Best Drives in the Country

[bizzybear]

The CR-Z, with its short wheelbase, responsive handling, and available six-speed manual gearbox, will undoubtedly find its way to a curvy road near you. The CR-Z is the kind of car that begs to be driven on backcountry roads with lots of corners, switchbacks and sweepers.


Now that we’re on this subject, what’s the perfect road to drive on? Is it Tennessee’s famed 11-mile section of highway 129 called “The Tail of the Dragon” in Great Smoky Mountains National Park? The locals praise this stretch of Highway 129 for its acclaimed 318 curves and scenic views. Adding to the fun factor, there’s zero development and zero cross traffic to worry about for all 11 miles of this storied highway.


Or, perhaps the ultimate drive is Highway 1 along California’s central coast between Morro Bay and Half Moon Bay. This precarious highway boasts panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean along the rugged, forested coastline. Many regard the Big Sur area of the Los Padres National Forest as the highlight. This area is so scenic, drivers may want to just pull over and take it all in.


With approximately 2.6 million miles of nicely paved roadways, the U.S.A. is the world leader in tarmac, so there’s plenty to go around. What’s your favorite place to drive purely for fun?


— Christina

Article found here Best Drives in the Country - 2011 Honda CR-Z

[LeeMoon]

Hey Roberto, thanks for this article! It turns out I'll be on vacation very close to the "Tail of the Dragon" in about a week. I'll definitely give that a run in my Civic.
Thanks again!

[bizzybear]

wow really?? there's a "huge" civic meet in September on the Dragon... check out 8thcivic.com for that info...

[LeeMoon]

Originally Posted by bizzybear

wow really?? there's a "huge" civic meet in September on the Dragon... check out 8thcivic.com for that info...

Yep, I'll be in the Mineral Bluff/Bear Mountain Ridge area of North Georgia again this year for about a week. The Dragon is about 1.5 hours away from the cabin I'm renting.

Unfortunately, I'll be returning before the Dragon meet.

Here's a few photos from last year's vacation at the same cabin...

[LeeMoon]

Roberto, you're a great source of information! I wasn't aware of the Tail of the Dragon until you started this thread. Now I have something else to look forward to on my vacation (along with the Mercier Orchard fried apple pies!)

Here's a link to driving the Tail of the Dragon...
Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap and Cherohala Skyway, Graham Co, NC

And here's a link to the Mercier Orchards bakery (yum!)...
http://www.mercier-orchards.com/pages/Bakery.aspx

Thanks Roberto!!

[LeeMoon]

Just got back from driving the "Tail of the Dragon" today!
What a drive!!

I started on the North Carolina side and thought this is cool, lots of wide, easy curves with a few tight ones thrown in.

And then...
I got on the actual Tail. The speed limit was 30 MPH with very tight corners. I went from OMG to OMFG to F.

Once I got in the groove with the paddle shifters, I wasn't so tense. It was a BLAST to drive. Of course I didn't speed along through it and held up some bikers, though I tried to give them room to pass.

The Z is nimble and using Sport mode and the paddle shifters gave me the power I needed to get through the corners and inclines. It was FUN.

At the end of my return trip on it, I stopped at a dam and chatted with a biker. He had something akin to a dirt bike (to my uneducated eye) and he was enjoying his ride as well.

I didn't think to check the average MPG right before and after the Dragon, but I did capture my average MPG for the entire trip (43.0 MPG.) That was using Econ for the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the way to and from the Dragon. Then I switched to Sport with some Normal thrown in as I made my way through smaller towns with few curves.
I'm still excited about that drive and I don't think I can put into words just how much fun it was.

Here are the photos I took at the end, plus one of the instrument panel (with MPG) on the drive to the Dragon. There's also one showing the entire trip average MPG that I mentioned above (43.0 MPG.)

I highly recommend this road if you ever get a chance to drive it!!

Here are the other photos...
There's some of the bikers in a couple of pix, the sport bikers were really hauling, the guys like in the photos were cruising along seemingly content at the speed limit (more or less!)

[JnC]

Lee, the mpgs sound awesome. Nice to hear that you can drive some distance, throw in a bit of fun, and still come out over 40 mpg.

Did you start the drive in Brunswick? (that's quite a haul to the Dragon)

[bizzybear]

wow... cool pics and just what JnC said about the mpgs... one day when i get around to it, i too will conquer the Dragon

maybe next year we can get a meet going around this time of the year for all CR-Z's to ride the Dragon...

[LeeMoon]

Hi JnC!
I'm impressed by the mileage too. With the CVT, it feels like the sweet spot for high 40's mpg might be around 55-60 mph. I haven't done much to check it out though. I know that with a lot of hilly Sport mode driving/paddle shifting yesterday, I got 38.1 mpg.

I'm currently on vacation in north Georgia and drove up from Brunswick a few days ago. The Dragon was only about 1.5 hours away from where I'm staying... and totally worth the drive!

By the way, the trip computer reads the average mpg a bit conservatively. I get higher by a little bit whenever I fill up and calculate it by hand.

[LeeMoon]

Hi Roberto!
I'd love to be part of a CR-Z meet next year. This is my second time at this great cabin and would love to book it again next year!

Hehe, I didn't conquer the dragon so much...more like played nice with it.

Folks are really missing out on this. It'll be fun to see the photos from 8th Civic's meet there next week or so.

I forgot to mention that the CR-Z turns heads by young and old alike. I've seen other drivers and passengers pointing to it and keeping pace with me to check it out. It's also been fun (but naughty) to punch in Sport mode and open it up to show folks what the little hybrid can do.

A big THANK YOU for posting this thread Roberto! Though I did see it on the Honda web site eventually, your post led me to research it and set aside time before my trip. Thank you again!