Two cars, 3 mates and 9 countries in week! What an awesome trip that was!
Started with an epic 500+ mile drive from Nottingham to the Nurburgring on Friday morning! We got up bright and early to find the Ring closed until 6pm for GT Racing which turned into 'Closed for the day!' However we were up early again and with loads of waiting around for various closures due to crashes (some very bad ones involving bikers!) we managed to get our 8 laps in between us!
I drove 3 laps in the Clio and was of course superb fun! There was definitely some brake fade after pushing hard for 16 kilometres even if most other cars were overtaking us! I also let my mate do a lap which was probably the scariest of the lot. He was taking it very easy but passengering in your own car round the Ring feels very odd! I also did a pax lap with another mate in his Z4, roof down at the very end of the day on a virtually deserted track! Wish I hasn't used up all my laps by then!
I did see a few other Clios at the Ring, but with the only Racing Blue car there I certainly attracted plenty of photographers!
Next up was Austria and a night in Innsbruck. It was a fair old drive with plenty of motorways, but our plan to try and save some fuel by doing 70 seemed to work well! Stereo cranked up, cruising through some stunning scenery and finished off with a great mountain road to Innsbruck where I duly scratched my rear wheel on a raised kerb!
After a good night out in a student bar, we were off to some proper roads in the Alps! Next stop the Stelvio Pass! Plenty of 1st gear hairpins and screaming off up the road, but as a driving road we sensed there were much better to come! The punchy 182 engine helped to keep up with the 3.0 Z4 too! The sat nav definitely brought us onto some very random roads like the farm track below, but it was great fun!
We headed off the Stelvio and through various mountains to an overnight stop in Davos. En route we had a bit of an Italian Job moment! A local in a Megane CC was tailgating me and eventually forced his way through! The next 20 miles of twisting Alpine roads, overtaking cattle trucks through corners and tyre smoking down mountains were one of the best drives of the trip! The local guy was a lunatic and his car stank of brakes/tyres/clutch/scared lady passenger when we finally reached Davos (ahead of him!)
Another day and on to Basel with plenty more Alpine entertainment with the San Bernardino and Susten Passes to enjoy! For me both of these were so much better than the Stelvio! My mate drove the first leg of the San Bernardino and it was so good that we turned round so I could have a go too!
The Susten Pass wasn't on the original route, but we made good time heading for Basel so we thought why not! What a stunning road, scenery like Lord of the Rings and a ribbon of tarmac clinging to the mountainside through straights, hairpins and tunnels where the induction roar of the 182 drowned out the Z4! We even had some attention from the police at the top, luckily nothing bad
Our final day's driving was quite dull, a long motorway stretch to Brussels for what turned out to be an epic night out! 9% beer on an empty stomach till the early hours was always going to give a massive hangover, but an even bigger surprise came in the morning when my mate turned up with two 19 year old blondes and their luggage! We left England with 3 passengers and came back with 5!
An epic trip and highly recommended to anyone! Even more amazingly having done 2200 miles with an average of 44mph I somehow managed 37.2 MPG! Every little helps! The front tyres have some interesting wear now and the brake pads are a bit buggered, but for a £5k hatchback the 182 did an amazing job of the Euro Trip!
Started with an epic 500+ mile drive from Nottingham to the Nurburgring on Friday morning! We got up bright and early to find the Ring closed until 6pm for GT Racing which turned into 'Closed for the day!' However we were up early again and with loads of waiting around for various closures due to crashes (some very bad ones involving bikers!) we managed to get our 8 laps in between us!
I drove 3 laps in the Clio and was of course superb fun! There was definitely some brake fade after pushing hard for 16 kilometres even if most other cars were overtaking us! I also let my mate do a lap which was probably the scariest of the lot. He was taking it very easy but passengering in your own car round the Ring feels very odd! I also did a pax lap with another mate in his Z4, roof down at the very end of the day on a virtually deserted track! Wish I hasn't used up all my laps by then!
I did see a few other Clios at the Ring, but with the only Racing Blue car there I certainly attracted plenty of photographers!
Next up was Austria and a night in Innsbruck. It was a fair old drive with plenty of motorways, but our plan to try and save some fuel by doing 70 seemed to work well! Stereo cranked up, cruising through some stunning scenery and finished off with a great mountain road to Innsbruck where I duly scratched my rear wheel on a raised kerb!
After a good night out in a student bar, we were off to some proper roads in the Alps! Next stop the Stelvio Pass! Plenty of 1st gear hairpins and screaming off up the road, but as a driving road we sensed there were much better to come! The punchy 182 engine helped to keep up with the 3.0 Z4 too! The sat nav definitely brought us onto some very random roads like the farm track below, but it was great fun!
We headed off the Stelvio and through various mountains to an overnight stop in Davos. En route we had a bit of an Italian Job moment! A local in a Megane CC was tailgating me and eventually forced his way through! The next 20 miles of twisting Alpine roads, overtaking cattle trucks through corners and tyre smoking down mountains were one of the best drives of the trip! The local guy was a lunatic and his car stank of brakes/tyres/clutch/scared lady passenger when we finally reached Davos (ahead of him!)
Another day and on to Basel with plenty more Alpine entertainment with the San Bernardino and Susten Passes to enjoy! For me both of these were so much better than the Stelvio! My mate drove the first leg of the San Bernardino and it was so good that we turned round so I could have a go too!
The Susten Pass wasn't on the original route, but we made good time heading for Basel so we thought why not! What a stunning road, scenery like Lord of the Rings and a ribbon of tarmac clinging to the mountainside through straights, hairpins and tunnels where the induction roar of the 182 drowned out the Z4! We even had some attention from the police at the top, luckily nothing bad
Our final day's driving was quite dull, a long motorway stretch to Brussels for what turned out to be an epic night out! 9% beer on an empty stomach till the early hours was always going to give a massive hangover, but an even bigger surprise came in the morning when my mate turned up with two 19 year old blondes and their luggage! We left England with 3 passengers and came back with 5!
An epic trip and highly recommended to anyone! Even more amazingly having done 2200 miles with an average of 44mph I somehow managed 37.2 MPG! Every little helps! The front tyres have some interesting wear now and the brake pads are a bit buggered, but for a £5k hatchback the 182 did an amazing job of the Euro Trip!
