If you like to drive fast, you like to drive late at night. Yes, ultimate visibility is reduced, but there's nothing quite like caning a fast car down a deserted road in the dead of night. Distractions– both inside and outside the car– disappear. The entire world is right there in front of you, rushing towards you. The senses sharpen. If you're lucky enough to be driving a convertible, the night smells seem infinitely more distinct, more complex… I remember driving my TVR Chimera in the hills above Manchester (UK) at three am, running Hell for leather, savoring the pop and crackle of the ridiculously powerful re-jigged Buick-evolved V8. And then I saw a Mini up ahead. Not a MINI. A Mini. And no matter what I did to catch up, I didn't. I couldn't. I was humiliated but happy. A like-minded soul was enjoying the night air, doing what I loved doing. Who could begrudge him that? Any tales from the dark side you care to share?
Find Reviews by Make:
Read all comments
Hell yeah! There’s a local road that’s usually dead around midnight…a couple of times I pushed my ES300 (hey man, it’s all I got to work with) to the limit…topping out at 80 in a 30. It’s exhilerating, but risky, so I’ve since stopped.
But one day, I found myself stuck behind a blacked-out RSX. For awhile it was going 25 max, which is UNACCEPTABLE. Then we get to a stop sign, and the RSX just SHOOTS off…I could barely keep up.
I love driving at night, not just joyriding. Especially during the summer in the country when you roll down (ROLL down!) the windows and get lots of fresh, sweet smelling air. Just the lights of the dashboard, the radio turned off. No squinting at the sun or the glare off oncoming windshields. Very relaxing.
But joyriding can be rather safe because you see the lights of other cars very far off; you’re never surprised coming around a turn. The only worry is maybe a deer or pedestrian.
Most exciting joyride i ever had was a 200km blast intercity blast in modified VW 35 years ago. Twin down draught Webers, polished heads, performance exhausts and loud music in the moonlight with no other cars in sight. “Slow down mate,” yells my co-driver. What was that? We flashed through a stop-sign intersection at 75 MPH and slowed to 20 MPH .. shaking. Our carelessness could have killed others. After that I was much more careful on fast roads I didn’t know.
What I loved to do in my youth was drive at night and turn the headlights off (preferably under a good moon)!
It totally changed the experience, kind of like riding a bike instead of driving a car. You’re suddenly intimately connected with everything all around, instead of limited to a bubble of light from the headlights. Of course, I turned them on whenever I saw another car coming. This was on the back roads of Iowa.
ps: ppellico, I don’t drive a Prius.
Yup, Grizzly Peak Blvd. in Berkeley at 1-2am. No traffic (there usually is), you can see cars’ lights before they come around a blind corner, and plenty of deer. I slowed down after I noticed that last part…
It was probably my only joy during a slightly rough period for me, and I cut things a bit too close because of that. I’m glad I got that out of my system!
Yes, until 5 years ago, when I had a straight six 2-seat convertible. Throaty exhaust. Five on the floor.
Buck-twenty-five for premium.
Buck-twenty-five on the clock.
And clocking a buck-twenty-five.
Oh to be young. And single.
Yep, night’s a good time to be on the road, or off of it in my case. I drove my Jeep down to Matagorda Island on the Texas Gulf Coast with two good friends one evening a year and a half ago. Good moon and good waves. I love driving on the beach.
Nope. Have you seen what deer can do to a car?
I do enjoy driving day or night, but I don’t use the public roads as a racetrack.
Well, I enjoy driving at night on the open road. Certainly not at speeds that far exceed legal limits, though — I did that ONCE, back when I was sixteen.
Then I grew up.
In the end, I’d really rather not die in an automobile accident. Especially when I actually have intellectual control over a vehicle.
So, yes, it’s great to get out there at night, but there’s a place for “speed” — it’s called a “race track.” “Roads” are the things that the rest of us are just trying to get from one place to another on, and hopefully managing that without getting killed by someone doing double the speed limit or so.
For the record, the best night driving experience I ever had was driving from Las Vegas to Phoenix about five years ago. I passed over Hoover Dam sometime after midnight, and made it to Phoenix right around the morning rush hour. In the meantime, I was treated to a moonlit drive across the lonely desert, and a great sunrise as I neared the Phoenix area. And I sure didn’t need to “floor it” to enjoy that!
Couple of years ago. Northern Wisconsin. Midnight. Porsche Boxster S. It was by far the fastest I had ever driven. The road was narrow and I was surrounded by trees. It was like driving through a wood tunnel. That is when I knew I wanted to work with cars for the rest of my life.
