The World's Greatest Driving Road

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sleek Stratos
  • 53 comments
  • 2,840 views
Sleek Stratos

Sleek Stratos

Messages
2,132
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Messages
D_Shark10
For those of you who have driven on the Nürburgring, here's another stretch of road you might want to visit someday, even though it's only half the distance. I know I would. The World's Greatest Driving Road.

Hmmm, swervy...
dubai.mountain.road.2.500.jpg


dubai.mountain.road.500.jpg


Let there be light...
06.mini.conv.act.6.500.jpg
 
Meh, sounds like it's too smooth to be a really great driving road. Most real driver's roads are challenging both in terms of corners and road condition. Things like elevation changes, camber and bumps make a road. There are a lot of really fun driving roads in the Highlands of Scotland and also in Wales.
 
And it would just have to be in the Dubai.... *sigh*... those rich buggers... nice cars... nice roads... but all that sand... :lol:
 
What I don't get is why they take, of all things, a Mini Cooper S Convertible. Then try to pass it off as a 'genuine driver's car'.

In any case...Put that road in GT5!
 
Looks like the UAE wanted some Initial D action.

Freakin' awesome.
 
Eeeek. I'm getting chills just looking at it. That road + Miata, Elise, any Ferrari, etc. = Heaven. Check into the hotel and go through two tanks of gas just going back and forth.
It occurs to me that there is little or no police enforcement of speedlimits there, correct?
 
It reminds me of California State Route 2 here in SoCal, which is a fantastic drive.

For daring types, we have San Gabriel Canyon Road, which goes to East Fork Road, which goes to Glendora Ridge Road, which then turns into Mountain Baldy Road. Super tight road, with tons of curves, turns, twists and all of it with extreme elevation changes. And, it's right in my backyard.

Here's Route 2...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a6/State_Route_2.jpg
 
Theres a road not far from me which is very challenging for drivers, must only be about 6 or 7 miles, but is a narrow, bumpy, high speed country lane, the speed limit i beleive is 50 or 60mph, il try find some pics.

Cant find anything, but i beleive the road is the A25 out of NEwhaven and it joins onto the A22.:D
 
Since its in Dubai, i bet 'off-line' its very slippy with all that sand around. Doesn't sound like an ideal road for 'spirited' driving. It also seems to be surrounded by some very 'solid' scenery. 👎
 
Nice. I’ve never driven on a road like that, that is actually smooth. Would be interesting – I bet you’d have a load more confidence.
 
The road seems a bit wide for my likeing, i'd definately go there at night though, driving under those lights even at limited speed would be an experience on it's own.
 
TheCracker
Since its in Dubai, i bet 'off-line' its very slippy with all that sand around.
Click to expand...
With the level of traffic it has, I doubt it would be much better in the cleanest areas of the road.
 
The UAE gets that, but we get the Alligator Alley.

i-075_nb_exit_050_01.jpg


Which the only place in the world to test your car's alignment at 70..nay, 100 mph :)
 
amp88
Meh, sounds like it's too smooth to be a really great driving road. Most real driver's roads are challenging both in terms of corners and road condition. Things like elevation changes, camber and bumps make a road.
Click to expand...

Yep I agree, that road would be nice to run a sprint through there but not a real drivers road for me. We have some awesome rarely used roads here in the Adelaide hills.
 
Dunkeld to Braemar is the greatest road I've ever driven on. 53 miles of twists and turns and dips and crests through the Scottish Highlands. It's God's own driveway.

Dalwhinnie to Inverness via Spean Bridge is another beaut. Swoops and sweeps, a lot of it along the Western shore of Loch Ness fives you driving challenge and beautiful scenery.

And finally, Callandar to Oban is lovely. Starts off twisty and slow until you get to the Killin turn, then it's really really fast until Crianlarich, then twisty again to Oban.
 
Indeed, a fine sand layer is the last thing you want to see on that kind of road.

Best road I've driven on was similar to this one, in the French Alps:

Road%20to%20Die%20(Col%20Rousset).jpg
 
Thanks Giles. I'll have to try them out.

