I had already planned a trip up there when my copy of R&T came in. Today just back from 4 days cruising the south side of App mountains from east to west.
As fate would have it, I met a Tennessee Officer of the Law at the north end of Route 129, who happened to be holding a radar gun, waved me over and politely asked if I knew what speed I was running. I honestly answered no, because all my concentration was on the road and driving, not my instruments.
We had a great conversation, he had not heard of the article in RT, but when I reported a local named "the king" dusted a Ferrari 458 over the Tail, he smiled and said "we know him".
I ended up with a written warning citation, much better than a Deal's Gap T shirt. And genuine appreciation for Tennessee law enforcement. He also pointed out the best driving roads south and west from there on my map (out of his state of course).
What I learned over the trip is that my FIST is more capable a drive than I am a driver. In three days, no one approached my tail, but I approached many others. I usually pulled over to get a gap. A few decided to run, now that was fun. No one got away. This car's natural habitat is mountain roads. It is beyond competent, simply the best car I have ever driven in mountains, and that includes the fully restored 1969 Lotus Elan in my garage.
Yes, the Lotus is more agile, conveys seat information better, and has better power to weight. But the FIST has torque galore, better gear spacing, better mileage (I averaged 32.3 mpg over 1650 miles) and is far more reliable. And I can push the Lotus to its limits much more easily than I can the FIST. Maybe experience, but maybe the FIST is just better.
So its off the the track, I should be as good as the car is, and only track time will get me there. I love this car.