The word "epic" is overused. Last Saturday, I went on a drive on some nice mountain roads between Lachute and Tremblant with my buddy Mazen. I have been dying to get back on the track, but my Civic is just not ready, as Pat, for reasons beyond his control, just hasn't had time to finish the engine installation. I conjured up the idea of a spirited drive on some of the province's best driving roads, and it was easy to convince Mazen to come along, given that he likes to drive his 911 GT3 and his M3 CS. He was on board with this idea months ago, when I first proposed it, but I had not been able to carve out a period of time to make it happen.
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This weekend, I decided that it was time. Mazen agreed and we set up a meeting in Lachute, at around 10:00 pm. I was driving the M3 (mine) and Mazen brought his 2018 GT3. The plan was to head north from Lachute in the 2 cars, swapping seats occasionally. It started to rain shortly after we got underway, but we were having a great drive on roads where, at the best of times, one would struggle to maintain the speed limit. There were many types of corners and more than a few bumps. Add in the wet roads and there was plenty to challenge the driver. I was mainly using 3rd gear, with an occasional drop into second, as I followed the Porsche. It was a bit surreal, as we were basically the only cars on the road on the way north, and there was a mist rising off the wet roads as we drove through. We were using bluetooth on our phones so we could converse as we drove and it was all very enjoyable. I mentioned to Mazen how wide his car looked on the narrow lane. After a while, Mazen pulled over so I could have a go in the GT3. He said "take it easy in the wet, the car is on Cup 2's!", referring to his aggressive performance tires with minimal tread (seemingly no tread at all on the outer third!).
I got behind the wheel, and headed out. I had forgotten how light the clutch is. I can't say I felt immediately comfortable in the car. I was physically comfortable, of course, as the car has amazing seats and a lovely alcantara steering wheel. But I was afraid to use much throttle or carry much speed in the corners. Also, I could feel the car's width, which was good, in that it felt so planted, and bad, in that you felt you were taking up the whole lane. When we stopped again to switch cars a while later, Mazen was laughing... he said "I think I scared you talking about the tires... you could have gone a lot faster". Of course he was right, I was probably driving at 40-50% of the car's grip level. Another reason he was laughing I think is that he had not expected the E46 M3 to be so competent, and such a pleasure to drive. As we headed back north, Mazen probably upped the level to 70%. I would occasionally lose sight of his tail lights, but I could drive with more confidence in the car I have had for almost 10 years, which happens to have lots of tread on its "regular" summer tires. This was one of the best portions of the drive.
After a while, we decided to head back. I took another turn behind the wheel of the GT3, and knowing the grip level was very high, even in the wet, I pushed it more. Still, I never used full throttle, which I had been using often enough in the M3. I could tell that Mazen probably was using full throttle in the BMW, because he was keeping up with me. In reality, in these conditions, with our level of driving skill, we could probably only use about 300 hp, which is about what the BMW has at full throttle, and the 911 has at part throttle. We caught to another pair of cars, a Honda Accord coupe and a Subaru Legacy. I figured it would be a good time to pull over, which we did. We switched cars and talked a bit, then got back on the road. I wondered if we would catch those two cars before the end of the road 15 or 20 km later, but we caught them within probably less than 5 km. The road was drying out and we were picking up the pace. Luckily, it was not long before we came to a passing zone and we blew by the two slower cars as we found our way back to Lachute. We went our separate ways, but continued to chat on the phone. We had both had a good time. I would not say this was an "epic" drive, but it was really a nice time. I would love to do this again, ideally on dry roads, maybe with the Civic or even the Saab. Maybe we can get a third of fourth friend out with us. I'm pretty sure Mazen will be up for it too. We will have to see if we can make it happen before the end of the summer driving season.
