murcielago/countach/mx5 for transfagarasan/transalpina....no
Discussion
I returned on saturday from a month long motoring trip , the highlight of which was to be the transfagarasan and the transalpina highways in Romania
some months ago, I asked my fellow pistonheaders as to what alternatives there were to a Gallardo that would be reliable and suitable for lengthy cross-continental trips
my heart was set on a Gallardo , but my budget would only stretch to an early coupe , and my wife firmly vetoed taking an elderly exotic on such a long trip ,especially as there are very few authorised service agents in eastern Europe
I also considered a 6 cylinder supercharged elise/exige------but the luggage capacity for a month long trip is woeful , and again service agents were few and far between in some of the countries that we were passing through
the countach and murcielago roadster didn't really even begin to feature as realistic options , if only because they would have attracted too much attention of the wrong sort
my second choice (actually my first choice) was my trusty old series 1 mx5, which has now done 140,000 miles , and is 23 years old , but drives oh so sweetly
but my fellow PH'ers and my wife were not so keen on the mx5----my wife mainly because of the lack of air-conditioning
eventually we bought one of the very very last new 6 cylinder naturally aspirated boxster S cars available in the UK ---and this turned out to be the perfect car for the trip
the reason why I am posting this here rather than in the Porsche section , is to alert supercar owners about both the delights and the tribulations of taking a supercar (ie not the boxster) to Romania
our journey was over 5000 miles in total , and we went through the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech republic, Slovakia, , hungary, Romania, and then just for a laugh(which wasn't at all , as you will soon hear) Ukraine
we spent most of our time in Romania nd hungary , and the people were totally delightful
they were all so very respectful of the speed yellow with black interior convertible, and it was a real pleasure to show them around the car
we obviously took care in choosing our overnight stops, but we didn't feel the same degree of anxiety that we had in previous years when we took the lambos to western Europe , because the boxster doesn't seem to attract the wrong sort of attention
there is a huge amount of road building and road re-surfacing going on in Romania just now , and I am sure that in 2 years time it will be a really great place to drive (the men working on the roads , are actually there , and are actually working hard )
at present however , the road surfaces do significantly dent the driving experience------sudden unexpected deep potholes sprouting up on a seemingly recently resurfaced road being the main danger
the scenery from transfagarasan is spectacular
the tunnels are to die for , especially with the sports exhaust turned on
if you have an alarm clock , and can set the short hand for 4 , you will have almost no fellow motorists/motorcyclists/cyclists
again the roads are being resurfaced, and the current poor surfaces and the sudden appearance of big pot-holes seriously impedes enjoyment
the link road between the transfagarasan and the transalpina highways is a true nightmare
my respect for the boxster grew exponentially with each passing kilometre -----Romanian roadworks work by digging up one lane , and piling up all the debris on the remaining lane
half way down the link road when the going was really tough and we were down to 2-3 mph, we used the PCM sat nav device and were delighted to find that there was an authorised Porsche centre just 67 miles from us----ie 67 miles from nowhere in case we had a deep puncture which the sealant kit couldn't fix , or if one of the brake lines was ripped off
the murcie , even with the lifting front suspension , would not , I suspect, have survived for long
I suspect that any supercar would not have survived the link road for long-----the wrong tool for the task
the transalpina , was just as scenic, but so much better to drive than the transfagarasan , purely because the road surface was better
however the unexpected deep potholes , on otherwise beautifully re-paved roads , was an ever present danger
just one wrong drop would wreck the suspension completely
I think that in a couple of years , both these highways would be a true delight in a bona fide supercar , but do wait those couple of years
if you do go to Romania , do visit the bears and the painted monasteries and you will have a huge choice of UNESCO world heritage sites to choose from
my respect also grew hugely for the goodyear eagle F1 ASSYMETRIC tyres that survived the sharp stone chippings that seemed to surface the open lane around each of the roadworks
I wonder whether the Pirelli zeros that the murcie wears and the yokohamas that the countach wears would have survived so well
the ukranian border guards were all women , and they were all truly gorgeous-----modelesque in every manner of the term
they are actually part of the military , rather than the police , and wear military fatigues which have clearly been individually tailored for each of them to accentuate every curve
initially they wouldn't let us in because we didn't have the necessary ukranian insurance , and then they wouldnt let us go back to Romania , because we ''just HAD to visit their country ''
what lovely captors to have
the drive back from the ukranian border to our hotel in north-eastern Romania, was one of my best drives ever----great newly surfaced road with no potholes , spectacular curves, great sightlines, little traffic and what traffic there was , was very cooperative--------comparable to my 2 other all time favourite drives , the col du turini and the route napolean
we returned from Romania through Austria and hungary and Germany , and in the 1 month and over 5000 miles only saw about 8 porsches , no lambos at all , and just 1 Ferrari (in hungary ) which was either a 550 or a 575, and which very sadly had broken down----flashing hazards, open front bonnet , and no owner to be seen !!
