Cameron Highlands - Gua Musang road

[LCP]

Okay, noted with thanks... E36 no go then...

 

[anakin]

I just talked to my colleague about the road from Kuala Lipis to Gua Musang. He was on it about 3 weeks ago. He says that the road is bumpy in the sense that there are sudden dips and rises, and that it would be problematic for cars with low clearance even at speeds of around 100km/h. His C-class was lowered and has a hard suspension and he scraped the bottom about 5 times during the drive.

Does anyone have any info to add on this? Am now concerned of possible damage to our cars if we go at high speeds on that stretch. Perhaps we'll need to self-impose a speed limit on ourselves (or have a recon car out in front to warn us of dangerous spots)?

Dear traveler...it is not advisable to go at high speeds on that route..(Gua Musang to Simpang Pulai/Brinchang)...if something bad happens..nobody there to rescue you...with no telephone coverage..imagine how bad it could be..& for your information, somebody will die on Kuala Lipis to Gua Musang..every year!!! Just not started yet for this coming Hari Raya...just wait and see...don't believe me? U better do, coz that is my hometown...I'm staying just at the railway gate(now got flyover there)....

 

[Zoggee]

Okay, noted with thanks... E36 no go then...

Dude,

If i'm not wrong,you are only going up Cameron Highland right??
Well,you will regrets not going up with ur E36. Go check out our friends's blog with his daily cameron touge drive.


I've been there Cameron Highland with my E30 , from Tapah and even from Simpang Pulai. Drive ur E36 dude...or you will regrets. Enjoy yourself.

 

[LCP]

Zog, I'm referring to my post on the previous page, asking about climbing up Gunung Brinchang (not Brinchang town) with my E36... Looks like no go from the reply... I think I wouldn't want to take my almost-rally-sprung Satria up that steep 6666ft mountain also... Well, in that case it will be a mild holiday, maybe will just drive the E36...

 

[TTang]

318 can go up cameron? if not i take avanza.

 

[LCP]

Errr, any car can go up Camerons, even a fully loaded Kancil 660. It's going up Gunung Brinchang that is the problem... Anyway, I don't think many people fancy going up Gunung Brinchang while in Camerons...

 

[YellowMellow]

Was there a couple of weeks ago ..... . Hugh potholes and uneven surfaces especially at one strecth as you get closer to the peak. The same spot had multiple landslides in the last one year. I wouldnt recommend anything less than a 4WD.

Youre rite bro. Saya sokong..

 

[Traveler]

318 can go up cameron? if not i take avanza.

Of course can. I took a fully-loaded (4 pax + luggage) E36 318i up to Cameron (Brinchang, not Gun. Brinchang) at night! No problems. Just an easy drive.

Anakin, thanks for the advice! My definition of high speeds is anything above 120-130km/h on highways and >90km/h on windy trunk roads.. me no speed demon, me slow-poke driving a high-speed capable car. Hence I had posted that question for the benefit of others here who may have wanted to drive at faster speeds on that road.

Am now leaning towards going to Cameron via Gua Musang and returning via Simpang Pulai after a 2 night stop in Cameron. It looks like there will be 2 groups going (if this works out) - one for UDM'ers from the forum, and the other will be my work friends (in various makes). It would be nice to be able to meet up for a drink or lunch in Kuala Lipis or GM.

 

[Traveler]

Well, after long delays, I'm finally going to Cameron tomorrow. Am doing the KL-Simpang Pulai-Tanah Rata stretch tomorrow night. The tough part would be the night drive up the Simpang Pulai road, but I've done it before 3 years ago, so it should be manageable.

Then on Sunday, I will do the Tanah Rata-Gua Musang-Kuala Lipis-KL stretch. Will probably aim to leave Tanah Rata in the morning, have lunch in Gua Musang, stop for tea in Kuala Lipis or Bentong and end up in KL in time to watch the F1 race

I will update road conditions and any other pertinent info here, and maybe later this year we can get enough interest for a club drive?

 

[redbaron]

Have fun. You will sure enjoy it.

 

[anaksarawak]

Well, after long delays, I'm finally going to Cameron tomorrow. Am doing the KL-Simpang Pulai-Tanah Rata stretch tomorrow night. The tough part would be the night drive up the Simpang Pulai road, but I've done it before 3 years ago, so it should be manageable.

Then on Sunday, I will do the Tanah Rata-Gua Musang-Kuala Lipis-KL stretch. Will probably aim to leave Tanah Rata in the morning, have lunch in Gua Musang, stop for tea in Kuala Lipis or Bentong and end up in KL in time to watch the F1 race

I will update road conditions and any other pertinent info here, and maybe later this year we can get enough interest for a club drive?

Hi Bro..

I am going up to CH tomorrow too but will only depart in the afternoon..

Do say hi if you see a Sarawak's VIOS

 

[Traveler]

Cameron Roadtrip report

Trip report:

1. KL-Simpang Pulai-Brinchang-Tanah Rata (at night; about 3 1/4 hours including 1 bathroom stop; normal driving speed)
Road condition good as expected. Simpang Pulai-Brinchang was extremely dark but the E90's headlights easily lit the way (considerably brighter than on my previous night run with my previous E36). You can really see the Adaptive Headlights working (note that only the Xenon low-beam headlights swivel, the halogen high-beams shoot straight). Quite windy but nowhere near as windy as the "old" Tapah road. Very nice night scenes with the lights from the all the farms around Blue Valley. Made me think of a scene from the X-Files movie, hah.

2. Tanah Rata-Brinchang-Gua Musang (daytime; just under 2 hours leisurely drive)
Road condition very good (on the highway portion), downhill almost the entire way, practically zero traffic (Sunday morning) as I saw maybe 15 vehicles the entire time on the highway. Last 20km to Gua Musang was on old small roads, which were bumpy and had some potholes (driveable, just need to slow down and be careful).

3. Gua Musang-Kuala Lipis (about 120km)
Road condition better than the earlier 20km old road near Gua Musang stretch, but still bumpy and sometimes there are depressions in the road (if you have a low-riding car, you may scrape something if you drive too fast). Traffic was ok with maybe 7-8 lorries/trailers to overtake. Quite a few windy stretches. Due to the road conditions, I felt most comfortable driving around 80-90km/h. I noticed only 1 petrol station along the way (Petronas), about 80km south of Gua Musang.

4. Kuala Lipis-Bentung
Much better and smoother roads (still one-lane each direction), so it can be driven at 90-110km/h (bear in mind speed limit at 90 km/h). Sometimes the road condition was better than some roads in KL! Near Bentung there were 2 police "roadblocks". I put them in inverted commas as while the cones and signs where there, our friends in blue were sitting in the shade reading newspapers! I stopped at that coffee shop where our Club drive stopped last year. Ais kacang there still the same, but the shop was packed!

5. Bentung-KL
On to the highway... nothing much to elaborate on, just another highway with medium traffic. But there was a policeman with a radar gun hiding in the bushes about 1km from where you enter the highway from Bentung heading towards KL. Speed limit at that stretch is 90 km/h.

Return journey from Brinchang to KL took 6 1/2 hours (including stops to buy vegies in Tringkap, lunch in Gua Musang, ais kacang in Bentung; driving at probably a slightly leisurely pace), and distance covered was 398km (just over half tank used).

Total distance travelled 752km (including 2 trips up and down the Camerons area Boh Estate near Ringlet up to Kg Raja); average speed of 64.6km/h, consuming 10.8km/l (69.8litres = RM188).

Overall, it was a great drive and I would love to join in a Club drive, although I think it would be more fun to drive to Cameron in the morning via Gua Musang and return via Simpang Pulai. While in Camerons, I did see a group of the classic Minis driving up together.

 

[ALBundy]

Nice write up bro. Any pictures??

Cheers

 

[Traveler]

Nice write up bro. Any pictures??

Cheers

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of note. One of my passengers did take a few pics of the farms in Lojing (just across the border into Kelantan, near Blue Valley), so let me try and get a copy of those.

Next time I go up there, I'm bringing my tripod and am going to try for a few night pics of the lit-up farms in Blue Valley.

 

[Juan Powerblow]

We should organise a drive up this stretch. Calling RB...

 

[Bailey]

We should organise a drive up this stretch. Calling RB...

hope to see u in one of the drive yeah ?????????????????????? hehehehe

 

[redbaron]

Yes john may be this year 5 series drive we are going to use this road. There is also another new road but must check if is ready. It is ready it is from KL-Bentong-Raub-Sg Koyan-Post Betau- Tanah Rata.If you dont have 5 series you can joint with me.