driving from LA to San Diego
Discussion
Not sure on heading south, but I did San Fran to LA recently. Had a Mustang (or similar!) booked, and Avis tried to fob me off with a Mitsubishi Eclipse when I went to pick it up. Ended up with a Camaro RS, as they had no Mustang GTs left. It was fine and nice to have something American for the trip, but I actually would have preferred to have had one of my own cars out there to drive the coastal route
Just note that you're somewhat limited with the big rental companies if you're going to drop off at a different location to your pick-up one, so the V8 stuff might officially be off-limits. However, if you talk to them on the day they might let you upgrade as long as you pay the $$$ (Corvette, Viper, Mustang GT, Camaro SS, etc). That seemed to be the impression I got, but they had feck all stock left that day
Just note that you're somewhat limited with the big rental companies if you're going to drop off at a different location to your pick-up one, so the V8 stuff might officially be off-limits. However, if you talk to them on the day they might let you upgrade as long as you pay the $$$ (Corvette, Viper, Mustang GT, Camaro SS, etc). That seemed to be the impression I got, but they had feck all stock left that day
Edited by Leins on Friday 29th June 18:22
Really the only option is the pacific coast highway through all the beach towns - redondo, newport, laguna, dana point, San clemente. All very pleasant at a steady poseur cruise. Then you have to pick up the 405 past the big boobie nuclear reactor, army testing ground and into San Diego. If you go inland there are some hills which offer some proper driving, but your route will be much longer if time is an issue. For me it would be a corvette.
S2AVANT said:
I am landing in LA driving down to San Diego for a week then driving back up to LA to fly home. I have been booked a corolla through Hertz so I'll only have their choice of cars to upgrade to. Is the camaro any good? I've had mustangs previously.
Camaro better than Mustang (go for the V8 obviously), Challenger much the same although I preferred it to the Camaro, and Corvette best of all. All available through Hertz. Take the coast road, highway 15 is real boring unless you simple want the quickest route. You'll be a ware you can take a rental car down to the Mexican border, but you can't driver it over.
San Diego for a week
. I've never found much to do there in comparison to LA.
It isn't really a great drive whatever you do. There is basically the choice of the 5 or the 15 (miles inland), both dull. The only real decision is how much of the coast highway (the 101) to take. It is interesting trundling through the beach cities on the north end (Newport beach, Laguna Beach etc.) but very slow and a bit samey after a while. Closer to San Diego you can pick it up again and meander down through Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas etc. which is reasonably charming but again, very slow.
The actual driving is so dull I am not sure it matters what car you have. I think I would go for a pickup - you can see more and you will still be sitting at traffic lights (for hours) listening to V8 rumble.
Oh, and it is from the German for 'Whale's Vagina'.
The actual driving is so dull I am not sure it matters what car you have. I think I would go for a pickup - you can see more and you will still be sitting at traffic lights (for hours) listening to V8 rumble.
Oh, and it is from the German for 'Whale's Vagina'.
The drive is quite a dull one, mainly freeway and not much else to see. Allow around 4 hours from LAX and as for the cars, unless you are getting the V8 versions, all the cars you mention will be a somewhat underpowered V6 and (IMHO) not worth the upgrade over a boggo car.
San Diego is a nice city and it you get a chance visit the aircraft carrier that's parked up in SD, it's a great day out.
San Diego is a nice city and it you get a chance visit the aircraft carrier that's parked up in SD, it's a great day out.
S2AVANT said:
I am landing in LA driving down to San Diego for a week then driving back up to LA to fly home. I have been booked a corolla through Hertz so I'll only have their choice of cars to upgrade to. Is the camaro any good? I've had mustangs previously.
It was a V6 RS, not the V8 SS, so wasn't the fastest thing in the world, but was a comfy cruiser for roof-down freeway driving in the sun, and looked quite cool in my eyes. I know it's a US car cliche at this stage, but it really didn't handle all that well on the coastal twisties, and would have loved to have had my little Alpina out there for that sectionDeva Link said:
What day will you be doing this? We had to do it on a Friday afternoon a afew years agp and it was an utter nightmare.
Also you need to avoid Del Mar if there's racing (horses) on that day.
Arriving at LAX around lunch time on Sunday, flying back on Saturday evening, (moved the return from Friday evening due to busy traffic reports).Also you need to avoid Del Mar if there's racing (horses) on that day.
