RE: PH Alpine Assault 2009

[dom180]

I'm organising a trip along the A272 with a stop for some food on the South Coast - send me a cheque for £100 and you can come along :-D

zakelwe said:

Excellent holiday and route, just wish I had the cash.

If they do a trip along the A272 ending up with a pot of cockles on the south coast then I am in for sure.

Regards

Andy

[AhBisto]

fridaypassion said:

Is 1500 for 2 people? Very good price if that's the case. Me and the Mrs are going to lake Garda and back over a longer break but we are doing a mix of camping and hotels to keep costs down. I'd tag an extra night on at the end and do the ring as well.

It looks like it is a total of £2380 for two people sharing 1 car and 1 room, to include all breakfasts, evening meals, entrance fee's and return ferry.
The reason these type of tours seem expensive compared with a DIY organised tour, is that these guys are paying wages for at least 2 staff away from home overnight +accommodation, +Support Van costs. Once they pay tax, and promotion costs, I bet they are not making huge amounts of money, unless they can get upwards of 20-25 cars per trip.
I think the only way to make good money from these type of ventures is to offer LHD supercars for hire in which to do these trips, however once you factor in the high mileages I doubt even them you are ever going to get rich, Whioh means as a consumer of these tours, people can be resonably sure they are getting a fair deal. Good luck I say.










+

[Muze ST]

mikeh501 said:

Muze ST said:

I know that road.

Looking back onto my sat nav, its in italy north of milan, north of the lakes, lake garda is more to the east. Its in the mountains called Pass della Novena. Some lovely views from some of the stop sites, Cars tend to be once in a while but is still a great road to drive.

All around this area are some great road, the best i can remeber was Gletsch.

I stayed in a town near the motorways while still great roads called Airolo if i can remeber its spelling.

I think your a little off there. That picture is the Passo Dello Stelvio aka the Stelvio Pass. The picture is about half way up before it opens out. I know because there arent many places to stop on the way up and its where ive got an identical picture

The Stelvio Pass is awesome, would definately recommend it, and the set of passes to the west (Grimsel/Susten etc). To find Stelvio, look up Bormio on google earth and its the road north from there into the mountains.

That looks like the Pass della Novena, but if you 100% then well done. Some look at the same sometimes.

[ajg31]

Having done this tour the first time it was run (under a different name), i would thoroughly recommend it. I was running the cheapest car on the tightest budget (Fiat Coupe, tuned but still worth about 3K!) but i loved it. The Sat Nav routes, Mechanic and walkie talkies were not included then, which made the days interesting! Never made it the the Lambo factory as i got so lost! Personally i would say (try to) forget the cost and do it. I suppose it depends on who is on the tour with you, but I found interesting people to drive with, and some stunning scenery.
Personally i am not sure if this tour being so public now is a good thing or a bad thing. These tours need to have as much distance from the Gumball style of tours as possible. While i dont have anything bad to say about Ballers, this tour is more about fun and the twisties than out and out speed. Although from some of the footage shot, some may contest that last statement
Ohh, the days are also long, so be prepared to drive ALOT. This may have changed though as i think the length of holiday is now longer. Hope there is a full day in Monaco now, didnt see alot of it

[ajg31]

I am also sure thats Stelvio, taken somewhere in the top 22 odd hairpins

[Basher]

Gutted this would be fantastic...always wanted to take the Lambo to Italy via Stelvio....unfortunately I will be in Ibiza for the month...damn...i am going to do this in August though has to be done....through the pass into italy and down to Milano Marritima for Fer'agosto i think ....

[Harsh]

Hi everyone,

thanks for all the comments so far.

I'm happy to answer some of the points and questions made on this thread.
apologies if i miss any out.

In terms of costs, the prices quoted on the website are per person.
We have included breakfastas and the evening meals in the cost for two reasons.
1. because we dont like hidden costs and food tends to be one of the larger components so we've negotiated reductions and passed them on.
2. because eating together at the end of a days driving allows everyone to tell the days stories. we try and build a community on tour. the better you know those you are driving with the more fun the tour becomes.

Jasper Gilder said:

vtecstu said:

Is it too early to request a similar thing but staying in campsites / less swanky hotels around the route, for those less wealthy PHers...?

