Driving to Baguio at Midnight

[Ponkan]

tricycles in zambales drive on the rightmost side of the road and give way when you sound your horn. i know, i just got back from Iba today. it is the tricycles that hog the middle of the road, making it difficult for faster going vehicles to overtake that is the problem.

try driving on mac arthur hiway from tarlac city to villasis pangasinan, or from san fernando pampanga to dinalupihan. tricycles there will not budge an inch, some will even kick your fender.

100% agree sir, even un auntie ko nagtataka baket madalas ang overtake sa kanan instead sa may kaliwa, sabi ko nalang eh kung flash ko yan or businahan di gigilid yan, nakakapagod lang even un ibang sasakyan ganyan na gawi ng pag overtake, dami gumagawa nyan sa mc arthur highway so nasanay nalang ako specially sa part ng San Fernando- Angeles..Tarlac naman mas ok un mga tricycle although meron pa din pasaway

[IMm29]

And I'm back! No thanks to Tapatalk not working for Tsikot, kaya di ako makapag-update sooner. What's up with that? Will it ever still work?

Anyhow, thanks for all your tips and tricks. Together with another friend's updated GPS, the Baguio trip went well. Wish I did not have to fly to Bangkok, so we could've spent another breakfast and lunch in the City of Pines.

Baguio is not the pre-quake Baguio I remembered it to be 24 years ago. Sure, it's still cool, but save for what's inside the Camp John Hay and Baguio Country Club general area, it's pretty congested and densely populated already. Took a while to get to La Trinidad Valley for the strawberry picking because of traffic. We also would go windows down because of the cool and fresh air, except in the city center where it would be diesel fumes. The smell of pine wasn't too strong anymore. Oh well, the price of modernization, I suppose. But then, like what was said about the Botanical gardens, di rin naalagaan. When you park on the road, you'll have to make sure you tread slowly or you'll end up rolling on the side of that hill just to get to the path. Tsk tsk!

We skipped Mines View because of the feedback on this thread. Unfortunate. Got to go to Wright Park for the kids horseback riding, went to Good Shepherd for some pasalubong, but shelved that idea coz of that looong line! Good the sisters' livelihood naman at least. Ended up at the Baguio City Market for the goodies before heading down.

[IMm29]

As to the drive, it was a good move to change back to stock wheels and tires. There were a lot of unpaved/not so well paved portions that would've had me thinking about the 18s if I had them on. At least I had some peace of mind with the 16s. Now that we're Manila bound for the months to come, I'm going for the 18s again. Hehehe!

Despite all that research and route plotting of the Nueva Ecija and Magilas routes, I ended up using MacArthur from SCTEX. Some last minute advice and scouting from my Dad who had been to Baguio 1.5 weeks prior to us had me thinking about pitstops for the kids and ladies. Not that we needed it naman pala, since they'd not taken that much liquids and had fallen asleep on me anyway. Tsk tsk! At least I didn't hear "are we there yet" other than what was being sung by Hi5. Hahaha! The trip came to about 6 hours from Ortigas until The Manor.

The GS was a hoot to drive. Thankfully I was under control during the NLEX and SCTEX stretches coz strikto sila SCTEX. At the Tarlac exit, everybody who drove by us in a hurry got promptly stopped and ticketed. Was even faster during the MacArthur stretches (I got up to about 130kph, the trailing Cruze up to 160 kph) than NLEX and SCTEX. Tarlac had both the high speed, widened roads leading to each town proper or MacArthur, and the rough road construction. Villasis was the next slower point. Took a break at Caltex Sison, but no gas taken in. Cruze 1/2 tank left, GS 1/8 tank consumed.

[jut703]

At the Tarlac exit, everybody who drove by us in a hurry got promptly stopped and ticketed. Was even faster during the MacArthur stretches (I got up to about 130kph, the trailing Cruze up to 160 kph) than NLEX and SCTEX.

Bro what time was this? It seems that SCTEX enforcers are more abundant on the Tarlac-bound side than in the opposite, Subic-bound portion.

[IMm29]

Bro what time was this? It seems that SCTEX enforcers are more abundant on the Tarlac-bound side than in the opposite, Subic-bound portion.

I suppose they were hot on the Tarlac-bound side, at least on that morning. That was in the 830-900 am window.

[yebo]

noticed that also, wala pa ako nakitang natiketan sa subic. was at sctex going back to zambales on the GS (after friday's trip on my friends brand new fortuner) and hit 145kph from the ramp at mabalacat to subic, walang huli. on the way back yesterday i even hit 180 kph and most of the time 140-145kph. wala din huli nung mag-exit ako sa mabalacat.

bad trip lang, subic to mabalacat in 25 minutes. then sa toll gate 30 minutes sa haba ng pila last night!

OT: bagal mag-accelerate ng fortuner na 3.0 manual. mas malakas dihamak ang hatak ng 2.5 crdi A/T natin.

[Pipefish]

IMm29, GS is the Hyundai Starex? By the way, what was a comfortable speed for you on the way down? So six hours going up? How about coming back? And you didn't take Kennon Road? Thanks.

[vinj]

bad trip lang, subic to mabalacat in 25 minutes. then sa toll gate 30 minutes sa haba ng pila last night!

Hassle yan... that's why when medyo marami ang bumabyahe, i choose to exit at Clark and reenter NLEX through the Angeles Exit (gives me an excuse to gas up inside Clark).

[IMm29]

noticed that also, wala pa ako nakitang natiketan sa subic. was at sctex going back to zambales on the GS (after friday's trip on my friends brand new fortuner) and hit 145kph from the ramp at mabalacat to subic, walang huli. on the way back yesterday i even hit 180 kph and most of the time 140-145kph. wala din huli nung mag-exit ako sa mabalacat.

bad trip lang, subic to mabalacat in 25 minutes. then sa toll gate 30 minutes sa haba ng pila last night!

OT: bagal mag-accelerate ng fortuner na 3.0 manual. mas malakas dihamak ang hatak ng 2.5 crdi A/T natin.

I personally have not yet seen anyone getting ticketed on SCTEX on the route to and from Subic. Although I've heard stories of getting caught. Pretty vague though if it was on SCTEX or on NLEX.

3.0 Manual Fortuner bro? or Manual mode ang ginamit mo? The GS is more powerful, but yeah I would've thought that the 3.0L's advantage would've been the acceleration. On the way up to Baguio, I was missing the Prado, coz there were portions of the climb where I'd feel the transmission/engine thinking twice about delivering the power. You'd have to do manual mode so that you could get the gear you want.

[CVT]

I suppose they were hot on the Tarlac-bound side, at least on that morning. That was in the 830-900 am window.

Good move on your part bro. It was also around that time, when I got myself entangled with those guys...

They were parked below the bridge just before the Luisita exit.

Enjoy your business trip!

17.9K:cupid2:

[IMm29]

Good move on your part bro. It was also around that time, when I got myself entangled with those guys...

They were parked below the bridge just before the Luisita exit.

Enjoy your business trip!

17.9K:cupid2:

Thanks Bro. Here now, recharging as well. Hehehe!

[CVT]

. Cruze 1/2 tank left, GS 1/8 tank consumed.

. Ended up consuming another 1/8 on the climb alone. Nawili sa hataw. Mga 1/4 na lang yung Cruze.

Bro.,- did I get it right that you consumed only 1/4 tank (1/8+1/8) from MM to Baguio?

If that is the case then that is about 19L of diesel fuel only. Now Baguio is about 250Km, so you did 13Km/L.... Wow!

I remembered that when we took the Gen3 TCi AT to Baguio some years ago,- I consumed 5/8 tank,- so about 37L.- so about 6.7Km/L hataw mode midnight to early morning.... I stopped computing after that....

Did not do the same thing for our TCi AT GS....

17.9K:cupid2:

[yapoy86]

Bro.,- did I get it right that you consumed only 1/4 tank (1/8+1/8) from MM to Baguio?

If that is the case then that is about 19L of diesel fuel only. Now Baguio is about 250Km, so you did 13Km/L.... Wow!

I remembered that when we took the Gen3 TCi AT to Baguio some years ago,- I consumed 5/8 tank,- so about 37L.- so about 6.7Km/L hataw mode midnight to early morning.... I stopped computing after that....

Did not do the same thing for our TCi AT GS....

17.9K:cupid2:

may kasama ata sila na chevy cruze.. mahirap mag compare ng consumption via gauge lang kasi baka hindi naman parehas ng fuel tank capacity yun nung GS

[IMm29]

Marcos is high speed and pretty steep at points. Wide and sweeping switchbacks, allows for some speed. The CRDi engine loves pulling so it's got acceleration going up. Ended up consuming another 1/8 on the climb alone. Nawili sa hataw. Mga 1/4 na lang yung Cruze.

Going around Baguio, we all piled in the GS. 9 adults, 4 kids. Nice. Short ride lang naman to each stop. Engine was noisier on declines because of the engine brake, but not much the inclines. Swabeh lang.

GPS sent me on a wild goose chase once. Going to Good Shepherd. Shortest route nga via the backways. Even the old lady was puzzled why we took that route. There was a 50 degree climb at one stretch. Parang roller coaster going up, waiting for the drop. Hehehe! No problems. Mas gusto nga ng GS na puno, no slides.

On the way down, dun lang ako di nakapalag. Got left behind by an Innova taxi and Altis. Kabisado ang kurbada. Talo ako sa kanila sa handling, but on its own, the GS is wide and stable. Been mixing up between engine braking and braking so as not to overheat the brakes. Mahirap na, the brakes might suddenly not be there when you need them.

Sarap sagasaan ng mga trike sa MacArthur. Oblivious to the world. May namamasyal pa. You're overtaking on the left, then you find out kaya mabagal ang nasa harap mo is coz may trike na mabagal. Eventually gustong kumaliwa pala. Grrrr!!!