U.S West Coast: My Dream Drive
PHer Neil Srivastava details his epic road trip across California and Arizona
Route: Scottsdale, AZ-Scottsdale, AZ, via Sedona, Las Vegas, LA and La Jolla
Car used: Chevrolet Camaro, Audi Q5
The route:
"Leaving Scottsdale early in the morning with the temperature already over 30 degrees, we embarked on our West Coast road trip.
"Beginning on Route 17 through the red rocks and vortexes of Sedona, past Flagstaff and onto our first stop: El Tovar, Grand Canyon. A large amount of cow was consumed before heading back south on the 180 and connecting to (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66. Route 93 was the last part of the Audi Q5's journey with a quick pic at the Hoover Dam and onto our second stop, Las Vegas.
"From here, it seemed a tremendous idea to opt for a convertible and motor west to classy San Diego by Chevrolet Camero. I won't lie, Vegas was crazy and I'm not entirely certain of the roads taken but Highway 5 was a very memorable coastal route and I highly recommend it."
Why it's a dream drive:
"For me, the dream drive is a journey that offers breathtaking scenery and shouldn't necessarily rely on your car. Here we have a modest Audi Q5 for the trip to Vegas from Scottsdale and a Chevrolet Camaro Convertible onto California.
"The scenery is incredible; vast open spaces and beautiful views, stuff you just don't get over here.
"From 'drive-thru' Starbucks to the Grand Canyon, this route has something for everyone. Whether you want to feel like you're in a car chase at the Mexico border or George Clooney in Vegas, the choice is yours."
Highlights and lowlights:
"Highlights include driving through the desert at night into an illuminated Las Vegas, Calvin Harris on and pitching up at the Bellagio. This was equalled by the coastal drive alongside the Pacific and stopping in La Jolla.
"Lowlights were mainly fuel related. In America black is unleaded and green is diesel... the refuelling nightmare is compounded by having to pre-select how much you're going to pay on card before refuelling - very annoying. The unleaded is cheap but premium is 91RON filth."
Sights, stop-offs and diversions:
"Spoilt for choice on this one! On our trip we stopped at a rodeo in Flag Staff, watched a drag race at Wild Horse Raceway and also saw Sedona, the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and San Diego. A great trip!"
Follow the route here.
[Pics: Matt Downing]
BTW The US use a slightly different octane rating scale to us. Their "91" at the pumps is pretty similar to what we call super here. Their system takes an average of, I think, RON and MON to get their numbers and it results in a lower number on the pump.
It was better built than I expected, but it had some of the most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat on. And the door armrest gave me appalling elbow pain every time.
It's a common sneer among Britons -- I hear it often -- along with being unaware that the US dropped leaded fuels earlier and that the US had catalytic converters and mandated strict anti-pollution standards earlier than the EU -- by a decade.
On octane, the UK uses a less complex method of measurement.
You'll also want to have a look at E85, which is abundant in the Midwest of the US, but somewhat unknown in Britain.
The Camaro was good fun and added to the America experience. Perhaps not built as well as the Europeans, but not bad. The cabriolet roof was a bit manual and with the button held down, the electric motors carried on spinning even when the roof was fully down.
I've also learnt something about US fuel ratings, cheers!
I've also had the Camaro Convertible - terribly good fun on Highway 1.
I wouldn't say the petrol stations and RON of the fuel makes any difference at all. It really isn't difficult to walk into the gas station and ask to prepay. If you prepay $50 but only take $40, the gas station will only charge you for what you have taken.
All good fun though - sounds like you had a good time.
Surprised at how cheap it was to hire a Mustang for a couple of days, hence why we hired one each. Good drive as well. I'm pretty sure there was an option to hire a Corvette, would love to do that if I went back
The Palms to Pines highway (SR-74) is spectacular:
Closer to San Diego is Palomar Mountain. One of the roads that goes to the top was built so they could safely transport a large mirror for the observatory, so it's series of hairpins with what used to be very smooth tarmac but which had deteriorated quite badly when I revisited it more recently. As long as you don't get stuck behind someone in a camper van, or old farts going to the casino on SR-76, the following is a great drive (go clockwise). The other road off the mountain is faster 3rd and 4th gear stuff with longer sightlines and fewer precipitous drops:
Always thought that would be a great west-coast alternative to the Nordschleife if you could somehow close the roads.
After a year living six blocks from the ocean, I moved to suburbia for a year. Once I discovered that it took the same time to get to work on the back roads through Rancho Santa Fe as it did sitting in traffic on the freeway or the 101 I didn't feel quite so bad about not being able to hear the surf crash onto the rocks at night. When I eventually realized I looked forward to driving to and from work more than I did the actual job, I knew science wasn't really the right career for me. It took another 11 years to find a way to get paid to write about (and drive) cars.
After returning to the UK I found out that Hertz Prestige offer V8 Camaro, Mustang and Corvette's. Next time :-)
San Diego is wonderful, could have stayed a lot longer. We stayed in La Jola and could hear the Sea Lions from our hotel.
Also, did go via Vegas so I could have been on crack...
Also, did go via Vegas so I could have been on crack...
However, it may have been because his card is not issued by a US bank. I'm simply guessing.
In the US, if you pay for fuel with a credit or debit card, you simply swipe and pump. You do not prepay. You prepay only when paying in cash.
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