It's a business trip so MPG isn't one of my criteria as it is covered. The Camaro SS convertible is the favourite so far. Depends what they have when I arrive, I suppose.
ahhh memories
Ok, I15 takes you straight through the desert - its pretty boring but................................................................................you go straight to VEGAS baby, its about a 4 hour drive from LA.
depends how long you have, having done California I would recommend the following-
Fly into LAX, pick up hire car. Drive to Vegas for two nights
leave Vegas and head North to San Fran, spend about 3 days here.
from San fran head south down coastal highway - stop at santa monica/ barbera for a night.
continue South, straight past LA being careful not to stop and waste your life there and down to San Diego.
Stay in gaslamp quarter and make sure you jump border to Mexico.
Fly out of San Diego - as same state you can leave the hire car there for no extra cost. probably cheaper to get internal back to LA if your flying out of there and gives you more time.
Ok, I15 takes you straight through the desert - its pretty boring but................................................................................you go straight to VEGAS baby, its about a 4 hour drive from LA.
depends how long you have, having done California I would recommend the following-
Fly into LAX, pick up hire car. Drive to Vegas for two nights
leave Vegas and head North to San Fran, spend about 3 days here.
from San fran head south down coastal highway - stop at santa monica/ barbera for a night.
continue South, straight past LA being careful not to stop and waste your life there and down to San Diego.
Stay in gaslamp quarter and make sure you jump border to Mexico.
Fly out of San Diego - as same state you can leave the hire car there for no extra cost. probably cheaper to get internal back to LA if your flying out of there and gives you more time.
http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t...
useful info on there I previously posted regarding cars and upgrades
useful info on there I previously posted regarding cars and upgrades
I live in SD.
The LA-SD drive sucks. Traffic is horrific as indicated by others, but you have been smart in picking your hours. But don't worry, there will still be mucho traffic.
My advice: a manual car may be a bad idea. Last time I went to LA from SD for the day in my E39 M5 (heavy-ish clutch, but nothing crazy), I spent so much time in stop-start traffic that my knee hurt for days afterwards. Oh, and people can't drive.
As mentioned before, you can do the coast road, which would take absolute ages, or go inland. If it was me, after a long flight, I'd just go to the hotel in SD, and keep the coast driving for later. But make sure that at some point you do the 101 up to at least Encinitas, or go all the way up e.g. to Laguna Beach, and admire the San Onofre nuclear station awesome design.
One more element: the weather around here can be weird at this time of the year. There is this May gray/June gloom thing going on, where the weather is awesome anywhere more than 2 miles from the coast line. But there is a large cloud over the coastline, which makes things not so nice and colder. I went to the beach (Torrey Pines) today to fish, was cold and cloudy. This is due to temperature differences between sea and air, and normally lasts until early July. My point is: the drive along the coast may actually suck, as it may be cloudy and cold all the way. Or it may be great, this phenomenom should stop soon.
Apart from that, enjoy SD! It is a great place, there is everything, but you need to know where to look. Yelp is your friend. Gaslamp was suggested, it can be fun although it is not my favorite, too LA! But good if you like clubs. Hillcrest/North Park/Little Italy/Mission Hills have plenty to offer, there is some cool stuff in North County or La Jolla, and if you feel young, PB/MB/OB are there for you.
Have a good time in my adopted city, and you stay classy.
The LA-SD drive sucks. Traffic is horrific as indicated by others, but you have been smart in picking your hours. But don't worry, there will still be mucho traffic.
My advice: a manual car may be a bad idea. Last time I went to LA from SD for the day in my E39 M5 (heavy-ish clutch, but nothing crazy), I spent so much time in stop-start traffic that my knee hurt for days afterwards. Oh, and people can't drive.
As mentioned before, you can do the coast road, which would take absolute ages, or go inland. If it was me, after a long flight, I'd just go to the hotel in SD, and keep the coast driving for later. But make sure that at some point you do the 101 up to at least Encinitas, or go all the way up e.g. to Laguna Beach, and admire the San Onofre nuclear station awesome design.
One more element: the weather around here can be weird at this time of the year. There is this May gray/June gloom thing going on, where the weather is awesome anywhere more than 2 miles from the coast line. But there is a large cloud over the coastline, which makes things not so nice and colder. I went to the beach (Torrey Pines) today to fish, was cold and cloudy. This is due to temperature differences between sea and air, and normally lasts until early July. My point is: the drive along the coast may actually suck, as it may be cloudy and cold all the way. Or it may be great, this phenomenom should stop soon.
Apart from that, enjoy SD! It is a great place, there is everything, but you need to know where to look. Yelp is your friend. Gaslamp was suggested, it can be fun although it is not my favorite, too LA! But good if you like clubs. Hillcrest/North Park/Little Italy/Mission Hills have plenty to offer, there is some cool stuff in North County or La Jolla, and if you feel young, PB/MB/OB are there for you.
Have a good time in my adopted city, and you stay classy.
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