FEATURED
road
a264
The roads of East Sussex
are a sheer joy; fast and open, with gently rolling hills, lush
scenery and plenty of curves. This area of the South
East has the rare quality of offering you thrills no matter
which road you decide to point your front wheels at.
But of all the roads draped about the Sussex
countryside, to me the A264 is the flagship—the 12 miles
of tarmac I have to drive before (and often after) I sample
all the other exciting choices on offer.
The end of a village, the start of new thrills.
It's a favourite haunt of weekend drivers who
want to give their various performance machines a good workout,
not to mention the multitude of bikers on their 600 and 1000cc
crotch rockets.
Finding a good rhythm on the 264 is really easy,
because it's got good visibility around corners (downhill sweepers—woo
hoo!!), and a generally smooth surface. So when the road is
free, you can work the tyres and suspension to a satisfying
degree and really revel in the goings-on of weight
transfer, cornering balance and grip.
Decisions, decisions....
Now that the Bimmer has a fresher set of tyres,
even slow and medium-speed corners are heaven; brake, change
down to keep the engine fizzing, and slice into the bend. The
front tyres dig in quickly as the car takes a set through the
corner, and the whole chassis has even more of that wonderful
tip-toey feeling than ever. It's the perfect set of roads for
this modestly-powered but brilliant-handling car.
Fast sweepers are well-sighted and plentiful.
See traffic? No worries. Just chill out and
take in the greenery, or simply turn onto any one of a plethora
of exciting (if less well-surfaced) roads and hit the fast-forward
button again.
The A264 and the roads that spring from it
are rightly admired drivers' roads; fast, flowing and scenic.
Enjoyed responsibly, it'll almost certainly stay that way for
a long time to come.
Exciting alternatives can be found just by turning off at
random.
By G Morgan
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