european holiday jaunt...do you really want that supercar ?

[carspath]

no , I haven't posted this in the wrong section , although I am more than happy to confess that I also spend a lot of time on various mx5 fora

its taken me too many years to wise up to the joy of taking my 1993, pretty much standard , series 1 mx5 on long European summer holiday trips , and I would like to alert my fellow PH'ers to the advantages of taking a cheap but well maintained ,low powered but low weight car on holiday

the ever growing risk of getting a speeding fine (or worse) in Europe , the monotonous never-ending motorway miles to get to those lovely backroads, the lack of individual garaging in either midway or end-point hotels ,however plush or otherwise they may be , being almost totally carefree in taking the car into a town centre , a roof that goes up and down in 10 seconds rather than 20 minutes (with a divorce settlement thrown in for good measure ), coping with the mushrooming italian potholes which would make you want to get a 4 wheel alignment done every 100metres , not worrying (quite so much ) about malicious damage......all these lead to a much more enjoyable holiday

the downside is that you don't have your supercar toy with you , and yes that is hard

but my best recent drives have been a 5am drive in june 2013 on the route napolean , a few of the swiss passes in the very late afternoon last summer , and the futa and raticosa passes again in the very early morning....all in my 114 bhp, 970kg, 21 year old mx5
traffic weight appears to be the most critical factor in enjoying a drive, regardless of car , and here an alarm clock is your best friend

somehow, being able to have pedal to the bulkhead more of the time , and not having to worry about Italian (or german) electronics playing up in the middle of nowhere , goes some good way to making up for the lack of induction and exhaust music, and g force

just my honest feelings , that I have taken too long to recognise (I think)

would love to hear your opinions

[andrew]

you're wrong
hth

[carspath]

elaborate and substantiate please

[_Leg_]

Yes, 2 European road trips in 2013 and 2014 tell me you're completely wrong.

[Craigwww]

I see your point, but the same can be said for everyday driving in the UK, that's why most supercar owners have a more comfortable and suitable daily driver... And save the supercar for those special occasions.... Like Euro Road trips.

[KFC]

carspath said:

the ever growing risk of getting a speeding fine (or worse) in Europe ,

This varies wildly depending on where you actually are. I've been caught multiple times on the wrong side of 140mph in Portugal and its always just been a cash fine on the spot. Obviously its far better than the alternative you'd receive in UK !

[mon the fish]

You're wrong, for a number of reasons:
I can go through Germany faster than you
Italians love Ferrari's, no issues with scratches etc
I'm continually amazed at how many hotels abroad have secure parking, not difficult to find IMO
I need my V12 on holiday
18 year old Italian cars have proven to be reliable (so far...)
If you're going to own a supercar, no point in taking something else to the continent

[threesixty]

For all their perceived impracticalities, when you finally arrive at a decent bit of road after spending a few miserable hours on the autoroute in your MX5 your only thought will be "Why did I leave the Lambo at home!".

[Kyodo]

I'd both agree and disagree. We're driving the 360 to Maranello this summer, taking in the Alps and the Italian Riviera along the way. We're expecting (hoping!) it to be something very special for us, I can't wait

That said, we did a trip to Monaco a couple of years ago in our Boxster S (again, mountains and coast) that will be very hard to beat as that car delivers so much for so little. Two weeks of top-down panoramic views in the mountains in a ten year old 'mid-power' type sports car felt quite a privilege.

We also have a Mk2 MX5 and funnily enough, we chatted about it a few weeks ago and agreed that would be a perfect car for some of the roads we encountered last time and it'd be a real blast. Again, a car that is very good at what it does.

I reckon it doesn't matter which car you take as long as you strive to get the best from them. Taking the Ferrari to Italy should be stunning, it just involves a little more planning with regard to road choice and hotels. Whilst we're fortunate to own one, we absolutely have to do this trip in it at least once.

Edited by Kyodo on Monday 26th January 10:16

[Kyodo]

Oh, one more thought - You can fit way more cheese and wine in a Boxster than you can an MX5. Trust me, I know...

[phib]

Had some epic memories of driving through europe, done it in both my 550 and 355. Never had an issue with damage, speeding ( especially in Italy :-)) and none of my cars have ever let me down.

