here in hawaii we have this nice hill on ward ave. all drivers know not to stop on this hill. if you must... and if your driving technique is not the best - e-brake that bad boy- after a while you notice that you won't be needing that e-brake.






aloha from the summit of *-^-Mauna Kea-^-*

 

I have encountered this. You just have to use the handbrake and then slip the clutch.

BTW the steepest grade in SF is about 30% which is about 17 degrees or so.

 

yep.... guess slippin is da only way.. but have driven sticks since '83 and in steep uphill driveways etc. never had much of a launch issue. Just rev and release...

The WRX is like no car I have ever had of course, as it's AWD and has a turbo.

Still discovering things about it...

But it most fun to induce oversteer/throttle steering in mud on a Rally-X course!

Cooool!

Seeing plenty of Rex's in the Westside.

 

Ya, I know that the Foresters have them, but I am not sure about the Outbacks. Just from riding around in Jeff's(ImprezaSTiFan88) car, that hill holder clutch rocks!!! Except when going in reverse down a hill.....doesn't go at all.

I wouldn't mind having a hill holder clutch.

 

That would be a cool thing if I end up moving to Topanga Canyon.. (Santa Monica Mountains)... access to tons of great roads with names like Stunt, Las Tunas, Mulholland etc. that's where the steep long-*** driveway was!


I don't fly around late at nite at FULL boost around corners since a buddy lost it
and early apexed a corner and bounced off the wall of a mountain.. could have easily gone over-- down the ravine to a stream of ice cold water 300' below!



Was pretty stupid in hind sight--- esp. the deer that could go through the windshield...

My old road-racin days in the #24 Miata... Cal Speedway... till I lost oil pressure...

http://www.frostautomotive.com/dave_frost_racing.htm

Rally-X is the new game...

 

u drive a 2l turbo. until u start building noticeable boost ur driving a 2.0L low compression car. thats why u have no power down low especially on an incline. ur miata has higher compression and make power alot earlier (if u consider 130hp powwer).

 

That makes sense now.... it's a slug until the turbo kicks in.... can't have high compression and turbo... right?

thanks for the info.

 

yeah a 2l awd turbo car is very difficult to start off in compared to almost any other car, not only do you have no power off boost but you also have awd parts lugging around. when i first was learning stick many years back people always told me to let out the clutch till the car pulls then give it gas. wrong with awd turbo you gotta give it gas, then let out the clutch. takes some getting use too. then after 3 eclispe gsx's i bought a stang, holy difference. you gotta launch at idle practically or you will smoke the tires. n/a v8 big torque down low, turbo 4 no torque down low. you gotta be quick on steep inclines when stopped, definately takes a little practice. Take your foot of the brakes, hit the gas and feather the clutch, fast its all it takes

 

Funny you mention Mullhulland and Las Tunas, Before I got out of the car world for a while, I used to run my 65 Chevelle (355ci sbc, richmond 6spd and a full Hotchkis setup) up and down Kanan all the time. Then added a 97 GTI to the stable and loved Mullhuland North of Kanan. For super tight stuff that is 99% vacant after 10pm. Decker canyon (cuts left where Mullhuland splits down towards the satelite station and whatever beach that is down there) can't be beat. (tigher than Las Tunas with less potential for catastrophy) Plenty of corners that had the inside rear tire off the ground on down hill twisties.

As for Deer stories, up from where Mullhulland hits PCH there is a road (aptly named Deer Creek if I remember correctly) where I had an encounter with one of those not so little critters. I had just come down Mullhuland and was out for a couple hour cruise enjoying some quiet time in the car and gear banging in the curves. I saw this other road and figgured it would somehow get back to Mullhulland, so took a right turn and headed back up the canyon. The road was pretty boring as far as challenge, but it was probably 1am or so and I was just in a comfortable groove. There was a decreasing radius 120 or so degree left and right as I got halfway through it, a deer popped up. Came out of the gas, obviously over shot the turn, car caught air, thankfully landed straight, and I settled it down to a stop in a cloud of dust. Got out checked for damage, just a little air dam scrapage and some grass and dirt caked into areas of the undercarriage. Regained composure and drove back home (Torrance at the time) when I got home realized that some of the air deflector pannels under the front air dam were missing. Went back the next night, found em laying on the small enbankment pretty much right where the car left the pavement. Good times.

As a rule, I think it is safer to run the canyons at night than during the day. Your headlights and the headlights of oncomming traffic give more notice than you would have of a potential problem durning daylight. I haven't been up in that area since 2000, but at that time traffic was still non existent after 10pm once you were off Kanan.

If you like longer trips with some not so challenging, but good paced driving, Highway 39 up to Crystal Lake out of Azusa is a nice 30 mile there and back deal. Only really 3 corners on that road that will sneak up on you if you're not familiar with it.

Chris

 

Having live in SF all my life you can't avoid but drive on the steepest hills of any major city in the US. But attack the big hills regularly and have not suffered any power loss, clutch slippage or burning clutch. I think it's just a matter of getting used to driving on steep inclines because you HAVE to. I think the last time, I smelled burning clutch was when I had to park on a steep hill. That was a bit ugly.

BTW, wasn't it Subauru who came out with the "hill holder clutch" back in the day? That would be a sweet option to have on these new cars.

 

Actually it's available on the Forester and maybe the Legacy, I think.