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There is a scenic road to the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire (still closed for winter). One of the restrictions for driving on it is that you can't have a Honda, Acura, Jaguar, or Saturn auto with a sequential sport shifter. See the link below. This is discrimination against Honda products. Are they implying that the brakes on Hondas are no good. Why are they picking on these 4 makes. Anyone here ever do this road in a TL? What was your experience. Anyone else think this restriction is very odd.

For those not familiar with Mt Washington, although it is short in altitude compared to western US mountains, it has some of the worst weather in the world - the highest ever recorded wind speed. It is also the tallest mountain east of the Missisippi (sp?)

Here is the offending quote from the web page:

"Acura, Honda, Jaguar, Saturn, and Sterling autos with automatic transmissions must show a "1" or "L" on the shifter to be allowed on the Auto Road, also those with Sequential Sport Shifters cannot be allowed on the Auto Road."

http://www.mt-washington.com/autoroa...clelimits.html

rets

Weird... new to me... I never had problems with my car before...

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Maybe I am misreading the web page due to their poor grammer. Maybe what they are trying to say is that any car,any make, that has a sport shifter but is without a "1" or "L" is not allowed on the road. Maybe there are some exotic cars that have this. Thus the TL would be allowed.

ChuckDu

I never drove it in a TL, but did in a Honda Odyssey. I also rode the "scenic" road on my bicycle.

The Mt. Washington toll road is 7.6 miles with an AVERAGE grade of over 12%. There are sections where the grade tops out at 22%. The road is also not fully paved. In some sections it's compacted gravel.

The policy isn't a bias against Honda, it's purely a safety issue. With limited traction, sharp turns, and the steep grade a low gear is absolutely needed; especially when the road is a bit slick from rain and crowded with slow-moving tourists. Also, on the way down, it's wise to use some engine braking to reduce heating up the brakes too much. The road has several turn-offs to appreciate the view and let the brakes cool on the way down.

A few years ago, 599 other crazies and I paid the $100 entry fee for the privilege of riding our bicycles up the mountain . The record holder for the 7.6 mile climb is a professional cyclist who rode it in ~47 minutes. The stragglers ride the course in 3 hours. I managed to get my 220 lb butt up the hill in 1hr 16 minutes. The cyclists were not allowed to ride down the hill on their bikes, they had to carpool down (in non-SS Hondas). This year the entry fee is $300 per rider and ithe ride usually fills up in a few weeks.

spacejamz

Editing the quote for relevancy:

Acuras with automatic transmissions must show a "1" or "L" on the shifter to be allowed, also those with Sequential Sport Shifters cannot be allowed.

I am guessing any AT acura with the sport shift (which would be all 2nd and 3rd gen ones) are not allowed...

in any event, why would it make a difference?

HD3

I had it happen to me last Sept. Drove a few thousand miles only to get there and be turned away. They offered to pay so that we could ride the bus up to the top (said that Honda paid for it), but we didn't buy a $30,000+ car to have to take a bus (van) ride. Called Acura about it and they claim no knowledge of the problem. Folks at Mt. Washington said that they received monthly payments from Honda ...seems like someone from Acura should know about it.

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Right. I wouldn't want to drive this road in any car that didn't have a very low gear and good brakes.

Also I think there is a yearly auto race (time trial) to the top. We need some TLers to enter!

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HD3, were you driving a TL? I don't quite follow what you are trying to say about the payments from Honda. Why would Honda pay them?

HD3

Yes an '04TL When they would not let us drive our car they said we could ride their bus to the top. I forget what it cost to take the bus was... something like $20 or so. We could have ridden the bus for free because Honda would have paid for it.

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Wow!. So I can drive up the Auto Road in a 30 year old Buick but not with a brand new $35,000 TL! Strange!

Actually after hearing how steep it is, I think I'll pass on driving there.

HD3

subspace,
Our friends were driving an old Ford. They were able to drive up...we couldn't. Plus, we could not ride with them because they already had (4) people in their car ( there is a weight limit on how much weight you can have in your car as well) You can just imagine the crap I heard from our friends about good old USA cars vs foreign cars on the way home.

J RIDE 81

This is very interesting, tell you the truth, I never even heard of this road. Sounds like a fun ride thought!

