MR

[Ghost of Duluth]

Wow, I must have hit a nerve with you man. Don't get all bent out of shape cause someone disagrees with you and calls you out as being dangerous. My question to you was, Have you driven an FD? Now that we know your friends own both of the cars, have they let you drive them? Have you actually taken an FD down the hill against another car? Have you taken the CRX down the hill against another car? On the downhill things are ALOT more equal than on the uphill. See the thing is new jack, I DO own both of the cars that you are talking about so I CAN drive them both as fast as I want to without worrying about trashing a friends car and I CAN tell you how they run. As for being full of myself, I simply call it like I see it. Funny how you are the only person on this forum that has said that. If you attack everyone that disagrees with you and call them names, then you ain't gonna have any friends buddy.

Grow up, chill out and learn a thing or 2 before you spout off at the mouth.

[SilverGhost]

i have a couple things to say....first, i think everyone on here (including myself alot of the times) tries to prove that they are right, and everyone else is wrong. but it just plain may not be the case. Like where Ghost lives, he says cars are on the mountain all the time, so it is dangerous to cross the line. put on my hill, there is no line, no lanes, cause it is too narrow for there to be two true lanes. what makes our hill suitable for running is that there is a gate at the bottom that closes at night, but we know a way around it. so we are almost garanteed to be the only ones up there. For StreetDreamer his situation may be different from either of us because he does not live where we live. And because of that, i feel we should all just chill down, back off, and listen to what everyone else says, no bashing done. then things will be much more fun, more enjoyable, it will feel like an actual community, and admin will like it better.

second: i dont think you can if any of us are more dangerous than the next, just because of what we all do. we are drifters and racers. period. both of those things are dangerous, no matter if you are on the track, the touge, or just the street or parking lot.

[nissanguy_24]

Re: dayum ghost u ARE a PRICK

Originally posted by StreetDreamer
i been reading your posts alot and its plain to see you really are full of yourself and your car, yes my friend owns a decent 350HP FD, and my other friend has a 200HP CRX. they are a good match, and yes cars are EVEN on the downhill. BELIEVE YOU ME, there ARE a lot of cars and drivers that race eachother in my area,
and crappy drivers spin out, its not even worth debating with you, beleive what u gotta man, you are TOTALLY RIGHT, so yeah basically you AND your opinions are nothing but a GHOST to me

You've read alot of his threads, but aparently you havent taken any of it to heart.. Your calling Ghost full of him self? i say alot of the things he does but i dont have any where near the experience.. i must be a total jerk...

When ghost speaks you need to listen because hes been there done that. Hes a nice guy whos always willing to share is his experience with us. Aside from having great driving ability and plenty of experience with a wide range of cars, he knows the general "scene" he understands what its like. And hes perfectly frank and honest about it all. You need to do more listening then talking when confronted with someone like him. You can learn alot just by reading what he has wrote, i sugest you do it, god knows i do.

EDIT: PS listen to silverghost too.

[mranlet]

What about me ?

-MR

[StreetDreamer]

well for nmber one i AM grown up, i am not too sure about you hehe, but seriously, i aint tryna talk trash or get into any fights or whatever, its just i have been reading your posts, and from what i see you always seem to post condescendangly to others and when u compare any car to an FD u are like ttally hating on the other car. but yeah my point is drivers really do matter, and on the downhill any car can be a winner with the right skill, but its also safe to say that in the end, if drivers are of equal skill, the better tuned car will win.

but i wonder waht do u guys think (ubiased) when it comes to equal driver skills what car has the advantage? FF, FR/MR, or AWD

or assume the best driver of each type goes against one another?

[mranlet]

I think layout advantage depends heavily on the course - I would most definately want to have an AWD by my side due to the versatility and sure-footedness though.

-MR

[marshun]

i'd take a tuned rwd car. unless its some crazy tuned awd car. but rwd is my first choice

[nissanguy_24]

I've only driven hard on a RWD basicly.

And have never tried an awd. So i cant really say. Ill pick RWD though just because i love the S13

[Ghost of Duluth]

Hmmm. No offense taken here. I don't post down to people. Once again, I call it like I see it. I don't try to sugar coat it so that it slides down easier. You can't polish a turd so there's no point in trying.

As for my car, yeap you are right. I love my car, well most of the time. As for it being the end all of cars, heck no. There are plenty of cars out there that are better. But for what I like to do, it's the car for me. It's lightning quick, super light, handles like a race car and goes where I point it until the Rotary demon eats itself. As for hating on cars, you got me all wrong there brother. I love cars, I love any car that is fast. It don't matter to me whether it has it's correct engine in it or not, if it's fast and handles great, I like it. Except Jetta's. Don't like them for some reason. I've owned 60 or so cars and make, model or color don't much matter to me.

