diff --git a/features/car/route_relations.feature b/features/car/route_relations.feature
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dd305d4ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/features/car/route_relations.feature
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+@routing @car @relations
+Feature: Car - route relations
+    Background:
+        Given the profile "car"
+
+    @sliproads
+    Scenario: Cardinal direction assignment to refs
+        Given the node map
+            """
+                     a  b
+                     |  |
+              c------+--+------d
+              e------+--+------f
+                     |  |
+                     g  h
+
+              i----------------j
+              k----------------l
+
+              x----------------y
+              z----------------w
+            """
+
+        And the ways
+            | nodes | name        | highway  | ref         |
+            | ag    | southbound  | motorway | I 80        |
+            | hb    | northbound  | motorway | I 80        |
+            | dc    | westbound   | motorway | I 85;CO 93  |
+            | ef    | eastbound   | motorway | I 85;US 12  |
+            | ij    | westbound-2 | motorway | I 99        |
+            | ji    | eastbound-2 | motorway | I 99        |
+            | kl    | eastbound-2 | motorway | I 99        |
+            | lk    | eastbound-2 | motorway | I 99        |
+            | xy    | watermill   | motorway | I 45M; US 3 |
+
+        And the relations
+            | type        | way:south | route | ref |
+            | route       | ag        | road  | 80  |
+            | route       | ef        | road  | 12  |
+
+        And the relations
+            | type        | way:north | route | ref |
+            | route       | hb        | road  | 80  |
+            | route       | cd        | road  | 93  |
+
+        And the relations
+            | type        | way:west | route | ref  |
+            | route       | dc       | road  | 85   |
+            | route       | ij       | road  | 99   |
+            | route       | xy       | road  | I 45 |
+
+        And the relations
+            | type        | way:east | route | ref   |
+            | route       | lk       | road  | I 99  |
+
+        And the relations
+            | type        | way:east | route | ref   |
+            | route       | xy       | road  | US 3  |
+
+        When I route I should get
+            | waypoints | route                   | ref                                               |
+            | a,g       | southbound,southbound   | I 80 $south,I 80 $south                           |
+            | h,b       | northbound,northbound   | I 80 $north,I 80 $north                           |
+            | d,c       | westbound,westbound     | I 85 $west; CO 93 $north,I 85 $west; CO 93 $north |
+            | e,f       | eastbound,eastbound     | I 85; US 12 $south,I 85; US 12 $south             |
+            | i,j       | westbound-2,westbound-2 | I 99 $west,I 99 $west                             |
+            | l,k       | eastbound-2,eastbound-2 | I 99 $east,I 99 $east                             |
+            | x,y       | watermill,watermill     | I 45M $west; US 3 $east,I 45M $west; US 3 $east   |
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/profiles/car.lua b/profiles/car.lua
index 9ddb3991e..1394da72e 100644
--- a/profiles/car.lua
+++ b/profiles/car.lua
@@ -401,10 +401,14 @@ function process_way(profile, way, result, relations)
   -- now process relations data
   local matched_refs = nil;
   if result.ref then
-    matched_refs = Relations.MatchToRef(relations, result.ref)
+    local match_res = Relations.match_to_ref(relations, result.ref)
+
+    order = match_res['order']
+    matched_refs = match_res['match']
 
     local ref = ''
-    for k, v in pairs(matched_refs) do
+    for _, k in pairs(order) do
+      local v = matched_refs[k]
       if ref ~= '' then
         ref = ref .. '; '
       end
diff --git a/profiles/lib/relations.lua b/profiles/lib/relations.lua
index e4575cbc0..0215d5d20 100644
--- a/profiles/lib/relations.lua
+++ b/profiles/lib/relations.lua
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ function Relations.Merge(relations)
 end
 
 -- match ref values to relations data
-function Relations.MatchToRef(relations, ref)
+function Relations.match_to_ref(relations, ref)
 
   function calculate_scores(refs, tag_value)
     local tag_tokens = Set(Utils.tokenize_common(tag_value))
@@ -47,12 +47,13 @@ function Relations.MatchToRef(relations, ref)
 
   local references = Utils.string_list_tokens(ref)
   local result_match = {}
-
-  for _, r in ipairs(references) do
+  local order = {}
+  for i, r in ipairs(references) do
     result_match[r] = false
+    order[i] = r
   end
 
-  for _, rel in ipairs(relations) do
+  for i, rel in ipairs(relations) do
     local name_scores = nil
     local name_tokens = {}
     local route_name = rel["route_name"]
@@ -94,7 +95,11 @@ function Relations.MatchToRef(relations, ref)
 
   end
 
-  return result_match
+  local result = {}
+  result['order'] = order
+  result['match'] = result_match
+
+  return result
 end
 
 return Relations
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/profiles/lib/utils.lua b/profiles/lib/utils.lua
index 5cc8157be..b349f340e 100644
--- a/profiles/lib/utils.lua
+++ b/profiles/lib/utils.lua
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ function Utils.string_list_tokens(str)
   for s in str.gmatch(str, "([^;]*)") do
     if s ~= nil and s ~= '' then
       idx = idx + 1
-      table.insert(result, idx, (s:gsub("^%s*(.-)%s*$", "%1")))
+      result[idx] = s:gsub("^%s*(.-)%s*$", "%1")
     end
   end
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ function Utils.tokenize_common(str)
   for s in str.gmatch(str, "%S+") do
     if s ~= nil and s ~= '' then
       idx = idx + 1
-      table.insert(result, idx, (s:gsub("^%s*(.-)%s*$", "%1")))
+      result[idx] = s:gsub("^%s*(.-)%s*$", "%1")
     end
   end