Great Roads

Currently I'm looking for a sporty RWD car. I've subscribed to a few message boards, but one post on bimmerforums.com got me thinking. The post is about great roads in Northern California, and I've come up with a few, here is my post from there.

Top 5: 2 are a bit of a stretch for San Franciscans though.

5: Airport Street in Half Moon Bay:
Long Unlit straight good for drags at night, + the drive over Devil's Slide can be fun when there's no traffic.

4: Guadeloupe Canyon Parkway From Daly City to Bayshore and back:
LONG sweeping curves and good hills making for some fun braking into the corners.

3: Sharp Park Road in Pacifica:
Good hill for practicing your apexing and overall driving skills, its short and has reverse camber on most of the turns making it a bit tricky, just watch out for cops when you're going downhill. Also, be very careful when wet, that road is dangerous if you don't know how to correct oversteer (which I assume anyone ITT or reading it knows how lol).

2: Sulfur Bank Drive:
A short back road in Clearlake: Roughly 3-4 Miles with sweet 90° degree banked turns and a clear view around the other side making a really fun apex with no traffic. As you come over the top and you hit last couple corners theres a short downhill straight that you can hit about 80-90 then jam on the brakes before banking right, then left, then right again in a fairly fast set of corners. One word of warning, its a bit rough so be prepared if you have a lowered car.

And my #1 Road in Northern California.

Highway 29 between Calistoga and Middletown:

This highway is a fairly long mountain road up then down. On the Northbound upside you start off with state recommended 15mph turn that is properly banked, then quite a set of solid short tight turns that you'll surely be heel toeing a lot through, and a few short passing lanes. After the first passing lane and a few corners, you hit a 600ft straight passing lane that continues into a hard banked right turn that feeds back to the left, back right again, a few sweepers, another straight, and one more set of sweepers; you're now at the top. As you start your descent, you pass an area where people park to check out the trails and you see some hard fast downhill turns all banked nicely. Quickly upon you is a passing straight of about 700ft, a medium left turn followed by a sharp 90° right turn, and a sweeping left with a wide shoulder making for a good turn in. Then, just when you think its over, BOOM you're thrust into a 100° right and some more twisties. As the sweat is dripping from your head from that 10-12 minute exhilarating rollercoster of a road, and you're wondering how many turns are left, you hit a wide right; as you clear the corner you see an 8-10° bank on a fairly wide left, you dump a gear and punch it as you turn and feel the car lock in hard. When you finish this perfect turn you see an end to the short ones, shift up to cruising speed and continue on your journey.

Another good one, not for the drive so much as the scenery is Highway 1 up by Fort Bragg. You're on a 200 Foot Cliff overlooking the ocean, its amazing. If you've heard of the California Melee you know what I'm talking about. There was some nice 2002's in that rally. Actually, most of the roads we went on on that rally were amazing.