I’m going on a road trip

[buh_buh]

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I used to drive that route to school in Colorado. Absolutely nothing between Calgary and Colorado. Hopefully the rest is worth it!

You’re right. I’ve got a nice little route planned for tomorrow, basically all mountain roads all the way through Colorado into New Mexico. I did a few hours research on the best driving roads in each state I’m crossing through and I’m planning on hitting them all en route to Houston, so should be a fun drive until San Antonio.

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Just don’t get pulled near Buffalo, WY! Cop pulled a gun on me and than made me follow him into town to pull out $500 and pay him cash or spend the weekend in jail haha

Lol how fast were you going and how long did you run from him before you got caught? Good to know though.

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Yikes, how much did that ticket set you back? Your ride looks good though man, very mint. Enjoy the drive.

Not much, $70 for going 20 mph over. Just need to figure out if it’ll affect my insurance.

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Nice.
Where are you staying along the way? Stopping at any national parks?
How is the food, coffee along the way?

I didn’t have set planned stops, just see where the day takes me and find somewhere to stay. I don’t have a strict timeline so plan on stopping for some pics along the way. No National Parks, just fun twisty roads. That’s all the scenery I’d like to see this trip

[buh_buh]

@BavarianBeast you seem to be familiar with the area, so I’m open to suggestions if you know of some nice roads. I did a bit of research myself and these are the must drive roads in Colorado I’ve got in store for tomorrow. Commentary is from a local on a Ferrari forum I found:

Walden->Granby on CO-125: not the best driving road, but this is the most desolate major road in Colorado by far

US-6 over Loveland Pass: I-70 takes most traffic under Loveland Pass now, via the Eisenhower(-Johnson) Tunnel, but US-6 still exists for two reasons: hazardous materials trucks which are disallowed from the tunnel, and people with a little extra time on their hands. From the east, this is an incredible driving road with tons of tight corners, zero traffic, and significant elevation change until you peak at Loveland Pass, when it opens up a little bit and is mostly straight into Keystone. The only drawback here is it's short.

Carbondale to Paonia on CO-133: this road is pretty empty and has a lot of curves, some hard, and significant elevation changes. It also has many very good views

Million Dollar Highway from Olathe to Durango: Built over a hundred years ago, good pavement, it twists, it turns, it undulates. Solid mountain rock on one side, sheer cliff on the other side dropping off into the abyss. No shoulders, no guard rails, the nerds over at AAA call it a scary dangerous road, what’s not to like.


Route in Colorado I’ll probably split up over 2 days since I only made it to Billings tonight and I’m still 7 hours from Point A on the below map:

[BavarianBeast]

Those are all great routes! If you can throw it in I would do the 34 between Loveland and Estes park. Beautiful and can to check out the haunted hotel (the Stanley) where the shining was filmed.

[buh_buh]

Ended up detouring and missing most of these roads today but inadvertently found some great roads too. Would highly recommend getting off the freeway for anyone driving through Colorado. Today was one of the most fun driving days I’ve ever had. Think 1a but with great pavement, more elevation changes, and longer. Highway 550 (Million Dollar Highway) also as advertised, sketchy af but once you get past the initial narrow pass without guard rails it’s a fun run up to 11,000 feet, back down, back up, then back down again before ending up in Durango.

No car issues today, and no old man soreness from a 14 hour day in the car.

Pics from today:

[Team_Mclaren]

Definitely jelly. brings back memories of importing/driving cars back from the states.

You said re-imported, are you moving?

[flipstah]

Oh damn that looks fun! Enjoy and drive safe! Can't wait to read up on lounging/dining reviews along the way. Might do the same route one of these days

[Gman.45]

Great pics/thread. Jealous. Great car too.

[bjstare]

This looks awesome.

If there’s a single piece of advice that will get you the most fun behind the wheel in the USA, it’s simply “stay off the freeway”, which it looks like you’re proving to be true. There are so many awesome roads down there.

