Any good places to drive?

[Simpleviet]

Short intro. I lived in NY for 4 years. Came home to SJ. Bought my very first car Scion FRS. I'm looking for a fun place to drive the car around. Back roads or scenery roads is fine. I just want to drive. Thanks for reading and answering I appreciate that

[whaap]

I've only been thru your area once so I can't answer your question. I would start with a map, look for wiggly lines and try them out.

[BigFatFlip]

I've found lots of nice roads between San Jose and Santa Cruz (17 is a nice cruise if you got the time). I like Mt. Hamilton aswell. Check out this old thread for some more info:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...t=roads+routes

[strat61caster]

I giggle whenever I hear people whining about snow, threw my gf and two buddies into mine and cruised Lake Berryessa on Saturday. I love California.

Edit: it's a bit of a drive for you so I wouldn't recommend it unless you're in the area (i.e. Napa or Sac) but there's plenty of terrain for an enjoyable drive around the bay. Also if you're going to L.A. and have the time take Pacific Coast Highway (HWY 1 or PCH depending on who you talk to) it's a lovely drive that always makes the lists of roads to drive in America, try to do it on a weekday. I don't think I'll ever do 5 again if I can help it

[spitz]

Highway 9 in Saratoga up to Skyline Blvd. Then you chose your poison at the four corners, where you can head to Santa Cruz, San Francisco, or Los Gatos.

[MyRx]

And then there's the poison of taking the same road twice - one up and one down. One way with gravity, the other way against gravity.

[TheFRSChick]

The road that @PMok took a few of us yesterday ! lmao !

[PMok]

Originally Posted by TheFRSChick

The road that @PMok took a few of us yesterday ! lmao !

That would be Mines Rd and Mt. Hamilton Rd. Between Livermore and San Jose. About 100 miles of twists and turns.

For scenery as strat61caster said you can't beat the Pacific Coast Highway, aka Hwy 1. The drive between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz is a nice day trip, just cruise and don't rage when you get stuck behind a slowpoke car... stop and take in the view, take pics, eat some seafood.

here's me messing around with panoramic mode... look its magic, I'm in two places at once!

[Simpleviet]

Thanks. Wooo. I did the Tesla RD did a U turn at the park fee station then drove onto Mines RD and MT hamilton to East foothills then home. Maaaaaaan, there were a lot of turn turns and curves and tight u turns. Whenever I look out the passenger window and I see how high I am. I sorta freak out Any moment now this car and slip and fall of the edge lol oh man. What a drive. It was very scenic took some pictures here and there. I loved how empty the roads were. Majority of the ride was smooth got some bumps here and there. rocks and gravel. I had a blast. Those roads definitely narrow. First time to drive around those parks. Very fun. Thanks!!

Question though. I never pushed my car hard but during this trip I decide to. The thing I noticed is whenever I depress the pedal for throttle it felt like the car didnt respond until few seconds later. The response of the throttle gets recognized. Feels like theres a delay. Is that abnormal? The odometer so far is 700ish.

[PMok]

Originally Posted by Simpleviet

Thanks. Wooo. I did the Tesla RD did a U turn at the park fee station then drove onto Mines RD and MT hamilton to East foothills then home. Maaaaaaan, there were a lot of turn turns and curves and tight u turns. Whenever I look out the passenger window and I see how high I am. I sorta freak out Any moment now this car and slip and fall of the edge lol oh man. What a drive. It was very scenic took some pictures here and there. I loved how empty the roads were. Majority of the ride was smooth got some bumps here and there. rocks and gravel. I had a blast. Those roads definitely narrow. First time to drive around those parks. Very fun. Thanks!!

Question though. I never pushed my car hard but during this trip I decide to. The thing I noticed is whenever I depress the pedal for throttle it felt like the car didnt respond until few seconds later. The response of the throttle gets recognized. Feels like theres a delay. Is that abnormal? The odometer so far is 700ish.

You did the drive today?! Too bad you missed us yesterday we went as a group and stopped at the Observatory up top.

Is your car manual or auto? If you are used to an older car with a direct throttle, the drive-by-wire throttle can feel a little weird or delayed. Could also be traction control kicking in if you are flooring it on exit of a corner. But I have to say unless you are up in the high rev ranges the responsiveness is pretty unimpressive when you floor it. It's better at 5000-7000 RPM. I guess there are a few things you can do to improve it some, an ECU tune or the crank pulley upgrade but I have not done either yet.

[86BRZ]

Originally Posted by spitz

Highway 9 in Saratoga up to Skyline Blvd. Then you chose your poison at the four corners, where you can head to Santa Cruz, San Francisco, or Los Gatos.

From 35 I choose PageMill road down hill to 280S then return. This is my little car testing and practice run. My like is the 3 continuous hairpin turns, so initiad D feel.

[Simpleviet]

its an Auto. I haven't reach 5 - 7 rpms its been up to 4 i believe i noticed that around 3 rpm is when the car kicked it in gear and pushes hard. I don't think I ever pushed the car any higher. I tried to push the car up higher than 4 but I dont think I ever did the car's throttle isnt as responsive to my footing.

Since its normal I won't worry then. I also noticed a smell too. when I drove up on the telsa rd. I stopped to take a picture I started smelling a burning smell. First time. I wasn't sure what it was.

oh i use default mode didnt had anything turned off or on for sports and trac and stuff. all was default.

[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by Simpleviet

its an Auto. I haven't reach 5 - 7 rpms its been up to 4 i believe i noticed that around 3 rpm is when the car kicked it in gear and pushes hard. I don't think I ever pushed the car any higher. I tried to push the car up higher than 4 but I dont think I ever did the car's throttle isnt as responsive to my footing.

Since its normal I won't worry then. I also noticed a smell too. when I drove up on the telsa rd. I stopped to take a picture I started smelling a burning smell. First time. I wasn't sure what it was.

oh i use default mode didnt had anything turned off or on for sports and trac and stuff. all was default.

Yes, like what pmok said, our cars are pretty unimpressive (torque-wise) anywhere below 5k. Rpm. Your really feel the response further up the rev range. Also, since its an auto, it might be helpful to put it in sport, I vaguely remember somebody mentioning that response was much better in that mode. I'm guessing by roads you've been driving that the smell might be your brakes.

[PMok]

Originally Posted by Simpleviet

I also noticed a smell too. when I drove up on the telsa rd. I stopped to take a picture I started smelling a burning smell. First time. I wasn't sure what it was.

The smell could be a few diff things... could be the exhaust parts still burning off various oils and coatings that come on the brand new pieces... that makes a smell for the first few hundred miles. Could be the brakes... I also get a clutch type smell (like burnt peanut butter) after driving, even after 4K+ miles. But I am driving a manual trans.

But it's probably normal for a new car, you're still under 1000 miles.