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Found this on the Mt. Washington web page FAQ:

<start quote>
Be honest, how many people have died riding on the Auto Road?
Over 143 years, there have been two fatalities on the Auto Road.
In 1880, a stage overturned (in the hands of a drunk driver) and a passenger was killed. In 1984, a vehicle experienced brake failure about a mile up the road and was unable to make it down without crashing, killing a passenger.
<end quote>

I bet the brake failure was in a Honda and they got sued. Hence they are pissed off at Honda

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

I think they do not want engine braking on a steep decline ... they want the cars behind you to see your brake lights ... there are various signs on I-290 and I-88 in Illinois that state that engine braking is prohibited.

Rick-H

While the AT TL does have a "L" on the shifter (to lock it in 1st gear)- if the driver puts the sequential sport shifter in the "manual mode" (and we all would)--- the car will shift into second by itself and the driver loses some control-- certainly one could move the shifter over and down back to L-- but it might be toooo late. I understand-- this is a high density tourist area.

If one wants to drive the TL down some mean mountain roads-- there are hundreds & hundreds of them in the west-- even more challanging than Mt. Washington. And on many you will not even see another car-- and if the TL gets away from you, well someone might find your bloody broken body in a few weeks.

HD3

PeterUbers,
I think it is just the opposite. If I remember correctly the reason given for not allowing us to drive up was a memo from Honda saying that our cars would not stay in first gear ...when it reached a certain speed it would automatically shift into 2nd and then would not provide the required engine braking. I looked for my paperwork on this subject from last year, but I can not find it right now.

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

ahh, i gotcha, thanks for the explanation. can't say I've ever heard of anything like this before, but it makes sense.

rets

ChuckDu & HD3, thanks for your info.

Still, I cannot understand... I was almost there many years ago with my Legend, but decided not to go there due to the limit time and tight schedule. I should try...

avs007

That rule is overly broad. My G35 doesn't have an "L", only sport shift. However, the G35 will never ever shift by itself. Thus technically would be ok, even tho it's not allowed.

Likewise, my old Pontiac Grand Am, doesn't have an "L". Only a "D", "3", and "2". However, on that tranny, if you shift into "2" from a complete stop or < 10mph, it will lock into "1", and will not shift into 2.

I suppose they want to be overly broad, to cover their rears just in case....

HEK

Not to get off the subject of which cars are allowed ...but who in their right mind drive a vehicle, their vehicle up a mountain to later have to do a brake job due to the heat put on the rotors by the "hot" pads??...I said to one of my friends, I would never buy a car that had a sticker: "This car climbed Mt.Washington".....

If you want to venture off rent a car...

HD3

HEK,
While I agree with what you are saying myguess is that you don't have to worry about seeing that sticker on a 3g TL auto.
Also don't rent a 3g TL if you want to do this drive.

JohnDoe2

GREAT April fools joke!

HD3

JohnDoe2,
It would have been a great joke, but sorry to say it's not.

deandorsey

maybe it has to do with the tranny overheating and all of the 2g failures- that would be my guess...


what gear does the auto tranny go into when you put it in low? there is no way to keep it in 1st?.....


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i posted these pics a while back in the photo section..

rets

I remembered those pics... were they shot over there?


As for L mode, Acura says "the transmission downshifts to the lowest possible ratio for the current road speed to provide maximum engine braking. If the vehicle continues to slow, the transmission progressively downshifts to maintain engine braking effect. When it has shifted all the way down to first gear, an upshift back to second gear is automatically available if speed increases, but the transmission won't upshift further unless the driver moves the selector back to the D (Drive) position where normal transmission operation resumes."

dsc888

rets,

Thanks for digging up the info. What I don't get is why Honda doesn't let you hold 1st gear when all the other manufacturer's do. Our cars are driven on the same roads and hills as everyone else's cars. Is is because of weak tranny? Maybe that's why we can't use SS to engage 1st. I had a blast in my loaner RSX 2 months back. You can grab 1st gear with the SS in that car. Maybe Ksmitty has an answer for us.

dsc888

deandorsey

yea they were...i took the S2K up there too..good times!..it gets pretty scary when you get towards the top...the fog is so thick you cant see more than 10ft in front of you....


that is lame with the tranny...i know im my 2g it had a dedicated 1st gear gate....i bet this was done again, because of the failures.....

rets

So, you did drive your TL to the road where Hondas & Acuras are forbidden...? https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92124

No one checked your car? Or I miss something here or there... Or it's just another part of mt washington...

deandorsey

lol the secret honda road ...

no i got in fine...never had any problem what so ever.....

i do have the 6spd-so according to this thread i would have been ok by their 'guidelines'

however, no one has ever checked inside my car, or asked me if i had an auto or manual...so this thread is news to me.....