The "best road in the world" bit got me thinking. (Awesome segment, btw)
There is a definite bias against American roads on the program. I understand part of this is the entertainment factor - but either way I think it would be a good show idea to try and prove to the TG team that there are, in fact, excellent driving roads in the US.
Clarkson's special focused on Nevada. The American special on the deep south. No offense to anyone in these places, but they are awful places to find a good driving road. And, Florida/Alabama/New Orleans is obviously a pretty bad representation of the country in general. But either way, the roads are nothing special.
The best roads in the US are in the mountain passes of the Rockies in Colorado, Utah, Montana. Twisty canyon runs in California, and the Sierra range. They are in the Appalachians, rural New England and upstate New York. There are some roads that rival Europe's best. Just in Connecticut here alone are some roads I've discovered over the past few years that are astoundingly good. I just did a run with a local Lotus group, and not only are the roads very twisty, but smooth as well. They definitely test the limits of adhesion. Even near NYC, the Bear Mountain roads are amazing.
Tourists coming to America get a bad impression from city streets and high volume highways and don't really get to see the backroad magic that exists.
I wonder if Clarkson and crew are aware that these great roads exist and just choose to ignore it for entertainment's sake, or whether they are truly ignorant to what exists here.
As (hopefully) some folks from the show watch this board, I figured it couldn't hurt to throw this idea out there. Get them in some good sports cars (not necessarily American either - maybe a mix of American/German/Italian to see which is at home on America's own roads) and see if America has any decent roads.
Good starting points:
Tail of the Dragon - One of the most famous of all. 318 curves in 11 miles.
Rocky Mountain passes - Colorado, Montana, Wyoming
Adirondacks, Bear Mountain, Catskills - New York
Northwest Connecticut, Western Mass, Vermont, New Hampshire
Anyone else think this would make for a great episode?
There is a definite bias against American roads on the program. I understand part of this is the entertainment factor - but either way I think it would be a good show idea to try and prove to the TG team that there are, in fact, excellent driving roads in the US.
Clarkson's special focused on Nevada. The American special on the deep south. No offense to anyone in these places, but they are awful places to find a good driving road. And, Florida/Alabama/New Orleans is obviously a pretty bad representation of the country in general. But either way, the roads are nothing special.
The best roads in the US are in the mountain passes of the Rockies in Colorado, Utah, Montana. Twisty canyon runs in California, and the Sierra range. They are in the Appalachians, rural New England and upstate New York. There are some roads that rival Europe's best. Just in Connecticut here alone are some roads I've discovered over the past few years that are astoundingly good. I just did a run with a local Lotus group, and not only are the roads very twisty, but smooth as well. They definitely test the limits of adhesion. Even near NYC, the Bear Mountain roads are amazing.
Tourists coming to America get a bad impression from city streets and high volume highways and don't really get to see the backroad magic that exists.
I wonder if Clarkson and crew are aware that these great roads exist and just choose to ignore it for entertainment's sake, or whether they are truly ignorant to what exists here.
As (hopefully) some folks from the show watch this board, I figured it couldn't hurt to throw this idea out there. Get them in some good sports cars (not necessarily American either - maybe a mix of American/German/Italian to see which is at home on America's own roads) and see if America has any decent roads.
Good starting points:
Tail of the Dragon - One of the most famous of all. 318 curves in 11 miles.
Rocky Mountain passes - Colorado, Montana, Wyoming
Adirondacks, Bear Mountain, Catskills - New York
Northwest Connecticut, Western Mass, Vermont, New Hampshire
Anyone else think this would make for a great episode?