SWS Petrolheads Road Trip - Sept 2014
 

UPDATED.

Over the last few weeks a cunning plan as been hatched by Mr Matscooby. It's not for the faint hearted and will require you to be pretty be determined and want a bit of adventure. It's a true petrolheads adventure and is a favourite, well documented and well travelled on Pistonheads by various experts.

The idea is to travel from Wales to Monaco and back via the Stelvio Pass and the Nurburgring.

Here's Matts plan.

Outward Sat 6th Sept - Return Sun 14th Sept.

Day 1.

South Wales to Reims via the old F1 Circuit.

Day 2.
Reims to Avignon via the Alps.

Day 3.
Avignon to Lake Como via Monaco and Turin.

Day 4/5.
Take in the roads round Lake Como and the Stelvio Pass (possibly only 1 day).

Day 6.
Lake Como to Stuttgart via Munich (BMW Tour).

Day 7.
Stuttgart to the Nurburgring.

Day 8.
The Nurnburgring back to South Wales.

The ferry crossing is £74 per car with upto 4 passengers.

Overnight accom will be via group booking with Ibis Hotels who average £50 per night for a double/twin (Remember the Bears Game!). We can have a bacon butty and brew session to sort out the hotels and get the group booking discount :thumb:. £400

The trip is about 2500 miles depending on how much you explore around Lake Como and the Stelvio Pass, not forgetting the road to Davos (Top Gear fame) is also close by.

Fuel cost based on a 50 litre tank at 230 miles per tank (average of £1.34 per litre) = £737.

Feeding = depends on if your appetite is healthy how much you eat :norty:.

Pocket money (if your allowed any) is as much as you want.

By sharing rooms or taking a passenger then the costs come down.
The only planning left is confirming who takes what (spare bits, octane booster etc etc) and as mentioned the Ibis hotel booking.

Individuals are responsible for booking their own ferry, accom, breakdown and recovery, Euro Insurance, the mandated extras like hi-vis vests, breath test kit etc, etc. That way anyone who drops out does not leave others in shtuck!

The current takers are.

1. Matscooby.
2. The Trooper 1815.
3. VC.
4. Big Daz.
5. Cannon Fodder.
6. DannyBoy.
7. simb2 (Nurnburgring only).
8. Jayp71.

If you want to join, think long, think hard, ask your self if your thirst for petrolhead nirvana is real.

The next SWS meeting is a good chance to throw around ideas as it's a team effort.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psdf07bf19.jpg

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=ste...&ved=0CMIBELYD

Cheeky sod, of course it'll be ready. (hopefully)

I'll happily take a large tool set, emergency fuel containers and octane booster.

Plus we'll all need spare bulb sets plus warning triangles.

Already noted mate. The list is being worked on in the background and should save some wwork for the group.

All for one, and one for all.

Hi all,

As Ian has stated, this is not for the faint hearted and will require some lengthy drives daily. The views, roads and company will make you forget the nasty bits of this trip and will create memories for years to come.

If you want ideas of what type of roads we'll be driving on, Youtube is your friend.

Besides taking spares incase of any breakdowns because dont forget, we are driving scooby's. I would recommend that all servicing, discs and pads and other usual serviceable items are done before departing.

Again we have awhile to discuss this in detail at future meets or getting together in between but ideally we need to start looking at booking something in April/May to guarantee space on the crossing and to confirm numbers

Let me know if you have any questions.

Wow :norty: Count me in along with Alisa, this is something that I've had thoughts of doing over the past couple of years (The Ring and Stelvio) but it would take a fare bit of planning and after buying an S2000 to do it in I never got around to it so this would be perfect driving trip :thumb:.

Good man and i know what you mean about planning, i've been spending the last 3/4 weeks on and off looking at routes, hotels and other things with costs and travelling time and it just keeps changing slightly.

Travelling time for one location to another would be between 3 to 9hrs with of course stops on the way but we i can show you all this when we meet up.

This one will certainly be one to remember that's for sure, this for most of us will be a once in a lifetime road trip. :)

Sounds good Matt, yet another thing to look forward to, 2014 is shaping up to be a good year :thumb:

Ffs this couldn't have come at a worse time for me :cry:

We have just found out we are expecting our first child in July so this is not going to happen for me :( on another note I'm well chuffed I'm gonna be a dad :) just really jealous I can't make it :lol1:

My name would have been on that list and looking forward to that trip, fingers crossed I get another chance in a few years to do it, albeit it may be in a "family orientated" nail!

That's going to be some trip guys, hope you get a good turn out. As already said this for most is a once in a life time trip and if funds permit then seriously think about it :thumb:

That's a great trip; I've spoken to Matt about it and the possibility of coming along but I've now booked to go to one of the WRC rounds so I'll not be able to join you unfortunately.

BTTT

looking good matt, I'm happy to drive if someone wants too co pilot

No Barcelona or Pod but it should be fun. Your more than welcome to go via my place in Cardiff to break the journey mate.

:thumb:

Sounds like a cracking trip guys, hats off to all involved for getting the wheels in motion and organising.

Unfortunately its a no-goer for me, off to the Italian Moto GP in may, a couple of weddings to attend and wanting to spend a few quid on the car and my other hobbies, and the winter months being a very busy time with work for me in the winter months i wont be able to afford it (self employed sucks sometimes!)

Im sure youll all have a cracker, it'll be an epic trip of that im sure.

Atb Rob

P.s massive congrats to craig on your news, bet your made up!

Danny, you have a PM :thumb:

Don't forget a vignette for driving in Switzerland and some of the roads around Lake Como are very narrow, so be careful ;) I was stuck in one place for over 30 minutes as 3 tourist busses ahead caused chaos.

Having done a similar trip a couple of years ago it was a brilliant experience. I'd love to do this one but have booked to go to Portugal for the WRC and I'm off skiing (for the 1st time at the end of the year) so I've maxed out my £'s.

Gents I know I was considering it but I'm doing a WRC round later in the year also so I'm afraid I'm going to have to step back as well but it's one hell of a trip you have planned there and should be a fantastic experience for sure.

Great planning Matthew and captain recon this trip will take some beating

How much do you think the tolls will come to for the french leg, I take it you would need to use them to cover the ground in a reasonable time ???

My mate has done a similar trip and when I asked about the tolls he said he avoided them by taking other routes, how time consuming this is I really don't know but I drove from Calais down to the Normandy war memorial and back to Calais I think it may have cost us around £70???

You thinking of joining us in the Spec C matey?? :norty:

I think the plan is to avoid using toll roads wherever possible, so we see a little of the countries we'll be driving through rather than just seeing endless miles of tarmac.

After all there's no point in going if we can't enjoy the scenery and just end up munching the miles.

Reims to Avignon without tolls would be an epic, I would have thought you are talking 12hrs with a couple of stops thats a long old drive!! Has anybody actually done this route without tolls? I do a similar distance route from reims to the german alps with work on a regular basis and that takes 9ish hours at 85mph with a quick pee break.

Carefully considering it;)

C'mon Bri, the Stelvio and the Ring in a Spec C! Be rude not to :thumb:

Currently its about an 8.5hr drive without toll but as said its in the planning phase so could change along the route.

It would be a great drive to say the least :-)

Brian,

You know how the "fag packet" works.

If this was a few weeks earlier I would've been up for this :( thinking of doing a few days in Deutschland myself in the Summer :)

Meet us on the way back :D.

Looks an awesome trip!

Looks like a great plan guys. Have fun.