If you want decent security for the cars and people not complaining than that's about what it costs - I'm organising an 8 nighter to France and Claremont Ferrand in October and the price for car and two people is within
7 euros of this - and no we haven't been fixing the prices - I don't know who any of the guys from Nirvana are and doubtless the opposite applies!

indeed Jasper i dont know you but the logic is correct. the cars need to be safe at night and a certain amount of luxury on a holiday is welcome after a days driving.
if we did all campsites on a tour of this length it would be cheaper but nowhere near as enjoyable and you would return needing another holiday to get over it rather than wanting to come along again!

pSynrg said:

What's the standard of car you are expected to take along? Do the Ferrari/Porsche drivers look down on the Vauxhall Monaro drivers, or maybe even my 10yr old MV6?

We're not car snobs at all.
We only ask that you bring a car that you will enjoy driving and is capable of dealing with alpine passes and twisty roads. Monaros are more than welcome but having been on tour with one i strongly suggest you uprate the brakes...a heavy car and there are lots of descents on the tour

AhBisto said:

fridaypassion said:

Is 1500 for 2 people? Very good price if that's the case. Me and the Mrs are going to lake Garda and back over a longer break but we are doing a mix of camping and hotels to keep costs down. I'd tag an extra night on at the end and do the ring as well.

It looks like it is a total of £2380 for two people sharing 1 car and 1 room, to include all breakfasts, evening meals, entrance fee's and return ferry.
The reason these type of tours seem expensive compared with a DIY organised tour, is that these guys are paying wages for at least 2 staff away from home overnight +accommodation, +Support Van costs. Once they pay tax, and promotion costs, I bet they are not making huge amounts of money, unless they can get upwards of 20-25 cars per trip.
I think the only way to make good money from these type of ventures is to offer LHD supercars for hire in which to do these trips, however once you factor in the high mileages I doubt even them you are ever going to get rich, Whioh means as a consumer of these tours, people can be resonably sure they are getting a fair deal. Good luck I say.










+

No it's not £1500 for two people (i wish it was, i'd never be here!

it works out at £1367 per person, if there are two of you sharing a car.
if you both want to drive you each pay £1467

There will actully be more than two staff on tour, however the costs have been calculated on that basis.
anyone else from Petrolhead Nirvana who comes on tour will be paying their way (as i did on our recent Millau bridge tour)

To be honest considering the strength of the Euro and the standard of hotels plus inclusion of meals we know this tour is cheap.
doing it diy in a star below would cost more... only camping would be significantly cheaper ... and considerably more hassle.

we're not making much money on these tours.... but those that know us will be aware that is not our primary objective anyway.

ajg31 said:

Having done this tour the first time it was run (under a different name), i would thoroughly recommend it. I was running the cheapest car on the tightest budget (Fiat Coupe, tuned but still worth about 3K!) but i loved it. The Sat Nav routes, Mechanic and walkie talkies were not included then, which made the days interesting! Never made it the the Lambo factory as i got so lost! Personally i would say (try to) forget the cost and do it. I suppose it depends on who is on the tour with you, but I found interesting people to drive with, and some stunning scenery.
Personally i am not sure if this tour being so public now is a good thing or a bad thing. These tours need to have as much distance from the Gumball style of tours as possible. While i dont have anything bad to say about Ballers, this tour is more about fun and the twisties than out and out speed. Although from some of the footage shot, some may contest that last statement
Ohh, the days are also long, so be prepared to drive ALOT. This may have changed though as i think the length of holiday is now longer. Hope there is a full day in Monaco now, didnt see alot of it

Hello mate...good to hear from you





we've had a lot of interest in this tour already, so much so that we already have 10 firm bookings and 4 more possibles out of our ideal number of 20. we'll be dealing with all the other contacts we've had when we get back in the office on tuesday.

i'll try and answer more questions as they are posted up, but as of now i'm off to enjoy the sun

Edited by Harsh on Sunday 3rd May 11:24

[Harsh]

G4HKS said:

It sounds amazing - but 9 days? Wish I could steal 9 days for a driving holiday!

Maybe they can offer a 4 or 5 day section?

bear in mind it's actually only 1 week.

leaving early sat morning and comeing back late sunday evening.

however we will be releasing something shorter (but not to the Alps) in a few weeks time.

