OMG... This road... you must drive...
04-30-2007, 04:27 PM
#1
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OMG... This road... you must drive...
So, driving from The Woodlands to College Station my NAV is useless and pics the most boring routes possible. Depending on where I am in The Woodlands, it'll tell me 45 --> 105 --> 6, or 290 --> 6.
Very, very, very boring highway roads; not fit for an 8 by any means.
My friend in College Station did a spot of MapQuesting for me and found a slightly more interesting route. However, it's still 100% highway driving with no turns & no fun.
Well, this weekend, as I was leaving College Station, I had a full tank (rare), It was still light out (equally rare for this drive), and I was feeling a little adventurous. I decided to try out some of the not-so-major farm roads on my nav in hopes of finding something more suitable for my 8...
...and by God did I find what is now my favorite road in all of Texas. :D
FM 362
It starts at 105 and ends shortly after 1488. It's 22 clicks long and 18 clicks of it puts a big, goofy, grin on my face that I can't wipe away. Going eastbound on 105 you can enter 362 at 55-65mph. You better have faith in your driving because you don't have much time to finish your breakneck turn and straighten out before getting airborne.
That's right - airborne.
Less than 250m from the highway intersection is 2 sets of train tracks. The first one is quite smooth to drive over, but gets your car up enough before a sudden downhill. The downhill isn't steep enough for you to you to catch any air on, but definately enough to feel the force of gravity lessen for a moment. After that first set, however, there is another set of tracks. At the right velocity, you can get your car to spring up and slightly ramp over this second set. Once again, you don't get any hangtime, but you do go weightless for a second your car hovers for an instant.
500m after your "landing" is a tight left turn. Now by "tight" I don't mean "OMG HIT THE BRAKES!!!", I mean there's a sign right after the tracks that recomends you slow down to 40mph. The speed limit is 60mph. Enter the turn at the 60 in 6th gear and drop your foot. The long sweeper will slowly push your tires to the virge of chirping before straighteing out. Wipe the smile off your face and set your cruise control to 70 - things are about to get interesting...
...After about 2 clicks of stinky farm roads, and unexciting flatness, road signs will slowly blueball you for the road ahead. "DO NOT PASS!" "WATCH YOUR SPEED" "UNEVEN LANES" "NARROW BRIDGES" "UNPAVED ROADS"...
Suddenly hills will start to roll. Random ups & downs closely followed by sudden lefts & rights demand both hands on the wheel and eyes on the prize. Then the pavement itself begins to dip up and down... but not uniformly. The left side of your car feels like it's on a different road than the right side. You never bounce at the same time, random texture changes cause the car to pull randomly from side to side, braking requires some degree of counter-steer (no matter how slight). Not one major pot hole on the road threatens to damage your car, however - it just bucks you around the inside of your car like a bicycle over sleep strips.
Then the REAL magic happens! No more pavement. Dirt road. The DSC goes apeshit, you're wiggling the wheel left and right like they do in TV shows and movies, you have to start your turns before the come, brake before you want to slow down, focus intently on where the *** of your car is to make sure it's not trying to pass the front of the car. The speed limit on this deathtrap road? 60mph. It's 5 lanes wide & you're the only car on it - press the gas and use them all!
Several clicks later the pavement returns, but the drive stays rough. The roads are smoothly paved, but there's nothing straight about them. All turns are followed or preceeded by hills that limit visibility. No turn is dangerously blind, but the road is narrow enough and there are no shoulders for forgiveness, so you still need to stay alert as you wind around each turn.
As you near 1488, the road suddenly becomes a car commercial. 6 very long, very wide, very narrow sweepers are placed back to back to back. Yellow signs all around recommend 40-50mph. 60 is nice. 65 is nicer. 70 is fun. 75 is real fun, but encroaching the danger zone. 80 your tires start to chirp (don't recommend). 85 your breathing is impared by the lateral g's (please only push yourself this hard if you're on the outside lane [left turns] - that way if you mess up the only life you take is your own). Slow down after that last right turn - you have a stop sign coming up, and it's hidden by trees.
Anyone else here ever drive this road?
Know of anything equally or more exciting in the Houston area?
Plz share
Very, very, very boring highway roads; not fit for an 8 by any means.
My friend in College Station did a spot of MapQuesting for me and found a slightly more interesting route. However, it's still 100% highway driving with no turns & no fun.
Well, this weekend, as I was leaving College Station, I had a full tank (rare), It was still light out (equally rare for this drive), and I was feeling a little adventurous. I decided to try out some of the not-so-major farm roads on my nav in hopes of finding something more suitable for my 8...
...and by God did I find what is now my favorite road in all of Texas. :D
FM 362
It starts at 105 and ends shortly after 1488. It's 22 clicks long and 18 clicks of it puts a big, goofy, grin on my face that I can't wipe away. Going eastbound on 105 you can enter 362 at 55-65mph. You better have faith in your driving because you don't have much time to finish your breakneck turn and straighten out before getting airborne.
That's right - airborne.
