Rich's Amazing Wales Road Trip 2013

[Ganan53]

Hey fellas, a couple of us are doing a similar trip but we're doing snowdon on the Sat and Breacon on the Sun. Would be good to meet up for dinner if you guys are interested.

We are going to Carew Go karting in Pembrokeshire on Sat afternoon and exploring Pendine and Museum of Speed if anyone is keen. I appreciate it's a bit further out.

This is my first proper trip, anything I should be aware of?

[RichwiththeS2000]

Hi Ganan,

That could be a nice idea - probably the Saturday evening would work best as we will need to find somewhere to stop for dinner! There's the possibility we could go into Betws-Y-Coed for food as it's a nice little town with a few restaurants/pubs. It's also near Snowdon and the Evo Triangle.

It's hard to gauge timings exactly though so it might be best if I give you a call or text on the Saturday at some point when we know more likely when and where we could meet for food. There's also the chance we might discover somewhere good for dinner along the way as well so again it's probably best to play it by ear and if we can arrange something we will! Failing that I'm sure you'd be welcome to visit the Giler Arms camp site on the Saturday evening and join us for a couple of drinks and maybe an evening run around the triangle?

Drop me a PM with your number and we'll see if we can sort something out!

[Andurron]

Hey there Rich. This looks fantastic and I'm really wishing I had a PH-worthy (that's road legal!) car to come with you. Or is there maybe an option for me in my asthmatic little hatchback to come along as a load lugger for those in cars without as much space?

-Greg

[nta16]

pity you had to sacrifice the Fiat Seicento Sporting to your driving lesson as they'd been great for a lot of the roads

we had the squarer model before, proper sized small hatch not like the bloated size ones now

did they really have PAS at that size

1108 cc so 8cc into the next RFL level back in the day IIRC, great fun to drive, I saw a standard one fly round Bruntingthorpe not so fast on the straight but he'd reeling in the big engined cars as he never lifted on the corners

ideal size for those mountain roads and under steer until your nerves can take no more

[RichwiththeS2000]

^

All cars are welcome mate, I dont discriminate!

Maybe hang near the back if you think you might hold people up but as before its not a race/rally stage its to enjoy the twisty bits, awesome scenery and get some nice pics and vids of our cars in a nice environment! When you spend most of your time in a built up town the thought of just getting a bit of space to do that is pretty amazing in itself

[Andurron]

Bah, yes, I really do wish I hadn't been... well, a young driver with my Fiat. I'd have another one in a heartbeat if I could.

• does his best to avoid looking at Autotrader/etc for Seicentors/Cinquecentos within the next week*

And thank you Rich, I think you can include me in then. If needed I can be a load lugger, or even keep a tool kit or two for those of you unsure about your vehicles. Or even camera car a la the Top Gear Land Rovers - fold the back seats down, sit there with a camera and hold tight!

Unless of course I submit to nta's devilish scheme and get myself a little pocket rocket.

[RichwiththeS2000]

Hey, a camera car - there's an idea!

If you can take a tool kit that could be a good plan, just encase. I know the boot on my S2k is going to be struggling as it is

[Andurron]

I haven't got an extensive tool kit - mostly just spanners, screwdrivers, WD40, jump leads and an allen key, but I can take that and if anyone is good with a camera, I'll certainly let them try and get some moving shots. If not, I can just pootle along behind you guys and enjoy the countryside, or try and hitch a lift. Sign me up for it mate!

[RichwiththeS2000]

OK guys, the routes have been finalised now! Thanks to everyone who contributed tips for the route.

I've updated the first post and added a link to a PDF which contains directions and timings (including convoy meeting points) which can be found here:
http://www.gtxm.org/public/Wales%20Road%20Trip%202...

Hopefully that should include everything you need!


Cheers
Rich

[Rochester TVR]

I've read this thread with interest since it began and just want to applaud all the effort that has gone into making what looks like to be a great trip.

If it wasn't my daughters birthday on 2nd and Wilton House on the 4th I would be coming along without a doubt.

Have fun!