Now, I don't know your situation but if you are risking oncoming cars, then you are dangerous. It's that simple. Think of it this way, what would happen if your mother got on the wrong road one night and some kid in a car, running that road at high speeds, took the line and risked oncoming cars. What would you do if he wiped your mother out and killed her. Me, I would kill him if I got my hands on him, beat him to death. That's what i'm tryin to get you to understand. Drifting and Tougeing are great, as long as you are safe. Where I run, there are no houses and at night there is very little traffic. But in the day, it's packed to the gills and someone ends up dying there every year. Usually cause someone overcooks a corner, leaves their lane and nails someone. Like I said in my first post, I am not trying to be mean to you, just trying to get you to open your eyes.

I also don't know how many friends you have that run with you but using 2 way radios is a great way to do it safely. Corner watchers can not only watch out for the innocents but also the law. Lawdog Larry is alot more likely to just brush you guys off with a warning if he see's that you are at least trying to act responsible. There should never be a risk of oncoming traffic, it should always be known. My mountain biking buddy sums it up. "When in doubt, chicken out" Better safe than dead.

[new12drift]

Originally posted by Ghost of Duluth
As for the Touge itself, Touge is alot harder in my opinion then Drifting simply for the mind factor. A Touge run on the Dragon lasts for 15 mins or more and that is full out. Curve after curve, dodging wildlife, other vehicles and constantly scanning every single thing around you will trying to not fly off the road. Am I going too fast? Am I in my lane? Is there a car coming? Did I turn off the stove? All of these things add up plus the amount of physical energy it takes to pilot the car all adds up to something that almost isn't fun. The secret to the Touge isn't the car, it's the driver.

Amen to that... The level of concentration that decent length run through the mountain twisties requires far supercedes what's needed for most drifting... I'd even say its harder than high speed drifting because for the most part high speed drift happens on race tracks where the traffic goes one way. Every try memorizing 25 miles of hairpins, sweepers with tons of elevation changes? Touge is far harder

[StreetDreamer]

i still got a lot to learn

i would love to develop the skill to listening to my engine and determine what sounds mean what. as a matter of fact there is this weird slurping/gurgling soung going on as of now in my s14. any ideas? also, when im driving on the mountain, i tend to take the best line even when going to the other lane, its just i try and only do it where the corner isnt blind sited and i can see the oncoming taffic if any, or lights. however that is only when i am out after 11am, during the day i dont drive too fast on the mountain, just cruise. walkie talkies are a great idea, a year and a half ago when i started going to the nearby mountains i set out with this in mind but been too broke to get any but i will get some next month as i got a better job now.


ghost, as far as u say there are a lot better cars out there than tthe FD, i disagree, for the most part i beleive many sports cars, especially the japanese ones, have very high potentials. each vehicle just has its own unique characteristics.


take the JGTC for example, the cars are all pretty even, just a little weight mods to handicap the leaders.


but on somethine like a downhll, how do u guys fell cars rate?

FD's for example are light and powerful, 50/50 weight distrubtion, great handling but can understeer a bit, short wheelbase is go-kart reflexes

SW20's mid engine gives on point turning, requires very advanced driving skills as steering inputs need to be in advance, oversteers

DC2, dont know much about how this car runs on touge but i hear good stuff

CRX & AE86 very compact, light and predictable hadnling are these cars' strengths

S14, good weight up front gives nuetral steer, KA24de motor is good NA torque weighs about as much as FD if not a tad bit lighter

then u get into turbo, turbo lag, etc but u get my point

[mranlet]

I honestly think it's a moot point to try and compare cars because of the track factor. In the BMI videos the oversteering light car has the advantage, but on other courses a predictable powerful car may hold the upper hand.

I would definately say that the top few touge cars include FC and FD RX-7's, GDB Impreza or any Turbo Subaru, Mitsubishi EVO, EF-EK Civic/CRX, Integra Type R, Toyota MR2 (all of them), S13, 14 and 15, and Miata. IMO, suspension is much more key than power, especially on the downhill - if a car does have a lot of power then it certianly needs the suspension to match. My CRX has probably around 100 or 110 wheel but I can still beat cars with 280+ hp becuase I can carry more speed through the corners.

In the 4 or 5 years I've been driving touge I've only has one close call which was when a car pulled out of a driveway at midnight with no headlights on. If you do cross over pay supremely close attention to the way headlights are reflecting off of trees and landscape to give you a hind as to whether someone is coming.

Overall - DON'T do anything stupid! If there's something that makes you wonder if you should really be doing it, don't.

It's no fun if you're dead.

-MR

[new12drift]

Some of what can happen when you touge... This is a very serious business

[mranlet]

Is that a flying squirrel hitting your car?

what about this:


or this:


or even this:


-MR