[buh_buh]

Sorry got lazy after long days on the road so didn't post updates. Yes I'm moving to the US - actually I moved here 3 years ago, just didn't bring the Shoe with me.
I got back Monday night after hitting some amazing roads in Colorado and New Mexico - off the beaten path in these two states is highly recommended although you really have to look for them in New Mexico. @bjstare you're 100% right. This is my 3rd time making this drive - first time in a Uhaul, then in a Golf R both times strictly freeway and this route was by far one of the best driving "vacations" I've ever done. Since I'm back I'll just summarize.

The Roads:
Montana and Wyoming mostly sucked. If I had waited until after Memorial Day weekend (May 29), a lot of the fun roads in Montana/Wyoming would've been open. Going to the Sun in Montana and Beartooth Highway in Wyoming were both on my list although slightly out of the way, but would've been happy to make the detour to avoid a 10 hour day on strictly freeway.

Colorado - do not stay on the freeways if you plan on going through Colorado. These were some of the best driving roads I've ever been on. 60-100 mile mountain roads that were completely deserted with great pavement. I found if I was in a National Park, chances are the roads are windy and fun. I really wish I had a dash cam for this drive.

First bit of fun probably didn't start until somewhere between Walden Colorado and Kremmling Colorado on CO-131. But Kremmling to Wolcott (end of the road) is 65km of consecutive pure joy. The turns would not let up and just kept going and going. The elevation changes with the winding mountain roads made one of the funnest roads I've ever driven. Mostly mid speed corners around 80-120kph which is where this car's sweet spot is. I felt like I was in Initial D . Would 100% recommend this.




When you get to thel end, you can either go onto the freeway CO-70 or stay on US-6 frontage road that runs parallel for some easier curves that still beat the freeway. I was eventually disappointed to go back to the CO-70 freeway until there were a series of 4 or 5 tunnels between Eagle and Glenwood Springs I could WOT through which was fucking amazing.

From there my plan was to go from Carbondale to Paonia (recommended on another forum) on CO-133 but a section of it was closed so had to turn around and stick to the freeway. Not much to report on the freeway. Was really looking forward to this road, especially because going on the freeway was a huge detour but it is what it is.

Then from Ouray to Durango was the Million Dollar Highway which was initially pretty unnerving with the steep cliffs with no guard rails, but once you get past that part of the road this was another amazing road. A blast up to 11,000 feet on more mountain roads up to Silverton Ski area (think its known Heli Skiiing spot) and back down to Durango was almost 100 consecutive miles of mountain road with amazing views and even better slow to mid speed corners (60-120kph). Car struggled a bit at 11,000 feet but you don't need to go that fast to have fun on these roads. Again desolate so I pretty much had the road to myself short of a couple slow pickup trucks that were happy to let me pass. I actually had to turn the heat on as it was close to freezing outside.

[buh_buh]

Spent the night in Durango and the next day was another recommended road from Durango to Pagosa Springs, then into New Mexico from Tierra Amarilla to Tres Piedras and eventually Taos. Durango to Pagosa Springs was ok, mostly higher speed corners at 150+. Drive reminded me a bit of driving in BC minus the traffic. Then Tierra Amarilla on NM-64 - another highlight of the trip. All mid to high speed corners with little to no break in between. Reminded me a bit of 1A with no drop off or trees as close to the road, zero traffic, better pavement, and 50 miles long.



Once you get to the end, there's a Canyon you can stop at for some touristy photo ops in New Mexico, and on to Taos where you have a stretch of pretty scenic roads. Then from Taos, another recommended route was High Road to Taos, which was another fun road but can't push too hard as you're driving along stretches of houses and other cars in the area, but still a very scenic and windy drive with lots of corners and even more photo op spots.






