[MikeMidd]

Hey guys -

Well, 10 days until I pick up the car in South Carolina... and I can't wait!

I'm already thinking about what I want to do with it once I get back to DC, after a weekend in Charleston at the beach. The first thing is to take it out on some of my favorite roads for some more "break in," to ensure I vary those RPMs after some highway driving.

Some of the obvious ones are thru the Rock Creek Park and the Georgetown Pike out to McLean. But I thought I'd see if folks had other suggestions for your best drives in the area with lots of twisties to test out the new car.

If you've got specific routes/roads, that's really helpful. Appreciate it.

[HennarotM3]

Whenever we're heading out to Tyson's, we take the GW Pkwy to 123, but instead of taking 123 all the way to Rte 7, turn right on Lewinsville Rd and it has some nice twisties that dump you out to Rte 7 by the McLean Bible Church.

It's not worth driving out there just for this, but if you're heading in that direction anyway it's worth a detour.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=e...10643&t=h&z=13

[BK]

G'town Pike, as you mention, is good between Old Dominion and the Beltway, but with all the bad weather, it has gotten rough and quite a few pot holes.

Lewinsville... meh, I suppose. Only like 2-3 turns on it in the spot you're thinking, though. Most of the roads in Great Falls are a lot better (i.e., the north-south roads between Rte 7 and G'town Pike, like Springvale, Leigh Mill, Towlston, Bellview). Also, a bunch of roads on the other side of Rte 7 in Vienna are good (Vale, Stuart Mill, Hunter Mill).

The problem with those roads is that they're neighborhoods, where you could kill a pedestrian, and they're in NoVA, where you'll get a hefty ticket for speeding. Another decent option is heading out west on 66 toward the Plains and driving some of those roads. 66W to Leeds Manor road N to Blueridge Mountain Road N -- I did that drive a month or so ago, and it was excellent.

[FrankoQ]

Lots of nice roads in MD.
Example: North Beach to Annapolis. Lots of twisty roads.
Just watch out for bikers.

[japac1]

Make sure you get advise from Donnie and the staff in SC for great routes north through the mountains!!

[CUTony]

i mean if you catch 66 right before rush hour when theres just a lot of volume you could make that a pretty twisty drive haha.

Compton or Clifton Road in Northern Va near Centreville. but you have to be pretty careful on those

[MikeMidd]

Originally Posted by japac1

Make sure you get advise from Donnie and the staff in SC for great routes north through the mountains!!

This is the one bummer about my SC delivery - I'm not heading north thru the mountains after I leave.

Once I'm done in Spartanburg, I head down to Charleston for the weekend to visit good friends and get some beach time. Then the slog back up north, which will probably involve 95 since I want to get back to DC in one day. Which will be miserable, because I will hit beach traffic, but there's not much that I can do - and hey, stop and go will allow me to vary my revs.

[bavarian19]

My favorite roads at 5:30 PM:

Route 7
Route 66
Route 50
Route 28

Route 15 on any day prior to vacation runs a close runner up to the predecessors.

[flukey]

Originally Posted by bavarian19

My favorite roads at 5:30 PM:

Route 7
Route 66
Route 50
Route 28

Route 15 on any day prior to vacation runs a close runner up to the predecessors.

lol for bumper to bumper traffic... dont forget 495 and the fairfax county parkway either!

Originally Posted by CUTony

i mean if you catch 66 right before rush hour when theres just a lot of volume you could make that a pretty twisty drive haha.

Compton or Clifton Road in Northern Va near Centreville. but you have to be pretty careful on those

any road in clifton is awesome. i grew up there my entire life. hes right though... unless you drive the roads a couple times and remember the dangerous parts i wouldn't drive like a bat out of hell. i used to tear down the roads... 25 - 35 mph roads at 60-70. I MISS THEM SO MUCH!

[bavarian19]

Originally Posted by flukey

lol for bumper to bumper traffic... dont forget 495 and the fairfax county parkway either!

I do not drive in Fairfax often, and I completely avoid 495 all together if at all possible.

[Raja Ventureshield]

for me any road without cops.
have you notice the number of cops on the road lately.
i guess they don't want to catch real criminals, only the speeders. :-(

[JuniorDee]

Originally Posted by Raja Ventureshield

for me any road without cops.
have you notice the number of cops on the road lately.
i guess they don't want to catch real criminals, only the speeders. :-(

they are only interested in charging you a fuel surcharge for having to pull you over