Ewan
11-09-2008, 04:22 PM
We just returned from a week-long road trip (interspersed with a few visits to friends, a couple of days with family), staying in a different place every night and visiting lots of historical attractions along the way... the highlight being the Highlands of Scotland, which were practically empty of traffic and even had great weather!
Despite driving pretty much the whole way with CEL light on (O2 sensor), the car was faultless and drew admiring glances from many and varied. We went from Reading area to Nottingham, York, Alnwick, the Borders, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ayrshire, Loch Lomond, Mallaig -> Skye, Loch Ness, Stirling, Windermere and back home... took in some fantastic roads (like the ~25 miles of single track road with passing places (http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=56.798194~-5.284843&style=r&lvl=11&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&rtp=pos.56.7244779790459_-5.24940519238601_Origin__~pos.56.8718700780136_-5.446471859323_Destination__&rtop=0~0~0&encType=1) and no more than 2 other vehicles, or the undulating and twisty road past Ullswater to Windermere (http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=54.514054~-2.865503&style=r&lvl=11&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&rtp=pos.54.647617976197_-2.77954099146714_Origin__~pos.54.3797579758296_-2.90794395460625_Destination__&rtop=0~0~0&encType=1).
Just a few of the pics:
4422
Outside the Jim Clark room in Duns, Scottish borders (what great roads nearby - Autocar did a feature recently on the Lotus Europa which visited the area).
4423
On the run through Glencoe, just before Ballachulish - again, awesome scenery, great roads, lots of chances to overtake the slower vehicles like camper vans etc. Lots of opportunity to be overtaken on blind bends etc, by locals with more bravery/courage/stupidity too :)
4424
In the north of Skye, looking out towards the isle of Lewis. Lots of single track roads with passing places, mostly perfectly maintained (smoother tarmac than you'll see on many country roads down south... guess it's the lack of traffic!)
All in, what a great week with lots of different types of driving, from cruise-controlled on the m-ways to never leaving 3rd gear, left knee bracing against the centre console, hands fixed at quarter-to-three and a massive grin on the face :D
If you're looking for a driving trip and the usual suspects of the continent don't grab you, then the highlands could be just for you too. How many other NSXs did I see in the last week? None. How many 911s? Lost count. Even saw a charcoal gray Ferrari F50 on the A4 near Reading when I got home...
Ewan
Despite driving pretty much the whole way with CEL light on (O2 sensor), the car was faultless and drew admiring glances from many and varied. We went from Reading area to Nottingham, York, Alnwick, the Borders, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ayrshire, Loch Lomond, Mallaig -> Skye, Loch Ness, Stirling, Windermere and back home... took in some fantastic roads (like the ~25 miles of single track road with passing places (http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=56.798194~-5.284843&style=r&lvl=11&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&rtp=pos.56.7244779790459_-5.24940519238601_Origin__~pos.56.8718700780136_-5.446471859323_Destination__&rtop=0~0~0&encType=1) and no more than 2 other vehicles, or the undulating and twisty road past Ullswater to Windermere (http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=54.514054~-2.865503&style=r&lvl=11&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&rtp=pos.54.647617976197_-2.77954099146714_Origin__~pos.54.3797579758296_-2.90794395460625_Destination__&rtop=0~0~0&encType=1).
Just a few of the pics:
4422
Outside the Jim Clark room in Duns, Scottish borders (what great roads nearby - Autocar did a feature recently on the Lotus Europa which visited the area).
4423
On the run through Glencoe, just before Ballachulish - again, awesome scenery, great roads, lots of chances to overtake the slower vehicles like camper vans etc. Lots of opportunity to be overtaken on blind bends etc, by locals with more bravery/courage/stupidity too :)
4424
In the north of Skye, looking out towards the isle of Lewis. Lots of single track roads with passing places, mostly perfectly maintained (smoother tarmac than you'll see on many country roads down south... guess it's the lack of traffic!)
All in, what a great week with lots of different types of driving, from cruise-controlled on the m-ways to never leaving 3rd gear, left knee bracing against the centre console, hands fixed at quarter-to-three and a massive grin on the face :D
If you're looking for a driving trip and the usual suspects of the continent don't grab you, then the highlands could be just for you too. How many other NSXs did I see in the last week? None. How many 911s? Lost count. Even saw a charcoal gray Ferrari F50 on the A4 near Reading when I got home...
Ewan