After that, I knew it was just complete Texas flatland for 8 or 10 hours until what everyone deemed to be the best driving road in Texas - the Twisted Sisters. "This 100-mile loop is, without a doubt, among the best, most challenging motorcycle roads in the state. The route follows canyons and climbs jagged, steep hills; the roads offer many tight, twisty curves with shear drop offs alongside and not much in the way of guardrails. In one 15-mile section, there are approximately 65 curves!". Even if the pavement wasn't in shoddy condition (seemed like they were in the middle of re-paving it but decided to stop after they tore it up) it would still just be ok. But after all the roads in Colorado I would say this was pretty mediocre in comparison and a bit of a letdown. There was a stretch of very narrow slow windy 2nd gear corners that could be fun if you could use both lanes, but pretty sketchy since there's still 2 way traffic on what seemed like extra narrow lanes.

From there it was a 4 hour freeway trip home.

[buh_buh]

The Car
I hadn't driven it much in the last 5 or 7 years. I've probably put less than 5000 km on it it since 2015 so it was a little unnerving to take it on a 4000 km trip. It handled the trip like a champ though and other than the IAT sensor coming off an aftermarket intake manifold there were zero issues with the car.

What the car is: the car was in its element on the twisties. Low to mid speed corners is where the fun factor is high and it takes the corners like a champ. The reinforced subframe and new poly bushings probably played a big part in this. Seating position for me also A+ although the seating position is slightly modified from stock for a bit of extra upward tilt.

What this car isn't: Highway cruiser. It can adequately handle the highway cruising just fine, but it's not a 500hp AMG that eats up the miles effortlessly while massaging my back. I had zero comfort issues despite putting in 2x14 hour days though so for a smaller guy like me the car feels great.

Overall
I've said this before, but this was one of the best driving trips I've ever been on. If I had another car in Canada to drive down here I would do this route again, just later in the year so there are less road closures and can take advantage of more fun roads. If anyone is thinking about driving down through or to Colorado, do it. Just avoid the freeway. The lack of traffic, the quality of the pavement, the duration and corners make this drive 100% worth it. I've driven the PCH from Vancouver to San Diego before too and I found this to be more enjoyable from a pure driving perspective. The views on the PCH are definitely better, but fun factor this was better.

[mr2mike]

Cool! Good to know as I've done the PCH from San Diego to Vancouver. Fun but nothing I would say, I'd do again.

[2Legit2Quit]

Nice pics and dog

[buh_buh]

As far as lounging and dining goes, neither were considered great given I was essentially noodling around from small town to small town to small town. I did have my wife google up the best food and hotel spots as I was feeling tired/hungry and she’d tell me where to go which was pretty awesome. It’s like having a road trip co-driver without the nagging or having to share seat time - and in this case I 100% didn’t want to share.

The best meal I had was a perogie food truck in Glenwood Springs and the best hotel I stayed at was a brand new Wyndham hotel in San Angelo she found for $96 tax in to give you an idea of food and stay. I was on the road by 530 or 6 most days to take advantage of the maximum daylight.

[zipdoa]

Hey Buh_buh,

what was the re-importation process like? Do they check the vehicle branding? I read on the cbp website:

Re-Importing A Previously Exported Vehicle
A vehicle taken from the United States for non-commercial, private use may be returned duty free by proving to CBP that it was previously owned and registered in the United States. This proof may be a state-issued registration card for the automobile or a bill of sale for the car from a U.S. dealer. Repairs or accessories acquired abroad for your vehicle must be declared on your return and may be subject to duty.

Did you have a bill of sale or registration card?

[EmJay]

Always enjoy seeing your M Coupe. Thanks for sharing the adventure and cool pictures.

[buh_buh]

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Hey Buh_buh,

what was the re-importation process like? Do they check the vehicle branding? I read on the cbp website:



Did you have a bill of sale or registration card?

Yes I have a registration card but it was a bit touch and go renewing my registration since I’m no longer an Alberta resident and gave up my driver’s license. But for this car re-importing was simple as it was built in the US. It also helped I had my original paperwork from when I imported it into Canada. It took 5 or 10 mins and they didn’t even come physically look at the car. But it’s true that you don’t have to pay duty if it was originally a US car. We had an a4 avant that was also originally from the US and when we imported it back into the US, we never had to pay duty on it either.