Yes I love to drive at night. I don’t do it much now, but did it quite a bit when I was in college and often times in the miata when I had her. If I had a choice it would be in a convertible with the wind blowing and chilly outside with some great music in the background would be bliss.
All the time, whenever I can. I don’t usually cane it either; just having the cool wind blowing, my (upgraded) stereo playing some haunting songs, the tactile feedback from the wheel and rowing through the gears. It’s almost my only escape in life these days.
Of course caning it is fun, but gas, tires and brakes get expensive pretty quick on the Malibu back roads …
Are you kidding? Porsche Boxster S, Las Vegas, what else would you do?
I love driving at night. If it wasn’t for the price of gas, I would go out just for the hell of it to drive. However, one night really sticks out in my mind.
So, one evening a couple of years ago, my friend was over. So, he said he had never been in a W215 Mercedes CL500 before so we went for a drive around my community.
After coming out to the beginning of the street that leads to the community, we saw one of my fellow community members come on the opposite side in his 996 Porsche 911 Turbo (modded too). He slowed down, looked at us for a second, and took off towards the community. My friend says GO! Without thinking twice I head after him (lol, like I could beat him). I start taking the twisties behind him at 90 mph. The road straigthened out and I get to a 100, but he keeps going 110, 120. He pulls up to his home and we gave him our farewells and my friend and I head back home.
I have never felt that kind of feeling before in my life, it was amazing, but then I thought of the consequences. It was like having sex, but then regreting it right after. Most importantly, I have been obsessed with Porsche 911’s since that evening.
Probably 2/3rds of my lifetime driving has been a nighttime roll, more often than not in a convertible. You definitely have to pay more attention, especially in rural areas where wildlife on the paved ribbon is an ongoing threat to bodywork, life and limb. But speed is so much more enjoyable in the context of reduced visual distraction, and every sense of the tire-road interface and machine-human integration is heightened.
Not to mention the roads are wide open. It started for me with Triumphs on the tricky off-camber back roads lacing the rolling hills of rural Pennsylvania under a Milky Way sky. New England, from Connecticut to the Canadian border, made the nighttime roam a religion, often with a scope and tripod stowed in the boot. The clarity of a winter diamond sky often coaxed me to stow the ragtop regardless the -5 deg F temp. In the summer and fall, I’d drive a day’s loop from Boston to Burlington, VT, then down the west shore of Lake Champlain, through Ticonderoga, all so I could finish with a skate eastbound across Vermont after dusk, at 20 over the limit on Route 4, before sailing back down the Interstates home.
Now I have Southern California for nighttime rambles. I don’t even have to take the long way home. The direct route includes 6 miles up Pacific Coast Highway and 13 miles through Topanga Canyon. But a few nights every week, I double or triple the distance home by driving further up Route 1 to a more remote canyon ribbon of asphalt. Or better yet, wait till the world heads to bed, then roll out for a blast up Mulholland Highway, beyond the darkened Rock Store until my mind is clear.
Even several years of blasting through the Central Valley on I-5 well after midnight, or taking the silkier route down 101, or blending the two with an interlude dancing with Route 46, in a sequence of SVT factory rods and a C4 Vette, showed that even an interstate laid in a dramatic landscape on a moonlit night — or one illuminated by our local galaxy plus a comet — can satisfy your night speed jones.
Nighttime is when you truly learn to understand your car. And it’s just as much fun at 70hp as at 443, and everything in between.
Phil
I wish! If there were a smooth curvy deserted road without cops I would love to. The absence of such a venue is driving me to where I probably should be anyway, the racetrack.
Upstate New York, freshman year of college, I was able to pull off 127 mph in a Toyota Celica GT-S.
My neck of the woods in Georgia (pun intended) is ideally suited towards joyriding. In fact, it was one of the criterion I used when considering my home. This area is literally drawn up with long and winding one lane roads.
Then of course, the county decides to open up a new police station two miles from home. Wouldn’t you know that the first downhill curve that is less than a quarter mile from my home is now used as speedtrap #1 in Cobb County, Georgia. Especially since there are now two brand new schools less than a few hundred feet from it (25 mph speed limit).
Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
I’ve done the joy ride thing, matter of fact just a few weeks ago I rented a 350Z convertible for a weekend in the Florida Keys. The night before it had to be returned, i took it out solo, lowered the top and flogged it down some curvy roads near the Everglades (it was an automatic but the tap-shift feature sorta made up for it). There’s nothing quite like listening to the exhaust of that car while going through the gears and it just so happened another 350Z (this time a coupe) was out doing pretty much the same thing. We had fun passing each other at better than 90 mph on that two lane road.
