Earlier this month I was fortunate enough to go on a 2 week vacation to Hawaii (Oahu, Maui and Kauai), with a day stopover on the west coast of California on the way back to the east coast. I have never experienced so much fun driving as I did on this vacation.
The first fun drive, and probably the most exhilarating, was the Road to Hana. The trip started at mile marker 0 and ended up at the Kipahulu District, where we turned around and headed back the same way.
For this trip I had a measly 2020 Kia Optima "FE", which stood for "fuel efficient". While it did get awesome gas mileage in eco mode, the car was actually pretty fun to drive in sport mode. We set out at around 8am and stopped and many of the roadside attractions, a lot of them quite scenic. On the way to the park at the end, I got a feel for the car and also how this road is. I've never driven on quite a road, which is VERY windy and VERY narrow. There are also a lot of one-way bridges, and during the morning/early afternoon the bridges had cars parked along the side of the road because people tend to take pictures or hike. This made the road even more narrow.
However, by the time we got to the end and finished our 2hr long hike, the sun was setting. Most suggest not driving the Hana Highway at night, but this is actually a lot more fun for spirited driving. There weren't many cars, and the ones that I caught up to would kindly pull off when they had a chance to let me by. I did the same when the obvious locals came up behind me, they know the road and would be going quite fast. My co-pilot (girlfriend) was gripping the "oh shit" handle during most of the ride back, but I was just having a blast. Since the road is pretty uninhabited (although most of it was well paved until the very end), there are no street lights. This had me checking the GPS on the car's screen pretty often to see when sharp corners were coming up.
Towards the very end, I had a car that was behind me for a while so I pulled over to let him pass. He stopped in the middle of the road behind me and shouted "you're doing great, keep going!" My girlfriend though that was the best compliment (as did I). It was probably easier to drive with me in front since my taillights let him know where the road was and he could follow me into the turns. I was actually a little sore at the end of this drive, and I'm only 34 years old!
In Maui, we also drove up the Haleakala volcano for sunset. While this looks like a fun drive, it was hampered by slow drivers. Both on the way up, and on the way back down when it is strongly recommended to use low gear because of how steep it is. I was barely touching the brakes, but most others were riding them most of the way down. Wonder how hot
those brakes got.
In Kauai, I got a great deal on renting a convertible so we got the ecoboost Mustang. This car was beat, dents and scratches everywhere and the Mustang emblem on the trunk was missing? Did most of the driving in Sport+ mode, normal mode felt boring. Driving to the north shores of Kauai was fun, but nothing like the Road to Hana. The fun drive on this island was up Waimea Canyon. Not as windy or dangerous as the Road to Hana, but being on the edge of the canyon was a great scenic ride. Also a very smooth ride most of the way, until the end where there were holes spanning across the whole road, some looked like they were two feet across and a foot deep. Slow drivers hampered some of this drive as well, but it was still enjoyable with the scenery.
The last drive was down the Pacific Coast Hwy (Hwy 1) as we decided to stop over in California for a day to break up the loooong day it would have been to fly from Hawaii to the east coast in a single day. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and then set out down hwy 1 without a destination. Made it just past Lucia when I decided to turn around.
For this I had a 2021 Challenger R/T. I'm not sure if I just got lucky or what, but when I booked a "sporty car" I expected to get the low tier Mustang/Camaro/Charger/Challenger. So when I got to Enterprise at 9pm when they closed and the guy told me he had a Hemi waiting for me I was a bit taken back. The thing sounded great, and was actually fun to drive. Comparable power to my Trans Am, but much heavier. Quickly tuned on sport mode, the V4 mode was really messing with my fun.
Another scenic drive, some fun twists and turns and made sure I had my radar detector just in case. It was just fun to drive down the coast with no destination and stop at any of the scenic overlooks I wanted to. This whole road was well maintained and bridges were easy to cross (except Bixby Bridge, which had cars parked everywhere). A drive I would love to do again and go further, just to see more of the coast and drive more of the road.