GilesGuthrie
Dalwhinnie to Inverness via Spean Bridge is another beaut. Swoops and sweeps, a lot of it along the Western shore of Loch Ness fives you driving challenge and beautiful scenery.
Click to expand...
I love how multimap tells you to take a break on that route 'cos you've been driving for 2 hours, when you've only got 0.4km to go to your destination!
 
You guys are too lucky, theres only a few roads in Ontario that are anything close to being like that. The few nice driving roads that we do have last no more then 1/2 a km. Out in British Columbia though, we have roads that would make WRC drivers crap themselves, where its nothing but 1 1/2 lane highways going up and around the rocky mountains, used only for logging trucks. Could really only be considered nice driving roads though if you have AWD and a death wish though. My girlfriends dad found an 18 wheeler hangin over the edge last month.
 
pupik
The UAE gets that, but we get the Alligator Alley.

Which the only place in the world to test your car's alignment at 70..nay, 100 mph :)
Click to expand...

Freakyest 70(?)miles of my driving life! - its like being in a Scooby Doo cartoon where you drive down the same stretch of 1/2 mile freeway over and over again passing the same 'road furniture' over and over again.

daan
Stelvio Pass
Click to expand...

👍 - gets my vote

...although the Snake Pass (between Sheffield and Glossop, running through the Peak District) can be pretty good when its empty and you don't get stuck behind a truck, which is most of the time.
 
I have a bunch of roads close by that are fun to drive on. There's a short mountain pass up to Tagaytay (a local tourist spot) that you can take at quite a clip at night or on weekends. The twisty portion is about fifteen minutes long, give or take, depending on the traffic. 12 kilometers or so.

Another is the road going up to the Bataan Monument, the remote mountain spot where US and Filipino soldiers made their last stand against the Japanese in '42. There's absolutely no public traffic, and the road is as choppy as hell. Perfect rally course. 10 minutes or less. 5 kilometers.

There's a couple of other mountain passes that are around. One's far northin Nueva Ecija, about an hour's drive in the mountainous part at night, two hours during the day. Local 4x4 drivers usually do around 140 km/h on these roads... at night. Scary stuff.

I just love living in a place with hardly any traffic cops... or laws, even. :lol:
 
I was going to mention Stelvio Pass, but being that I have only read about it, I doubt I can fully grasp how awesome it its...

Living in Michigan, you usually have to go pretty far to find some exciting roads. Generally they are out in the "boonies" but they are often a bit more straight than curvy. I can think of a few roads, particularly just outside of Ada, Michigan that would fit the bill, but are nowhere near as technical as those posted above.
 
How long before this mountain pass becomes overcrowded with visitors and/or the road gets shut down for movies and commercials?

The only thing comparable I've driven on was US 64 in the west end of North Carolina (in a Ford Countour), and the Costa Brava in Spain (a Mercedes C-class). Otherwise, nothing as spectacular as the road SleekStratos mentions.

TheCracker
Freakyest 70(?)miles of my driving life! - its like being in a Scooby Doo cartoon where you drive down the same stretch of 1/2 mile freeway over and over again passing the same 'road furniture' over and over again.
Click to expand...
But it's endangered grasses, and tree strands, so it's sort of peaceful. At night, it requires quite a bit of concentration, as the scenery, as repetitive as it is in the daytime, is the only thing that gives you any notion that you've going anywhere. It's like driving in a 70+ mile long tunnel at night.

It's best to bring conversation along with the ride, as I've done the trip many times.

On the other hand, State Road 17 in the middle of the state is quite a lot of fun. It's no mountain pass, but it is in the hilly area of the state, and the roads are in good shape; some off-camber, and some blind corners make it interesting, as well as varying scenery from small town squares, lakes, groves, and farmland combine for a great all-round driving experience, unlike the grid-layout of much of the state. you have to break free of the city areas to have any driving fun and adventure in my state.

Or just drive along A1A on a Saturday and look at the bewbies, er...newbies!
 

Latest Posts

Back