Blakeoffire
07-12-2007, 09:00 PM
Fellow petrolheads,
I recently returned from a U.K. holiday where I covered just over 1800 miles in a rather comfortable span of around 8 days driving-time. I wanted to share some of the details and pics of this somewhat epic excursion with you guys, seeing as how most of you are into all things that relatively focus on the sheer thrill of driving... whether BMW-related or not... :thumbs:
The journey began at London Heathrow airport where I was scheduled to take possesion of the '07 VW GTi that I had secured for the England/Cotswolds/Wales/Lake District/Yorkshire Moors leg of the trip over a 4-day span, finally ending up in Edinburgh, Scotland. I had initially figured that a sporting hot-hatch (like a GTi) would be a proper, less-frantic cushion of an introduction to the roads of the land. I'd had previous experience driving a RHD manual car before, yet only on Canadian soil. A small, hot-hatch then, would be a sufficient warmer-upper for the mad TVR that lay waiting in mighty Scotland...
But of course... a GTi was not to be had ( :violent: )... y'see, the website fails to point-out that the GTi is only available in Germany! (go figure..)... even though I reserved the car through the U.K. site... right then... :screwy: . So, a downgrade was imminent. Though, I hadn't realized that my choices were now between a piddly 1.4 litre Megane, a 1.6 litre Astra (yawn) or a 1.9 Golf Turbo Diesel. I went with the Golf... plus it was Black in colour and promised a more comfortable drive... despite the tractor engine. I never felt any sort of Turbo action, as such, but whatever... it sipped the petrol (600 miles on a tank!) and provided some smiles and chuckles along the never-ending winding path. Good little car...
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa320/Blakeoffire/EnglandScotlandTVRJune2007001new.jpg
The Golf in Fishgaurd, Wales...
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa320/Blakeoffire/EnglandScotlandTVRJune2007022new.jpg
A llittle Scottish fella and his clashing owner somewhere in the Cotswolds...
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa320/Blakeoffire/EnglandScotlandTVRJune2007020new.jpg
The Lake District... and the simply astonishing roads that went on for miles and miles and miles...
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa320/Blakeoffire/EnglandScotlandTVRJune2007035new.jpg
Eventually, after 4 days, Scotland was passed over into. Almost comically though, the landscape dramatically changed around you as soon as the 'Welcome to Scotland' sign whizzed on by. Seriously, all of a sudden there were these gigantic rolling hills all around you, dotted with sheep grazing away on the grass, continuing on with their tradition of moulding and preening the Scottish landscape. There was a distinct sense of occasion as you headed closer to Edinburgh... almost as if the land was hinting to me as to what lay forth over the upcoming Lap of Scotland. Game on...
Honestly, I could quite easily write a 25 page short-story on the whole gut-wrenchingly painful anticipation I felt during the days leading up to the morning where the Rio Prestige Car Club crew picked us up from the Dakota Hotel enroute to their HQ in Livingston where their fleet is located... but I'll try my best not too...
Simply put, I was completely floored when we entered Rio Prestige's vast garage where, looking straight at me (and my trembling knees), was a Paganni Zonda and a Koenigsegg CCR... :bowdown: Dear. Sweet. Jesus. Yes, I sat in both of them... even the Spyker. The TVR Tuscan 2 Convertible that I had hired for the trip (my original choice, the Sagaris, had sadly been damaged by someone else 2 weeks prior...grrr) was in another corner, ferociously idling away...bucking, shaking, rumbling in a such a way that reminded me of the old 60's sportscars... seemingly waiting to grab my attention. It did.
The first thing that strikes you, smack dab in the face, is how incredible this TVR looks in the flesh. Sweeping curves and muscular haunches encapsulated by a demonic snake-like face and those beautifully menacing charcoal alloys. The interior is bespoke and futuristic, almost in a Flash Gordon style of arrangement and presence. Yes, the interior smells of a canoe-factory swathed in leather but... well, it was hardly an irritant. If anything, it added to the whole experience.
As soon as you're out on the open road, you position your senses to the unbelievably God-with-a-hammer soundtrack and the overwhelming, visceral ongoings. It is truly a ferocious animal, the TVR. I almost instantly knew that this was going to be one of the most (if not, the most) intense driving/learning experience I would ever encounter.
When you climb/drop into the TVR, your driving styles become more exaggerated. You blip the throttle gratuitously. You revel in the deliberately induced barks, spits, bangs and pops that occur in an almost symphony-like fashion on the overrun. You almost enjoy the usually frustrating fact that you've encountered the odd smattering of slower traffic here and there so as to listen and feel the war-like howl of that superb-sounding (and mind-blowingly powerful) straight-6, 380bhp engine, 310lb ft of torque in a car that weighs only 1100 KG....when you instantly overtake. Start-up in the mornings alone, pretty much signaled the cry for Armageddon to begin. Not exaggerating here, it is the near-equivalent of a small explosion. Addictive? Oh yes.