Comming down the hills into monaco in the 550 and getting waved on by a motorcycle policeman when were doing well into 3 figures were two of the happy memories !! There are loads though

Wouldnt have been doing that in my daily hack ( which is probably way more comfortable !!)

Phib

[Bo_apex]

I hear what the OP is saying.

But, some of the best moments are in raw, uncomfortable and unpractical sizzle cars.

On the next run down to Menton - a Stratos or Countach might do it.

A Caterham might be pushing it though

[carspath]

thanks for all these replies---the majority view is clear

bo apex : I did just that , and yes it was special.
july 2001, and I had had the 5000QV for 3 months.
major service , and 4 new tyres.
5.30 am , on a deserted 4 lane per side autoroute, some way south of lyon.
7700 rpm in 5th ----the howl and the fear----never since, and never again---if only because the grand old lady is now 27 , and I am even older----and the car was still accelerating

i'll never forget that minute or three---it's seared into my brain

with the steering wheel held firm and straight, in the middle lane of what appeared to be a completely flat and uncambered road, the car just moved into the next lane by itself

soon after ,I asked valentino balboni about this , and he said that it had never happened to him , and couldn't explain why, so I just left it at that

more recently, I read an interview with another lambo test driver (?Moreno conti?), and he described just what had happened to me and the countach all those years ago----a cross-wind apparently does just that at speed

[phib]

I have to say I also had this movement in my 355 in 5th at 90% revs, it scared the life out of me !!

Phib

[AndrewD]

andrew said:

you're wrong
hth

Says the man who hasn't driven his car abroad, ever.

To the OP, I did 2000 miles around France last summer in my 16M, including said Route Napoleon. Roof down, V8 screaming off rock walls. It was awesome. Spine tingly awesome. Used to live in Switzerland and I can safely say the alpine mountain passes are more fun (for me) in anything loud and exotic and fast

[andrew]

AndrewD said:

andrew said:

you're wrong
hth

Says the man who hasn't driven his car abroad, ever.

To the OP, I did 2000 miles around France last summer in my 16M, including said Route Napoleon. Roof down, V8 screaming off rock walls. It was awesome. Spine tingly awesome. Used to live in Switzerland and I can safely say the alpine mountain passes are more fun (for me) in anything loud and exotic and fast

i was afraid of bumping into you

[carspath]

phib: I know exactly what you mean

prior to that run, I had sternly told myself not to panic and hit the brakes

as it happened, the car almost magically and instantly, moved from the middle of one lane to the centre of the adjacent lane, and with absolutely no traffic around me , there was no cause for panic, but I was seriously worried that some suspension component had failed

with a CD of 0.42 , just coming off the throttle at high speed in a countach is like activating an air-brake---within a few seconds you felt that you were now travelling at walking pace

at no stage did the car feel out of control , but it clearly did get out of control !!!

[jackal]

There is more real car, and more fun to be had from a lowly mx5 than many a supercar . It wouldn't be my pick on a euro roadtrip however.

[phib]

carspath said:

phib: I know exactly what you mean

prior to that run, I had sternly told myself not to panic and hit the brakes

as it happened, the car almost magically and instantly, moved from the middle of one lane to the centre of the adjacent lane, and with absolutely no traffic around me , there was no cause for panic, but I was seriously worried that some suspension component had failed

with a CD of 0.42 , just coming off the throttle at high speed in a countach is like activating an air-brake---within a few seconds you felt that you were now travelling at walking pace

at no stage did the car feel out of control , but it clearly did get out of control !!!

It is amazing how far aero dymnamics have come, I did something similar this year with my mum in the car, 550 this time and we were chatting normally to about 170 and only really had to concentrate hard at 190+ not sure if we hit the magic 200 or not.

However the first friend we saw on returning to the uk told us in all seriousness the 550 only does 199, at 190 + I wasn't looking at the speedo.

I do understand your point in the mx5 though, just bought a Subaru legacy 3.0 spec b worth peanuts and it's the best fun !! and I really don't worry about it at all which is liberating

Phib

[phib]

Ps, don't have that much experience of these kind of speeds ( only 3/4 times) but in each car it's felt like air brakes when lifting off.

Suspect it's the same in any car ?

Phib