ironictwists Z4 - While on the PHN Alpine Tour (Again!)
Discussion
So last year I did this...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Then this year, I knew I would be doing the Alpine Tour again, but after last year I felt I had to have something more powerful. So it was either a TVR Chimaera, 986 Boxsters, S2000's...Then the Z4 was mentioned. Keeping in mind how much mileage I do (~35k a year), the abuse it was gonna get over the summer & the fact my priorities were more on adventures rather than the car itself this summer, the Z4 made total sense.
& so...I nabbed this at the very end of April!
It's the 3.0 with that lovely straight six, at 37,000 miles completely stock. A blank but reliable canvas to start off, & with the new acquisition, the summer began! In true IT style, it had it's little "foibles"...So within 24hrs the central locking packed up meaning the only way to get in was to JUMP in over the doors, which when meeting my soon to be girlfriend for the first time proved quite a challenge over the course of the day, memorable shall we say?!
Anyway, by the time of our first "official" date it was all fixed by the dealer (& Dads Day out was the first segment of the date)...Needless to say she loved the car once she could get in by actually using the doors.
Back to the car...Runflats! Bloody awful & god knows how BMW sold any of these new with them fitted, first thing you do should you buy a Z4 is ditch them for decent rubber! Aside from that it is an absolute peach
July came & went ^ & I soon found myself in August departing with the new girlfriend from the aforementioned first date all the way up to Scotland for a week long road trip, it was a bit of a shakedown before I headed to the Alps, just to see how the Z would fair! Amazing roads & scenery, & the Z performed beautifully in the terrain both in terms of poise & practicality...A few choice snaps below!
Gotta love Edinburgh at Sunset
Onto the West Coast!
We made every use of every inch of that boot!
& so by the end of August...We were ready for the Alps!
The tour we were leaving for was this->
http://www.petrolheadnirvana.com/driving-tours/alp...
The thing is with going on Tour, ESPECIALLY the Alpine Tour...It's addictive. The first time you go & you sample the roads, the weather, the banter, comeradery & sheer unadultered fun with fellow enthusiasts, over the course of the year you just want to go back. It's why as soon as I came back, I felt I had to go again next year! As a PH'er, it's like a welcome release from the normality of plodding back & forth from work with your P&J. If you love your car, & driving for the thrill of it...Take the thing on tour.
People describe it as a trip of a lifetime, & it is...So much so that I've done it 2 years in a row & will endeavour to do it next year too, because that moment when you're on a road which can only be described as sheer perfection in the way it twists & turns, the scenery is biblical, the sounds & noises of not only your car, but the noises & sight of some spectacular machinery on that same piece of road all going for it, as a petrolhead...It's about as good as life gets, & thats why it's so damn addictive.
Stay tuned for my pictures of 2011's Alpine Tour, take my word for it, it topped last year...& that says an awful lot!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Then this year, I knew I would be doing the Alpine Tour again, but after last year I felt I had to have something more powerful. So it was either a TVR Chimaera, 986 Boxsters, S2000's...Then the Z4 was mentioned. Keeping in mind how much mileage I do (~35k a year), the abuse it was gonna get over the summer & the fact my priorities were more on adventures rather than the car itself this summer, the Z4 made total sense.
& so...I nabbed this at the very end of April!
It's the 3.0 with that lovely straight six, at 37,000 miles completely stock. A blank but reliable canvas to start off, & with the new acquisition, the summer began! In true IT style, it had it's little "foibles"...So within 24hrs the central locking packed up meaning the only way to get in was to JUMP in over the doors, which when meeting my soon to be girlfriend for the first time proved quite a challenge over the course of the day, memorable shall we say?!
Anyway, by the time of our first "official" date it was all fixed by the dealer (& Dads Day out was the first segment of the date)...Needless to say she loved the car once she could get in by actually using the doors.
Back to the car...Runflats! Bloody awful & god knows how BMW sold any of these new with them fitted, first thing you do should you buy a Z4 is ditch them for decent rubber! Aside from that it is an absolute peach
July came & went ^ & I soon found myself in August departing with the new girlfriend from the aforementioned first date all the way up to Scotland for a week long road trip, it was a bit of a shakedown before I headed to the Alps, just to see how the Z would fair! Amazing roads & scenery, & the Z performed beautifully in the terrain both in terms of poise & practicality...A few choice snaps below!
