rohitgarewal

Hi guys! I know I've read threads on this in the past, and I know of the roads in the south bay and east bay, but I've got an itch to take a road near San franciso that makes a Porsche feels like a Porsche, that makes me feel the joy of what a boxster Spyder was made to do, transmit the road, let me swing the rear out a bit, and let the exhaust notes wail at 5k - I've been commuting far too much in this car in a straight line, and my last time pushing this car was an auto cross 6 months ago!

I've got a one year old, and only have about two hours for an early morning ride on the weekends. If anyone knows of anything leaving from San Francisco, please share!

Thanks in advance!

djantlive

Not much in sf but some roads near Golden Gate Bridge is decent. Otherwise, I'd go to Marine.

texasviany

I am blessed to have cool roads near me. My favorite road in the Texas Hill country. (We run these roads as a group.)

RDCR

Hwy 1 headed south isn't bad or Skyline Blvd (Hyw 35?) going south as well. Watch out for "the man" though. Coming off Skyline further down is Hwy 9 which drops into Santa Cruz and is one of my favorites. Once you get into the Santa Cruz mountains there are all kinds of good roads.

swmic

Head over to Big Basin Redwoods SP, looks like Rt 236. Drove that last spring and was really wishing I had the Spyder.

Macster

Go north across the GG bridge. Take 1 north. Just about any road that cuts east to 101 is going to be a good road.

Some of the auto reviewers/writers for Excellence magazine use a number of these roads for their testing/review of cars.

Be careful. There is the "man" to be wary of, to be sure, but these roads can be used by cyclists, motorcyclists, and other car enthusiasts and during certain times of the year, sightseers. There is the risk of wildlife -- deer mainly -- being on the road or running across the road right in front of your car. The roads can be slick with moisture from dew or fog.

rohitgarewal

Great feedback guys! Will definitely head out this Sunday for a spirited yet safe (i.e. high rev low speed) drive.

Macster

As others have already mentioned, Highway 35 from 92 to highway 9 used to be a nice drive, probably still is, but you have to cool your jets. Heavily patrolled and often with a lot of cyclists and motorcyclists. There are some roads that turn west towards the coast which are nice drives.

If you drive to highway 9 then you can go south to Santa Cruz or turn north and come into Saratoga.

Highway 1 south from Pacifica used to be a nice drive, and like highway 35 probably still is. Again though it can be congested with bicyclists, motorcycles, sightseers, etc. (Highway 1 south of Monterey is less congested usually, but that is a ways south of SF.)

There are a few roads that run from 1 to 35.

If you feel like driving 40+ miles come over to Livermore. There is Altamont Pass Road -- which runs along side I-580. There is Mines Road which heads south into the mountains east of the east bay and south of I-580. This road has two destinations. One takes you to San Antonio Valley Road (the name changes at the Alameda/Santa Clara county line) to Mt. Hamilton (the observatory) and then down into east San Jose, or you can turn east and take Del Puerto Canyon Road which takes you over to I-5.

These roads are less heavily traveled but are sometimes loaded with bicyclists. The roads are used for some legs of a big bicycle race and attract bike racing fans who like to ride over the same roads used by the racers.

In fact, I can tell you from experience, most of the rural roads out here in the tri-valley area can at times have a number of bicyclists on them either in large gatherings or a number of smaller groups.

Also, from the east side of Livermore you can take the Patterson Pass Road, which comes out on I-580 just west of Tracy, or a bit further south you can take Tesla Road which runs through Corral Hollow. This comes out over on I-580 west and a bit south of Tracy.

There is Palomares Road from I-580 -- about midway between Castro Valley and Dublin -- that cuts south through mountains and comes out to 84 just west of Sunol. (Highway 84 east from I-680 to 238 and into Niles is a nice albeit short drive.)

South from I-680 in Sunol Valley is Calaveras Road which runs south behind Fremont CA back in the mountains and brings you out to Calaveras Road in Milpitas.

If you want to go north from SF I've already mentioned some roads between 1 and 101. There are a number of other roads east of 101 that run through the countryside in both Sonoma and Napa counties. Most of this area is wine country so you will have to deal with the wine country tourist traffic.

If one is agreeable to an even longer drive 25 highway south from Hollister is a very nice road. You can follow this down to 198 then head east to Coalinga and take 33 up/over to I-5. Or you can cut over west to 101 and then take 101 down to 46 (just north of Paso Robles) and head east and pass through Cholame and stop at the James Dean memorial before hooking up to 41 which takes you over to I-5.

In the central valley say from Stockton south to Turlock or even further south -- depends upon how south you want to go -- there are a number of roads that turn east off of 99 and head towards the Sierras. These roads can be a nice drive and the ones between Stockton and Modesto take you into the gold country which if one is not in the touristy season offer nice roads and drives.

rohitgarewal

Thanks macster! Wealth of knowledge!

2XIPA

Agreed. I've been on some of those back roads around Livermore they are truly worth seeking. 👍

bernb6

Two things for you to check.

First is a website of great bay area roads put together by Claude Leglise:
http://www.carretaracing.com/porsche_roads/frame.htm

Second is to join the Golden Gate Region of PCA (http://www.pca-ggr.org/). We have approx. 10 "fun runs" a year covering some of the routes mentioned above and others. The runs are indeed fun, very popular, and a great way to get to know the area and other Porsche drivers who enjoy their cars and driving. PCA-GGR also sponsors autocrosses and track days.
Bern

sapman

Not sure how good this is for CA, but there are some good NY/NJ roads on http://www.motorcycleroads.us/index.html

rohitgarewal

Hi Bern, I'm a member of ggr (2 years now) but never get the emails about the fun runs, so I look out for them on the site, but always seem to miss them because of travel, other commitments, or I'm too late to register.

I hope to definitely be able to do a few this year.

rohitgarewal

Thanks everyone for the great recommendations. Yesterday I drove down 280, then cut over on 35 and started heading south. Went down for quite a few miles, then swung back up on north on 35 and turned on king George road, a fantastic set of twisties that eventually drops you off at 280, which I then took back home to SF. Wow this car is capable.

I did this drive been 730am - 9am.

This was the first time I've gone on a drive like that in years, and I have to say while it was fun, I couldn't get the thought of bicyclists out of my mind. When I was ten years younger, I used to drive like an idiot, but I also didn't have access to cars that were so capable. Even at higher speeds I felt like the spyder wasn't even being tested, which left me wanting to push more, but I kept holding back. Even early in the morning there were a lot of cyclists on the road, and I kept on scaling way back on curves because most were blind. Had to keep traction control on because I ddint want kick the rear out directly into some poor guy.

At the end of the day, I realized that I would have to go further out to find roads that are more barren, but most likely the only place to really enjoy the car's limits are autocross or the track. That's a bummer, because I only get the opportunity to do that a few times a year.

Maybe my fun rides will be limited to using my motorcycle, and the spyder will have to sit and look pretty and come out for DE, and the occasional drives down the coast.

bernb6

Rohit, to get on GGR's email list you need to opt in here:
http://www.pca-ggr.org/about/connect-with-ggr/.
We've talked about automatically enrolling all GGR members and having an opt out policy but the board is reluctant to impose that on everyone. Also, check the calendar on the website for upcoming rides, DE days and autocrosses.
Bern