Here we have summer only for 3 months, warmest months are june-july. Warm summer night breeze, roll your windows down, set the boost to 20psi, fasten the seatbelt, 2600lbs/400hp/370lbft/rwd/lsd/full 3″ exhaust and loud BOV sound/sharp suspension/big brake combination under your fingers and left foot… I usually choose a long seaside road with mild fast curves to humiliate 600cc sport bike owners :) Theme song playing in the stereo is Van Halen – Panama. Who needs drugs when you got stuff like this :)
“I do enjoy driving day or night, but I don’t use the public roads as a racetrack.”
“there’s a place for “speed” — it’s called a “race track.” “Roads” are the things that the rest of us are just trying to get from one place to another on”
Hahaha don’t be so naive, if everyone had that attitude cars that are faster than a yaris wouldn’t exist.
Yes, love it. Esp. in the summer time, and fall, and in an area I am not familiar with.
I noticed this in my teenage years. Music sounds better in a car at night. It could be that your brain is more focused on the music and the driving with less visual distractions at night.
Now that I have a kid I do this less than I used to, but I still like running a late night errand every once in a while.
-ted
In my younger days, I had a first generation RX-7. Super-unleaded was .89 cents a gallon, and I loved a late night cruise with the moon roof open; through the Rocky Mountains on a warm summer night as music softly played; my beautiful girlfriend sat beside me (as that car was perfect for two), and the stars above us shined down through the crisp, clean mountain air.
The RX-7 would hug the road as if the road, the tires, the steering wheel, and my hands were all joined together as one. I had no worries in life. Life ahead was like the road I drove; a journey and adventure, with no particular destination required.
It was all good!
I joyride in a unique way that is not really (too) dangerous – I take the STi out into emtpy parking lots that are covered in snow & ice and don’t really go above 20mph….but sliding sideways is fun :)
I don’t consider my work to be a joy, so the answer is NO.
I will say that I’m stunned at the number of idiots I still encounter every Friday night and Saturday night commute. These are big, honkin’ SUVs and pickups these yahoos are driving, not rice rockets, and they drive’em fast and play chicken with one another.
Insanity at $1.50 a gallon! Even worse now!
I wouldn’t exactly call it joyriding, but on my annual vacation trip, I typically hit the road at about 3 a.m. This is a throwback to the days before I had air conditioned vehicles and wanted to be off the road by noon or 1 p.m. to avoid the heat of the day.
The AC runs less in the wee hours– sometimes I can actually shut it off and put ambient air through the ducts till 8 or 9 a.m.
Nothing quite like any of these, and no amazing night drives. My best drive ever was the Blue Ridge Parkway between just north of Charlottesville VA and Rt. 66, in the early spring when there was almost no traffic. For those who haven’t been, its all twisties with gorgeous views of the valleys below. Its the kind of country the Luminists painted and this was in broad daylight.
Not in a car. But riding my bike on a hot desert night is joyful indeed.
I’ve had night drives in my car, but they were never as emotional as a blast I had down the 101 north of Santa Barbara on my Honda CBR 600RR. It was a little after 3:00 AM on a summer night with the Pacific to my right and a long stretch of road ahead of me. The moon was full and bright. I got up to an indicated 144mph before coming back down and just enjoying the empty road and the mist in the air.
I love driving my Corvette on a warm summer night with the top off. Just need to watch for critters!
“Hahaha don’t be so naive, if everyone had that attitude cars that are faster than a yaris wouldn’t exist.
Naive? Well, let’s just say that the guys who didn’t live through their last joyrides aren’t here to give you their sides of the story.
Hardly a weekend goes by without some local news story of a single-car accident in the wee hours of the night, with one or more deaths due to what appears to be “excessive speed.”
“Naive” people dismiss stuff like that. The rest of us consider that life is pretty darn precious, and we can enjoy a fine midnight ride without risking our lives at the same time. We just hope that we won’t find one of those “naive” guys hurtling head-on in our lane, doing 144 MPH.
Does dusk count? I drove my brother to a birthday dinner from Sac to Stockton. Sunday, I-5, nary a car on the road, surprisingly. We averaged 94 mph.
