Why I believe Texas is the best state in the US to be a car guy.

21 May 2017

Before I get started, this blog is a matter of opinion and experience, and i will make sure to distinguish what are facts, and what are opinions to help reduce butt-hurt. Now, since that’s out of the way, allow me to begin my explanation of why I believe Texas is the best state in the US to live in if you are a car guy. Also, not all images used are mine, and I will make note of where I found them in the description of the image.

Opinion: The roads here are the best because they have everything you could wish for.
The reason I say and believe this is because during my travels in Texas, I’ve driven on almost every kind of road there is. I’ve gone over 100 MPH on several highways, and roads that don’t turn for 50 miles, I’ve gone sliding sideways at 60 MPH in a Toyota Avalon on dirt roads around the interior, and I’ve been riding with my friend in his car tearing up and drifting on some of the most curvaceous roads I’ve ever seen. Texas has every kind of road for every kind of car guy, whether they want a drag-strip, a rally course, a curvy road for a track car, or even a beautiful smooth road for just cruising, I’ve found all of them right here close to home. For example, I’ll cruise with my Great-Grandma on I-10 in her Avalon about 75-80 MPH and break 100 to pass someone, and then slow right back down no problem, and maybe a little later, see a Challenger fly by going 150. Up at my Great-Grandparent’s ranch, My Great-Grandpa taught me to drift and do burnouts in his truck on the dirt roads up there (same place I rallied the Avalon). Country road 1431 is a super beautiful and curvy road leading to Marble Falls that my Friend and I attacked with his Subaru BRZ and had an amazing time driving on. This road features Long banking curves, crests, fast & slow corners, drop-offs, and many other terms I’m too lazy to name. Going up there on the weekend usually involves seeing tons of Porsche’s, Corvette’s, and other fast sports cars. Lots of car guys come to this road on weekends to have some fun, and will flash their lights at you if there is a cop in your direction. so no matter what you like to drive on, it can be found right here in Texas.

Country road 1431 - Sourced from google

Fact: Texas has tracks and events for all car people.
Whether you want to race your car, watch someone race, or just appreciate a car for what it is, there is always going to be something for you. If you just want to go look at and appreciate cars without anything too crazy happening, there are TONS of official and unofficial car show to go to. From a yearly car show at NRG, to the monthly Cars & Coffee, and even small meets for charity, there are a ton of options to go to for viewing pleasure and purposes. From the unofficial side, CypressStreets, a car group my friends are a part of, that has meets just about every Friday, has a large variety of cars. They have everything from just basic Ford Focuses, to Slammed and stanced Audi RS7’s, Hurican’s, and even a couple of R34 GT-R’s. The best show that would likely include everyone’s taste would most likely be Cars & Coffee. The have every type of car that one could dream of, from new hyper cars, classic race cars, new track cars, and even some rarities like the koenigsegg CCXR, Mercedes SL300 Gullwing, Lancia Stratos, And Even a Jaguar D-Type. When it comes to tracks, Texas has Circuit of the Americas, Royal Purple Raceway, Boyd Raceway, San Antonio Raceway, and many others for drag racing and track racing. Down in Baytown where my aunt and uncle live, they have legal street races for everyone from ages 12 and up as long as their parents lend a vehicle for them to race and sign a paper taking responsibility for damages if the kid crashes if they are under 18. There are also tracks that are made for those who like to kick it sideways and have fun at 45-90 degrees.

The Gallery Above consists of a few Photos I took from Official Car shows, meets, and racing events I have attended.

Fact: The restrictions on vehicles in Texas are less than those found in a number of other states.
Here in Texas, a car can be as low or lower than a GT-40, or over 10 feet tall. A vehicle can be as narrow as a street bike, or as wide as a Hummer H1. Vehicles can range from an old Fiat 500 in size, to a full blown Cadillac Escalade limosine. Old muscle cars that Chug gas and burn rubber can be left original and un-molested by regulations if part of the Antique Vehicle community (which is pretty easy to do). Exotics of any day and age can also be saved from regulations as long as they have been imported properly. and everything else can be modified however the owner wants. Hennessey Performance is in Sealy Texas and tunes a large number of cars to have over 1,000 Horse-Power, and go incredibly fast, but they are completely legal. Most modifications offered on any car are legal as long as they dont obstruct the license plate, or remove the muffler or delete the catalytic converters completely. Below are images I took of a number of vehicles that would be illegal in their current condition in a number of other states.

Fact: The car culture in Texas is Very diverse.
In my neighborhood, a street over from mine, there is a guy who owns 4 different generation & Tuned Subaru’s and a Miata. One street in the other direction is a Guy who has a Restored Black Ford Thunderbird, a corvette C4, and a big firetruck from the 50’s. Go a little south by 30 mins, and there is my friend Louis with a Pantera De Tomaso, a 1964 1/2 mustang, 3 triumph TR6’s, and a Mercury cougar. As I mentioned before about 2 R34 Nissan GT-R’s, its a family that owns them, along with a Lexus LFA, and a Gen 4 Supra. One of my favorite things is driving across Texas and seeing the different cultures. For example, on the way to see family, if i drive through a small town in the middle of nowhere, the building and cars are right from the 1950’s and they are well condition and its like driving through time. Then i’ll drive through down town and see all the exotics, and later,, I’ll be going to see my friend Bryce with the BRZ and see a Group of JDM fanboys convoying to a meet in Subaru’s, Supra’s, maybe an AE86, and GT-R’s. Lets not forget about the Truck guys, which is probably the biggest group/culture found here in Texas. Personally I’m not a huge truck guy but I have seen some very nice builds and classics, and depending on the ones you run into, can be very nice people. Below are a few Galleries showing vehicles from a few groups that I have seen. I took these pics.

Muscle cars

Exotics

Classics

JDM

Super cars

Opinion: its easier to drive in Texas than some other states.
now, I have only driven in California, Alabama, and Mississippi, so those are the only ones I can really compare to, but from those, they were more difficult to drive in than it is for me in Texas. Texas is simple for me to drive in because most of the roads are either strait, or lead to the same place. The roads are big and have plenty of room, and there are a million signs that tell you where to go and whats coming up. The only big problem with driving in Texas is the road rage, which can be quite bad sometimes. As long as you drive fast and don’t get in anyone’s way, you’ll never have a problem with it, unless you meet one of those “compensating” drivers. I’ve had my run-in with a few bad tempered drivers, but nothing really bad ever came of it, just some hand gestures and rude language. Fortunately, those people aren’t very common, just annoyed honks are, and I have only been honked at once in all the times I’ve driven. Below are a few images of some roads in Houston along with a map. I sourced these images from google.

Fact: You can purchase some fast vehicles in Texas for really cheap.
When went and looked for my first car, I set my price range at $5,000. You would not believe some of he cars I found for that price. They included C4 Corvettes, Mazda RX-8’s, Subaru Impreza WRX’s, Porsche Boxer’s, classic 911 Turbo’s, Mustang GT’s, and many more fast cars. I’ll link some of them below this just to show Y’all that this stuff isn’t fake.
https://www.carsforsale.com/vehicle/details/14024483 Jaguar XJ
https://www.carsforsale.com/vehicle/details/28857485 Mercedes S500
https://www.carsforsale.com/vehicle/details/31067396 Mitsubishi Lancer
https://www.carsforsale.com/vehicle/details/31007882 1997 Mustang GT
https://www.carsforsale.com/vehicle/details/25556472 Mazda RX-8

All of these cars are below $5,000

If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! If you have any comments, or disagree with something, please do so in an adult manner in the comments and I’ll try to respond as best as I can. These are the reasons why I believe Texas is the best state live in if you are a car guy. and depending on feedback I get from everyone, I’ll look at making another blog post using information I can get from other people about other places. Thank you so much and have a nice day.

Comments

I agree. I love tearing up I-10 and highes highway 46. Great car culture too

Ive been over 100 in a Toyota Tundra, Toyota Avalon, Kia Soul, Mustang GT, Nissan Altima, and a Subaru BRZ. I was born with my moms lead foot.

My country be like- 90% of roads are bad, other 10% have radars and speed limit of 90km/h. We have like one asphalt track, few rallycross tracks. There isn’t that many car events around. We have great tally tracks tho.

Personally, I adore rally, so at least you have a few tracks to enjoy

San Antonio area. Boerne.

Ah ok, right by where spring cypress intersects with barker cypress, just a mile or two from 249

I’d really like to live somewhere as open as Texas just tearing up huge highways but I’m stuck in a tiny european town with 20mph speed limits and car hating police everywhere :(

That really sucks, by my house, on spring cypress, there are mini drag races every night, mostly between muscle cars and exotics

Never leaving Texas!

Amen brother

You know that there’s this place called ummm calofirnia or something like that. Oh yeah California where um theres a centenario in newport beach. And a ton of other rare cars. We get the newest most exotic cars here. We have a Ferrari named after us. I respect your opinion but that was my opinion

While yes, california is very nice and many exotics can be found, its mostly only good for seeing nice cars, Texas is better for the freedom in more areas it offers, ie. Less restrictions, more activities, more chances to own faster cars, and more for those who have less.

Texas has more to do than just look at cars, we have tons of tracks for tons of different racing, and there are little restrictions on what can be done to modify a vehicle. And since we are huge, and have less people, the roads are more open to enjoy the driving, I spent a summer in CA trying to drive and it was a nightmare unless I went way out from the city.