Seattle/Drizzle/RWD?

[FICannon]

Hello gentlemen,

My wife's mom lives in Queen Anne and we visit often. I really enjoy the atmosphere compared to Texas but being that I like high powered vehicles and it drizzles constantly, I don't know how I'll feel about not being able to do short 2-3 gear pulls, here and there. Do you guys wait until the short six weeks of summer to go WOT? This isn't a determining factor in our decision to move to Seattle but I just wanted to know what's it's like driving vehicles with over 5-600rwhp(especially rwd cars)((GT500s, Terminators))in an area that drizzles 10 months out of the year?

Thanks in advance,
-A

 

[jpk]

I have lived in the Seattle area a long time and I'm a car guy. I have also lived in the Southwest. There are a lot of good car guys in the Seattle area and Mustangs are a big part of it. There is also a good exotic car scene up here. Many of them will say "hey, Seattle's got some good driving roads! It's nice here!"

Baloney. It sucks compared to what you are probably used to in Texas. I lived in Oklahoma which is pretty similar to Texas so I can compare Seattle to Texas from experience. I got so fed up with the bad Seattle traffic, bad road conditions, and inability to have fun in my Mustang Cobra I actually moved it to Las Vegas so I could enjoy it year round even though I don't get to drive it every day anymore.

The roads being wet is just part of it. The traffic is very bad, the roads are very narrow and hilly with poor visibility, and when traffic is moving the drivers go very slow and are unaware of their surroundings. Only a fool would drive aggressively around here on a regular basis. Usually you see those fools in a ditch on Saturday. I've seen a Ford GT in a ditch. Several Porsches. And those that don't wreck their car get taken in by the police, who are incredibly aggressive about traffic enforcement. Some will say if you drive east past the Cascades or head north towards Canada there are good roads. Rubbish. Driving two hours just to drive is stupid. Ultimately people end up going to the track about an hour outside of town to get their fix because there is just no other place to drive safely.

BUT, there are good car people here, and while the driving conditions stink, there are plenty of other good things about the area. The Mustang community is large and there are a lot of nice cars here. You just don't get to drive them the way you can in the southwest. I prefer to go to car meets in Seattle and do my driving in Nevada.

 

[FICannon]

I have lived in the Seattle area a long time and I'm a car guy. I have also lived in the Southwest. There are a lot of good car guys in the Seattle area and Mustangs are a big part of it. There is also a good exotic car scene up here. Many of them will say "hey, Seattle's got some good driving roads! It's nice here!"

Baloney. It sucks compared to what you are probably used to in Texas. I lived in Oklahoma which is pretty similar to Texas so I can compare Seattle to Texas from experience. I got so fed up with the bad Seattle traffic, bad road conditions, and inability to have fun in my Mustang Cobra I actually moved it to Las Vegas so I could enjoy it year round even though I don't get to drive it every day anymore.

The roads being wet is just part of it. The traffic is very bad, the roads are very narrow and hilly with poor visibility, and when traffic is moving the drivers go very slow and are unaware of their surroundings. Only a fool would drive aggressively around here on a regular basis. Usually you see those fools in a ditch on Saturday. I've seen a Ford GT in a ditch. Several Porsches. And those that don't wreck their car get taken in by the police, who are incredibly aggressive about traffic enforcement. Some will say if you drive east past the Cascades or head north towards Canada there are good roads. Rubbish. Driving two hours just to drive is stupid. Ultimately people end up going to the track about an hour outside of town to get their fix because there is just no other place to drive safely.

BUT, there are good car people here, and while the driving conditions stink, there are plenty of other good things about the area. The Mustang community is large and there are a lot of nice cars here. You just don't get to drive them the way you can in the southwest. I prefer to go to car meets in Seattle and do my driving in Nevada.

Thanks for the reply! Very informative, exactly what I thought.

How're the six weeks of summer? Are the roads decent enough to enjoy a nice drive away from city traffic?

 

[jpk]

Thanks for the reply! Very informative, exactly what I thought.

How're the six weeks of summer? Are the roads decent enough to enjoy a nice drive away from city traffic?

The six weeks of summer are good for cruising. If a 'nice drive' is just being able to drive on dry sunny roads and hear the engine and enjoy the scenery, yes. If a 'nice drive' is dropping two gears and chirping the tires and hitting the redline on several gear changes, not really. You can do that, but it's not the safest place to be doing that. The cops are super aggressive about staking out and hiding on all the streets just to catch speeders and aggressive drivers. The traffic is still fairly congested and the visibility with all the twists and turns and hills is still bad. The six weeks of summer is great if you have a classic car and want to putter around town and hear the engine. Sucks if you have oodles of horsepower and want to floor it. You can floor it on an on ramp, but the moment you get on the interstate you will hit traffic going 5mph under the speed limit. On a 600HP Cobra, you will only be in second gear before that happens.

The best thing for car guys in the Seattle area about the six weeks of summer are the car shows and meetups. There are good meetups where you can check out other peoples cars like ExoticSat at Redmond Town Center or the various car clubs that meet in Issaquah for cruises. And it's the one time of year it's worth detailing your car because it won't get rained on immediately.

I'm painting a pessimistic picture, but this comes from many years of Mustang Cobra ownership in the area. There are those times you can have fun. But when the car is a daily driver, those times are way rarer than the times you are stuck in traffic or are gingerly short shifting to prevent the traction control from kicking in. I get to enjoy my cars every single time I pull out of the garage in Las Vegas, by comparison.

 

[FICannon]

Thanks for your post, brother. Looks like I'll have to be satisfied with the exhaust note until the short weeks of summer.

 

[fallingup693]

If you live in a metro area it will be difficult to enjoy your car. If you live anywhere else in Washington State it is gorgeous and easy to get out and find nice roads and good scenery. Stay away from the Seattle area. I was born and raised here so I should know.

*edit*
On the Western side of Washington it does rain a lot and you may want to put away your car for late fall/winter/early spring. But you do get spurts here and there of great weather. Like the last week until yesterday has been nothing but sunny and dry roads.

On the East side of Washington the summer lasts a lot longer, gets a lot hotter, and is super easy to find nice days. During the winter it snows a ton and you shouldn't be driving anything other than an awd/4wd anyways.
*edit*