Although the forecast said there may be some isolated thunderstorms, I went for a drive to the Arapahoe National Park (Colorado). The drive there on I-70 had some nice twisties, but it rained a bit and the traffic was surprisingly heavy, so the twisties weren't very enjoyable.

I exited on US-40 and proceeded to climb the mountain, and wow, was it fun. This may not be so appealing to some of you, but coming from the flat lands of Michigan, I loved every second of this drive.

I snapped a few pics to share, which will follow my review of the TL's performance.

2005 TL 6MT w/ CT RSB & AEM CAI - otherwise stock.

Handling: There were multiple S-curves, with speed limits varying from 25 mph - 55 mph. The TL seemed like it was engineered on these roads - it flowed through the lines smoothely with very minimal bodyroll.

Where it felt short, however, was on the hairpin turns, which had recommended speed limit of 15 mph. Of course, had I taken these turns at that speed, it probaby would've been fine... but I didn't.

I took them at about 25+, sometimes making the mistake of coming in too fast or too slow.

While i liked the fact that the steering was light, lock-to-lock turns were too much, making these hairpin turns seem like a chore. Another negative aspect of the light steering feel was that it took an effort to steer the car exactly as I wanted it... I actually think my '01 Eclipse GT would have given me a better steering feel/response.

Understeer, of course, was an issue, but really didn't affect me that much.

Even through the hairpins, bodyroll seemed minimal, although its presence was definitely noticeable. I was happy to find that the car didn't feel heavy or big at any time.

Of course, better tires would've helped quite a bit... the EL42's performed ok, 'cept that they squealed at every turn - excessively.

And yes, better, experienced driver would've helped a lot, too.

Power: I think the elevation was about 10-11k ft., and the J32 was oxygen-deprived, to say the least. Even when I was on I-70 (5-7k ft.), I often had to downshift to 4th, sometimes even 3rd (55mph~) to get decent passing power. There was close to no throttle response when I was cruising at 65mph~ in 6th. But at such high elevation, and the fact that it was pretty humid (rain/thunderstorm), this is normal and expected.

When I was climbing the mountain, I stayed in 3rd or below for the most part. Despite the less dense air, the 2nd gear pulled hard enough to keep up with a 'vette ('97~) that was toying with me. I love my 2nd gear...

Comfort: I changed the sitting position a little, so that I was sitting more upright. The seats held me firmly, and comfortably, in place. I had a rather big bottle (Fuze) in the cupholder, and this actually made a good place to rest my wrist. A pleasant surprise.

Misc.: I really found the A-pillars to be annoying... just felt intrusive when I'm making fast, sharp turns, making me move my head to see the road.
I hated waiting for the RPM to drop between 1st and 2nd shift... so much so that I just stayed in 2nd.

Meh, this turned out to be way too long... I'll stop here. For now.

 

man..i love that 3rd pic. the background almost looks fake!

 

it might look better if there were no cars in the background =)...sweet pics tho

 

yeah really nice, TL looks great in the mountains.. i have so many miles to kill on my lease, a cross country trip is almost inevitable... cant wait!

 

How'd the brakes fair? We were in cali in a durango a few days ago, even with the tow group the brakes were horrible(smell wise) on the way down the mountain. My father said there was minimal fade. I can see a lot of brake dust in the pics(on the front).

 

Well, your dad's TL is 5AT, so the brakes are different.

I didn't use the brakes too much on the mountain, just stayed in lower gears and maintained a suitable speed. There was no fade when I was braking for the turns.

I was using my brakes a bit more than usual on the way back to Denver on I-70, though. I wasn't riding my brakes, however, and didn't sense any fade.

 

Don't have the time to read all that now but... damn i would love to get a breath of that fresh colorado air! Looks so nice, clean and peacefull compared to LA

also tires do make the biggest difference, im glad i got rid of my el42's

 

I haven't had the opportunity to really push the brakes yet but the Brembos produce a lot of brake dust. After washing my car, I drove a few miles in stop and go traffic. I checked my front wheels and there was already a good layer of brake dust. Great brakes but takes more maintenance to keep the wheels looking nice and new.

 

that looks heck a lot of fun road. I live at 3500ft elevation so howevermuch slow my car is, I just find it normal lol

 

Yeah, it was a fun drive... the best part is, there are tons more better ones in the area! The hardest part is staying "responsible" and not doing dumbshit like engaging ebrake around hairpin turns...

 

Nice write-up and glad you enjoyed both the trip and the TL. A week ago I took a similar trip through the Washington State Cascade mountains and discovered, like you did, that the TL is gasping for breath at 5000 to 7000 feet. Stark contrast to my turbo Saab which was equally happy at 12000 feet or sea level. Fortunately, I spend very little time at higher altitudes.

 

Oh, I know. I didn't realize how much altitude actually affects n/a motors! Which Saab do you have? I almost got a 9-3 Aero... 9-3 5 door Viggen is still one of my favorite cars.

 

I had (traded for TL) a 1999 9-5 V6 Turbo. Lotsa torque in that puppy. Actually, there are many similarities between the Saab and the TL.

 

In the summer, I drove TL to Montana, Idaho and Washington(Spokane) and came back through BC(above Washington) to home (Alberta-east of BC,north of montana).

BC has some twisty roads but they are much narrower than ones in the photo, I couldn't do any stunty driving. Alberta doesn't have type of twisty roads, rather straight hilly mountain roads. To the east from here is flat ground until you get to Michigan/Ontario. I haven't quite got to the Cascade mountain they are a bit west to Spokane.

I don't notice such difference when I go to mountain I guess I just find it normal. I do lot of passings in rocky mountain. One day I am going to take US101 to California that will be awesome.

 

Man I miss Denver.....lived there three years. But I had a Jeep then....