As a motorcycle guy, I've done a zillion group rides on motorcycles, but since I bought my incredible little M2 last December, my drives have always been solo. Any other car on the road with me was simply a target to overtake
. Just kidding (sort of).
Anyway, my great friend and helmet painter extraordinaire Tyler, has been asking me about going for a drive together for months now. He's got a really sick Shelby GT. His final two choices last year for a new car were the Shelby or an M2, so he's been wanting to see mine (and drive it) for quite some time. I'd seen (and especially heard) another friend's GT350R a couple of years back, and thought it was one of the greatest sounding cars I could imagine.
We finally were able to make our schedules work to go for a drive this past weekend. Good, since we're running out of decent weather! We just had time for a day trip, so we decided to drive out to the Stanley, Idaho area and back. He invited a couple of other friends who I hadn't met before - Matt with his Focus RS, and Andrew in a Porsche.
We met up at my place Saturday morning.
We drove out through Banks and Garden Valley, then we got to the first really fun section where there were almost no cars. We might have driven sort of fast.
They had me out in front, since I have the radar detector - and maybe they thought I'd be the smart one since I'm like 20 years older than any of them. They were right about the radar detector part.
Next we stopped at the Grandjean scenic overlook, but it was a bit cloudy and cold. Tyler's front left tire kept losing air, so we wound up stopping a lot to use our little compressors to fill it up. We figured out later in the day that it was a loose valve stem, and were able to fix it, thankfully.
As we approached Stanley, the Sawtooth Mountains were just spectacular as usual, today with some fresh snow from this past week. Wow.
We drove out to Smiley Creek, where there is a memorial to Tyler's dad, who died in a plane crash when he was a boy. We stopped in Stanley for a late lunch, then drove my second favorite stretch of road in Idaho - Hwy 75 between Stanley and Challis, incredibly fun and twisty along the Salmon River. So great - and we HAMMERED it. The M2 is just so ridiculously good, and I had a Shelby and Focus RS on my tail the whole way. Amazing, and super fun. I'm glad the tires gripped so well, or I'd be in the river.
On the return trip along that stretch of road, Tyler and I traded cars - him in the M2, and me behind the wheel of that BEAST. The sound! Holy crap. Brakes were ridiculously good. And it handled incredibly well for a car that seems like a big muscle car. Very impressive. I still like the M2 better (for me), but I definitely could have some serious fun in that badboy.
This is a grass airstrip at Smiley Creek:
We spun a few donuts then got out of there before the locals got mad.
On the way home through the Lowman canyon stretch I traded cars with Matt, and got to drive his race-prepped Focus RS (he's had great success in autocross). WOW! What an impressive little car! I knew it would be good, but it blew me away. So tight! Just hugged every corner. And really fast! Not as comfortable and refined as the M2, but man was it fun.
Tyler and Matt both absolutely loved the M2, which was really cool. They couldn't believe how good it was. Nor can I! I've driven it pretty hard on previous trips. Very. But today - wow. Let's just say I've never gone that fast in a car before. All day. Wow.
It was early evening by the time we got home. There's a big hill about 15 miles north of my house that just begs you to go fast over. Really fast. Tyler and I were pretty much in full race mode climbing the hill, side by side, VERY fast. Fun. We backed off a bit as we neared the top of the hill, and he pulled in front of me to begin the descent down the other side for the remaining 10 miles or so to home. Suddenly my radar detector starting going berserk. I flashed my high beams several times to warn Tyler, and I slowed down hard. He slowed down a bit - but not quite enough, as the Sheriff coming the opposite direction flipped a U-turn in front of me and went after Tyler. CRAP! After a mile or so behind him, he flipped the lights on and pulled over my friend. Sorry, Tyler!
The moral of the story is slow down, and always go the speed limit! *
* or stay behind bwhip
