If you were in Montreal with a fun car, what would be the most enjoyable 90 min roundtrip excursion? My gut says go west towards Morin Heights or south towards Chambly. I'm trying to think of some way to get a short rally in during GP weekend. Thanks, LSJ
There's nothing I would consider remotely fun around Montreal for a fun car. 90min roundtrip is not enough. 45min is what it will take you to leave the island, dodging potholes, orange cones (urban auto-cross here), dealing with traffic on the GP weekend and unannounced construction zones... The closest fun road east would be Parc de la Mauricie, sadly they reduced the already slow 70 km/h speed limit to an even slower 50 km/h. Even so, that's 180 km east of Montreal. Not doable in 90 min, but a nice, curvy 70 km stretch of road in a nice park with lakes and good viewpoints, Going north, road 327 from Lachute to Mont Tremblant is nice, but again, more of a 3h trip. Going west or south, it's the land of cornfields and straight lines, not fun. At least not my vision of fun. I might make it sounds worst than it is, others might be able to voice a more optimistic point of view. But I know for fact that after 10 years of riding my Ducati and 3 years of driving my Lotus in Montreal, when me and my friends want fun roads, we cross the border and go to NY, VT or NH. Not a 90 min trip for sure. I'm slowly thinking that the best toys around Mtl are not a sport car and a street bike, but a Ford Raptor and an enduro dirtbike.
As has been mentioned, 90 minutes round trip will barely get you off the island. And yes, crumbling infrastructures and ad nauseum construction is only getting worse. Consider taking Hwy 132 east to Sorel and then hopping the ferry to Berthierville, or finding a route in The Chateauguay Valley and driving through Franklin County/Covey Hill. However, both of these runs will be at least a half-day roundtrip drive. For your return home, you might consider driving to Hwy 225 South and crossing into the US at Alburg Vermont. It is quite pretty driving down Grand Ile on Route 2 in the middle of Lake Champlain and then connecting to Interstate 89.
Thanks for the replies. I may try to get out a bit the week before the GP or on the way back home. LSJ
Doesn't take much of a big pothole to destroy a tire and dent a wheel, especially on a high-end car with big rims and low profile tires. And Montreal is a mine field full of massive craters that will chew wheels in a blink of an eye. It is still very possible to drive a fancy car in Montreal and around, but it's not fun. At least I don't have fun focusing on holes rather than the road.
