A Good North Vancouver driving route?
 

Hey guys,

I am more of lurker here and not [yet] a Porsche owner, but I was wondering if I could appeal to the knowledge base here with my question:

I’m in the process of shopping for a sporty car in North Van (the dealerships along Marine Drive), and would like to find a good driving route for test driving. I’m new to Vancouver so I’m not too familiar with roads there.

I’m not a speed demon and more just want to be able to properly test the car out with a good mix of road conditions and speeds, without having to rely on the salesperson's recommended route.

Would any Vancouverites be able to recommend a good test drive route in North Van? Obviously there’s the highway nearby, but I wouldn’t mind a back road or two with a good number of turns, etc, and even some bumpier roads to test suspension.

I realize this is a random question, but would certainly love and feedback!

Thanks,

Dan

I would go up either Mount Seymour or Cypress Mountain.

But with the recent snow that may not work.

Hey Canuck964, thanks. Cypress or Seymour do make a lot of sense -- and indeed, provided the roads are clear!

Cheers!

Dan

drive to squamish and back. 30-40 minutes each way.

Marine drive, through West Van, including the section beyond Horseshoe Bay. repeat as necessary.

Your best bet is to take Marine Drive through West Van to Eagle Harbour, hang a right onto Westport and take that all the way up to Caulfield and then get on the highway west towards Lions Bay (ideally Porteau Cove if they're willing to let you drive that far).

In the city, however, when a salesman is trying to sell a performance car, they'll tell you to go to University Blvd. and have you hammer it along there. I know that's how my brother ended up basically buying an F10 M5 on the spot.

Good luck!

This should do it....

+1 .. solid route

Be warned!
 

WTF is with all the snow and cold mornings.

I was determined to drive my car this weekend.

The forecast was for warmer weather but I woke up this morning to snow !!!!!!!!!!!

Not to be a bummer, but there's seemingly RCMP everywhere nowadays and very few good quality backroads that are close-by in the lower mainland. Definitely worth heading to the interior or the island for a weekend and getting your thrills in out there than blasting the Sea to Sky, as fun as that can be at times.

Just a warning for people who head to Cypress for fun - I've been to Cypress twice, mid-week this past month to ski and there's been a speed trap both times with a hidden ghost car probably half way up the mountain.. Keep your eyes up.

DasSilberWedge is spot on about the number of cops out there especially in West Vancouver and Sea to Sky.

I used to do the Bob's Breakfast runs with PCA-CWR but I quit because of the "need for speed" of some of the participants.

Funny thing was there would be a bunch of us all waiting to be at the end of the line so we would not hold up anyone as there is not supposed to be any passing while on the run.

You don't actually need to speed to enjoy the Sea to Sky.

That is why I like my 964 ...... it has 250 hp ...... not too far off from a Honda Civic Si.

I know what you're getting at with the power thing, I drive a 944 S2, but not sure what a lack of power and Honda Civics have to do with anything - but I don't want to take this thread any further off track than it already is.

All I'm going to say is that in my experience, I've had only good things to say about Bob's Breakfast Club since I started attending two years ago. Everyone for the most part holds a good pace all morning and it's far from being run irresponsibly or promoting any dangerous driving. Funny enough on my first outing with the group, Bob and a few others got pulled over on the way back (one would assume for speeding, but wasn't the case). The officer knew Bob previously & told him there was no issue, other than someone calling about cars slowing down excessively so they wouldn't hold anyone up..

All I was getting at in the previous post was that the best backroads in BC are the ones away from traffic, police presence and neighbourhoods. Not impossible, but definitely hard to tick all three boxes in the lower mainland.

That you do not need 500hp to enjoy the Sea to Sky Highway and that my old 964 does not have a lot of hp .... basically a glorified VW bug.

I am by no means a goody too shoe cause I admit that I speed just about everyday.

But in my 964 for some reason I drive a lot slower than in my daily driver and I still enjoy the drive.

No I agree, that's totally true and I can attest to that actually being the case. My S2 is a lot of fun at low speed too and I've found I slowed down since I've owned it vs previous cars. I think we're in the same boat on this one.

I apologise though, I obviously totally misunderstood the Civic part - thought you were of the argument that it doesn't make enough power to be able to speed at all in the first place.. Didn't intend any offense.