SA's Best Roads

[VictorMike]

Right, I don't know if a thread like this exists. If it does, I apologise, please merge. If it doesn't, then shame on all the members! BMWs are for DRIVING!

So, today the missus and I came to The Sabi River Sun in Hazyview. The route we took was the N4 to Belfast, from there we went on to Dullstroom, and then through Mashadodorp, Sabi and on to Hazyview.

On the N4 the 5er was sublime. Turned on the cruise control, and just wafted the miles away. Car averaged around 8-9l/100km.

However , what I really want to talk about is the 40 or so kilometres from Sabi to Hazyview. What an amazing piece if road for a BMW! I put the box into manual and had an amazing time through the 40 kilometres of driving nirvana. I didn't go over the speed limit by more than 10 km/h, and it was amazing! Today, I fell in love with my car again.

I HIGHLY recommend you try it.

If there are any other roads in SA that you guys can recommend, then let's post it on this thread.


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A list of SA's best roads as stated by you :=):

Eastern Cape
R67 Ecca Pass - Grahamstown to Fort Beaufort.
N2 - Port Shpestone to East London

Fee State
R712 - Harrismith to Clarens
R714 - Bethlehem to Warden
R57

Gauteng

KwaZulu-Natal
R34 - Empangeni to Ulundi - twists and bends that are all banked
R56 - Richmond to Ixopo - tar not so good - turns that will make your spleen and kidneys swa places
R56 - Kokstad to Pmb - bumpy surface in places and watch out for timber trucks

Limpopo
R71 - Tzaneen to Haenertsburg

Mpumalanga
R536 - Sabi to Hazyview - good tar, some potholes - twisty back road
R40 - Nelspruit to Barberton
R37 Longtom - Lydenburg to Sabie - watch out for heavy fog
N4 - Malelane to Nelspruit

North West

Northern Cape
N14 - Kakamas to Springbok - highway

Western Cape
M66/M65 Red Hill Road - Simon's Town to Scarborough - hairpins and sweeps
N7 - Springbok to Cape Town - highway
R328 - Mossel Bay to Prince Albert
N12 Outeniqua Pass - Oudtshoorn to George
Sasveld Road - George to Wilderness
R102 - Nature's Valley
R45 Franschhoek Pass - Franschhoek to Villiersdorp

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[danieljames]

Awesome thread. Looking forward to this.

Redhill road between simon's Town and glencairn. Takes u you up to Scarborough!!!! Not very long but starts with beautiful hairpins and opens up to some nice sweepers. Awefully bumpy tho

 

[Hot_Bobby's]

Interesting post.

I can agree the road to Sabi is fantastic, I do quite a bit of traveling and have discovered some exceptional roads that are less traveled.

Firstly the R34 from Empangeni to Ulundi. This road goes up into the mountains and has these fantastic long twists and bends that are all banked so you can really belt through there and still feel in control.

Secondly.
The R56 between Richmond and Ixopo, This road i recommend no passages as they might get a bit nauseous, in fact some drives might get a bit nauseous, the tar on this road is not so good but the turn will make your spleens and kidnys swap places. I Really enjoy this road!!

Lastly the R71 to Tzaneen.

The picture should say enough.

 

[VictorMike]

Awesome thread. Looking forward to this.

Redhill road between simon's Town and glencairn. Takes u you up to Scarborough!!!! Not very long but starts with beautiful hairpins and opens up to some nice sweepers. Awefully bumpy tho

The road between Sabi and Hazyview has a lot of patchwork too, and there are a few small potholes, but nothing that will cause too much distress.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

[CocoPops]

Interesting post.

I can agree the road to Sabi is fantastic, I do quite a bit of traveling and have discovered some exceptional roads that are less traveled.

Firstly the R34 from Empangeni to Ulundi. This road goes up into the mountains and has these fantastic long twists and bends that are all banked so you can really belt through there and still feel in control.

Secondly.
The R56 between Richmond and Ixopo, This road i recommend no passages as they might get a bit nauseous, in fact some drives might get a bit nauseous, the tar on this road is not so good but the turn will make your spleens and kidnys swap places. I Really enjoy this road!!

Lastly the R71 to Tzaneen.

The picture should say enough.

I travel the Ixopo road every second weekend as im from Ixopo originally and folks still there.. Literally know that road at the back of my hand.. always tell friends they must must do it!

The roads are in quite good condition, however they have a lot of dips, bumps, off camber corners etc which can throw you off if you not expecting it.. I love it all, a good car on that road is special - The Megane R26 as my choice of car makes more sense now eh..

Here are some videos of said road I took a while back in a friends car..


[video=youtube]

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[Gizmo]

Pretty much all roads in the western cape get my vote for motoring nirvana.

