Drive Around Vancouver

MLife168 · 09-22-2010, 12:09 PM

So I got a rental car to drive around Vancouver on Monday. First off I hadn't driven a car for 12 days, secondly the rental was a Hyundai Accent 3 door.

First impression of the Accent, not so bad. Steering response and pick up not as good as the M3, but hey it was getting me around town.

A Canadian suggested if I had the time, to drive out of the city towards Squamish. So I took off driving.

I get on 1A/99, what a beautiful drive. This is like California's PCH/Highway 1 around Central Coast. I noticed the Accent was struggling a little going up the hills. LOL. There were a few times where I had to get back on the highway, I gunned it to match the highway speed and was like DOH that's it!

One of the times I got off the 99 was to check out the Scenic Drive of Cypress Provincial Park. After I past the gated community on the left and took my first right hook turn, I thought to myself, I wish I had my M3 for this. I was so jealous of the locals to have this road. It was wide, smooth, great view, and plenty of nice curves and turns. Best thing was, I drove it for about 30 minutes, and only came across 3 cars during that time. Most of our local Southern California canyon roads are either bumpy, narrow, congested, and most of the time all 3.

So I continued down the 99 towards Squamish. Now the entire rest of the drive I wished I had my M3. I ended up stopping at Squamish for a bit, then decided to continue towards Whistler. After exploring Whistler for a bit, it was time to head back to Richmond to drop off the rental and fly back to Los Angeles. The drive back was just as amazing. The road was so smooth, loved the curves and the views I came across.

So I get home, and I'm hungry. I take the luggage inside, grab the car key and fire up the M3. Honestly, I was hungry, wasn't an excuse to drive the car. And I totally wasn't thinking of my drive earlier during the day, was more annoyed the airline lost one of my bags.

I pull into the street and tapped the gas pedal a bit, and I was pushed back into my seat. I was like woah! Forgot how sensitive the pedal could be, and the power under this beast. All day long I was flooring the Accent just praying I could squeeze just a bit more power from it. The M3 felt so different than my rental. I floored it on the freeway, and instant power. Ah the joy of driving the M3, too bad I didn't have it in Vancouver.

Lodaka · 09-22-2010, 04:14 PM

Good story. I haven't had a chance to take my M3 up the coast just yet; I haven't really thought about it too much until you mentioned this.

I hope you at least enjoyed your visit; I hope next time you can bring your M3.

fastrack · 09-22-2010, 05:44 PM

I love that drive as well. One of the reason i love BC so much. We have some wicked roads

JAJ · 09-22-2010, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastrack

I love that drive as well. One of the reason i love BC so much. We have some wicked roads

From 1980 to 1988 I drove the Sea-to-Sky highway, the two-lane twisty version, over 1,000 times each way.

There's a lot to like about new highway, but the old one was transcendental.

AMOCHOSTO · 09-23-2010, 08:11 AM

I know how you felt. I drove a Ford Focus Diesel all around Portugal in the summer. The roads were great, no-one was anywhere near the speed limit yet i had to drive this crappy diesel around with A/C on to make it even less responsive. I did manage to spend a good amount of time above 170 on the highways though.

Doctor J · 09-28-2010, 01:46 PM

the new and improved sea to sky highway is a dream but.....

BC just instituted draconian speeding laws last week. 40 km/h over gets you a 3 day drivers licence suspension and they impound your car for a week on the first offence.

hard to be an M3 owner here these days -- good thing I bought the "slow" one :-)

Lodaka · 09-29-2010, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor J

the new and improved sea to sky highway is a dream but.....

BC just instituted draconian speeding laws last week. 40 km/h over gets you a 3 day drivers licence suspension and they impound your car for a week on the first offence.

hard to be an M3 owner here these days -- good thing I bought the "slow" one :-)

Yea I know. While I understand and agree with the reasoning behind this move, it's sometimes not too difficult to go over 40km/h, especially on Hwy No1. It's not uncommon to find cars that travel quite faster than this.

I know that there currently is a debate as to whether the gov should increase the speed limit. While I tend to agree with that to some extent, I don't think any politicians want to touch that topic.

