just reading the post from the phiilippines about tie rods, wondering what % of porsches have to endure sh** roads and does this lead to maybe early replacement of suspension parts... i for one, in germany yet, have to severely alter driving style to avoid premature trip to the parts dept for susp components...autobahns are mostly good surfaces and some country roads, are nice, mostly east german areas, but for the most part, where i live, at least 75% are a mess

 

Based on what I observed while in the Philippines, the roads are suited for busses and jeeps, not so much for sport cars. A short visit to Germany a couple of years ago (my first) confirmed all the stories (all good, btw) I had ever heard about your famous Autobahn. Even the secondary roads in and around the cities were in acceptable repair, especially compared to what you find in the U.S. Any horror stories you hear about our roads and infrastructure are mostly true.

 

Just the opposite here. The toll roads around Austin are arguably the very best in the world. 75, 80, and 85 mph speed limits. Great surfaces and little traffic. There are great ramps with the visibility you need to enter the ramp at high speed while knowing you can't be clocked.

 

My area is pretty good. Even the canyon roads (Mulholland, Decker Canyon, Kanan Dume, etc.) are pretty good.

Work-wise, 60-miles round trip, there are 2 blocks that need repair and I avoid them. Interesting enough, these are on Sunset Bl in Bel-Air.

All in all, the roads for me are awesome.

 

I just got back not 20 min ago from a run up to Topanga Canyon, to Mullholland past the Rock Store (thank god those slow a#$ harleys got out of the way) to Kanan Dume Rd. It was beautiful today.

It was my first time out after swapping to Eibach springs. I love my car it feels so good and is so composed on the twisties.

D

 

Dang you! I envy you..... I am at the ER at the moment taking care of my Mom.

Glad you had fun! Yes, Conejo Valley is wonderful probably the reason why I can't seem to move out of this valley.


p.s.,
If you had fun in your car, you should try it on a sports bike. Once you do, you can relate to what Steve once said......"Cars are too slow!" A few years ago, I logged 20,000+ plus on my bike in 6 months carving the canyons as soon as I woke up until it was time to pick up the kids. Of course, I wasn't working then.

 

I just did a drive up the PCH and up Corral Canyon. First windy drive since I got my Eibach install. Loved it!!

We are lucky in SoCal

 

Roads here sukk

 

I actually have ridden those roads on a sport bike. I owned a Kawasaki GPz 550 back in my 20's. I had a lot of fun on that bike on those roads also. Honestly I think I'm able to go faster in my 911 than I did on my bike. But maybe the bike was a little more fun since you're leaning and dragging your knee and all. I certainly wasn't pushing hard enough to get some oversteer today. I'm amazed at how much grip my 997 has over all the other cars I've owned.

D

 

Our Michigan governor is trying to find a billion dollars to fix our roads. I guess that says it all.

This came out of this weekend's Wall Street Journal. For those of you enjoying great roads, consider yourself lucky.

 

I have lived in Michigan most of my life and those roads are by far the worst I've ever been on, second only to Ohio. This winter has really taken a toll on the roads it seems, spring just needs to get here soon.

 

I second that. Roads around Cincinnati are completely destroyed. I've had two sidewall bubbles in the last year from potholes that are deep enough to swim in. It does not help that I have to drive 30 miles either direction to and from work and 75 percent of it is under construction and has been for the last 2 years. One more year to go. Thanks for the control arm and tie rod end kit ECS. At this rate I'll need another one in a year...

 

AudiBull I hate to hear that, most of the time you can dodge them but there's certain times you just can't or they come up out of nowhere and just you have to bite your tongue and hope for the best. Hopefully you won't, but in the unfortunate case you do, just let us know.