hey all,

so i'm moving to LA in october and im worried about keeping the Z. i've been to LA many many times, but have never dealt with rush hour traffic trying to get to work. how bad is it having a manual in LA? do you guys use different cars for commuting? I've considered getting a bike or some other crappy car like a civic or something but im not sure. what do you guys do?? thanks for the input.

 

it all depends on where u live i guess...try find a location close to your work so u won't have to wasting too much time sitting in traffic during rush hours. my z is auto so i don't really care about traffic anyways

 

Where exactly are you moving to, and where exactly are you working?

My general advice is:

1. Become a morning person
2. Leave your house by 6AM
3. Leave work by 3PM

Your life will be much less stressful working those hours, rather than a 9AM-5PM... you will save anywhere from 30mins to 2hours of driving a day depending where you are commuting to and from.

There are also side streets that you can take in LA that parallel the freeways. You can become a red light racer!

 

if you are gonna be working in the city of los angeles/downtown/hollywood area then it might drive u crazy. Sometimes it takes me over 1 1/2 - 2 hours to travel 30 miles. If your gonna be in the surrounding county area then its not bad at all since alot of local open roads.

 

it all depends on what fwy your taking and what time. LA traffic sucks hairy donkey nutz

 

try driving a racing clutch in traffic. then that is hating life. stock clutch is a breeze. don't sweat it. GIve you an example... 405 traffic after 330pm every day is it's probably as bad a Bay Bridge / 80 traffic during a giants game..

 

Agree about depending on where you live. There are days when things are fine and then there are days when I'm sitting in traffic and by the time I get home I hate my clutch. But it's not intolerable and I wouldn't get rid of my car because of it. You'll live.

I can't imagine it being more difficult than the crazy hills of San Fran during rush hour.

 

The Z 03-05 with the heavy clutch will be a bit tiring depending on where you live and where you work.

When I was working full time in the Westside and traveling from SGV it would take over an hour with full traffic. I had an auto back then. With manual it isn't too bad considering you will be in 2nd and 3rd gear most of the time.

 

thanks for the input guys. to clarify, i'm looking at places near silverlake/echopark. where exactly i will be working depends on my clients, could be anywhere from santa monica to sf valley. since i will mostly be working hellish hours (12+) evening traffic isnt a worry. i'm just worried about killing my left leg and my clutch in the mornings.

 

getting up at 6am isnt an option....i can barely make it to work at 9 now as it is.

 

Are you in the entertainment industry? From Silverlake it should be about 30 minutes either way with the 10 FWY to Santa Monica being a lot more pleasant than the 101 near downtown LA to SFV.

 

If you're like most people, once you spend a day or two sitting in ridiculous traffic...you get pissed off and alter your route or change your hours to improve the commute. So your clutch leg should be fine.

 

i suggest you dont live around there. i was there when i was a kid (6-9 years old) when my parents first moved to the states and not the best area. if your working west la to the valley area i would rather live in the valley. 101 traffic is slightly better than 110/10/405.

 

nope, accounting/finance, my g/f wants to live there so that's where i'm going. the only other place i've considered is santa monica, but pretty far from my "home" office.

 

based on what u guys have said it doesn't sound as bad as i thought. i gues i'll try it out for a while and see how it goes. everyone just keeps telling me i'll have to get rid of the Z....

 

Its usually bad, traffic sux ***** every morning and every night. I usually just creep really slow so I dont tire out my clutch foot and I'm usually too tired to keep shifting so it works out. I know a lot of people buy an automatic beater you might wanna look into it. I still dont get why people like to move here its really not that great here. eh

 

That is actually a great place for young successful professionals to live. My grandma lived in Echo Park 25 years ago and it was filled with gang members and everytime the lake was drained, they would find bodies. Now it is filled with artist, trendy people with money, and interesting architecture. The houses in value there is close to San Francisco. It isn't a great place to raise children but if you are moving by yourself you will love it.

 

thanks, i've visted it once, and it seemed alright. i just wish i could get closer to the beach.

 

Try Miracle Mile. Close to Downtown and close to the Beach. Young people from what I hear.

 

yea silver lake is nice. very trendy.....echo park is not lol. i remember getting punked for my mcdonalds happy meal! lucky i didnt get my bicycle jacked