![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Test Track
18 Apr 2008 11:42Some people have asked me what exactly this "US-30 test track" is that I've referenced both in IM conversations and on this blog. Here is a map.
The track involves roughly 120 miles of various kinds of driving that I tend to do on a somewhat regular basis to see how the car performs when going most of the places that I go with the car. It does not include any off-roading at all, unfortunately, except for the odd unpaved road within the city limits.
A-B: Home to Work: The first leg of the trip starts out at the Fred Meyer on NE Glisan St. Actually, it starts at my house, but I'll not publish that kind of detail in a public forum. Typically I park the car in the garage, turn the lights on, and take pictures all around and inside the car. What I'm looking for are the things that do not show up in the car brochures--little details that I notice, wear marks, how easy the controls are to reach, etc. I also look for things like how many bends there are in the intake/exhaust ducts on the car (more twists means more turbulence, which detracts from engine power), how easy it is to check the fluid levels, reach the oil/air filters, battery and headlights, change the wipers, and any other basic maintenance. I also look for things that annoy me.
From there, I head out to work. The freeway onramp at NE 58th Avenue has a fairly steep slope, which gives me a chance to evaluate heavy acceleration... if I'm not stuck behind a line of people merging on the freeway at 33mph. Once I'm on the freeway, the twisty curves on I-84 and the Marquam bridge let me test how well the steering responds at high speeds. I know, the Terwiliger curve in S. Portland is nastier, but takes me out of my way.
After curving around downtown, I end up heading west on US-26 towards Hillsboro. The freeway climbs 400 feet in about a mile, and if you're in the fast lane the cars seem to drive between 57-63mph. I consider this to be a decent test of hauling ass up a mountain, as it were. The backside of this slope lets me test the rolling resistance of the car--can I coast down the hill with my foot off the gas? Generally speaking, no. Then I go to the office and, erm, test the parking spaces. Given that the office is in Beaverton, this gives me ample opportunity to test performance going in and out of red lights (lights are never green in this town).
B-C: Work to Angel's Rest Trailhead: After work, get back on the freeway and return to the east side. Usually this is after work, so I get some dinner and get back on I-84 heading eastward somewhere around NE 60th Avenue. The merge ramp there is short but becomes an exit lane, so one can use it to test flat freeway acceleration from low speeds--the road going to the onramp is 25mph and they have cameras to enforce that.
The I-84 route takes me east through Gresham, Fairview, and Troutdale. The concrete on these parts of the freeway are in bad shape, what with heavy SUVs with traction tires wearing deep ruts into the road surface, and the state not having the money to repave or at least grind the road surface until it's smooth. Result? Lots of road noise. The nicer the car's interior, the more of the engine I hear and the less of the tires on the pavement.
After leaving the metro area, the speed limits increase to 65mph. Needless to say, drivers usually speed up to about 70-75mph. I can pretend to be a Californian and go fast. Usually I do this stretch in the dark, so I have an empty freeway to figure out how well the low and high beams show me the road. Once I get to exit 28, I get off the freeway.
C-D: Angel's Rest Trailhead to Crown Point: Now we're actually on US-30. The old Columbia River Highway follows the freeway westward for a few miles but gets progressively steeper and curvier as the road climbs the wall of the Columbia River Gorge to get to Crown Point. The speed limit is 40 despite the curves and the high chance of tree debris over the road, so this road is best done after 9:30pm with high beams on and no traffic. I slalom up the hill to the Point (an old WPA monument/rest stop, turn around, and slalom down.
D-E: Crown Point to Vancouver, WA via Ainsworth State Park: Once back to the Angel's Rest trailhead, I keep going east on US-30. The road is flat here, but very narrow in places. Consider that the highway was designed for a low volume of narrow tall 1920s automobiles, and suddenly driving a big truck on that road becomes a scary endeavor indeed. But it is a good test of whether or not the car can fit in a skinny lane next to a wall of rock... and how well I deal with driving said vehicle.
I then get on 84 heading west back to Portland, drive to 205 and go north into Vancouver, west on 14 to 5, then south on 5 back to Portland. If there's a breeze on the Columbia, crossing the river lets me assess how much the car suffers from side-to-side sway.
E-F: Vancouver, WA back to Fred Meyer: I get off 5 somewhere in North Portland and drive around on city streets back to the Glisan Fred Meyer. If the car has a gas mileage indicator I can get a rough estimate of city vs freeway. At Fred Meyer, I pick up some groceries and stuff them in the back. In the 12 blocks to get home from Freddy's, I go fast up a steep hill and make some tight turns to see if I can make the groceries slide around.
