1. By Mitchell Weitzman
The thrill of driving remains the definitive pleasure for many car enthusiasts;
I know it’s mine. For me, there is little else that comes close to capturing the
adrenaline and grin-inducing nature of a good car on the right road, and I know I’m
not the only one who feels this way about driving. Throughout the world everyday
there are enthusiasts in their trophied machines carving and scorching up the
asphalt on their local back roads. Today was one of those days for me here in
beautiful Santa Barbara.
Let me tell you a little about this drive/adventure. Santa Barbara, in case you
haven’t been, strongly resembles a Mediterranean paradise from the French Riviera.
Think Cannes. And like the South of France, Santa Barbara is abundant in great
driving roads. In fact, the FIA should hold a round of the World Rally Championship
here even.
On one of the outer ‘ring’ roads, Cathedral Oaks, lies the turnoff onto the
hallowed Old San Marcos Pass, the source of today’s fun. While many know San
Marcos Pass as the alternative name to the 154, a superb highway winding through
the Santa Ynez Mountains, there is also the Old San Marcos Pass, a snaking stretch of
road leading to the same destination. It starts at only 50 feet above sea level before
reaching 2,000 feet in not even 5 miles, while also remaining serenely scenic during
the ascent through the rolling hills, canyons, and mountains of Santa Barbara. Just
be careful for cyclists and skateboarders though. The Old Pass has a collection of
beautiful flowing 30-45 MPH sweepers with positive camber, and several extremely
tight 1st gear hairpin switchbacks. Power is good, but not entirely necessary here.
The 189 horsepower my E36 325 makes is still mountains (no pun intended) of fun,
though more would be welcome. I figure the 240 HP an E36 M3 makes would be
absolutely perfect. Your AMG Mercedes would frankly be overkill here.
At the bottom of the climb I pull over to allow the pickup truck ahead of me
gain some distance—wouldn’t want to be stuck behind him the whole way up!
Waiting what felt like an eternity, a minute and half, I pull back onto the road, get up
into third and hit it. It starts off with quick sweepers—the camber given by the road
engineers is most welcome. Even at 45 MPH, throwing the Bimmer into the banking
allows some freedom of chassis rotation and roll. Thank you 225 width tires.
Nothing crazy and exuberant, but it’s great to feel the chassis really work. The
natural balance of the E36 inspires loads of confidence too, but I try not to get
carried away and push too hard; this is a public road after all.
For the first third, it’s just switching back and forth between third and second
gear through the quick direction-changing bends, never even exceeding 60 MPH.
That’s fast enough here, especially when braking down to 15 for the first of the
hairpins; when the sign suggests 5 MPH, you know it’s going to be tight. Heel-and-
toe down a gear, turn the wheel hard, and then just lay the power down. The super
slow stuff is the only time an E36 will really show understeer, but luckily a little
power later and the rear tires let go a little, allowing a swift drift of oversteer to
point me in the right direction. It’s a beautiful feeling and responsible for the biggest
smile yet. From there it’s a run of hairpin to hairpin, maxing out second gear
between each braking point—addictive stuff, and fortunately it repeats and repeats.

2. Near the top of the pass I begin to reflect on the journey thus far. First, I’m
thankful I didn’t completely bin it anywhere, even driving still well below maximum
attack, that’s most important. But I’m also just thankful for roads and cars like this
existing. Without them, I don’t know what else I would do; probably just find
another hobby, albeit a much more boring one. Knitting, yes, that would be it. But
seriously I do fancy the ability to make warm, comfy blankets. It’d impress girls at
least. No, this is the reminder of why so many others and I love driving.
I reach the top of the pass, pull over and take a quick snap of the scenery
behind to capture the moment. My god is the view something—you can see
downtown Santa Barbara and a couple of the Channel Islands 30 miles off the coast.
Here you feel like on top of the world, looking down at the magnificence of the Earth
and my vanquished mountain. This is the thrill of driving, and I’m so glad something
in me turned me onto cars all those cars years ago, otherwise I wouldn’t be here
right now.
Why do I like it so much? Having the freedom to express and exert control
through speed for one. Being able to command a herd of 189 horses with my right
foot is nice too, and this isn’t even a high-powered car! I can only imagine
summoning a cavalry of 300...But this is still just a public road and not a closed
environment, but these thrills are still achievable at 7-8/10ths out here. Oh how’d I
love to spend my life racing though, pushing the limits of what is possible between
the adhesion of tire and asphalt. As Steve McQueen said in his epic Le Mans, “Racing
is life, everything else is just waiting.” One day perhaps. Hopefully. But for now,
everyone has their own personal heaven; this is mine. My car, in the words of
Depeche Mode, is my own personal Jesus, delivering me upon the righteous path of
salvation to motoring nirvana. Perhaps I’ll do it all over again next weekend.