Most difficult or stressful place you have ever driven?

[ashtaron14]

Originally Posted by HFW003

There are three places which stand out for me; Bali, Rome and Hong Kong and I couldn't say which was the worst. They are stressful all for the same reason, the sheer number of cars, motorcycles and people all seemingly going a hundred miles an hour in a hundred different directions.

The other very stressful time was when I was lucky enough to drive around Yas Marina in an Aston. I hadn't driven for two months, the car was a left hand drive, it was night, it was 90% humidity and I was on a race track.

Another very stressful time was doing a ride day on a high powered motorcycle (worked GSXR) in the pissing rain all day. Talk about a sphincter lock up!

Since I live and daily-drive in Hong Kong, I feel that driving anywhere else is rather stress-free in comparison.

[Dpc2u]

Originally Posted by Fined

Probably Romania. A combination of lack of highway system and erratic drivers ends up a perfect mix for a stressful cross country drive.

Yes, but the Transfagarasan Highway is a driving enthusiasts dream! I planned on flying over again to drive the Transalpina last year, but......covid.

[W///]

Italy, specifically Lake Como in a rented F11. Scenery was amazing, roads were tiny, car was a tank. Nothing like coming around a blind corner only to see a garbage truck coming along and you're inches from the barriers.

One place I've actually never driven is ironically Thailand, which is where I'm originally from. 5 or 6 lane wide highways and you've got people driving on the shoulders and mopeds splitting the lanes. Absolutely chaos.

[Alfisti]

tbh some of you guys rent some dumb ass cars for the roads you are going on. Europe = compact, go too big and it's a shit show.

[Tambohamilton]

Madeira. Straight out of the airport I learned that drivers on motorways do not move for cars trying to get onto the motorway from a slip road/on ramp. Never. Not even if there's a whole free lane next to them.

Our rental was a fiat Panda that was so gutless that I'd say it was unroadworthy. Hill starts below 3k rpm weren't possible! It literally didn't have the power/torque. I drove 10 miles one day entirely in second because even if I red-lined it, it didn't have the torque to pull 3rd. I've driven low-power cars before, but never experienced anything as gutless as that before or since!

The roads and scenery were totally awesome though - I just wish the car had been up to the task.

[jmack]

The first day driving in Scotland was stressful, driving on the wrong side of the road and shifting with the wrong hand in a city you don't know is lots of fun. Once we got out to the Highlands it wasn't as bad until we got to those single lane roads with the pull offs every 100ft or so.

I thought driving in LA was going to be terrible, but really wasn't that bad since it was outside of rush hour.

[kyriian]

Haven't driven much in many countries,
Hong Kong probably takes the cake.
Being unfamiliar with the roads is killer

That said, those mountain roads in my parents Scirocco isn't all that bad

[unluky]

When I was in my early 20's, I had to go to DC for a weekend Drs appointment. I thought driving in St. Louis was slighting irritating - but the evening before when I decided to make a non-rush hour practice run to the Drs office (plus I was bored) - I got on a freeway and could not get off. I'd just start taking whatever the next right was, but it would just be another freeway equally impossible to get off. I went through 3 states before I could find an exit that was actually a exit.

I was by myself and this was pre cell phones days, so I only had a map - which I could not stop to ready while doing 85, being passed and honked at constantly.

It was right out of a sit com. I kind of wish I had it on video now. I was frazzled.

[happyjack]

my wife and i had a great vacation in the UK and put nearly 1500 km on an audi A5 sportback. driving in/around london was definitely a challenge but once i got the hang of the roundabouts i felt pretty confident. but once we got out into the country there was a whole nother set of challenges that i hadnt expected...especially when we got into some remote parts of wales to do some castle hunting. very narrow two-way roads -- that were barely 1.5 car widths -- lined with hedgerows nearly 20 feet high created the most stressful driving ive ever done. the drivers out there have grown up on those roads, know them like the backs of their hands, and run them like rallycross! i'd conservatively estimate 5 near-head-on collisions on a daily basis!

[Alfisti]

Surprised the issues you guys are having on opposite side of the road, just make sure the median strip is on your side, I swap all the time between australia and canada.

Now, shifting with your right hand is the work of the devil, and yes it is wrong because you want your better hand on the wheel and most of us are right handed. It's a contributor to my lack of desire for a manual sports car.

[GenXer]

1. New York City before the invention of GPS map.

You make one wrong turn and end up crossing a bridge into another borough then you have to pay again to cross the bridge back. Not to mention bike messengers that dart in and out in front of you.

2. Washington D.C. on I-95 during "rush hour"

Oh the humanity of it all. I stopped buying manual transmission after that mess.

[BeEmVe]

Two specific locations come to mind. In 1987, when I was in my early 20s I was in NY/NJ on business so I drove into Manhattan in a rental car, never so happy to find a place to park and that was on a Sunday.

Then while living in France driving in Paris, specifically the round-about at the Arc de Triomphe aka “The Étoile.” We did two laps around before we could exit.

