Help team PH get to Frankfurt

[Stuart]

Next week will see Garlick, Riggers and I making the slog to the Frankfurt Motor Show. Once there we'll be joined by Chris-R (who will be flying in from Edinburgh after a road trip in something Italian to feature on PH in due course) and then the four of us will drive home on Wednesday after a long day of covering the new models due to be shown at the show.

Anyway, enough preamble; there must be a dozen different ways of getting to Frankfurt, but which is the best for a group of blokes with a full day with nothing to do but get to grips with the Porsche? Our criteria are that we need to be in Frankfurt by early evening, we'd like the chance to put the Porsche through its paces on a variety of roads, and it'd be great if there were a couple of good places to stop for some shaky happy snaps to illustrate the story when it appears on PH. Oh and we're not really up for the sort of itinerary that can be banjaxed by too much traffic.

Over to you then chaps. Thoughts welcome...

[Truckosaurus]

If all else fails there's the clichéd "let's go via motor racing circuits" story.

From London you can easily hit Brands, Lydon, Crois, Zolder, Spa, Nurburgring on the way.(That's from memory without looking at a map).

There's also former tracks/venues such as Crystal Palace and Reims for more photo ops.

[Stuart]

I'd wondered about that too, but it is a bit of a cliche as you say, and perhaps more appropriate in something lightweight (or at least lighter in weight!) like a GT3RS than a behemoth like the Panamera.

[nickwilcock]

If you haven't been toGermnay for a while, you'll find that there area considerable number of roadworks in progress on the autobahns at present - a national effort 'Short term pain, long term gain' to improve the state of the autobahn network.

Any route which avoids the Brussels Ring would seem sensible. I can also recommend crossing the channel on the Norfolk line boat to Dunkerque - much more pleasant than the Channel Tunnel.

Don't forget that you must have an Umweltplakette to drive in several cities in Germnay these days (even as a foreign tourist) - if you haven't got one you can apply by fax to Germany - see http://www.tuev-nord.de/de/verkehr/Order_form_ENGL... . It takes a couple of days to arrive - but get caught without one in an Umwelt zone and you can expect a €40 fine.

You don't need to pay in advance for the Umweltplakette - they will send you an invoice. You can then send a sterling cheque to the TÜV Nord office in the UK - much cheaper than an IBAN transfer.

Edited by nickwilcock on Monday 7th September 08:19

Edited by nickwilcock on Monday 7th September 08:28

[Stuart]

nickwilcock said:

If you haven't been toGermnay for a while, you'll find that there area considerable number of roadworks in progress on the autobahns at present - a national effort 'Short term pain, long term gain' to improve the state of the autobahn network.

Any route which avoids the Brussels Ring would seem sensible. I can also recommend crossing the channel on the Norfolk line boat to Dunkerque - much more pleasant than the Channel Tunnel.

Don't forget that you must have an Umweltplakette to drive in several cities in Germnay these days (even as a foreign tourist) - if you haven't got one you can apply by fax to Germany - see http://www.tuev-nord.de/de/verkehr/Order_form_ENGL... . It takes a couple of days to arrive - but get caught without one in an Umwelt zone and you can expect a €40 fine.

You don't need to pay in advance for the Umweltplakette - they will send you an invoice. You can then send a sterling cheque to the TÜV Nord office in the UK - much cheaper than an IBAN transfer.

Edited by nickwilcock on Monday 7th September 08:19

Edited by nickwilcock on Monday 7th September 08:28

Cheers Nick - this is really useful information. It has been a few years since I last drove in Germany, clearly...

[Stuart]

Just checked this out and looks as if Frankfurt doesn't come into play until the 1st October, so if we're going to avoid other German cities, we should be OK without the sticker?

[dcb]

nickwilcock said:

If you haven't been toGermnay for a while, you'll find that there area considerable number of roadworks in progress on the autobahns at present - a national effort 'Short term pain, long term gain' to improve the state of the autobahn network.

Agreed - there are always considerable amounts of widening
and resurfacing works going on and it's a much bigger
network than the puny UK network anyway.

nickwilcock said:

Any route which avoids the Brussels Ring would seem sensible.

I fail to understand the logic of this one - I've been on the
Brussels Ring hundreds of times and only had trouble about
twice when I was there during rush hour.

Both times, the queues weren't serious. I've had worse
on the UK M25.

nickwilcock said:

I can also recommend crossing the channel on the Norfolk line boat to Dunkerque - much more pleasant than the Channel Tunnel.

But much slower surely ?

I've had the calculator out on many occasions and I've always
found that I can drive faster than a boat travels, so the Norfolk
line is always going to be slower.

I use the Chunnel when I'm in a hurry ( or a client is paying)
and I use Dover Calais ferry when I'm not.

Added to that, if you miss the Norfolk line ferry, you've got
a 3-4 hour wait, but on Dover-Calais, 90 minutes is more usual.

[DPX]

Mind the road works oostend to gent
Brussels ring no stress after 22:00
aim for levern
turn off at services
turn down motorway to genk
keep at 120 through holland and look out for the nasty bend
cross border ( slow police in services )
now in germany , floor it ( assuming at night )
some nasty road works between luik and koln
turn of at humar ( south east koln ) and go south ( floor it )
some real nasty bends and no restriction
look out for the 60 truck , 100 car restriction.

and as someone has mentioned if ff needs a sticker get one !!!