Are there any NSL roads left in Surrey?

[carolinewoodley]

Just wondering, as I can't seem to find any any more [] - all my old favourite driving roads seem to have been festooned with speed limits and cameras these days (e.g. the A25), until you get down into Hampshire or Sussex there doesn't seem to be any significant stretch of road which is NSL nowadays - and in some cases I really can't see the justification for it.

If anyone knows of any good driving roads in Surrey, ideally easily accessible from the A3, I'd like to hear about them!

Caroline

 

[StevenG]

Hey,

I also live in Surrey and find it increasingly hard to have an enjoyable drive without going particularly far. However I do quite like the roads around and between Longcross, Virginia Water, Thorpe, and St Peter's Hospital. A lot of NSL and typically not loads of traffic. I've never quite learnt my way around there and usually end up a bit lost, but there's a nice collection of short blasts to be had around there.

Alternatively on the other side of the A3, I don't know how much of it is NSL, but I quite like going Leatherhead, Dorking, Gomshall, maybe past Newlands Corner, and back to the A3.

Unfortunately Surrey's so densely populated that you do need to pick a good time to avoid too much traffic.

 

[carolinewoodley]

HI Steven,

Actually I live in South West London but very close to the A3 so my "fun drives" have always taken me down the A3 and out into Surrey. That's why it's such a pain to have to get to Hampshire or Sussex to find a decent NSL road, it basically takes me the best part of 45 minutes to get anywhere I can even think of opening up the throttle a bit!

The roads round Dorking used to be some of my favourites but they are exactly the ones that now have loads of speed limits (the A25 between Dorking and Guildford used to be almost all NSL - except in the villages, obviously - but now there are speed limits on it all the way along that stretch, apart from I think about a mile, and the twisty little bit of dual carriageway down to Box Hill is now not only a 50 limit but has average speed cameras as well). I don't know whether it's linked, but they seem to have sprung up since the Olympic cycle races and afterward the Prudential Ride London started to encourage a lot of cyclists to use the roads around Box Hill.

Thanks for your suggestions of looking around the Virginia Water area - that area isn't as easy for me to get to if I am just going for a short run but would be worth a look if I have a bit more time []

 

[kjhurley]

Hi Caroline,

I would be interested in any other replies to your thread because as a fellow Surrey-ite, I share your views around the scarcity of decent NSL-type roads in the county. I also agree that the bike traffic in and around Staple Lane / Dorking / Box Hill has gone up significantly since the Olympics and can be a real trial on Sundays.

I am a little better located (in Guildford) to take advantage of the generally better roads in Sussex / Hampshire but fully appreciate that they are a bit of a trek from S W London. I find myself tending to head south via various routes (A3 / A283 / A286 mainly) in order to intersect with the A272 at some point heading west or east and this is a pretty good road with some decent stretches when traffic is light, albeit there are a fair few villages in between.

As per Steven’s suggestion, the area around Chobham and Longcross / Virginia Water / Englefield Green / Runnymede is worth exploring (heath fires excepted!) but the decent stretches over that way tend not to last very long, unfortunately.

Whilst I completely agree about the A25 as well as the roads around Dorking, there is quite a good route over Newlands that skirts Dorking by picking up the A29 around Ockley and this has some good stretches on it before it joins the A272. (To get to this, you have to take the B2126 off the A25 at Abinger Hammer (through Sutton Abinger and Holmbury St Mary) which whilst very narrow in places is actually in itself quite a good little route. Again, may be out of your range, however).

I joined a WhatsApp group of fellow Porsche owners towards the start of the year which was pretty active pre-lockdown and we went on a few good drives but these tended to end up around Goodwood so may well be a bit too far. I know there are a few members of this that live near Leatherhead, however, so they may know of some other routes over that way.

Hope this helps a bit!

Keith

 

[carolinewoodley]

HI Keith,

Interestingly my longer runs also tend to take me down the A283/286 either to Petworth or Midhurst, but those roads too have now been limited in many sections that used to be NSL []

Once you get past either of those towns however the roads between both Midhurst and Petworth to Goodwood are really great, some long sweeping ones, some more twisty bits and some long straight stretches, a good mix. The issue for me is that a run to Goodwood takes over an hour each way (especially now the 283 and 286 are mostly 30-40-50 limited) from where I live, even taking the A3 down to Godalming, and sadly I don't always have several free hours on a weekend to go for a drive that long.

I'll look up the B216 - is it a very narrow road that runs through forest with high banks ether side with tree roots? If so I am pretty sure I have gone down that road or at least a very similar one a few times in the past, but in a Caterham Seven not in the Porsche which is a much wider car, and therefore I'd probably be a lot more circumspect! []

I wish I lived closer to the A413 between Gerrard's Cross and Buckingham - that's the route I usually take either to or from Silverstone and it is a cracking road, and at least currently there are not too many unjustifiable (in my opinion) speed limits on it either so it's one you can still have a bit of fun on.

Thanks again for your suggestions,

Caroline

 

[ralphmusic]

Many moons ago we lived in Sussex and the A272 from Haywards Heath to Winchester was a great and fast run on motorbikes then cars.

Roads today are just too busy so I just get my enjoyment on track.

 

[StevenG]

Roads today are just too busy so I just get my enjoyment on track.

I know it's not in the spirit of the original question, but I think this is right. I pretty much never break any speed limits on the road, because I don't want the points or fine, and there's just little pleasure in it for me.

These cars are all so brilliantly capable that you've really got to be going dangerously fast on a road for it to feel exciting. But book a track day and you get to go even faster, and in a much safer and more appropriate environment.

I joined a WhatsApp group of fellow Porsche owners towards the start of the year which was pretty active pre-lockdown and we went on a few good drives but these tended to end up around Goodwood

Genuine question, if I may: what's this group's approach to speeding like? I know it makes me sound astronomically dull but I'd quite like to join in group drives occasionally, but worry about a pressure that I've got to do 100mph everywhere.

 

[carolinewoodley]

Steven, I get what you're saying about track days (I did a lot myself when I had a Caterham Seven) but frankly the mere thought of the tyre bill on the Cayman terrifies me [:-] (let alone a mechanical failure or heaven forbid a crash), even though I know it's the only place I could realistically get anywhere near the edge of its (or more likely my!) performance.

I think there are still some roads in the South East where it's possible legally (i.e. keeping to the speed limits) to get some thrills - no they are not as intense as on track, and nowhere near as fast, but good enough, at least for me, to feel I've not bought a performance car in vain. The aforementioned A413 is one such road, as long as you go when it's quieter, and the roads between Petworth/Midhurst and Goodwood are too. My issue is just that I'd like to find some roads a bit closer to home, now most of the good ones in Surrey seem to have been limited to 50 (or even 40 in some cases), so I don't have a boring hour's drive to get there before I can have some fun.

 

[kjhurley]

Steven,

Absolutely no problems on that score. I too would not want to take part in anything where such pressure was a factor.

Clearly, at present there is next to no activity because of the guidelines in place around the pandemic, but hopefully things will improve soon.