Gotta love Edinburgh at Sunset
Onto the West Coast!
We made every use of every inch of that boot!
& so by the end of August...We were ready for the Alps!
The tour we were leaving for was this->
http://www.petrolheadnirvana.com/driving-tours/alp...
The thing is with going on Tour, ESPECIALLY the Alpine Tour...It's addictive. The first time you go & you sample the roads, the weather, the banter, comeradery & sheer unadultered fun with fellow enthusiasts, over the course of the year you just want to go back. It's why as soon as I came back, I felt I had to go again next year! As a PH'er, it's like a welcome release from the normality of plodding back & forth from work with your P&J. If you love your car, & driving for the thrill of it...Take the thing on tour.
People describe it as a trip of a lifetime, & it is...So much so that I've done it 2 years in a row & will endeavour to do it next year too, because that moment when you're on a road which can only be described as sheer perfection in the way it twists & turns, the scenery is biblical, the sounds & noises of not only your car, but the noises & sight of some spectacular machinery on that same piece of road all going for it, as a petrolhead...It's about as good as life gets, & thats why it's so damn addictive.
Stay tuned for my pictures of 2011's Alpine Tour, take my word for it, it topped last year...& that says an awful lot!
Edited by ironictwist on Sunday 25th September 12:22
Day 1 - Portsmouth to Bilbao!
So Day 1 arrived, I left work at Midday & headed down to Portsmouth for our mid Afternoon ferry to Bilbao...Arrived to see a few familiar faces & plenty of new one's! The lineup of cars this year was:
Mini Marcos
Ferrari 360 spider
BMW E46 M3 cab
Nissan R35 GTR
Ferrari 360 spider
Honda Civic Type R
BMW E36 M3
BMW E46 M3 cab
VW Golf R32
Lamborghini Diablo VT
Porsche 996 turbo
BMW Z4 3.0i
VW Scirocco R
Ferrari 360 Modena
...Although admittedly one car was missing at the Ferry terminal (But that's another story!
) - Anyway, this is a change from last year, the leisurely overnight ferry allowed us to get know our fellow tourists with time to spare, perfect way to start something like this. Nice & relaxed manner that allows us to get to know the people before we really got into the driving...But after 24hrs on a ferry we were all itching to be using a steering wheel again!
Apologies for the lack of photos on the first day, too busy nattering!
At the Ferry terminal!
Leaving Portsmouth!
The view of the channel as we left Blighty, lovely.
So Day 1 arrived, I left work at Midday & headed down to Portsmouth for our mid Afternoon ferry to Bilbao...Arrived to see a few familiar faces & plenty of new one's! The lineup of cars this year was:
Mini Marcos
Ferrari 360 spider
BMW E46 M3 cab
Nissan R35 GTR
Ferrari 360 spider
Honda Civic Type R
BMW E36 M3
BMW E46 M3 cab
VW Golf R32
Lamborghini Diablo VT
Porsche 996 turbo
BMW Z4 3.0i
VW Scirocco R
Ferrari 360 Modena
...Although admittedly one car was missing at the Ferry terminal (But that's another story!
) - Anyway, this is a change from last year, the leisurely overnight ferry allowed us to get know our fellow tourists with time to spare, perfect way to start something like this. Nice & relaxed manner that allows us to get to know the people before we really got into the driving...But after 24hrs on a ferry we were all itching to be using a steering wheel again!Apologies for the lack of photos on the first day, too busy nattering!
At the Ferry terminal!
Leaving Portsmouth!
The view of the channel as we left Blighty, lovely.
Day 2 - Bilbao to Pamplona!
Come late afternoon we hit Bilbao & depart the ferry...Well everyone did bar me & another random UK Z4 also on the ferry, who both spookily found their batteries flat??! After that slight hiccup we all lined up for a mini regroup before we set off on Spanish soil, caused quite a stir though at the terminal!
Lined up on Spanish soil
Some classics, you need guts & patience to bring these with you surely!
Our 1st fuel stop...The natural habitat for the Italian supercar
Arriving in Pamplona at the hotel!
Ground clearance matters!
Safe & sound
Day 3 is when the real fun starts!!