I take every available opportunity to cane the VW down the local backroads of Raleigh once the clock swings past midnight. roads that during the day are clogged with Volvos and unremarkable, are sinuous and beautiful at night. Just keep the high beams on to catch the eyes of the deer whenever possible, and concentrate on just driving. It’s not just me. My buddy with the Audi TT and my other buddy with a modified 325i love to rush down those roads at supralegal speeds. oddly enough at night, 90mph in a 45 doesn’t feel nearly as illegal as it does during the day.
It’s one of my favorite things. It’s calming. But it’s sad, it’s so rare to see other people just out driving the curvy roads in Raleigh. most out that late are idiots, down on capital blvd trying to find a Honda to drag-race from a stoplight and get pulled. I’ve been speeding down country roads for years and have never had a legal issue. Goes to show who’s the real car enthusiasts and who’s just looking for bragging rights.
I have added HID lights to my WRX wagon and put 9011 HIR bulbs in for the stock 9006 hi beams – result are MUCH better light at night, which is good as I have some favorite roads out in the countryside that I like to drive and exceed double the speed limits. It’s kinda like being in a spaceship blasting through the void.
And yes, I know it’s stupid, dangerous and illegal. Way it goes. I’m in my 60’s, and alone, and there’s really no traffic so most the danger is to me. And I carry $2 million in liability insurance. My main worry is deer. But at 120+ it’ll just kill me which I don’t really mind that much.. It would be a good way to go, beats the heck out of hospitals or nursing homes.
North Territorial Road out by Ann Arbor is a blast to drive at night. Not only do you have some great changes in elevation, but the added excitement of a random deer jumping in front of you really puckers the ass.
For pure speed, Alligator Alley between Ft Lauderdale and Naples, FL is a good time. I didn’t even know I owned a car with a speed limiter until I was on that road heading to Tampa one night. and the added fear of running over a gator…
Maybe I just like the thrill of running over or through stuff in the dark.
The late night joyride is one of life’s pleasures and it is a means to burn out the frustrations of a bad day at work. In my earlier years I used to take my Probe GT out for a blast around the curvy roads that wrap around the water and some killer tight curves a bit further inland. No cars or people to worry about, just you and the road. The feel of high g forces building and getting the tail to step out a foot or so and every other thought justs melts away. The car may be different now, but the late night drive still is as medicinal now as it was 10 years ago. Risk? Yes there is some, but today’s living is so bubble wrapped, air bagged, and padded for safety that a bit of risk is invigorating. And, with modern cars and common sense, you can have your g forces and safety, too.
Something to add here: Today’s cars, with their super sticky tires and high limits, mean that the speeds needed to get that thrill has been pushed higher and higher. That partial sideways slide that only needed 40 mph years ago now takes nearly 70. Big difference if you leave the road at that speed! I guess the tires have won the battle here…
Excellent point you make, golden2husky. That’s why it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow. And why ice, snow and dirt roads can be fun to carve and drift on at moderate speeds…
And what about a fast car, driven fast? I’ve done that in Nevada, in daylight, with five miles of clear visibility ahead, and once was almost enough.
Has anybody heard the news I heard from a somewhat wacko radio yakker that Texas has passed a law throwing the book at serious speeders? He said it was now an automatic confiscation of your vehicle and ten years in prison. Izzat true?
You called up all kinds of fantastic memories of night-time driving – just out killing time and tasting teenage freedom. One of the best nights happened while living in southern New Mexico during mid-summer. I had just gotten my first car, a 1969 Chevy Malibu with a 350 – WAY too much power for a skinny 16 year old, but then again, just enough…
A buddy and I took it out to a long, straight stretch of road that led to one of the unused back gates for the military base, so the road was entirely mine for the night. Windows down and the stereo cranked up we got it up to about 110, roaring down the road scaring the occasional eyes back into the brush and shooting off sparks when bottoming out in the occasional dip. Eye opening and exhilarating.
We ended up by the gate, sitting on the hood, smoking cheap(!) cigars and listening to the old block tick cool, while watching the approaching lightning in the distance. One of the best night’s ever.
155 mph, middle of the night, to Myrtle Beach with my girlfriend at the time last summer in my E46 M3. In the rain. Probably not a smart thing to do.
Route 29, Charlottesville to Northern Virginia, late one night. Four lanes, little traffic, clear night, whipping along through the hills in the Thunderchicken.
I remember when I was a small child, sometimes my parents would take us for evening rides along the back roads near home to get us settled down and ready to sleep. The soft green glow of the dash lights in the old ’78 Country Squire and the glare of the red high-beam indicator, all reflected in the windows; the stars and the moon reflecting off the lake through the trees…