NorCal 86 DRIVE: Our first DRIVE of 2014
 

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This past Sunday morning NorCal 86 DRIVERs gathered up in Saratoga to embark on our very first official DRIVE of the year. Eleven BRZs and FRS's made the trek out to HWY 9 [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_9"]California State Route 9 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame], a well-known local road chock full of twists and turns, and plenty of silky smooth pavement winding through lush green forests. A great drive any time of the year, but despite some rain yesterday, today we were blessed with warm sunny skies and mostly dry surfaces. We wound our way down towards the small town of Felton, CA where we took a detour onto some side roads that led us out to the coast. From there we did a short cruise down the picturesque Hwy 1 (aka the Pacific Coast Highway or PCH) into Santa Cruz. We stopped there at the Upper Crust Pizza & Pasta for a delicious lunch, and also caught the last quarter of the 49ers game (which of course they won). If you'd like to retrace our journey on your own, here is the map of the route we took.

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After lunch we headed back along the beautiful and popular stretch of shoreline known as West Cliff Drive, to the Natural Bridges State Beach. We stopped there to stretch our legs, get some sun, and watch some intrepid surfers and bodyboarders work the incredible waves that were pounding the beach.

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This AE86 showed up at Natural Bridges but there was no parking available for him... so he thought, "it's all good, I'mma just park right here in the middle and take a nap." By the way he was allegedly rocking a F20C (Honda S2000) engine swap (I didn't get to look under the hood).
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The reaction of my fellow 86 DRIVERs was great:
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After hanging out at the beach for a bit, we went our separate ways, some of us exploring further roads on our own or just heading back toward home via the highway.

More to come...

Bonus stage:
 

QT0843 and I drove together back home but took the scenic route, up Hwy 1 back to Pescadero, then taking Hwy 84 and then Skyline Hwy 35 back to Hwy 92 and the San Mateo Bridge. The roads were pretty clear and we tackled the corners with great enthusiasm. At the intersection of 92 and Skyline we stopped for a quick break and came across two gorgeous exotics in the parking lot. There was a CHP car parked there as well, and at first I thought, oh oh what's going on here? Is someone getting busted for excessive speed? Turned out the CHP officer was just stopping by to check out the cars, talk with the owners and snap a few photos for himself haha. We stood there for a while admiring the cars along with him, and then he rolled off.

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I thought it was pretty dope to see the Diablo GT was on Work wheels.
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When it was time to leave, the Carrera GT and Diablo GT both fired up their engines and it was a glorious sound to my ears. I almost wept as they roared off down Skyline ... it was like literally watching a million dollars roll away from me.

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Oh well, back to our far less exotic--but still quite thrilling--steeds that are the pride of Gunma, and back on the road to home we go.
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=572kTfnMppU"]NorCal 86 DRIVE: First DRIVE of 2014 - Hwy 9 to Santa Cruz - YouTube[/ame]

Here’s a brief video of our DRIVE. Yes, it’s sped up a bit to keep the video short. Enjoy!


UPDATE: and here's more video from the Bonus Stage... being chased by a 10-Series FR-S through the forest. And our encounter with the exotics. :D

[ame]http://youtu.be/9GmC19Mu9uU[/ame]

Looks like a nice drive!

@PMok : where did you get your 5ad spoiler in WRB? I've been looking around but can only find ones for sale in FR-S colors. Your tails look good too: I assume they're painted / clear coated?

Thanks! The 5AD spoiler was ordered from Luis @ Carson Toyota unpainted; they don't offer it in WRB. I had it painted and installed locally by a body shop. And yes, the tails are painted and cleared by a local 86 owner who has access to a shop when he wants to paint stuff. :)

Very cool. You can see my street around the minute mark lol. Did you guys find hwy9 pretty fun to drive?

Definitely a fun drive on Highway 9. There were a couple of 2nd gear corners that took me by surprise so don't push it until you know the road.

oh nice, do you live in Boulder Creek?
Hwy 9 is fun but often too crowded on the weekends... some of the side roads are lesser traveled and allow us a little more room to open it up. We do enjoy a spirited drive. :thumbsup:

@PMok I am planning a vacation in the spring to Northern CAL and I would to meet up with some Northern CAL ppl. Go on a drive and meet some new people. BTW gorgeous pictures. Mad Jelly.

i like how the wrb looks with the 5axis spoiler

for sure, let us know when you are going to be in the area! When the weather is good we will probably be having meets and drives all the time. Even now in the wintertime we have weekly meet-ups. :thumbup:

Thanks for the photos, the drive looked fun, wish I could've made it out there - got church every Sunday morning though!

No worries, we will have many more drives this year. Most of the time, we will have them on Saturdays. :)


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UPDATE: Here's more video for ya, from the Bonus Stage... being chased by a 10-Series FR-S through the forest. And our encounter with the exotics. :D

[ame]http://youtu.be/9GmC19Mu9uU[/ame]