This need to get through the 1,000 mile break in period is driving me nuts!! I took a little detour off the 210 Freeway though the San Gabriel Valley today and up one of my favorite roads - Highway 39 towards Crystal Lake, onto East Fork and then up and over Glendora Mountain Road. GMR is a very tight and twisty two lane mountain road that sees almost no traffic during the day mid week. This was a regular training road for me during my bicycle racing days, and I also used to love driving this in my 1999 Miata. Today it was the Crossfire's maiden run, even though she's only got about 550 miles on the clock. So I took it easy. Mostly.

I have to say, for all the comments in magazines and online about this not being a true sports car, I was heavily impressed. The Miata was great fun here, even with the limited power it put out. Very flickable as you would expect a 2,300 lb car to be. But I have to tell you, the stiff chassis of the Crossfire (supposedly 50% stiffer than a Porsche Boxster so, um, that's gotta be about a million % stiffer than a Miata) and the far greater ultimate grip than the Miata meant that I had a blast. The huge increase in torque the 3.2L V6 generates over the Miata's 1.8L 4 (229 lb-ft vs 110 lb-ft) was just astounding, and powering out of the corners was a rush like I simply could not get in the Miata. Higher lateral Gs and better acceleration out of the turn at the same time - what joy!! And to think, I was actually taking it easy!! Mostly. The Crossfire changed directions beautifully and body roll seemed to be quite minimal, certainly less than even the Miata. I can't wait until I can give the car a proper flogging on this road and take it to a NASA HPDE day at either Buttonwillow or Willow Springs. Fabulous car, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Here's a couple of pix I took to give a feel for where I was. And these aren't even the real twisty bits!