Driving Lifestyle Archives

Honda S2000 on the Okutama Shuyu Road ridge above Okutama Lake at golden hour

9 min

Okutama Shuyu Road: The Mountain Pass Inside Tokyo

Okutama Shuyu Road: The Mountain Pass Inside Tokyo Here is a fact that surprises almost everyone who hears it. You can drive a genuine mountain pass, nineteen kilometers of hairpins…

Mazda RX-7 FD on the Izu Skyline ridge with Mount Fuji ahead and both bays either side

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9 min

Izu Skyline: The Ridge Road Between Two Bays

Izu Skyline: The Ridge Road Between Two Bays There is a road on the Izu Peninsula that does something almost no other road in Japan can do. It runs along…

Subaru Impreza 22B STI on the Fuji Subaru Line with Mount Fuji ahead

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10 min

Fuji Subaru Line: The Road That Climbs Toward the Sacred Mountain

Fuji Subaru Line: The Road That Climbs Toward the Sacred Mountain Most great driving roads are famous because of what they do to a car. The Fuji Subaru Line is…

A gun-grey Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 on the Wangan at night with the Rainbow Bridge behind

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8 min

Shuto Expressway: Tokyo’s City Circuit

Shuto Expressway: Tokyo’s City Circuit Most great driving roads are somewhere else. They are mountain passes, coastal cliffs, high plateaus, places you travel to and then drive. Tokyo has all…

A mosaic of the eleven greatest driving roads in Europe, from the Stelvio Pass to the Atlantic Ocean Road

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18 min

Europe’s Greatest Driving Roads: Eleven Drives That Live in Your Head

Europe’s Greatest Driving Roads: Eleven Drives That Live in Your Head There is a difference between a road and a drive. A road is a line on a map, a…

A mosaic of the five Japan drives, from the Hakone turnpike to the Venus Line

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6 min

Japan Drives: Nine Roads That Built a Car Culture

Japan Drives: Nine Roads That Built a Car Culture Japan is the only country on earth where a mountain road can become famous enough to have its own manga, its…

A red Mazda MX-5 roadster with the roof down on the Venus Line highland road in Nagano, Japan

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8 min

Venus Line: The Highland Road That Roadsters Call Sacred

Venus Line: The Highland Road That Roadsters Call Sacred Not every great driving road is a test of nerve. Some are the opposite: a long, open, unhurried ribbon of asphalt…

A blue Alpine A110 on the high alpine road of the Col de la Bonette at golden hour, the bare summit cone above

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10 min

Col de la Bonette: The Road Built to Win a Record

Col de la Bonette: The Road Built to Win a Record There is a sign near the top of the Col de la Bonette in the French Alps that tells…

Panda Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 on the Mount Haruna downhill in Gunma at first light

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9 min

Mount Haruna: The Mountain That Made Akina

Mount Haruna: The Mountain That Made Akina There is a mountain in Gunma that millions of people know by the wrong name. In a manga, it is called Akina, and…

Blue Nissan Fairlady Z S30 Devil Z on the Wangan at night with the Yokohama Bay Bridge illuminated behind

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11 min

Daikoku PA: The Car Park That Became a Shrine

Daikoku PA: The Car Park That Became a Shrine Every city has a place where its car people go when the day is done. London has the Ace Cafe. Los…

Black Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR driving the Irohazaka switchbacks in autumn, Lake Chuzenji and Mount Nantai beyond

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10 min

Irohazaka: The Slope That Speaks in Letters

Irohazaka: The Slope That Speaks in Letters Somewhere north of Tokyo, past the cedar avenues and the shrine gates of Nikko, the road stops being a road and becomes a…

Silver Nismo Z-Tune R34 GT-R with bronze Volk TE37 wheels driving the Hakone Turnpike ridgeline above Lake Ashi, Mount Fuji on the horizon in autumn

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9 min

Hakone: The Mountain That Tests Cars

Hakone: The Mountain That Tests Cars Somewhere south of Tokyo, about ninety minutes from the sprawl, the ground stops being polite and piles itself into a volcano. Mount Fuji sits…

A maroon 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing cresting a high ridgeline on the Transalpina, Romania's King's Road, in late September light

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8 min

Transalpina: The King’s Road Across the Roof of Romania

Some roads are built to move armies. Others are built to move sheep. The Transalpina, Romania’s highest road, started as both, and that contradiction is exactly what makes it one…

A Solarbeam Yellow Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series coupe climbing the S-curve approach toward the Storseisundbrua bridge on Norway's Atlantic Ocean Road

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8 min

Atlantic Ocean Road: Norway’s Road Across the Sea

Atlantic Ocean Road: Norway’s Road Across the Sea Some roads follow the sea. Norway built one that pretends the sea is not there. The Atlantic Ocean Road, Atlanterhavsvegen, runs eight…

A dark navy blue Maserati GranCabrio convertible with the roof down cornering the SS163 Amalfi Coast road high above the Tyrrhenian Sea

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9 min

Amalfi Coast: The Road That Hangs Over the Sea

Amalfi Coast: The Road That Hangs Over the Sea There are coastal roads, and then there is the road that Italy built when it decided a coastline should be a…

A metallic blue Alpine A110 S cornering hard through a stone-walled hairpin on the Col de Turini road in France

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8 min

Col de Turini: The Night of the Long Knives

Col de Turini: The Night of the Long Knives Most mountain roads become famous for their scenery. The Col de Turini became famous for its darkness. For one weekend every…