Life is Great with a 6.0-liter V8
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  • Friendly Drive

    Posted on February 16th, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    There were a few drizzles this morning, but I wanted to show my new car to a friend. I drove by her house and picked her up for a ‘quick’ spin. I had planned on a nice loop along Palomares Rd. from Fremont up towards Dublin. I checked things out the night before on Google Maps and it looked to be some nice curves and mostly two lanes.

    Total Distance: 53.3 miles
    Driving Time: 1 hours 17 min


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    friendly

    I drove down to Fremont on the freeway and stopped at my friend’s house. I had to do the customary ‘show off the car’ for the family. Everyone was very impressed. We headed out towards Niles Canyon Rd. I was trying to be really reserved with the throttle, as I wanted to show the conservative/refined side of the G8 GT. Once we hit Niles Canyon I gave it a little more, but the speed limit is a little low for how smooth/flowing the road really is. The road runs at the bottom of a nice canyon paralleling a river and some railroad tracks. It is a really nice and relaxing drive for being right in the middle of the SF Bay Area. Unfortunately I missed my turn-off for Palomares so just kept going all the way to Sunol before turning around. This time I kept an eye out for the turn (just past a large railroad bridge) and snapped the car around the tight (>90deg) right-hander… and to my surprise there was a minivan driving towards me in my lane! To give him (or her) credit, there was a fallen tree limb in the road, but it did require me to slow. In hindsight that probably was a good thing… the winter rains (despite not being nearly enough) left the road scattered with rocks. After a few more turns one lane was closed briefly due to a landslide… and not far after that another rockslide spilled across my lane. We decided to turn around, as I didn’t want to find myself running into anything too damaging. I dropped my friend off and headed home. Getting on I-680N from Mission Blvd. gave me an opportunity to give the G8 GT some more throttle and it responded perfectly. I happened to be on the phone at the time (hands free of course) with my friend and she was like, “I heard that”.

    The few turns of Palomares I was able to drive were nice and the loop I was looking to drive seems perfect for a quick outing… This is a road I’m surely going to try again in the summer!

  • Photos: BART Parking Structure

    Posted on February 16th, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    Having failed taking quick photos yesterday, I wanted to at least get something that I could show to friends/family. There rain was still around, but there was a slight break mid-day. I went next door to the BART parking structure to take a few quick photos.

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