[nta16]

hopefully you're more likely to need the tool kit more for the camping than cars, certainly the Hondas shouldn't need it, personally I'd suggest someone carrying a manual foot pump and reliable tyre pressure gauge

for the tool kit don't forget a torch, hands-free if possible, with new or fully charged batteries and spare new or fully charged batteries all tested just before you go

the tool kit issue and thirst potential of some of the cars (AMG, S2000s) has reminded me of the obvious - petrol, a spare gallon or two of Tesco 99 or V-Power would be handy, and as stations can get few and far between and not open 24hrs fill up whenever you can and don't let the tanks get low

I know it's obvious about petrol by it's surprising how you soon forget when you're having a good time and used to stations close by and open 24hrs

[nta16]

Andurron said:

Unless of course I submit to nta's devilish scheme and get myself a little pocket rocket.

too late if you're thinking of a Fiat, not enough time to test run it

my wife bought ours from new and loved it, I took it over for a bit before we sold it and enjoyed it so much I put it in my name and added a K&N panel filter and sports exhaust and had a slightly lowered "BMW" dampers and springs set up, no other alterations or changes, it was just to pep it up a little for the twisties and help a little with the breathing, I kept it a little longer than intended because I enjoyed it so much

[TackMEU]

nta16 said:

thirst potential of some of the cars (AMG, S2000s) has reminded me of the obvious - petrol, a spare gallon or two of Tesco 99 or V-Power would be handy, and as stations can get few and far between and not open 24hrs fill up whenever you can and don't let the tanks get low

This is something I will have to be very mindful about. Giving the car some pedal and I will be getting around 14 mpg, combine that with a small tank and I could be in trouble.

[RichwiththeS2000]

We'll have to keep an eye on this, I think we should be OK though, obviously if we start knocking on the door of a quarter of a tank left and happen to be in the arse-end of no where it might be worth seeing if a detour is in order to find a station! (at which point we can enjoy the "Wales Hyper Miler challenge 2013"

[assadahmed]

My Alfa wont do much better than 17 to 20 mpg so I will keep some reserves in the boot for emergencies! Will also buy some octane booster as there may be a short supply of the high quality juice around where we will be driving.

[addzGU]

Top stuff with the PDF upload!

Definitely need to keep the fuel on the up

[nta16]

assadahmed said:

My Alfa wont do much better than 17 to 20 mpg so I will keep some reserves in the boot for emergencies!

if as many as can do that then Sod's Law you wont need any, of course if none do ...

assadahmed said:

Will also buy some octane booster as there may be a short supply of the high quality juice around where we will be driving.

a few years ago they tested some of the octane boosters and results were that some did nothing, a few actually made things slightly worse and only one or two worked (sorry can't remember which) - if your car is standard then it may be that it can easily cope with 95 (or 97) and it's the cleaning properties of the better petrols rather than or in addition the octane that your car likes (check Owner's Manuals for standard cars), the odd tankful of 95 wont hurt most (standard) modern cars

Edited by nta16 on Friday 26th July 00:46

[Andurron]

Well if all else fails the 40mpg Colt can be a support wagon where you guys can stash your jerrycans. :P

Part of me is tempted to get some decals saying 'Offical PH Wales Trip Support Vehicle' but I dunno if Garlick would have my head for that or not. x3

[nta16]

TackMEU said:

This is something I will have to be very mindful about. Giving the car some pedal and I will be getting around 14 mpg, combine that with a small tank and I could be in trouble.

unless you really thrash it on those long big roads and you wont you'll be cruising nicely you should be ok if you brink every time you fill and perhaps fill a couple times more often than others

if I'm using the mighty performance of the twins and including what gets overflowed on the hills and bends I'm down to 25mpg with about 6 gallons to the rear of the petrol cap so theoretical 150m miles as long as the last 10 or so miles are flat roads or the pump wont might not see what's left

Edited by nta16 on Friday 26th July 01:13

[nta16]

Andurron said:

Well if all else fails the 40mpg Colt can be a support wagon where you guys can stash your jerrycans.

I'm forced to carry a spare gallon as my wife now refuses to push the car any more, I've spoilt her, I known, so when my mate was out in his about-3-gallons-tank car which would run forever on hints of fumes I'd increase the price of the petrol in my spare can every time and he'd always just make it back without needing it

just an idea, and someone wins no matter which way it goes