So, guys, I went and joined SixthSphere in their annual running of the Tail of the Dragon this year. For those who may not know, this is US-129 and the fun stuff starts at Deals Gap, TN and heads north for 11 miles, and 318 intense corners. It’s a beautiful area and a great experience that I recommend to anyone who loves to drive or ride a bike. Had a blast!

 

It’s worth noting that I melted my front wheel covers from intense brake heat on the first run, they were removed about 10min before the pics were taken (not my pics though, they belong to ajs_saturn on 6S). I also sheared the roll pin in my shift linkage, leaving me stranded on the dragon for a couple hours while we figured out a way to get back to the resort. The group sprang into action and we got my car back to being able to bring me home (albeit with shifting very gently and carefully)

 

I bet that was a blast! Glad you had fun. I am not sure how much fun that would have been in a Genesis.

 

I got a lot of compliments on how well my Ion kept up with the others despite it being on LRR tires. At one point we stopped and the guy driving the Porsche asked who was driving the Ion. I gestured that I was and he was impressed, through a particularly intense portion he thought he’d run off from me and he said “after the corner I looked up and all I seen were Ion headlights, I figured you’d have dropped back by then”.

I did PowerStop rotors and Hawk PC pads before the trip and I’m damn glad I did; despite the abuse I’ve experienced no warping and still have great pedal feel. At one point after our night run a guy put an infrared heat gun on my rotor and had them at almost 500 degrees... I shiver to think of how hot they were when they were smoking and the wheel covers melted lol

 

Did you tell them about your Redline adventures?

 

I did, one guy there had had three of them, they seem to think I’ve not burned a piston but maybe killed the HG or a valve seal since the engine never made any knocking/tapping noises when it failed. Makes me wanna stick a borescope in the dead cylinder and see what’s what

 

Now you have time to check it out. If you get into the trans I have a 4.45 rod shift a 4.05 cable shift under the bench. I don’t mind pulling the 4.45 apart for parts I am just going to use the case for the 4.05 guts. You could check for a Saab 93 trans if the axle count is the same and just put a 4.05 in your car. There are two guys parting Saabs within 200 miles of me, someone near you must be doin the same. The later 93s have a 6 speed version that could just bolt in.

 

That is a fun ride. I took it in my 84 Chrysler Laser XE back years ago. I didn't drive like a maniac, but drove it slightly more aggressively than normal driving. I wouldn't mind going back and doing it again someday. Back when I had a Dodge Caliber, there was a forum I was on that used to organize a yearly trip to drive the Dragon. Unfortunately, by then I was married and had kids, so I never made that trip.

 

I didn’t intend to drive like a maniac but with each pass I went a little faster, and on the night run we did as a group I was going at 90-95 percent, lifting the inside rear tire on the tighter corners. The crew over on 6S weren’t judgmental, a couple members drove stuff other than Saturns and they weren’t shunned. Being that that was primarily an S car forum I wasn’t shunned for driving an Ion. If you’re in the neighborhood you’d have a blast running it with the rest of us, even in your Kia. As an alternative you could ride with one of the veterans if you were worried about breaking your daily...

 

From what I’ve read it isn’t to bad a deal to F23 swap a Redline. Given that the F23 is used in Cobalt, Cavalier, base Ion, HHR, Vue, etc they are cheap and plentiful and available in a variety of final drive ratios...