 

[Bmw.wp]

Gizmo you are right lol. My favourites are the N7 from springbok to cape town. Kakamas to springbok N14. Kenhardt to vanrhynsdorp. Its like the autobahn lol

 

[ChefDJ]

Garden Route experience:


R328 mountain pass from Mossel Bay to Oudtshoorn, to Prince Albert

Outeniqua pass to and from George

Old Sasveld Road from George into Wilderness

N2 / Kaaiman's Pass - short and slow but still nice

Old George Road from George to Great Brak

R102 and N2 - Nature's Valley and Tsitsikamma


Haven't done the R327 yet but it looks to be really spectacular.

Can't think of any more right now.

 

[Madejagsie]

Agree on the roads around George

 

[WyKiD]

The R40 mountain pass from Nelspruit down to Barberton is an awesome drive as well....

 

[WIDEOPN-X5]

KZN: Kokstad to Pmb on the R56 through the Umkomaas Valley (bumpy surface in places and watch out for timber trucks:skit

Harrismith to Clarens (Phutatijaba Rd through Golden Gate) and Clarens to Fouriesburg (the first part. lovely long sweeping curves with perfect road surface.

Edit (Oops I see the title is SA's Best Roads - but this is still awesome)
Lesotho. Pitseng to Katse Lodge over the Mafika Lisiu Pass. The surface is pretty good for the most part. Unforgiving in the extreme. Get in wrong and its a write off. It is this road where I believe Carbon Ceramic brakes would come into there own on a road car:=)::=):

The Eastern Transvaal has some sublime roads as well. If heading that way going via Swazialnd just for the road from Mbabane to Piggs Peak is worth it.

 

[RAArmstrong]

The Langeni pass that connects Ugie and Mthata is an INCREDIBLE drive too, beautiful road surface, lovely twisties and quite steep!

http://mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za/find-a-pass/eastern-cape/item/636-langeni-pass.html

 

[VictorMike]

Awesome, when I get back, I will put all this on the first post and organise it by province / country.

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[ChefDJ]

I must say that the N2 through the Transkei is a really epic drive. Smoothest highway ever with phenomenal scenery. It's just a pity the towns it goes through are in such a state. Otherwise, the route is really awesome.

 

[Bradon]

:coolShake: the road between Kimberly and Bloemfontein going past the Kimberly Airport towards Bloem.. really great.. Cruise control all the way.. Smooth

 

[frikkieh]

The longtom pass between Lydenburg and Sabie.
The road to Cape Town (the road back is not so nice) :=):

 

[ChefDJ]

The longtom pass between Lydenburg and Sabie.
The road to Cape Town (the road back is not so nice) :=):

I can say the same about the road to George/Mossel Bay :=):

I absolutely love every minute of it; N1 all the way through Bloem and down to Colesburg, and then the N9 down through Graaff Reinet and into George, then down to Mossel Bay via Old George Road.

Coming back... It's the worst road ever! It means holiday is over, won't see my parents for another year, away from the sea... Depression kicks in

 

[Sankekur]

Franschhoek Pass, 2nd best road I have driven in SA.

 

[graan13]

Right, I don't know if a thread like this exists. If it does, I apologise, please merge. If it doesn't, then shame on all the members! BMWs are for DRIVING!

So, today the missus and I came to The Sabi River Sun in Hazyview. The route we took was the N4 to Belfast, from there we went on to Dullstroom, and then through Mashadodorp, Sabi and on to Hazyview.

On the N4 the 5er was sublime. Turned on the cruise control, and just wafted the miles away. Car averaged around 8-9l/100km.

However , what I really want to talk about is the 40 or so kilometres from Sabi to Hazyview. What an amazing piece if road for a BMW! I put the box into manual and had an amazing time through the 40 kilometres of driving nirvana. I didn't go over the speed limit by more than 10 km/h, and it was amazing! Today, I fell in love with my car again.

I HIGHLY recommend you try it.

If there are any other roads in SA that you guys can recommend, then let's post it on this thread.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

It is a great piece of road, and you don't need to be going like the clappers. My only concern is that here and there the tar has broken up and there are some potholes right on the lines through the corners.... at least there were in April.. which according to locals had been there for months...

Another fantastic road which is not so travelled, although it is fairly dangerous with no barriers in places is the road to Katze dam... awesome on a bike to! only thing is that you climb and climb to over 2000m at one point and the vehicles struggle at that section for air etc, once over that it drops down slightly. Thing to note though, when you get to Katze dam, its basically the same road back . When we used to do it on superbikes around 10 yrs back you stay in Ficksburg, cross the border and you on your way, only got to be careful just after town on the Lesotho side with the young rurals throwing stones :tiptoe:

 

[Ofentse]

The N6 :tiptoe: