The best (hidden) driving roads on the Mornington Peninsula

Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula offers the perfect blend of seaside charm and farm country, but the drivers among us are missing a trick by not going beyond the front beach.

Unlike Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane, which all have a plethora of glorious driving roads within an hour’s reach of their respective city centres, Melburnians are stuck with a longer journey to find quiet stretches of tarmac.

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Sure, there are roads beyond the Yarra Valley that fit the bill, and the iconic Great Ocean Road’s reputation precedes it, but these runs are often riddled with winery tourers or holiday-makers heading for the coast.

Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is another region that plays home to holiday-makers in the summertime and foodies in winter, but despite its relative proximity to Melbourne, it’s not often a go-to destination for car enthusiasts.

Go beyond the front beach, however, and you’ll find a hidden treasure trove of short-but-sweet driving roads that can be strung together for an action-packed driver’s day out.

What better way to test out the region’s best driving roads than to explore them in the 2023 Nissan Z?

How to get to the Mornington Peninsula from Melbourne

In order to get down south onto the Mornington Peninsula from Melbourne, the simplest way is to take the Monash Freeway, switch to the Eastlink toll road, and then get onto the Mornington Peninsula Freeway.

There’s relatively little to get excited about during the highway miles – unless you’re a fan of industrial estates and commuter traffic – but it gives Photographer Mat and I a good excuse to have a play with the Nissan Z’s interior.

I love the way Nissan has recycled certain Z design attributes within this latest iteration, and although the cabin looks decidedly old compared to rival sports cars, the space contains the right tech functionality to get sports car enthusiasts excited in 2023.

The $75,800 (before on-road costs) sports car utilises an 8.0-inch touchscreen within the dash and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster for the driver. Though the latter doesn’t feature Nissan’s latest infotainment software – nor does it have satellite navigation – it does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity through a cable connection.

Thankfully, there’s a bit more to the digital instrument cluster, which can show critical driving information in various screens. My favourite display utilises two gigantic dials like you’d find in an analogue cluster, and they can contain readouts for fuel data, speed limit information, and gear position.

Driver and passenger each get a bolstered sports seat, wrapped in a mix of leather-accented and microfibre inserts. They do well to hold you in between corners, but taller drivers will miss the lack of under-thigh support.

The long nose stocks a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine under its bonnet, which outputs 298kW and 475Nm. It’s a dry day in Melbourne on our way down to the Peninsula, but the rear end still manages to squirm under throttle. That said, there’s no doubt the power on tap is savage in its delivery – if not from an abrupt perspective, then definitely from a surge point of view.

C788 Dunns Creek Road

Before too long we’ve reached Dromana and its iconic three-screen drive-in cinema. This is also our turn-off point to find the C788 Dunns Creek Road – a tight and technical road featuring several wineries along its stretch. The most entertaining portion lies between White Hill Road and Red Hill Road, where it constantly twists and turns between enclosing bush and rock walls.

Through here the Z car feels big and heavy, despite its sprightly powertrain outputting nearly 300kW. It weighs 1600kg (kerb), which can be felt through successive back-to-back corners, and the lack of feelsome steering hurts the Nissan’s fun-driving character.

Steer it into the bend around Fenian Wines, and although the car pummels through mid-corner bumps with ease, the light steering doesn’t feel all too engaging, which is a shame for such a performance-focused coupe.

There’s no guard rail beside the road, which forces you to sharpen your attention even further, and even though the speeds are low, there’s minimal margin for error and no hard shoulder.

It’s a neat stretch of road, but over all too soon. On to the next.

Shands Road

After a brief stop for a pie lunch at the Red Hill General Store, we carry on to Shands Road. There are multiple parts to the low-speed-limited but equally engaging stretch, but the fun bit is between Mornington-Flinders Road and Shoreham Road.

The road flows downhill through successive left-to-right bends before ultimately ending up crossing over a creek, then a brief uphill portion brings you out at Rocky Creek Strawberry Farm.

There’s an odd kerb outer barrier to Shands Road that makes it a pain to pull a U-turn, but it’s worth doing the entire stretch and then turning around anyway.

C777 Mornington Flinders Road to Boneo Road

Continuing on towards the back beaches of the Peninsula is a 100km/h stretch that ends up at Flinders. It finally offers a chance to cycle through the Z’s six-speed manual gearbox in anger.

At first the shifter feels tough and is hard to gel with, but the more the car warms and the gentler you are, the throw becomes easier to manage. It doesn’t like to be rushed through the gears, especially at higher revs, but heel-and-toe downshifts are easy to perform thanks to a quick-revving engine. It also has a rev-match function, which works well.

After arriving in Flinders, it’s worth a quick detour through Golf Links Road around the Flinders Golf Club. In addition to a pristine manicured golf course, the road offers stunning views out to Bass Strait.

Mat and I are most looking forward to Boneo Road, which services a slew of farm properties. Walkers can stop off at Bushrangers Bay for an easy walk down to the water, or complete the full Two Bays walking track, which is a bit more intensive.

Back under petrol power, we thread through the undulating roads that zip around lush green fields and offer plenty of opportunity to flex the Z’s outputs. The ride control is surprisingly compliant over the pockmarked stretch of tarmac, the tune no doubt aimed at the United States market’s preference for softer-riding vehicles overall.

There are a few instances of switchback corners that serve up a challenge for the Z’s traction-control system, but ultimately the car scythes through a corner without antics and shoots out the other side ready to go again.

Browns Road

After making your way to Boneo, Browns Road connects back up with Main Ridge and Purves Road.

There are a few good sections that snake between thick bush and scrub, and while views aren’t common, the road offers plenty of twists and turns to keep you engaged.

C789 Arthurs Seat Road

Arthurs Seat offers a wide view of Port Phillip Bay at its peak, but better, unobstructed vistas from lay-by parking areas are dotted along the road back down to the Mornington Peninsula Freeway.

We make a stop at Murrays Lookout and admire the Nissan Z’s looks against the bay vista background. The way Nissan has included stylistic throwbacks such as the 240Z front fascia and Z32’s rear end is impressive, especially while keeping the rest of the design current and on-trend.

Arthurs Seat Road only has a 60km/h signposted speed limit, but the series of hairpin bends ensures drivers will have their hands full of steering wheel regularly.

C783 Esplanade Road

One hot tip – especially on weekends – is to sidestep the Peninsula Link freeway on the way back to Melbourne. Not only does it clog up with the other day-trippers returning home, but there’s not much in the way of exciting scenery.

A better bet is to take the C783 Esplanade Road between Martha Cove and Mornington, which offers glimpses of the ocean amid a string of tight and twisty corners. It’s almost specifically designed for open-top roadsters with brilliant views and a slew of bends, and while the speed limit only reaches 60km/h, it’s a worthy detour in any sports car.

From here you can connect with the Nepean Highway, which essentially hugs the water’s edge right through to Beach Road.

It might not be your first thought for sports-car touring, but the Mornington Peninsula offers awesome scenery and twisty roads.

Speed limits may be lower than you’d like given the enticing bitumen, but there’s plenty to see along the way, which makes the region well worth a day trip.

If you want to do the trip I did like-for-like, check out this embedded Google Maps layout.

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