[TiMSport]

Originally Posted by GenXer

1. New York City before the invention of GPS map.

LOL. Virtually ANYWHERE prior to having GPS!
As a fellow GenXer, I know the feeling.

[dscabra]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Surprised the issues you guys are having on opposite side of the road, just make sure the median strip is on your side, I swap all the time between australia and canada.

Now, shifting with your right hand is the work of the devil, and yes it is wrong because you want your better hand on the wheel and most of us are right handed. It's a contributor to my lack of desire for a manual sports car.

Funny story about driving a manual RHD car. My wife and I were stationed in Okinawa, Japan many years ago. She actually got a driver's license and bought a car. She hated driving it because of the left handed shifting. So, I'd usually sit in the left (passenger) seat and she'd clutch while I shifted. Okinawa was a really odd RHD situation since the roads were mostly built during the U.S. occupation of the island and they were designed for LHD. When the occupation ended, Japan converted over to RHD. This made for some interesting driving patterns in some interchanges. The only time I've driven a RHD car was in Australia and it was a bit unnerving at first, but I quickly adapted. Oh, and that was in a car with an automatic. The hardest thing I had to overcome was walking up to the wrong side of the car to get in.

[TiMSport]

Originally Posted by BeEmVe

Two specific locations come to mind. In 1987, when I was in my early 20s I was in NY/NJ on business so I drove into Manhattan in a rental car, never so happy to find a place to park and that was on a Sunday.

Then while living in France driving in Paris, specifically the round-about at the Arc de Triomphe aka “The Étoile.” We did two laps around before we could exit.

Whenever I've visited Paris, I had thought about how crazy it would be to drive there. Those roundabouts and super narrow cobblestoned streets that are confusing. Love Paris though.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by dscabra

The only time I've driven a RHD car was in Australia and it was a bit unnerving at first, but I quickly adapted. Oh, and that was in a car with an automatic. The hardest thing I had to overcome was walking up to the wrong side of the car to get in.

Hardest thing about driving in Australia in remembering the posted speed is taken seriously. If it says 80, they mean 80, not 84.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by happyjack

my wife and i had a great vacation in the UK and put nearly 1500 km on an audi A5 sportback. driving in/around london was definitely a challenge but once i got the hang of the roundabouts i felt pretty confident. but once we got out into the country there was a whole nother set of challenges that i hadnt expected...especially when we got into some remote parts of wales to do some castle hunting. very narrow two-way roads -- that were barely 1.5 car widths -- lined with hedgerows nearly 20 feet high created the most stressful driving ive ever done. the drivers out there have grown up on those roads, know them like the backs of their hands, and run them like rallycross! i'd conservatively estimate 5 near-head-on collisions on a daily basis!

It's not so much knowing the roads - you never know what's coming towards you around a blind corner - it's just that you expect to have to do a near-emergency stop when something is there. It's fine, because you're ready for it....except from the times that it's not.

[TiMSport]

Originally Posted by dscabra

Funny story about driving a manual RHD car. My wife and I were stationed in Okinawa, Japan many years ago. She actually got a driver's license and bought a car. She hated driving it because of the left handed shifting. So, I'd usually sit in the left (passenger) seat and she'd clutch while I shifted. Okinawa was a really odd RHD situation since the roads were mostly built during the U.S. occupation of the island and they were designed for LHD. When the occupation ended, Japan converted over to RHD. This made for some interesting driving patterns in some interchanges. The only time I've driven a RHD car was in Australia and it was a bit unnerving at first, but I quickly adapted. Oh, and that was in a car with an automatic. The hardest thing I had to overcome was walking up to the wrong side of the car to get in.

BONUS POINTS for this gentleman! I Lol'd when I read how you came up with that system with your wife. Brilliant
I can't help but envision cartoon characters doing that very same thing.

Man I'll bet you have some stories from your days in Okinawa. That's one place I haven't been to yet that I'd really like to visit. Even though I had lived in Japan for a number of years, never made it there.

[Steelguin]

Let me win this real quick..... Naples Italy no where on earth is worse.

There are NO RULES. Get in car, decide where to go, go there most direct route.

Over sidewalks, wrong way down highway, strap a mattress to you moped, horse running down highway, guy sitting in the trunk of an Audi doing over 100 holding a palm tree....just to name a few things I saw in my 4 years there.

[jmg]

I wasn't driving but I was in Bangkok years ago in a taxi going what felt like +80mph. There was a distinct grinding of the brakes which told me there was no pad left, the alignment was so bad that the driver was constantly sawing the wheel left and right even though the highway was straight, the tires were hard as rocks because they were constantly squealing, I was pretty sure the car was held together by spot welds and the airbags had long been stolen and never replaced hence the ill fitted airbag panel that was half lifted off the dashboard in front of me.

[5.M0NSTER]

Nurburgring Nordschleife at speed. Place is wild with Armco everywhere and elevation changes.

[dbarton62]

Heading back from Fla one february and got caught in a snow storm on NC State Hwy 80 I think it was. White knuckles for at 3 hours. Nowhere to pull off.