The long way to LA: The most epic roads in America
 

I just posted this in the 997 forum but figured I would repost here. If anyone wants to organize a trip down to 25 I'm down whenever...its that good.

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I had meetings in LA this week so decided to take the long way down from SF. I read good things about Hwy 25 and Hwy 33 so decided to string them together and go country roads the whole way down. I took 101 to Hollister > 25 to Coalinga > 33 to Ojai > 1 to Santa Monica.

Its really hard to describe how epic these roads are. Jalopnik called Hwy 33 "America's greatest driving road". They were wrong. Its tied for first with 25. Taking the 1 down the coast is gorgeous but this is the route you want to take in a 911.

To fully appreciate these roads just imagine doing 100 miles at Nürburgring (25 to Coalinga), followed by a 100 mile drag strip through the desert (33 to Maricopa), followed by another 70 miles at Nürburgring (33 to Ojai through Los Padres National Forest), and then top it off with 40 miles along the Malibu coastline.

25 and 33 through Los Padres are desolate and you only see another car, or human existence, every 5-10 minutes. Bring some water because if you breakdown it could get sketchy. You go from straights through farmland and desert to fast turns in the foothills to twisties through the mountains. The only time you run into other other cars is a 20 mile stretch on 33 called "the Petroleum Highway". Its an apocalyptic moonscape of oil rigs where you can get stuck behind a tanker until the road clears and you can pass. I took it easy through here because I had been doing 120mph stretches and needed to get my heart rate down.

The roads are excellent. Much of 33 is newly paved blacktop. The only things you want to be careful of are suicidal squirrels and falling rocks when you go between cuts in the mountain. I took it easy through these because you combine blind turns and freshly fallen rocks in the middle of the road. Sadly I tagged two squirrels on the route back and almost had another dropped on my windshield by a vulture. They congregate on the road to mourn their fallen brothers and then get hit by the next passing car.

This is why we own 911s. Its about the journey.


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Hwy 25

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Beautiful looks like an awesome ride.

that's also when you hope and pray for no issues with the car and Cell Phone signal in the case something happens.

No cell signal for much of 25 and on 33 through Los Padres. It was a little creepy the first time driving into Los Padres. Im glad I did all my maintenance last week on the car. Ran like a champ. Oil temps get up to 240 as you drive up through the mountains. On the way back I was I little more prepared and had extra water and a couple bags of trailmix.

Looks like a beautiful day. Your temps sound high to me for the cool weather we have had around here. You might want to look into that... FYI. Hwy 198 is just as epic as the roads you just drove, and the backroads around here are even better.

Looks awesome! I'm from SF as well and have no plans for this weekend...

Fixed it for you........

I've been mulling this for a while. I started using Motul 5w40 after I bought the car and the oil temps seem to run higher, and pressure runs lower. The prior owners Indy used Pentosin and Blackstone shows much improved Zinc and viscosity since switching to Motul. And most people rave about it.

However it maybe runs 10-15 degrees hotter and the oil pressure at idle will be at 1.5 vs previously around 3. 200-210 are my normal highway drive temps. It gets to 225 pretty easily when I get the RPMS up. 230 was my prior max and I hit 240 a couple times on this trip coming up long mountain passes. As the oil temp increased I noticed my oil pressure decrease. At 240 the pressure at idle would be around .9 - 1.0 and it was slower to increase as I increased RPMs.

It had my attention but ive not got any definitive answers. Most say "normal range" for a 997.1, with guys saying 210 is ideal to burn off water and 270 being typical track day temp.

My indy wants me to try Swepco and suggested maybe running 5w30 or 15w30. They all rave about Swepco so I might pickup some for my next oil change. Either that or DT40.

Im posting so I dont lose this thread- I plan on doing at least parts of this soon :)

@jnolan - that looks epic. might need to add that to my list. can you send route.

@8enny8lack - I will gladly be your guide if I get to drive the gt3...

Wow, nice road trip. I highly suggest you visit Angeles Crest Highway (Hwy 2) on the way back. If you go up from La Canada Flintridge, it will intersect with Angeles Forest Highway (solid route) or you can keep going an cut over to Angeles Forest Highway through Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Rd (aka 9 mile), which is probably one of the quicker canyon runs you can do. Angeles Forest Highway will spit you out in Palmdale - where you can continue up the 14 to the 395 to Mammoth Mountain and Yosemite. Or you can cut back to the 5.

As you get out of the twisties on AFH near Palmdale (just before Mt Emma rd) - it's generally empty and straight, or at least it used to be. If you want to grab a bite and don't mind driving a bit extra, you can look up Newcomb's Ranch - the food's ok, but it's better than what you expect for a place with no competition. If you want more, you can always take Hwy 2 all the way through to Wrightwood - where you can cut back using the 138 or since you're there, take the 15 to Vegas. I'm jealous, have fun.

I took the 101 to the 25 and stopped in Coalinga on the 33 for gas and turned around to go back. It was a beautiful drive, lots of great driving sections between straight stretches of highway. I ended up taking the 152 to watsonville road to san jose before hopping back on the freeways with tired shoulders and arms :)

Thanks for the recommendation!