The one aspect of the TVR that I appreciated the most was how superbly it captures the true spirit of a sportscar. It's completely alive in your hands as well as underneath your ass. There are no computers to rely on either...it's just you and your human inputs. No ABS. No traction control. No power steering. No airbags. No electronics to save yourself from oversteer or understeer. If you mess-up, you're in the hedge mister.
At low speeds it grunts away and hisses and pops. Roars like an absolute beast when you hammer the throttle, lunging you towards the horizon at such a rapid rate of speed and noise that you'd often curse out loud without you even knowing it. It melts the senses, the speed of the thing. 0-60 in 4 sec. 50mph to 110mph took about 3 seconds. Ridiculous. The steering is nailed to the road. Tons of feedback is gifted upon the driver too. Hardly a moment of understeer ever occured either. Truly, motoring from a bygone era... :buttrock:
What was more interesting (and frightening) was the fact that I was only using 1/3 of the throttle-travel most of the time (!). Not once, did I have the pedal to the floor. There is simply a devastatingly collosal amount of power to be had. I'd heard stories of the rear-end breaking away in 3rd gear if you hammer it...and I wasn't about to test my skills in a car that wasn't mine...soooo, yeah.
What about Scotland though...? Hmmm... 2 words. Driver's Paradise. Never-ending epic beauty coupled with some of the finest, most exciting roads/routes in the world. What a treat. In some spots, it wouldn't have out of character to have witnessd a Dragon swooping over the landscape into the valley, eventually perching atop the Castle that sat alone on a vast mountainside. You'd be all..."yep, that's supposed to happen here".
I implore all of you... if you ever get the chance, go to Scotland, rent a sportscar (or at least something 'sporty') and do a lap of Scotland. You will not regret it. Living out here, one can only dream of the amazing roads that endlessly greet you on every turn in Scotland....for hundreds of miles. My attention was transfixed on those roads for every single 872 miles that I covered. Throw in a howling-mad, ravaging beast such as the TVR and you pretty much have something akin to Driving Nirvana.
Pics below... hope you enjoy them. If you read all of this... Thanks! I know that I have a tendency to go on and on and on sometimes... :D
B.
I recently returned from a U.K. holiday where I covered just over 1800 miles in a rather comfortable span of around 8 days driving-time. I wanted to share some of the details and pics of this somewhat epic excursion with you guys, seeing as how most of you are into all things that relatively focus on the sheer thrill of driving... whether BMW-related or not... :thumbs:
The journey began at London Heathrow airport where I was scheduled to take possesion of the '07 VW GTi that I had secured for the England/Cotswolds/Wales/Lake District/Yorkshire Moors leg of the trip over a 4-day span, finally ending up in Edinburgh, Scotland. I had initially figured that a sporting hot-hatch (like a GTi) would be a proper, less-frantic cushion of an introduction to the roads of the land. I'd had previous experience driving a RHD manual car before, yet only on Canadian soil. A small, hot-hatch then, would be a sufficient warmer-upper for the mad TVR that lay waiting in mighty Scotland...
But of course... a GTi was not to be had ( :violent: )... y'see, the website fails to point-out that the GTi is only available in Germany! (go figure..)... even though I reserved the car through the U.K. site... right then... :screwy: . So, a downgrade was imminent. Though, I hadn't realized that my choices were now between a piddly 1.4 litre Megane, a 1.6 litre Astra (yawn) or a 1.9 Golf Turbo Diesel. I went with the Golf... plus it was Black in colour and promised a more comfortable drive... despite the tractor engine. I never felt any sort of Turbo action, as such, but whatever... it sipped the petrol (600 miles on a tank!) and provided some smiles and chuckles along the never-ending winding path. Good little car...
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa320/Blakeoffire/EnglandScotlandTVRJune2007001new.jpg
The Golf in Fishgaurd, Wales...
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa320/Blakeoffire/EnglandScotlandTVRJune2007022new.jpg
A llittle Scottish fella and his clashing owner somewhere in the Cotswolds...
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa320/Blakeoffire/EnglandScotlandTVRJune2007020new.jpg
The Lake District... and the simply astonishing roads that went on for miles and miles and miles...
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa320/Blakeoffire/EnglandScotlandTVRJune2007035new.jpg
Eventually, after 4 days, Scotland was passed over into. Almost comically though, the landscape dramatically changed around you as soon as the 'Welcome to Scotland' sign whizzed on by. Seriously, all of a sudden there were these gigantic rolling hills all around you, dotted with sheep grazing away on the grass, continuing on with their tradition of moulding and preening the Scottish landscape. There was a distinct sense of occasion as you headed closer to Edinburgh... almost as if the land was hinting to me as to what lay forth over the upcoming Lap of Scotland. Game on...