The track involves roughly 120 miles of various kinds of driving that I tend to do on a somewhat regular basis to see how the car performs when going most of the places that I go with the car. It does not include any off-roading at all, unfortunately, except for the odd unpaved road within the city limits.
A-B: Home to Work: The first leg of the trip starts out at the Fred Meyer on NE Glisan St. Actually, it starts at my house, but I'll not publish that kind of detail in a public forum. Typically I park the car in the garage, turn the lights on, and take pictures all around and inside the car. What I'm looking for are the things that do not show up in the car brochures--little details that I notice, wear marks, how easy the controls are to reach, etc. I also look for things like how many bends there are in the intake/exhaust ducts on the car (more twists means more turbulence, which detracts from engine power), how easy it is to check the fluid levels, reach the oil/air filters, battery and headlights, change the wipers, and any other basic maintenance. I also look for things that annoy me.
From there, I head out to work. The freeway onramp at NE 58th Avenue has a fairly steep slope, which gives me a chance to evaluate heavy acceleration... if I'm not stuck behind a line of people merging on the freeway at 33mph. Once I'm on the freeway, the twisty curves on I-84 and the Marquam bridge let me test how well the steering responds at high speeds. I know, the Terwiliger curve in S. Portland is nastier, but takes me out of my way.
After curving around downtown, I end up heading west on US-26 towards Hillsboro. The freeway climbs 400 feet in about a mile, and if you're in the fast lane the cars seem to drive between 57-63mph. I consider this to be a decent test of hauling ass up a mountain, as it were. The backside of this slope lets me test the rolling resistance of the car--can I coast down the hill with my foot off the gas? Generally speaking, no. Then I go to the office and, erm, test the parking spaces. Given that the office is in Beaverton, this gives me ample opportunity to test performance going in and out of red lights (lights are never green in this town).
B-C: Work to Angel's Rest Trailhead: After work, get back on the freeway and return to the east side. Usually this is after work, so I get some dinner and get back on I-84 heading eastward somewhere around NE 60th Avenue. The merge ramp there is short but becomes an exit lane, so one can use it to test flat freeway acceleration from low speeds--the road going to the onramp is 25mph and they have cameras to enforce that.
The I-84 route takes me east through Gresham, Fairview, and Troutdale. The concrete on these parts of the freeway are in bad shape, what with heavy SUVs with traction tires wearing deep ruts into the road surface, and the state not having the money to repave or at least grind the road surface until it's smooth. Result? Lots of road noise. The nicer the car's interior, the more of the engine I hear and the less of the tires on the pavement.
After leaving the metro area, the speed limits increase to 65mph. Needless to say, drivers usually speed up to about 70-75mph. I can pretend to be a Californian and go fast. Usually I do this stretch in the dark, so I have an empty freeway to figure out how well the low and high beams show me the road. Once I get to exit 28, I get off the freeway.
C-D: Angel's Rest Trailhead to Crown Point: Now we're actually on US-30. The old Columbia River Highway follows the freeway westward for a few miles but gets progressively steeper and curvier as the road climbs the wall of the Columbia River Gorge to get to Crown Point. The speed limit is 40 despite the curves and the high chance of tree debris over the road, so this road is best done after 9:30pm with high beams on and no traffic. I slalom up the hill to the Point (an old WPA monument/rest stop, turn around, and slalom down.
D-E: Crown Point to Vancouver, WA via Ainsworth State Park: Once back to the Angel's Rest trailhead, I keep going east on US-30. The road is flat here, but very narrow in places. Consider that the highway was designed for a low volume of narrow tall 1920s automobiles, and suddenly driving a big truck on that road becomes a scary endeavor indeed. But it is a good test of whether or not the car can fit in a skinny lane next to a wall of rock... and how well I deal with driving said vehicle.
I then get on 84 heading west back to Portland, drive to 205 and go north into Vancouver, west on 14 to 5, then south on 5 back to Portland. If there's a breeze on the Columbia, crossing the river lets me assess how much the car suffers from side-to-side sway.
E-F: Vancouver, WA back to Fred Meyer: I get off 5 somewhere in North Portland and drive around on city streets back to the Glisan Fred Meyer. If the car has a gas mileage indicator I can get a rough estimate of city vs freeway. At Fred Meyer, I pick up some groceries and stuff them in the back. In the 12 blocks to get home from Freddy's, I go fast up a steep hill and make some tight turns to see if I can make the groceries slide around.
