Got my MTH Tuner file loaded yesterday at Grassroots Garage. WOW.

I’m glad I drove the car for a month with the pulley but without the MTH so I’d appreciate it. After the pulley install, I definitely had a lot more power than before- but the car felt IN NO WAY “refined” - just like a bunch of raw horses/torque had been “bolted on” and was at my disposal - but definitely didn’t have a smooth feeling like the whole car was engineered and tuned as a unit. The MTH tune makes the car feel like A CAR if that makes any sense - not like a bunch of performance parts bolted together. It may have a bit more power and torque at points in the curve than before, but the BEST result is that the delivery of power feels TOTALLY smooth as you rev through the gears. Like you’re driving a really nice, uh, BMW or something…

Still has wonderful intake howl/whine, exhaust thoatiness and burble, all the good stuff. Just wonderfully smooth on top of all that… Really is like a different car yet again. Three mods really gave me that “different car” feel (each in different ways): The USS, the pulley, and the MTH tune.

I’m a happy camper.

I had someone ask on NAM about the comparison of the rear swaybar vs. the M7 Under Strut System (USS). After some thought, here’s what I posted - I suspect I’ll get asked this again, so here it will be handy to point them to… The context of the question was, “Which makes the most difference? Can you achieve a neutral handling car with just one or the other, or do you really need both?”

In my experience, the USS made the most difference (though I may have thought the same thing about the swaybar had I done the sway first). They really do two different things and make different contributions to neutral handling. The rear sway just lets you “dial out” understeer by making the back end rotate “more” to counteract the feeling that the car is plowing ahead in corners…

The USS actually reduces understeer by stiffening the chassis and allowing the front suspension to follow the road better and translate steering input better into directional change. Or something like that.

I’m not an automotive or mechanical engineer - but this is my theory and is consistent with the changes in “feel” that I’ve experienced, and with all the other folks I’ve talked with about the results of the two different mods.

The USS isn’t adjustable, and in my experience didn’t make the car completely neutral - but went a LONG way toward doing this. I think it actually IMPROVES grip while reducing understeer. But I can’t guarantee that you still won’t have a little understeer with just the USS - though you might THINK it’s neutral at that point.

With a swaybar alone, you can adjust the sway rate to achieve “neutral” handling, but actually may not have as good a grip as with the USS (because the front suspension is still having to fight chassis flex) - So it may “feel” neutral, but I’m very confident that my “neutral” car can do things on the Dragon and in other handling challenges that some “neutral” cars can’t… because of better grip and better front suspension management due to the USS.

Again - all theories. But I DID sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

We had a GREAT time at MINIs on the Dragon! It was AWESOME. Like living in a town full of cool people, almost all of whom drive MINIs - probably about 500 MINIs there for the weekend. Surreal. And Very, Very Kewl.

You know you’ve got it bad when (a) you have Deal’s Gap and Tabcat Bridge programmed in your GPS, and (b) you already have the countdown timer for MOTD6 running on your computer dashboard. And it says almost 360 days.

Some photos to tell the story…

With the whole family, on the way back down the Dragon after the Dragon Parade. I know the top is up - the boys were cold and asked to put it up - and asked that we go faster on the way back down. I did both. Notice the perfect line as I effortlessly carve this off-camber corner going about 90 (give or take 50%)… Professional at work here, don’t try this at home.

Super cool driving in the rain photo - this was me and Jack getting in one last Dragon run on Friday after a downpour. I like driving the Dragon wet - no motorcycles to worry about and not many cars… and Blimey handles the wet as well as the dry… and wet cornering is more interesting…

Blimey and the boys at the Smokies overlook

Our great cabin near Tuskeegee - really nice and let me drive the Hellbender a lot - but next year we’ll be at Fontana!

The Dragon Parade line-up. Only a tiny fraction of the cars can be seen here. Almost 200 MINIs drove in the “parade” - which is really just a mass drive up the Dragon, at about the speed limit…

The boys LOVED riding the Dragon! This is the same parking lot where we all staged for Midnight on the Dragon for about 15 minutes before heading up. The residents of the Motorcycle Resort thought they were being invaded or something when we all rolled up and completely filled the lot at 11:45PM. Particularly one inebriated Canadian biker that came over and chatted me up.

Boddington the Bulldog was there to protect me from would-be car thieves and drunken Canadians…

Mike Syfritt’s (DragonFlyer) truck might be my favorite Mini…

Got to see some other “famous” MINIs:

Tori’s (The Future Queen of Nebraska) Jenna

Emily’s (StoopidGirl) Disco Ball Pink MINI

The mighty Sprog

Jason’s (Xiek) Betty

Matt’s (ImagoX) Nano

I got to meet OctaneGuy and see him at work

Kara (Kamofrogg) and Pam (Pamalalala) did a great job of organizing Little Dragons activities for the kids. And Mark (Twister) brought some little dragons of his own to give away!

LOTS of MINIs (and a Mini or two) showed up for the panoramic photo - the rain let up just in time!

The Drive-In at the Dragon was a great success! Over $2000 raised for Camp Carefree!

My family took a day trip to the “alpine” village of Helen, Georgia and had some very good German food.

I saw MINIclo!

And Midnight on the Dragon was a rush I’ll never forget! Like living in a video game! Between 75 and 100 cars drove it this year. This 15 second exposure I shot at Tabcat Bridge is my favorite. I have a poster print of it hanging in my office now.

The whole family is in for next year! And I hope to be able to spend a LOT more time with my new friends from Tarheel MINIs!