I might be transfering up north for school next year and I wanted to get some input from you guys. I have been up to Norcal many times and am aware of the f***kin killer hills in San Fran. I have also been told number of time that **** gets stolen in oakland so many times. If its a nice car itll prolly get stolen.

Let me stop there and not make this too long. I have two main concerns.

1) How bad are the driving conditions, let's say I stay out of San Fran, are there any less hectic places I can cruise.

I am very concerned because my car is pretty much slammed. I am used to driving In socal places such as Newport/Laguna and anywhere in between.

I fear really steep driveways and I dont want to raise my car back up becuase i like how it looks/performs. This doesnt mean that socal doesnt have bumps and steep driveways as well becasue we do.

2) If i have an apartment and park my car inside the gated parking garage, near oakland or berkeley would the car be pretty safe?

Any nice cruises up there? I know there is something like 17 mile drive and some area by the beach.

i would be pretty scared of taking my car to the city because of how steep the hills are (I have a MT) how do you people deal with it?

I could always leave my car at my house since i could commute by public transportation but i would miss it too much. I would want to drive it around time to time.

thanks for the help. sorry if somethings dont make sense its late and i should go to sleep.

 

The Road Conditions are pretty bad up here. Depending on the neighborhood some of Berkeley, Oakland are ok. I would never recommend leaving anything in your car that is visible. Its going to very hard for them to steel the car so don't worry about that. Goodluck with the move.

 

About 200k of driving on our Zs in NorCal, and never any major issue with road conditions. You learn how to drive the SF hills. I don't think the road conditions are any different than SoCal, or anywhere else that is basically free of snow.

At the end of the day, it's just a car, and you shouldn't let it influence if/where you go to school. There are hundreds if not thousands of Z owners that go to college around here. Of those, most are more interested in their cars looks than anything else (performance, tracking, etc.), so I'd say you're in good company.

 

If you're slammed (ie no tire-fender gap, or tucked tire) then you will NOT be able to navigate San Francisco without possibly damaging your exhaust, bumpers/sideskirts, or anything else low. As for drive-ways... it just depends on the house/apartment everywhere, but there are lots of speedbumps at apartments, and most drive-ways I don't even bother with, and my Z isn't slammed. Steep hills are np once you learn your clutch you'll ge used to SF quickly.

Slammed Z's are also not capable of mountain runs. My Z is slightly lowered, but the front bumper scrapes hard on some roads. I'm swapping front bumpers for mountain runs in the future. I can only imagine if it was slammed. There are however plenty of other more mild places to just cruise in the cities.

I wouldn't worry about **** getting stolen, that's what insurance is for right?

 

^^ there is basically very little fender gap basically if you put your keys in between. As for the fronts i might be switching from 15 mm spacer to 10 so i get more clearance

I am about 3.5 inches off the ground so where does that put me?

Also why would the exhaust get damaged, i thought its bascially your cats or the metal bar underneath your car that scrapes because that is what happened to me.

If i stay out of SAn Fran then are there places in berkeley you can cruise around w/o being so hectic?

I know that san jose and palo alto have very nice roads, mostly flat

 

oh and about the insurance i guess that ture until a certain point where they steal the whole car, then your really ****ed becasued of the value i bought the car ands all the goods i have put in it. they might jsut want to give me market value of the car

 

If anything, they'll just steal things off your car. It's difficult to steal the Z without the key because of that electromagnet thingamajig.

I've heard stories on these boards of aftermarket exhausts getting tore open in SF from construction and random crap.

 

You'll be fine driving around the bay, just take it slowly on the bumps and curves. And with safety, ull be fine. Just get an alarm ;]

 

if u are going to cal, live in north berkeley. way safer.

 

You'll be fine. I had a dropped crx(ricey but tasteful) while I was there and you just want to be careful like any other road. I lived there a few years after I was done with my z and it's safe. That being said, I lived on and around frat row so there was usually foot traffic.

Don't live in north berkeley unless you want no social life. Stay near campus and move away from campus after a couple of years. Gated garage will considerably decrease the chances of your car getting broken into.

If you're worried about SF hills, just take a couple of runs through Grizzly Peak Road.

If you're going to be living in the dorms your first year, you might as well just leave it at home. You're going to have to rent out a parking space which will run you a grip and cause you to have sleepless nights. :| Get an alarm with a proxy.

 

If you go around San Francisco, you gotta be really careful. Specially if you commute around... I commute to work and school on my z and it's not fun all the time. Even though I know the roads, there are places in which I get stuck.

 

watch for those metal plates on the streets of SF those things can go apesh*t on your exhaust. other than that don't drive like a tard and you might just be able to make it without hitting anything.

 

thanks for info. im still debating on where to go. It wont be my first year of college so i dont have to worry about the dorm issue lol whats frats ans soriety are the better ones. Id imagine it was kinda hectic for you going in and out of your house since the driveways dont provide much space and youd have to move other cars or ask your roomates to move theiir so you can get out


how would the metal plates effect your exhaust?

 

Did someone say grizzly peak see you there lol don't worry I take my Z everywhere just don't park in hunters point lol

 

cause they stick up out of the street and if you hit it just right it could put a hole in your exhaust

its hard to explain you'll know what i'm talking about when you see it

 

tee hee

 

old bump so it is actually driveable up there right staying out of san fran that is

any nice roads except for grizzly peak road?

 

What about the mountains I can see east of here? Those look yummy.

 

There are few roads I heard of but haven't had the chance to drive em and yes purple draaaaaannnnkkkk in this *****

 

I have some codeine cough syrup.