Doctor J · 09-29-2010, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lodaka

Yea I know. While I understand and agree with the reasoning behind this move, it's sometimes not too difficult to go over 40km/h, especially on Hwy No1. It's not uncommon to find cars that travel quite faster than this.

I know that there currently is a debate as to whether the gov should increase the speed limit. While I tend to agree with that to some extent, I don't think any politicians want to touch that topic.

They gotta make the #1 have more lanes -- two + HOV is not enough. Freeways in the T.O. area are 5 lanes wide! No way the tree huggers will allow this

The latest construction at Willingdon is killing me

Lodaka · 09-29-2010, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor J

They gotta make the #1 have more lanes -- two + HOV is not enough. Freeways in the T.O. area are 5 lanes wide! No way the tree huggers will allow this

The latest construction at Willingdon is killing me

I am pretty sure most of the other major North American cities are like this. Someone dropped the ball on city planning in Vancouver when it comes to our roads here. But then again, it does help to maintain that small-city feeling, although that was the last thing on my mind when it took me an hour to go from Burrard to Gaglardi on Broadway yesterday.

MLife168 · 09-30-2010, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor J

the new and improved sea to sky highway is a dream but.....

BC just instituted draconian speeding laws last week. 40 km/h over gets you a 3 day drivers licence suspension and they impound your car for a week on the first offence.

hard to be an M3 owner here these days -- good thing I bought the "slow" one :-)

It's funny because I believe the new speed law came out the same day I was driving through Vancouver. While driving to Whistler, I heard debate on the radio about the new DUI law of .05. Same thing as you were saying, impound and 3 day license suspension. So I'm guessing the new speed law went into affect that same day, 9-20-10.

Although it was hard for me to get the rental to go faster, I'm sure with an M3, I'd be going 40 over all the time in Vancouver. In Los Angeles I average 130-135 kph on the freeways, which is the average of about most drivers in the area. If my memory serves me correctly, the fastest posted speed I saw in Vancouver was 90 kph.

MLife168 · 09-30-2010, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMOCHOSTO

I know how you felt. I drove a Ford Focus Diesel all around Portugal in the summer. The roads were great, no-one was anywhere near the speed limit yet i had to drive this crappy diesel around with A/C on to make it even less responsive. I did manage to spend a good amount of time above 170 on the highways though.

Haha, no way my rental would have gotten to 170. Maybe without the luggage and traveling downhill. LOL

MLife168 · 09-30-2010, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lodaka

Good story. I haven't had a chance to take my M3 up the coast just yet; I haven't really thought about it too much until you mentioned this.

I hope you at least enjoyed your visit; I hope next time you can bring your M3.

dhphreak · 10-02-2010, 09:08 PM

I never appreciated Canadian roads more than driving through Chicago. Holy hell! (no pun) I thought I was going to destroy my BBS CH's!

BC has many great road to rip through.

MLife168 · 10-03-2010, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhphreak

I never appreciated Canadian roads more than driving through Chicago. Holy hell! (no pun) I thought I was going to destroy my BBS CH's!

BC has many great road to rip through.

Ever try driving in LA? I get to drive it all the time:
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_16145463

You guys are so lucky, the roads in B.C. and probably most of Canada are smooth compared to what I drive on.

TTE90 · 10-16-2010, 09:52 AM

Anybody want to lend me their car, when I come to Vancouver?

