View Full Version : Road trip through VA
heightsgtltd
07-11-2005, 09:06 AM
Hey guys,
we are driving my new GT on a road trip to a friend's wedding in NC from NYC. We will be stopping in Richmond overnight along the way. Any areas of high cop concentation I should know about in VA, or roads and routes that are fun in the twisties? I don't mind a little detour now and then.
thanks.
AWDxBOOST
07-11-2005, 09:09 AM
anywhere around nova is pretty high volume....hit me up when you get in richmond and ill meet up!
I assume you are sticking to 95? Where in NC are you going? I can give you some fun detours, but they may be out of the way unless you are going to RTP or west.
Yeah, there is a pretty sweet back way we went from nova to nc through the mountains. I'd have to ask my wife because I have no sense of direction nor do I rememeber the route.....it was a couple years ago
heightsgtltd
07-11-2005, 09:38 AM
AWD, thanks for the offer, but we are going to be getting into richmond pretty late that night after work, going straight to the hotel, and then up early to get to NC.
Perhaps another time. I am digging the car so much, I could def. swing back that way later on in the summer. Then I would have more time to hang out as well.
heightsgtltd
07-11-2005, 09:39 AM
I'll be following whatever route my Magellan 760 tells me to! LOL..
Yeah prob. sticking to 95, but was curious about more interesting side roads, etc. Neat thing about the nav is it will always get you back to where you need to go.
Our final destination is in Atlantic Beach, Outerbanks area.
AWDxBOOST
07-11-2005, 09:45 AM
well whats your schedule for going down to nc? i might follow if i have the day off
Take Rt 17 from Fredericksburg down to Chesapeake - it is more interesting than the 95 route. It will take you longer (though less miles) and isn't a 'driver's road', but you get to see the bay. We do it every once in awhile heading down that way.
heightsgtltd
07-11-2005, 10:05 AM
thanks for the recommendation. I will try and check it out.
sandwood
07-11-2005, 10:27 AM
I95 + VA = long, boring, relatively slow haul. It's the obvious route, of course, but heavy traffic, relatively high number of cops, and illegal radar detectors do not a good combination make.
I-64E from Richmond to Norfolk is under construction - the section through Hampton is a WRECK and one of the worst bottlenecks in the US according to AAA. Taking the Rt 17 option might save you time and be more interesting (just watch the speed as you will be going through a couple small towns like Tappahannock )
heightsgtltd
07-11-2005, 10:31 AM
I figured as much about I95.
I have been reading up on detectors, but then I saw that even possessing one is illegal in VA, and thought better of purchasing one before the trip.
thegodfather
07-13-2005, 09:05 PM
piece of advice i live in northern virginia just outside Washington DC. the traffic here is un-godly so you have to be super careful NOVA=Subaru Wrecker =*( i know it is sad but true good luck though. as patagonian said hampton interchange is awful and its counterpart in the north the springfield interchang aka "the mixing bowl" is just as bad as for radar detectors it is my understanding that you cannot have it on. in addition to being off it must be out of reach of the driver. can anyone confirm that for me?anyways good luck have fun and be careful totaling a subaru or any car for that matter is never fun
heightsgtltd
07-13-2005, 09:24 PM
thanks for the advice, but I am not sure I understand you. What do you mean by Subaru wrecker? Is it that the traffic is bad, or there is some other issue?
Are there specific hours when it is really ugly, I assume rush hour or communting times?
don't plan around it.....it's always bad. Friday from 3pm until late sucks around the beltway from everyone travelling through. Generally rush hour is about three hours in the AM and again in the evening.
thegodfather
07-13-2005, 10:09 PM
subaru wrecker because traffic is really bad and i just recently totaled my brand new subaru in it =*( and i see atleast an accident or debris from one at least once a day we just have alot of people here who drive like retards thats all so you gotta be careful
heightsgtltd
07-13-2005, 10:10 PM
Wow...sorry to hear that.
I'll definitely be careful around there. Did you discuss this in a thread somewhere? I am curious as to what happened
thegodfather
07-13-2005, 10:28 PM
no i haven't posted it yet i am still getting over it. it was a three day old impreza outback sport and i made a left turn on a green light and some guy was going faster then he probably should have been and i didn't see him coming till i was in the intersection his driver's side corner nailed the center of my car. no one was hurt but my car was totaled with 15 grand worth of damage and his car just had like 3 grand because my car was stopped so i didn't cause much damage to his car. i am lucky i was able to stop in time cuz three feet further and he would have t-boned the passenger side where my best friend was sitting and it probably would have killed him or at least sent him to the hospital. the cops came and it was my fault cuz i was making the left turn. being a seventeen year old and totaling a car means one hell of an insurence nightmare so now i am a high risk driver and my insurence doubled. i had to go to court to but the judge said he would dismiss the case if i went to traffic school so i have that coming up soon. it sucks but it is nice to know it is all over now. my parents were upset about the car but they weren't too mad cuz i wasn't doing anything stupid like drinking or reckless driving or anything i just messed up and made a mistake. so we bought a used 2002 legacy L wagon to replace the other car and now i want to make this car as good if not better then the one i totaled. sorry for hogging your thread but thanks for your concern
heightsgtltd
07-14-2005, 06:15 PM
Hey guys...got into Richmond. Gotta love free wifi at hotel!
Traffic from NYC to Richmond, was clear, UNTIL we got into VA. 195 was a parking lot....it was insane. Even worse, though it didnt affect me in this direction was I-495 going in the opposite direction. That literally was not moving for miles!
Anyway, will be going to Atlantic beach tomorrow morning...hopefully traffic will be managable.
This is the longest trip I have driven the GT on, as we have only had her for about 1 month. I am really impressed with its cruiser ability...gas mileage is improving, but not where I would like it yet. Good news is that I will hit the 1,000 mile mark at some point tomorrow!
gotta wash her though..any recommendations on car wash in richmond area?
thegodfather
07-15-2005, 09:23 PM
now you see what i was talking about
heightsgtltd
07-15-2005, 10:00 PM
true..
trip down to NC was great. 195 was empty, and then 17, 64, and 70 were nice as well. 17 felt like a country road and not a highway. Only drag was the lowered speed limit on the smaller roads.
Got the GT up to some good speeds and it felt so solid.
Was great to get the engine over 4k rpm since I have passed the break in point. I am impressed with growl that comes out in the higher revs that was missing in the lower ones.
Also getting used to the auto shift buttons on the wheel that get the car going pretty well.
Lotsa VA police on 95, but they were few and far between on 64, 17, etc.
The valet guy at the hotel in Richmond was really impressed with the GT. "That car is a Subaru?" he said that he never would have guessed.
It is amazing that I have not seen a single other one on the whole trip. I guess we really are a rare breed.
We will be heading to Keswick VA on Sunday as our halfway point overnight, and then back to NYC on monday.