Honestly, I could quite easily write a 25 page short-story on the whole gut-wrenchingly painful anticipation I felt during the days leading up to the morning where the Rio Prestige Car Club crew picked us up from the Dakota Hotel enroute to their HQ in Livingston where their fleet is located... but I'll try my best not too...
Simply put, I was completely floored when we entered Rio Prestige's vast garage where, looking straight at me (and my trembling knees), was a Paganni Zonda and a Koenigsegg CCR... :bowdown: Dear. Sweet. Jesus. Yes, I sat in both of them... even the Spyker. The TVR Tuscan 2 Convertible that I had hired for the trip (my original choice, the Sagaris, had sadly been damaged by someone else 2 weeks prior...grrr) was in another corner, ferociously idling away...bucking, shaking, rumbling in a such a way that reminded me of the old 60's sportscars... seemingly waiting to grab my attention. It did.
The first thing that strikes you, smack dab in the face, is how incredible this TVR looks in the flesh. Sweeping curves and muscular haunches encapsulated by a demonic snake-like face and those beautifully menacing charcoal alloys. The interior is bespoke and futuristic, almost in a Flash Gordon style of arrangement and presence. Yes, the interior smells of a canoe-factory swathed in leather but... well, it was hardly an irritant. If anything, it added to the whole experience.
As soon as you're out on the open road, you position your senses to the unbelievably God-with-a-hammer soundtrack and the overwhelming, visceral ongoings. It is truly a ferocious animal, the TVR. I almost instantly knew that this was going to be one of the most (if not, the most) intense driving/learning experience I would ever encounter.
When you climb/drop into the TVR, your driving styles become more exaggerated. You blip the throttle gratuitously. You revel in the deliberately induced barks, spits, bangs and pops that occur in an almost symphony-like fashion on the overrun. You almost enjoy the usually frustrating fact that you've encountered the odd smattering of slower traffic here and there so as to listen and feel the war-like howl of that superb-sounding (and mind-blowingly powerful) straight-6, 380bhp engine, 310lb ft of torque in a car that weighs only 1100 KG....when you instantly overtake. Start-up in the mornings alone, pretty much signaled the cry for Armageddon to begin. Not exaggerating here, it is the near-equivalent of a small explosion. Addictive? Oh yes.
The one aspect of the TVR that I appreciated the most was how superbly it captures the true spirit of a sportscar. It's completely alive in your hands as well as underneath your ass. There are no computers to rely on either...it's just you and your human inputs. No ABS. No traction control. No power steering. No airbags. No electronics to save yourself from oversteer or understeer. If you mess-up, you're in the hedge mister.
At low speeds it grunts away and hisses and pops. Roars like an absolute beast when you hammer the throttle, lunging you towards the horizon at such a rapid rate of speed and noise that you'd often curse out loud without you even knowing it. It melts the senses, the speed of the thing. 0-60 in 4 sec. 50mph to 110mph took about 3 seconds. Ridiculous. The steering is nailed to the road. Tons of feedback is gifted upon the driver too. Hardly a moment of understeer ever occured either. Truly, motoring from a bygone era... :buttrock:
What was more interesting (and frightening) was the fact that I was only using 1/3 of the throttle-travel most of the time (!). Not once, did I have the pedal to the floor. There is simply a devastatingly collosal amount of power to be had. I'd heard stories of the rear-end breaking away in 3rd gear if you hammer it...and I wasn't about to test my skills in a car that wasn't mine...soooo, yeah.
What about Scotland though...? Hmmm... 2 words. Driver's Paradise. Never-ending epic beauty coupled with some of the finest, most exciting roads/routes in the world. What a treat. In some spots, it wouldn't have out of character to have witnessd a Dragon swooping over the landscape into the valley, eventually perching atop the Castle that sat alone on a vast mountainside. You'd be all..."yep, that's supposed to happen here".
I implore all of you... if you ever get the chance, go to Scotland, rent a sportscar (or at least something 'sporty') and do a lap of Scotland. You will not regret it. Living out here, one can only dream of the amazing roads that endlessly greet you on every turn in Scotland....for hundreds of miles. My attention was transfixed on those roads for every single 872 miles that I covered. Throw in a howling-mad, ravaging beast such as the TVR and you pretty much have something akin to Driving Nirvana.
Pics below... hope you enjoy them. If you read all of this... Thanks! I know that I have a tendency to go on and on and on sometimes... :D
B.