Come late afternoon we hit Bilbao & depart the ferry...Well everyone did bar me & another random UK Z4 also on the ferry, who both spookily found their batteries flat??! After that slight hiccup we all lined up for a mini regroup before we set off on Spanish soil, caused quite a stir though at the terminal!
Lined up on Spanish soil
Some classics, you need guts & patience to bring these with you surely!
Our 1st fuel stop...The natural habitat for the Italian supercar
Arriving in Pamplona at the hotel!
Ground clearance matters!
Safe & sound
Day 3 is when the real fun starts!!
Day 3 - Pamplona to Lerida - 225 Miles
"A trip up into the southern foothills of the Pyrenees and along the canyons and rivers that flow down from the mountains. Spectacular scenery and sinuous tarmac in equal measure, though you’ll struggle to believe you’re in Spain… "
Bingo! Gorgeous sweeeeping flowing mountain stretches!
Morning!
En route.
Fuel stop!
Parked up for lunch after an amazing set of twisties where "Flymo" became an apt name for my corner cutting antics.
A hell of a lineup.
The view from our lunch stop
En route.
Suits him, wouldnt you say?
& FINALLY A VIDEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SOC7HOaSPg
"A trip up into the southern foothills of the Pyrenees and along the canyons and rivers that flow down from the mountains. Spectacular scenery and sinuous tarmac in equal measure, though you’ll struggle to believe you’re in Spain… "
Bingo! Gorgeous sweeeeping flowing mountain stretches!
Morning!
En route.
Fuel stop!
Parked up for lunch after an amazing set of twisties where "Flymo" became an apt name for my corner cutting antics.
A hell of a lineup.
The view from our lunch stop
En route.
Suits him, wouldnt you say?
& FINALLY A VIDEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SOC7HOaSPg
Day 4 - 230 Miles - Lerida to Carcasonne
"A brisk drive up into the mountains and through the principality of Andorra, before descending into southern France and heading off to the 2500-year-old walled city of Carcassonne."
This was one of the best days of the tour...The banter, the route, the roads & scenery. The pictures do the talking!
1st fuel stop of the day!
Quick regroup after some very fast sweeping mountain roads, brilliant fun!
En route.
Andorran Border! Duty free anyone?
Then after an AWESOME set of hairpins through the foresty mountain roads a quick regroup, complete with cows.
Then on the way down...Mid hairpin. Lovely.
A bit of posing.
Cue waving!
More fuel stop porn...
Heading from Andorra through to France...Wild horses on the road, which proved interesting.
About to drive into a cloud...Really.
Just over the French Border, still mid cloud...Odd.
Cloudline!
En route to Carcasonne.
After a hard days driving, at the amazing walled city in Carcasonne's castle...If you've never been, it's a tiny little self contained world within those high walls. Definitely visiting again!
Blessed with the weather, TRULY!
Magnificent!
Nice way to end the evening!
Spoilt for arty shops!
Next...Day 5, & one of my personal highlights, the iconic Millau Bridge.
"A brisk drive up into the mountains and through the principality of Andorra, before descending into southern France and heading off to the 2500-year-old walled city of Carcassonne."
This was one of the best days of the tour...The banter, the route, the roads & scenery. The pictures do the talking!
1st fuel stop of the day!
Quick regroup after some very fast sweeping mountain roads, brilliant fun!
En route.
Andorran Border! Duty free anyone?
Then after an AWESOME set of hairpins through the foresty mountain roads a quick regroup, complete with cows.
Then on the way down...Mid hairpin. Lovely.
A bit of posing.
Cue waving!
More fuel stop porn...
Heading from Andorra through to France...Wild horses on the road, which proved interesting.
About to drive into a cloud...Really.
Just over the French Border, still mid cloud...Odd.
Cloudline!
En route to Carcasonne.
After a hard days driving, at the amazing walled city in Carcasonne's castle...If you've never been, it's a tiny little self contained world within those high walls. Definitely visiting again!
Blessed with the weather, TRULY!
Magnificent!
Nice way to end the evening!
Spoilt for arty shops!
Next...Day 5, & one of my personal highlights, the iconic Millau Bridge.
Edited by ironictwist on Monday 26th September 22:54
koolchris99 said:
Absolutley Chris, I've been eyeing up that setup, just need to save the pennies.koolchris99 said:
Oh god. Can I justify the best part of a grand for this?Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff