Julian

On my daily commute I use the A3095 Maidenhead Road, North of Bracknell. On the section between the Three Legged Cross and Hawthorn Hill, where the road joins the A330 Ascot Road my car weaves and bobs all over the place as if it had a mind of its own (and I don’t mean the ECU). Happens in both directions and is far worse here than on any other road I ever use. This tramlining is very disconcerting and often dangerous as the road is quite narrow and has the usual lorry and bus traffic using both sides of the road at every opportunity. I’ve always found this bit of road a nightmare, but the Scooby seems to like it the least of any car that I’ve had. It's a shame that the surface of this road is so poor as there are sone very nice corners on it. Am I alone in finding this piece of road less than fun to drive along?

Julian

Green MY99 5 door

Rich_R

Julian,

I have had the same prob in the Scoob as well as my previous car (BMW 318is) - in fact it was probably worse in the Beamer!

Rich.

JamesH-2

If you fancy a bit of Tramlining - ride a motor-bike!

ALANB

How strange, I love that bit of road!
Most of the corners are off-camber which adds to the fun and the last corner before the A330, an uphill right-hander, is one of my all time favorites.
I would also say to watch out for the junction from the left part-way along on a corner, I've seen some really nasty accidents there!
The road camber changes constantly and I think this is what you a fighting, as well as a bumpy surface, once you know where the camber is going you can anticipate what the car's going to do, it'd be very boring if it was all flat

[This message has been edited by ALANB (edited 29-02-2000).]

Leon

I'll try the route on the way home tonight. Hopefully the traffic won't be to bad.

I'll let you know if I have a similar problem.

boomer

I think the worst thing about the 3095 (if it is the road that i am thinking of) is the regular flooding and standing water - especially the last half-mile northbound before Hawthorn Hill (in a long dip). I have only driven along it once in the Scooby (Blue MY00), with an ODO of 000050 (thus being gentle) in the rain, and it was a tad skittish.

There is a BRILLIANT bit of road a little further North - turn right at the next roundabout and you have a mile or so of dead straight and gentle undulating road. There used to be a Cider pub on the left, but i think that it has closed or been burnt down.

You can get a good Vmax along there!

mb

Shark

Julian

I don't know that road, but I have to say that at low speeds when breaking my car does swerve quite badly in either direction. I put it down to the low profile tyres. I'm on 205/45/17.

Have very occasionally had the problem at higher speeds too.

Why not try the same road in a cooking car and see what happens.

David

Graham Stocker

Julian i drive flat out !! on that road to Cookham every day and have no problems. But in an escort deisel van and leave the WRX at home .

Julian

I didn't expect so many people to know the road. Thanks for all your comments.

ALANB,
Seen a few accidents along here myself - strange decision by the local council to resurface the corner just before this junction with a supper grip surface and then put a 40 limit on it! I know the road pretty well and I do know where most of the awkward cambers and bumpy bits are it's just such a shame that nine times out of ten along here you get stuck at a low speed and all the tramlining "fun" kicks in.

boomer,
That's the Drift road and can be fun, but watch out! As it's a straight road, everyone tanks along it and I've seen pretty nasty results.

shark,
Are you suggesting I get a catering wagon and start selling burgers?

Graham,
So you're the "van man" I can never get past!

Relatively low speed seems to be the issue here and as the majority of times when on this road I'm just stuck in the never ending queue of traffic ( Heh! I pay my taxes I demand the road to myself! ) so I guess I'll have to be prepared for the odd change in direction!

The road was completely clear this morning so was able to maintain a reasonable speed and guess what? No skitishness at all. Now why can't the roads be empty like that all the time? (Should I put that in the "Why?" thread?

Julian

Green MY99 5 door (soon to be seen selling burgers in a lay-by near you!)

ALANB

Julian,
It is a much better road at speed, if your stuck behind someone it's a right pain and there are only two real overtaking opportunities (four if your mad!)
Boomer,
The straight bit of the Drift road is fine, it's the wicked corner at the other end that catches the racers out! The Cider House was a big biker pub in the good old bad old days they used to race up and down the straight until plod stopped them. Without the bikers there was no business and the pub had to close. As for standing water, I love it!, the scoob goes through deep puddles like no other car I've ever driven, guess it comes from the rallying.

boomer

I drove along the A3095 tonight, with my now run-in Scooby, and i have to agreed with the panel - it can be skittish, but at higher speed things seem to tighten up (although that could simply be because of your grip on the steering wheel!).

However, just a sobering thought to think about. I was coming along the other way (towards Bracknell) at around 20:00, and just outside the Yorkshire Rose pub was a crumpled heap on the pavement - a kid who must have been between 10 and 15 years old. There was a woman screaming hysterically, and a couple of cars that had pulled over. We didn't stop, because there were enough people in attendance (and traffic was starting to back up as well), but it looked like a rather bad RTA involving a pedestrian. We heard ambulance sirens a few minutes later.

It's a 30mph zone there, and i am sure that we all respect these limits, but someone is in a bad way tonight - and they could just have easily have been walking anywhere along that road.

You all take care - and drive safely out there!

mb

AJC

I know that road well having driven up and down it for a number of years in a variety of cars. They all behaved in exactly the same way and it is a very disconcerting experience.
Unfortunately it's typical of most of the lower class A roads in Berkshire at the moment (and generally the country as a whole from my experience). Most of them don't appear to have been resurfaced properly for years.
Without wishing to turn this into another rant on road funding it seems that we motorists have little power to influence the state of our roads despite the huge sums of money that we contribute to the governments coffers every year.