First Drive through Deal's Gap with the '22 Si

[KevCarver]

Oddly I wasn't looking forward to it, but I was meeting friends from GA at the Gap to go to dinner and then watch the Fiddies For Life races in the parking lot after. I went through about 3:30 and got a fairly clean run! Then turned left and had a fantastic drive down 28 to Fontana Dam. The whole 28 run down to the water and to the bridge at the bottom of the dam is one of my favorites! Deal's Gap is usually so clogged with traffic that it's maddening! Got lucky today, and it was nearly 11:00 on my way home, so light traffic LOL!
Oh buddy, is this car fun to drive! What an absolute blast on twisty roads! So far I've only taken it on a couple local stretches of moderately twisty roads, not too long of a run. Anyone in or near Knoxville know Buttermilk Rd? It's pretty good if you don't get behind one of the geriatric locals there. Good run from Watt Rd to Melton Hill Dam. I try to take it easy because it's fairly residential in parts.
At The Gap, a white CivicX Si Sedan was parked next to me at KillBoy. I'm kinda officially over the 10th. I had 2 Sedans; LX and Sport, loved them both, but the XI is really class!

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[zeroptzero]

Route 28 from Deal's Gap to Fontana Dam and Village is my preferred stretch of road and not that well known. I recommend it to people all the time as it is actually a better drive than the Dragon itself, and I suspect many people miss this great road since the Dragon gets all of the attention. Turn left at Deals Gap and head all the way to Fontana Village and Dam. I've never ventured further than Fontana on Rt 28 but the stretch I drove was plenty fun.

I much prefer hitting the curves of R28 as you hit them at very high speed compared to the tight corners and lower speeds of the Dragon. So much fun, and the Civic Si must be fantastic on that road, I've got to get back there with this car. My last visit was with my S2000, but I think the Civic Si would be great fun too. Last time I was at the Dragon I would hit Route28 many times more than the Dragon, it turned out to be my favourite place. We stayed at Fontana Village for 4 days so I would hit R28 all the time and it was never busy. I'm 12 hours away so it isn't something I can get to very often.

 

[KevCarver]

Route 28 from Deal's Gap to Fontana Dam and Village is my preferred stretch of road and not that well known. I recommend it to people all the time as it is actually a better drive than the Dragon itself, and I suspect many people miss this great road since the Dragon gets all of the attention. Turn left at Deals Gap and head all the way to Fontana Village and Dam. I've never ventured further than Fontana on Rt 28 but the stretch I drove was plenty fun.

I much prefer hitting the curves of R28 as you hit them at very high speed compared to the tight corners and lower speeds of the Dragon. So much fun, and the Civic Si must be fantastic on that road, I've got to get back there with this car. My last visit was with my S2000, but I think the Civic Si would be great fun too. Last time I was at the Dragon I would hit Route28 many times more than the Dragon, it turned out to be my favourite place. We stayed at Fontana Village for 4 days so I would hit R28 all the time and it was never busy. I'm 12 hours away so it isn't something I can get to very often.

When I was more involved with the VFR Forum (Honda Motorcycle) we would get together every spring in Franklin, NC. If you take 28 long enough, you'll find it. Great road for most of the run. I've been a great proponent for many years of, basically, every road near Deal's Gap that is not Deal's Gap. We started out staying in Robbinsville, just down the road from The Gap, but eventually migrated to Franklin where you can get to many more amazing roads in NC, SC, GA, and TN, and still let the Gap riders get their thrill in.
Hope you get the chance to get back here with the Si! I never got to try an S2000, always wanted to. When I got my '19 Sedan Sport there was a beautiful one at the dealer, white I think. Then again this year getting the Si they had a yellow one. I did have an RC51 for a few years, and they had basically the same dash layout with the digital tach and speedo. Closest I got to it...

 

[zeroptzero]

When I was more involved with the VFR Forum (Honda Motorcycle) we would get together every spring in Franklin, NC. If you take 28 long enough, you'll find it. Great road for most of the run. I've been a great proponent for many years of, basically, every road near Deal's Gap that is not Deal's Gap. We started out staying in Robbinsville, just down the road from The Gap, but eventually migrated to Franklin where you can get to many more amazing roads in NC, SC, GA, and TN, and still let the Gap riders get their thrill in.
Hope you get the chance to get back here with the Si! I never got to try an S2000, always wanted to. When I got my '19 Sedan Sport there was a beautiful one at the dealer, white I think. Then again this year getting the Si they had a yellow one. I did have an RC51 for a few years, and they had basically the same dash layout with the digital tach and speedo. Closest I got to it...

That is awesome, thanks for posting this info , I love hearing reports like this. I was part of the S2000 club (s2ki.com) for a decade. The S2ki.com club will do two events per year at the Dragon, everyone stays at Fontana Village, that's how I found Route 28, as soon as you come out of Fontana Village you are right there and heading towards Deals Gap, best few miles of driving IMO. We did many of the cool roads in the region, while the focus was the Dragon there are so many better roads there as you noted. I think the Si will be just as much fun as my S2000, and I can actually drive it at 10-10ths, with the S2000 I always held back a bit as snap oversteer was always a concern with the cars, so I would never drive it as hard as it needed. My Si is as much fun , with better comfort, fuel economy , torque, and modern technology perks. I've got to get back there soon, the 12 hour one-way drive in the S2000 was a bit hard on the body, the Si will be much easier to live with when I eventually get back there.

 

[OGGsr]

Yeah thank you guys for putting thoughts into my head about visiting the Deals gap area. Never been to the 'Dragon but it's been a bucket list item for me. That and the Pacific Coast Highway have been two roads I would like to drive. Your testimonies have me looking at Google Maps!

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