Wow, up until now I hadn't had a chance to really push my Z on twisty roads. Now that it's almost broken in (about 900 miles) I took it out to the coast on super-twisty roads. See this link for details on the route:

http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/PescaderoRd.htm

From this excellent website (http://www.pashnit.com/motoroads.htm) I've learned the following is true:

Great motorcycle road = Great 350Z road

Wow! This route (Page Mill / Pescadero / Alpine roads) has some really tight second-gear sections: narrow roads with sudden drop-offs. (Also some Great scenery, but you can only glimpse it in your peripheral vision because you need to concentrate every millisecond on the pavement in front of you.) Also some sections where you can stretch the car's legs a little.

This car really handles. It feels glued to the road, and bumps don't upset it. I kept the VDC/TCS on because I'm not familiar enough with the car to know how much gas I can give it without fishtailing the rear end. The "SLIP" indicator came on several times, and I felt the TCS kick in a few times as well so I'm glad I had it on. (But I think once you get used to the car, you could have even more fun with it off.) You can hit the gas in second and just squirt out of the corners. It was such a blast!

This area is incredible: so many nice roads, and the most fun ones aren't crowded with vehicles. And the micro-climates keep it interesting: it was 85 degrees and sunny, and as soon as I hit the coast it was 57 and foggy. What a great place to drive this car! I came back via La Honda Rd. (84). This is motorcycle territory (sport bikes, mostly) and I used to ride through here on my Honda Blackbird. But I had more fun in the 350Z!

 

Man, I envy you. There's NO WHERE in Dallas like that. I did have one fun drive today with the wife on board. She took me down this back road with a couple of chicanes (she likes saying that ever since she picked it up from me) and on the second one she says, "Here's another chicane, but you have to go really slow..." Of course, I dropped her into third and flew into this super-tight little switch back and the car didn't miss a beat. Incredible. As we went through it, I told her, "Baby, we don't have to slow down. We're in a SPORTS CAR!"

 

Be careful. WIth all that CHICANERY going on, you need to watch out!

 

droidekaus-

if you want a fun twisty road, they're not far. Just come down to Austin. Lime Creek Road is a good start. There are several hundred miles and lots of fun hours worth of driving, west of Austin.

JD