Tokyo Roads x Accord x Estima
I love Japan roads. I visit there twice a year, sometimes three times, and lots of times as I walk to get my breakfast or going for late night snacks, I come across road workers digging gigantic holes in sidewalks and roads and about 8 hours later the same hole is covered with no signs of that the place was being worked on. Amazing!
On Omotesando. One of the busiest streets in Tokyo / Harajuku Area.
On the corner of Omotesando X Meiji Dori
Here in California, on the other hand, its a whole different scenario as good old Caltrans does the worst possible job they can do at their job sites by putting 4″ metal plates with asphalt as glue to keep the plate from moving. They leave it there for about 2 weeks making the roads feel like driving your driving thru an off road course.
A common site in SF.
I guess you can say both love their jobs in different ways. One country works for perfection while the other works to keep their job.
Being Hellaflush really is a lifestyle decision one person makes no matter what the road conditions are. I sometimes wonder why I drive such low cars but at the same time I know deep down inside, its my style and like alot of you guys, it just feels right.
Check out the Accord (mistaken for an Odyssey earlier) and Estima in Japan. Two years ago, at Autosalon, the guys were telling me that Air Suspension wasn’t popular anymore and that people only drove with coilovers. They’d set it as low as possible and just drive. Knowing the roads in Japan, It’s definitely possible. In SF, however, you’d have to be crazy to drive thru 3rd street in something this low.
Thanks Mike for posting this video on your FB. It gave me the idea for this post. Keep up with me at my Stayfresh Blog.
“Being Hellaflush really is a lifestyle decision one person makes no matter what the road conditions are. I sometimes wonder why I drive such low cars but at the same time I know deep down inside, its my style and like alot of you guys, it just feels right. ”
exactlly how i feel.
and correction: the white honda in the video is an accord wagon (tsx in the u.s)
but very nice video nonetheless
just cracked my sideskirts on 3rd today…
Uhh, is that a guy or girl laughing in the video?
Anyway. Japanese roads sounds nice. *sigh*
i love every ride in this website but, this blog is the best all because of it is about ROADS!
…..oh yea only one word for that accord and previa-GORGOUS
and i 110% agree to wut he says japanese build there roads to perfection, on the other hand the U.S. dont. to many areas ive seen where the roads are all crack up and all the county does to refix them is put little patchs wich are higher than existing road, wich cause massive bumps that we do not like. I have a CRX thats to the ground and i cant stand.
thankyou for the post. a great example on different country roads
It really is a lifestyle choice. I love being super low. Alot of out of towners think Los Angeles has good roads because of the amount of slammed cars out here. They don’t realize LA is one of the least taken care of places when it comes to roads in the country. Downtown SF is even worse than LA, then you combine the terrible parking, and hills to highside on. OH well.. I’m driving my slammed car!
I only wish the roads were like that in the US. smh
I agree coming from Hawaii to northern Cali was a big difference. I thought our roads were no good then I took a drive through San Fran. But maybe that’s what keeps us going challenging our skills on the road or something. Dodging pot holes crawling over speed bumps searching for alternate routes cause you know when something is to steep for your car to make. It’s a lifestyle and a love for what we do.
Downtown SF is the worst. I work down there and drive my WRX everyday. Luckily, I know the roads well enough to where i know which streets to avoid, where the big potholes are, etc. Try driving up California Street when your front lip is about an inch and a half off the ground…it’s not an easy task but I feel like it was an accomplishment after I made it. Great post Mark.
BTW, I’m jealous of everything Japan has that we don’t.
Being Hellaflush really is a lifestyle decision one person makes no matter what the road conditions are. I sometimes wonder why I drive such low cars but at the same time I know deep down inside, its my style and like alot of you guys, it just feels right.
I know a guy around here that has the lowest bB I’ve ever seen in my life, and he drives that thing just about everywhere. I think it’s even got my 240SX beat height-wise, which is just insane. (And that is quite the act if you wanna get her in my driveway!)
My other two really aren’t that low, but there’s also a giving point to me where being too low doesn’t give me the suspension travel necessary for optimum handling. My “style” is really a blend of performance with flair, kinda following the better aspects of some cars while still allowing them to be drivable without *too* much worry.
I mean, my Miata has probably the most ground clearance of all at times, but she still got bottomed out pretty hard, which damaged the cat rather badly. I was planning on a new one anyhow, it just got moved up a lot. But I wouldn’t want to keep spending $250 if it happened a lot!
dude, caltrans does need to get their sh*t together. i bottomed out in my new beetle in san jose and it’s only right below stock height (like 1.5 in lower). it was on a gigantic pot hole. it cost me an oilpan. i’m not paying taxes to find my oilpan cracked!
You guys can’t complain, you’ve got NOTHING on the East Coasts potholes. It never freezes out there.
I’ll show you pot holes that’ll rip entire subframes off.
srsly… the common sf site looks like nothing at all…
actually dude we do… are roads see tremors and earthquakes regularly. along with mudslides and floods. not to mention our super high traffic areas. If you do just a little research you will see SF, Oakland, and LA rank in the top ten roughest roads in the country. FACT. can’t argue with that.
You should see the roads in Puerto Rico. They’re the worst streets in the world. Makes driving lowered cars a pain in the azz. Braking oil pans and rubbin all the time.
you want to see bad roads look at BALTIMORE Md, place like that makes you want to spend money and do the road ya self.
Sorry to get slightly political, but compare our road repairs with Japan’s and notice the difference in quality and work ethic. Now look at the state our country is in and see if you can figure out the problem. This makes me sad.
But anyway, fuck the roads; low life fo’ life.
You guys have no idea. Come visit Milwaukee sometime, it’ll make SF seem like SILK. I promise.
Try coming to Miami. This entire city has horrible streets. Potholes everywhere I drive. My car isn’t as slammed as hellaflushed but these streets hurt my car…. And me. That pic if SF is nowhere near Miami. And the traffic is unbearable 24/7 no matter what time, even at 2-3 in the morning.
i went to japan two years ago and was truly amazed at how well their roads are maintained. my friend even said “no wonder all their cars are slammed!”
if caltrans could only take such pride in their work.
recently, i was going home from a friend’s house in dublin back down to sj. i thought my car was going to break going down 680s near sunol!
even nevada does a better job. i remember going to reno once and there were two big signs with flags that said “bump ahead”. the bump was hardly anything. in california, there can be a curb like bump ahead and you get no warning at all.
That laugh at the end of that video…………
It was worse than listening to nails on a chalkboard. Ugh.
Cars were dope though.