09-22-2010, 12:09 PM	#1
MLife168 Second Lieutenant 56 Rep 266 Posts Drives: '13 E92 M3 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Tucson iTrader: (0)	Drive Around Vancouver So I got a rental car to drive around Vancouver on Monday. First off I hadn't driven a car for 12 days, secondly the rental was a Hyundai Accent 3 door. First impression of the Accent, not so bad. Steering response and pick up not as good as the M3, but hey it was getting me around town. A Canadian suggested if I had the time, to drive out of the city towards Squamish. So I took off driving. I get on 1A/99, what a beautiful drive. This is like California's PCH/Highway 1 around Central Coast. I noticed the Accent was struggling a little going up the hills. LOL. There were a few times where I had to get back on the highway, I gunned it to match the highway speed and was like DOH that's it! One of the times I got off the 99 was to check out the Scenic Drive of Cypress Provincial Park. After I past the gated community on the left and took my first right hook turn, I thought to myself, I wish I had my M3 for this. I was so jealous of the locals to have this road. It was wide, smooth, great view, and plenty of nice curves and turns. Best thing was, I drove it for about 30 minutes, and only came across 3 cars during that time. Most of our local Southern California canyon roads are either bumpy, narrow, congested, and most of the time all 3. So I continued down the 99 towards Squamish. Now the entire rest of the drive I wished I had my M3. I ended up stopping at Squamish for a bit, then decided to continue towards Whistler. After exploring Whistler for a bit, it was time to head back to Richmond to drop off the rental and fly back to Los Angeles. The drive back was just as amazing. The road was so smooth, loved the curves and the views I came across. So I get home, and I'm hungry. I take the luggage inside, grab the car key and fire up the M3. Honestly, I was hungry, wasn't an excuse to drive the car. And I totally wasn't thinking of my drive earlier during the day, was more annoyed the airline lost one of my bags. I pull into the street and tapped the gas pedal a bit, and I was pushed back into my seat. I was like woah! Forgot how sensitive the pedal could be, and the power under this beast. All day long I was flooring the Accent just praying I could squeeze just a bit more power from it. The M3 felt so different than my rental. I floored it on the freeway, and instant power. Ah the joy of driving the M3, too bad I didn't have it in Vancouver.
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09-22-2010, 04:14 PM	#2
Lodaka Second Lieutenant 8 Rep 203 Posts Drives: 2011 E92 M3 DCT Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC iTrader: (4)	Good story. I haven't had a chance to take my M3 up the coast just yet; I haven't really thought about it too much until you mentioned this. I hope you at least enjoyed your visit; I hope next time you can bring your M3.
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09-22-2010, 05:44 PM	#3
fastrack Captain 42 Rep 788 Posts Drives: 11 MW e92 M3 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Penticton, BC iTrader: (4) Garage List 2021 M2c [0.00]	I love that drive as well. One of the reason i love BC so much. We have some wicked roads __________________ Mineral White + HRE + Brembo + Eisenmann + Challenge = Perfection
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09-23-2010, 08:11 AM	#5
AMOCHOSTO Major 32 Rep 1,007 Posts Drives: IB BB E90 M3 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Toronto. iTrader: (0)	I know how you felt. I drove a Ford Focus Diesel all around Portugal in the summer. The roads were great, no-one was anywhere near the speed limit yet i had to drive this crappy diesel around with A/C on to make it even less responsive. I did manage to spend a good amount of time above 170 on the highways though. __________________ E90 Interlagos Blue, (Winter Beater) Bamboo Beige, M-Drive, EDC, PDC, USB 6MT. Mods to date; Curb rash, Scraped front spoiler, Installed RAC Monolite RG63 Silver 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe (ROW)
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09-28-2010, 01:46 PM	#6
Doctor J Captain 33 Rep 741 Posts Drives: 2010 E93 M3 DCT Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Vancouver BC iTrader: (0)	the new and improved sea to sky highway is a dream but..... BC just instituted draconian speeding laws last week. 40 km/h over gets you a 3 day drivers licence suspension and they impound your car for a week on the first offence. hard to be an M3 owner here these days -- good thing I bought the "slow" one :-) __________________ 2010 BMW M3 vert with DCT & Akra (sold) 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo S Last edited by Doctor J; 09-28-2010 at 01:51 PM..
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10-02-2010, 09:08 PM	#13
dhphreak New Member 0 Rep 7 Posts Drives: E46 m3 Carbon black Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Vancouver, Canada iTrader: (0)	I never appreciated Canadian roads more than driving through Chicago. Holy hell! (no pun) I thought I was going to destroy my BBS CH's! BC has many great road to rip through.
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10-16-2010, 09:52 AM	#15
TTE90 Enlisted Member 1 Rep 33 Posts Drives: E90 white Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Bradford iTrader: (0)	Anybody want to lend me their car, when I come to Vancouver?
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