[jdwcd]

Harsh said:

G4HKS said:

It sounds amazing - but 9 days? Wish I could steal 9 days for a driving holiday!

Maybe they can offer a 4 or 5 day section?

bear in mind it's actually only 1 week.

leaving early sat morning and comeing back late sunday evening.

however we will be releasing something shorter (but not to the Alps) in a few weeks time.

Looks like im in harsh, i will speak with you next week, had to pass it with the boss

[fridaypassion]

I think it's a great thing to do. Circuitdays did a north African run which I would never have thought of doing. It's a good option if you want some company onthe trip too. None of my mates are really into cars and spending 2 weeks hooning round Europe would be a nightmare for them.

[Blue One]

I wish this was the year to be contemplating such a tour; sounds fantastic.. What with the job situation etc I'd have thought it better to start with a more budget sensative offer. Still maybe the others coming up will be better.

Edited by Blue One on Sunday 3rd May 18:47

[dom180]

>>No it's not £1500 for two people (i wish it was, i'd never be here!

it works out at £1367 per person, if there are two of you sharing a car.
if you both want to drive you each pay £1467

Just wondered why does it cost £100 more for your passenger to drive your own car - surely there's no cost on the organiser's side over the tunnel and hotels and presumably as you'll be driving on public roads it's not a race/event requiring specific insurance?

[PPPPPP]

dom180 said:

Just wondered why does it cost £100 more for your passenger to drive your own car - surely there's no cost on the organiser's side over the tunnel and hotels and presumably as you'll be driving on public roads it's not a race/event requiring specific insurance?

Good question

[Marcellus]

As I read their site; (http://www.petrolheadnirvana.com/tours/alpine_assault_2009.php)

1 person 1 car costs £1797 per person
2 people (sharing a room) in 1 car costs £1367 per person
2 people (sharing a room) in 2 cars costs £1467 per person

[chrisr29]

Don't think that's too bad value myself! Done a few diy tours of this nature and usually end up spending a couple of grand upwards over two weeks, usually staying in half decent hotels.

[Jasper Gilder]

Harsh said:

indeed Jasper I dont know you but the logic is correct. The cars need to be safe at night and a certain amount of luxury on a holiday is welcome after a days driving.
If we did all campsites on a tour of this length it would be cheaper but nowhere near as enjoyable and you would return needing another holiday to get over it rather than wanting to come along again!

Correct - Nail, Head, Hit,

[Mattt]

PPPPPP said:

dom180 said:

Just wondered why does it cost £100 more for your passenger to drive your own car - surely there's no cost on the organiser's side over the tunnel and hotels and presumably as you'll be driving on public roads it's not a race/event requiring specific insurance?

Good question

As Marcellus said - it's for 2 cars, so additional Eurotunnel and parking fees.

[russellwatson17]

Fordo said:

vtecstu said:

+1

Is it too early to request a similar thing but staying in campsites / less swanky hotels around the route, for those less wealthy PHers...?

+1


me and my other half a planning our own road trip round europe in a few weeks, taking in some of the best driving roads. We're going in her little rover, and camping all the way- we like to think you dont need to be rich to be a petrol head

would be great to do a similar tour with similar petrolheads though

Ive just come back from something like that to Spain. The company i did it with are doing one to October Fest in September Via Switzerland and the Stelvio Pass. www.bangersandtrash.co.uk

[dom180]

Cheers Matt.

Mattt said:

PPPPPP said:

dom180 said:

Just wondered why does it cost £100 more for your passenger to drive your own car - surely there's no cost on the organiser's side over the tunnel and hotels and presumably as you'll be driving on public roads it's not a race/event requiring specific insurance?

Good question

As Marcellus said - it's for 2 cars, so additional Eurotunnel and parking fees.

[angus54]

Jasper Gilder said:

vtecstu said:

Is it too early to request a similar thing but staying in campsites / less swanky hotels around the route, for those less wealthy PHers...?

If you want decent security for the cars and people not complaining than that's about what it costs - I'm organising an 8 nighter to France and Claremont Ferrand in October and the price for car and two people is within
7 euros of this - and no we haven't been fixing the prices - I don't know who any of the guys from Nirvana are and doubtless the opposite applies!

If its within 7 Euros its the same price then.... - check the exchange rate!!