2006 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder -- Sometimes It All Just Works Out
Sometimes it's easy to forget why I do this. There can be an unending stream of traffic, meetings and -- in recent weeks -- rain. But every once in awhile the schedule, the weather and the roads all clear at the same time, and the car you're left with is a $200,000 form of rolling theatre (complete with full-scale orchestra). Yet I must admit, I had a weird shiver as I passed the exact same stretch of PCH were an Enzo gave its life just a few weeks earlier...
Perhaps the ghost of Enzo (the car and/or the man) was my co-pilot on particular strip of pavement...
But it's still only 2:15 p.m. on a gorgeous spring afternoon, so I must be going.
- Posted by
- Karl Brauer April 13, 2006, 2:05 PM
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- Lamborghini
You should hit Deker Canyon in that thing if you haven't already.
That's where I took this photo.
ahhh, know i see that nice hairpin nearing the end or Deker towards PCH.
you lucky #%^*
I am going to LA for the first time tomorrow. My meeting is Wednesday, and I get in around noon the day before, so I'm going to drive around all afternoon and evening. Not a lot of scenic canyon roads here in Dallas, so I finally get to experience those awesome drives you lucky SOBs are always talking about on Edmunds. I have done some research and have maps in hand. I am practically giddy with excitement! I just hope my rental car isn't a Buick... I requested an upgrade, so hopefully I can talk them into giving me something sporty. Pity that it will have an automatic whatever it is, but I won't let that ruin my day.
I'm not sure what the choices are, but a newer Mustang would be capable of enjoying the roads, as would an Accord or Altima. A Charger/300 would also work, though I'm not sure if there are Hemis in the rental fleet. Even a 3.5 in the LX cars would give you something to work with. A Toyota or GM will be too squishy to really enjoy the roads, though the scenery is the same in anything, so it will still be time well spent. If nothing else, try to get on Mulholland around Malibu Canyon/Las Virgenes and just take it west all the way to the coast. It's great fun in a sporty vehicle, but even in a Hummer you'll still enjoy the drive and the views. When you hit PCH you can go either left or right (left takes you back toward L.A.) and still see great vistas. Enjoy!
Try to get a convertible Mustang. All we could get was a Sunfire drop top, which had more shake than my sander.
hey, i know that stretch of road very intimately. lol. must have been a great ride, eh karl? *wink* hahaha!
Well, it was a Ford Taurus... But it was still the time of my life!!! At least it had a V6, so it managed better than my own company car, a Dodge Stratus SXT. I hit Mulholland, Kanan-Dume, Las Virgenes, Topanga Canyon, and PCH. I was out there for 4-5 hours, windows down, 75 degrees... Very little traffic, just a few punks in tuner imports and some superbikes, and me in the Taurus with the smoking tires... heh heh heh...
Next time I go out that way, I'm going to get something, ANYTHING, with a manual transmission, from that exotic rentals place near LAX.
Glad you made it out. Those are all my stomping grounds. Even before I lived in Ventura County I used to ride those canyons on my 1991 Ducati 851. Now I use it for road testing by peeling off the PCH at either Las Virgenes or Kanaan and hooking up with Mulholland. You definitely need to try the area again in a performance car when you get a chance.
You haven't done the canyons around that area until you've done them in a Toyota Sienna. XLE I might mention.
Ironically, those are the exact roads we did our last Minivan Comparison Test on (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=101676). And you're right, there's nothing like getting the Michelins on the Sienna howling through those Kanaan sweepers. But the Sienna won that particular test, even though the Odyssey (previous generation) was more fun to drive on those roads. We had to admit that most minivan buyers have other priorities ahead of FTD.