This trip has me planning other fun drives. I think the next one I'll do is Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway, since that is close to DC and I have a place to stay there.
The first fun drive, and probably the most exhilarating, was the Road to Hana. The trip started at mile marker 0 and ended up at the Kipahulu District, where we turned around and headed back the same way.
For this trip I had a measly 2020 Kia Optima "FE", which stood for "fuel efficient". While it did get awesome gas mileage in eco mode, the car was actually pretty fun to drive in sport mode. We set out at around 8am and stopped and many of the roadside attractions, a lot of them quite scenic. On the way to the park at the end, I got a feel for the car and also how this road is. I've never driven on quite a road, which is VERY windy and VERY narrow. There are also a lot of one-way bridges, and during the morning/early afternoon the bridges had cars parked along the side of the road because people tend to take pictures or hike. This made the road even more narrow.
However, by the time we got to the end and finished our 2hr long hike, the sun was setting. Most suggest not driving the Hana Highway at night, but this is actually a lot more fun for spirited driving. There weren't many cars, and the ones that I caught up to would kindly pull off when they had a chance to let me by. I did the same when the obvious locals came up behind me, they know the road and would be going quite fast. My co-pilot (girlfriend) was gripping the "oh shit" handle during most of the ride back, but I was just having a blast. Since the road is pretty uninhabited (although most of it was well paved until the very end), there are no street lights. This had me checking the GPS on the car's screen pretty often to see when sharp corners were coming up.
Towards the very end, I had a car that was behind me for a while so I pulled over to let him pass. He stopped in the middle of the road behind me and shouted "you're doing great, keep going!" My girlfriend though that was the best compliment (as did I). It was probably easier to drive with me in front since my taillights let him know where the road was and he could follow me into the turns. I was actually a little sore at the end of this drive, and I'm only 34 years old!
In Maui, we also drove up the Haleakala volcano for sunset. While this looks like a fun drive, it was hampered by slow drivers. Both on the way up, and on the way back down when it is strongly recommended to use low gear because of how steep it is. I was barely touching the brakes, but most others were riding them most of the way down. Wonder how hot
those brakes got.
In Kauai, I got a great deal on renting a convertible so we got the ecoboost Mustang. This car was beat, dents and scratches everywhere and the Mustang emblem on the trunk was missing? Did most of the driving in Sport+ mode, normal mode felt boring. Driving to the north shores of Kauai was fun, but nothing like the Road to Hana. The fun drive on this island was up Waimea Canyon. Not as windy or dangerous as the Road to Hana, but being on the edge of the canyon was a great scenic ride. Also a very smooth ride most of the way, until the end where there were holes spanning across the whole road, some looked like they were two feet across and a foot deep. Slow drivers hampered some of this drive as well, but it was still enjoyable with the scenery.
The last drive was down the Pacific Coast Hwy (Hwy 1) as we decided to stop over in California for a day to break up the loooong day it would have been to fly from Hawaii to the east coast in a single day. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and then set out down hwy 1 without a destination. Made it just past Lucia when I decided to turn around.
For this I had a 2021 Challenger R/T. I'm not sure if I just got lucky or what, but when I booked a "sporty car" I expected to get the low tier Mustang/Camaro/Charger/Challenger. So when I got to Enterprise at 9pm when they closed and the guy told me he had a Hemi waiting for me I was a bit taken back. The thing sounded great, and was actually fun to drive. Comparable power to my Trans Am, but much heavier. Quickly tuned on sport mode, the V4 mode was really messing with my fun.
Another scenic drive, some fun twists and turns and made sure I had my radar detector just in case. It was just fun to drive down the coast with no destination and stop at any of the scenic overlooks I wanted to. This whole road was well maintained and bridges were easy to cross (except Bixby Bridge, which had cars parked everywhere). A drive I would love to do again and go further, just to see more of the coast and drive more of the road.
This trip has me planning other fun drives. I think the next one I'll do is Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway, since that is close to DC and I have a place to stay there.
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