Back from driving in Europe

[Grovit]

Just thought I'd do a quick post re the 2,500 mile, 7 country tour I did last week covering a fair whack of Northern Europe.

It was a TRS (Type R Scotland) organised event with 5 cars and 10 people starting off at Rosyth heading over to Zeebrugge, and then travelling through Belgium, France, Monaco, Italy, Austria, Germany and finally Holland. Managed to incorporate a tour of the Porsche factory in Stuttgart, went over Stelvio, did the Nurburgring and attended the Moto GP in Assen.

A truly awesome trip in every respect.

I actually did the trip in a Civic Type R, rather than take the Subaru, but the point of the post is really to say it dosen't matter what car you drive, it's where you go with it and what you do with it. There are some awesome roads in Scotland, however there are also some awesome roads in Europe. It's not that expensive to go, and also really not that far, and the experience of driving in some of these countries is well worth the effort.

If you ever get the chance to go, or fancy a jaunt round Europe, I'd heartily recommend it folks. It will put your car and your own driving abilites truly to the test.

Enjoy

[st3ph3n]

Grovit, I am HIGHLY jealous of you right now. Going to the 'ring and Assen in the one week, the stuff of legends.

I bet Assen was great fun. Great days racing too.

[Subarstar]

Glad to hear the trip was a success Chris.

CTR + Scoob!!!

Have you won the lottery m8?

norry.

[jasonb]

Nurburgring you lucky bas

[drb5]

Sounds good bud. Most have cost a bit all in?!

How did you find the Ring though? Busy?

Going in a wee while with some lad's, so i need more info!

[~ ~ Cal ~~]

What about tha random moped that went missing Chris ! ....................which is your fav between the CTR and Scooby now that you've had a decent run in the pair of them ?

[Grovit]

David - the ring was tremendous - I'd recommend either fitting new pads before you go, or taking a spare set with you though - there are so many bends it can kill the brakes after just one lap (BTW - I'd just point out that this is just my experience ). Also note that awesomley quick cars with drivers who know what they're doing, can lap the ring in circa 8 mins (our group was averaging 10mins 30 secs odd) - a good quick lap in knockhill takes roughly a minute - so you're talking 10 times longer for a lap with many times more corners - ie - by the end of it, you're absolutely shattered (but revved up as well - lol!!).

There was a fair bit of traffic there, especially considering it was a week day, however there was a lot of serious machinery - more porsche GT3's than you could shake a stick at, a lot of M3's and a fair few evos and soobs - the general trend was that there were a lot of serious ameteurs out there playing. There also seemed to be quite a few officials about which was good. Also note the Ring, is not actually a racing circuit so they won't let you film going round it (not on a public session anyway) - it's actually a toll road. Pay 15 euros into the machine take your ticket and away you go. Truly amazing circuit, and if I can, I intend going back there next year with the Catalunya.

Norry - not quite mate - wish I had won the lottery !!

Cal - the moped story is for another day - suffice to say much nonsence, many JD's with coke, and a lot of mid night carry on in the streets of San Remo with Big D, Gav and Woody !!

Re the CTR - I've had an ATR, CTR and classic Soob - they're all really different, and I'm not going into a big car comparison on this thread. However, the civic did well, and it was definately the right car for the job. With the mileage involved, the fuel bill for the Soob, would have been significantly higher, and I think going up stelvio would have murdered the brakes without question (not yet fitted the 4 pots). However for the twisty roads of scotland, and the wet conditions that prevail for much of the year - 4wd does it for me I think. The CTR's cracking but can be a little frustrating in the wet. But still, the running costs are lower and in the dry point to point speeds are fairly similar (again IMO) - so both cars have pros and cons.

Anyway - as said earlier at the risk of pointing out the obvious - Europe's only a boat trip away - Superfast ferry from Rosyth to Zeebrugge and you're there - a thing worth mentioning is that this same trip done 10 years ago would have been a nightmare in terms of currency - ie Franc, pesata, lire, deutchmark etc etc - it's all euros there now with no border controls what-so-ever. It is just soooooo easy to get about over there. There's really no excuse not to do it !!

[andy]

I've been over in Europe the past two weekends with someone else doing the driving. I've driven in the US which was no problem - no roundabouts, quiet roads and automatic gearbox! The whole thing just looks too scary. Is it easy to get to grips with once you're behind the wheel? I can just picture myself checking for oncoming traffic the wrong way and pranging...

[drb5]

You can't film it??!?!?!?! Bu66er!