Less than 250m from the highway intersection is 2 sets of train tracks. The first one is quite smooth to drive over, but gets your car up enough before a sudden downhill. The downhill isn't steep enough for you to you to catch any air on, but definately enough to feel the force of gravity lessen for a moment. After that first set, however, there is another set of tracks. At the right velocity, you can get your car to spring up and slightly ramp over this second set. Once again, you don't get any hangtime, but you do go weightless for a second your car hovers for an instant.
500m after your "landing" is a tight left turn. Now by "tight" I don't mean "OMG HIT THE BRAKES!!!", I mean there's a sign right after the tracks that recomends you slow down to 40mph. The speed limit is 60mph. Enter the turn at the 60 in 6th gear and drop your foot. The long sweeper will slowly push your tires to the virge of chirping before straighteing out. Wipe the smile off your face and set your cruise control to 70 - things are about to get interesting...
...After about 2 clicks of stinky farm roads, and unexciting flatness, road signs will slowly blueball you for the road ahead. "DO NOT PASS!" "WATCH YOUR SPEED" "UNEVEN LANES" "NARROW BRIDGES" "UNPAVED ROADS"...
Suddenly hills will start to roll. Random ups & downs closely followed by sudden lefts & rights demand both hands on the wheel and eyes on the prize. Then the pavement itself begins to dip up and down... but not uniformly. The left side of your car feels like it's on a different road than the right side. You never bounce at the same time, random texture changes cause the car to pull randomly from side to side, braking requires some degree of counter-steer (no matter how slight). Not one major pot hole on the road threatens to damage your car, however - it just bucks you around the inside of your car like a bicycle over sleep strips.
Then the REAL magic happens! No more pavement. Dirt road. The DSC goes apeshit, you're wiggling the wheel left and right like they do in TV shows and movies, you have to start your turns before the come, brake before you want to slow down, focus intently on where the *** of your car is to make sure it's not trying to pass the front of the car. The speed limit on this deathtrap road? 60mph. It's 5 lanes wide & you're the only car on it - press the gas and use them all!
Several clicks later the pavement returns, but the drive stays rough. The roads are smoothly paved, but there's nothing straight about them. All turns are followed or preceeded by hills that limit visibility. No turn is dangerously blind, but the road is narrow enough and there are no shoulders for forgiveness, so you still need to stay alert as you wind around each turn.
As you near 1488, the road suddenly becomes a car commercial. 6 very long, very wide, very narrow sweepers are placed back to back to back. Yellow signs all around recommend 40-50mph. 60 is nice. 65 is nicer. 70 is fun. 75 is real fun, but encroaching the danger zone. 80 your tires start to chirp (don't recommend). 85 your breathing is impared by the lateral g's (please only push yourself this hard if you're on the outside lane [left turns] - that way if you mess up the only life you take is your own). Slow down after that last right turn - you have a stop sign coming up, and it's hidden by trees.
Anyone else here ever drive this road?
Know of anything equally or more exciting in the Houston area?
Plz share
05-01-2007, 10:48 AM
#3
Resident Monkey
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FM3090 is still my favorite in the Houston area (it is only a couple of miles from the road you just described). I haven't seen 362 yet, nor have I been here that long. The roads were much better around Atlanta.
05-01-2007, 10:53 AM
#4
The perdenales (sp?) run is by far my favorite. Me and my buddy's STI go out there every so often. You also catch air if your not aware of a quick elevation change...but OMG hands down a very technical and fun drive for sure...
05-01-2007, 03:34 PM
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seriously?
Any road that starts off with "CR" is usually a rush - College Station has plenty of those
The onramps/offramps are pretty damn exciting @ 80mph, too
Any road that starts off with "CR" is usually a rush - College Station has plenty of those
The onramps/offramps are pretty damn exciting @ 80mph, too
05-01-2007, 04:14 PM
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DaTrixStunna
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Originally Posted by ½mv²
seriously?
Any road that starts off with "CR" is usually a rush - College Station has plenty of those
The onramps/offramps are pretty damn exciting @ 80mph, too
Any road that starts off with "CR" is usually a rush - College Station has plenty of those
The onramps/offramps are pretty damn exciting @ 80mph, too
Haha...yea guess those would be....quite a few short onramps and offramps...
05-01-2007, 04:48 PM
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I know exactly the road you are talking about -- "home" is that area for me (Magnolia,TX)
I used to make the trip in my old college car from Magnolia to College Station (yes I'm an aggie) So I know all the roads and ****. Funny to see someone driving and being from the same area I'm from.
Of course now I have my RX8 and instead of a 45 min drive from magnolia to college station in a Saturn Sl1 it could take me 30 min
I used to make the trip in my old college car from Magnolia to College Station (yes I'm an aggie) So I know all the roads and ****. Funny to see someone driving and being from the same area I'm from.
Of course now I have my RX8 and instead of a 45 min drive from magnolia to college station in a Saturn Sl1 it could take me 30 min
05-01-2007, 05:05 PM
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Most of the roads spoken of in this thread (362, 1488, 149 and of course 3090) are part of the RX-Club of Houston drives. I found some nice roads for the Shiner run this weekend, come on out and join us!
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