i'll stop for now on that note, but the message is that a low supercar is not really suitable for the transfagarasan or transalpina just now , but should be the ideal chariot in a couple of years time when all the hard work that is currently going on with the road re-surfacing , brings its dues
some months ago, I asked my fellow pistonheaders as to what alternatives there were to a Gallardo that would be reliable and suitable for lengthy cross-continental trips
my heart was set on a Gallardo , but my budget would only stretch to an early coupe , and my wife firmly vetoed taking an elderly exotic on such a long trip ,especially as there are very few authorised service agents in eastern Europe
I also considered a 6 cylinder supercharged elise/exige------but the luggage capacity for a month long trip is woeful , and again service agents were few and far between in some of the countries that we were passing through
the countach and murcielago roadster didn't really even begin to feature as realistic options , if only because they would have attracted too much attention of the wrong sort
my second choice (actually my first choice) was my trusty old series 1 mx5, which has now done 140,000 miles , and is 23 years old , but drives oh so sweetly
but my fellow PH'ers and my wife were not so keen on the mx5----my wife mainly because of the lack of air-conditioning
eventually we bought one of the very very last new 6 cylinder naturally aspirated boxster S cars available in the UK ---and this turned out to be the perfect car for the trip
the reason why I am posting this here rather than in the Porsche section , is to alert supercar owners about both the delights and the tribulations of taking a supercar (ie not the boxster) to Romania
our journey was over 5000 miles in total , and we went through the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech republic, Slovakia, , hungary, Romania, and then just for a laugh(which wasn't at all , as you will soon hear) Ukraine
we spent most of our time in Romania nd hungary , and the people were totally delightful
they were all so very respectful of the speed yellow with black interior convertible, and it was a real pleasure to show them around the car
we obviously took care in choosing our overnight stops, but we didn't feel the same degree of anxiety that we had in previous years when we took the lambos to western Europe , because the boxster doesn't seem to attract the wrong sort of attention
there is a huge amount of road building and road re-surfacing going on in Romania just now , and I am sure that in 2 years time it will be a really great place to drive (the men working on the roads , are actually there , and are actually working hard )
at present however , the road surfaces do significantly dent the driving experience------sudden unexpected deep potholes sprouting up on a seemingly recently resurfaced road being the main danger
the scenery from transfagarasan is spectacular
the tunnels are to die for , especially with the sports exhaust turned on
if you have an alarm clock , and can set the short hand for 4 , you will have almost no fellow motorists/motorcyclists/cyclists
again the roads are being resurfaced, and the current poor surfaces and the sudden appearance of big pot-holes seriously impedes enjoyment
the link road between the transfagarasan and the transalpina highways is a true nightmare
my respect for the boxster grew exponentially with each passing kilometre -----Romanian roadworks work by digging up one lane , and piling up all the debris on the remaining lane
half way down the link road when the going was really tough and we were down to 2-3 mph, we used the PCM sat nav device and were delighted to find that there was an authorised Porsche centre just 67 miles from us----ie 67 miles from nowhere in case we had a deep puncture which the sealant kit couldn't fix , or if one of the brake lines was ripped off
the murcie , even with the lifting front suspension , would not , I suspect, have survived for long
I suspect that any supercar would not have survived the link road for long-----the wrong tool for the task
the transalpina , was just as scenic, but so much better to drive than the transfagarasan , purely because the road surface was better
however the unexpected deep potholes , on otherwise beautifully re-paved roads , was an ever present danger
just one wrong drop would wreck the suspension completely
I think that in a couple of years , both these highways would be a true delight in a bona fide supercar , but do wait those couple of years
if you do go to Romania , do visit the bears and the painted monasteries and you will have a huge choice of UNESCO world heritage sites to choose from
my respect also grew hugely for the goodyear eagle F1 ASSYMETRIC tyres that survived the sharp stone chippings that seemed to surface the open lane around each of the roadworks
I wonder whether the Pirelli zeros that the murcie wears and the yokohamas that the countach wears would have survived so well
the ukranian border guards were all women , and they were all truly gorgeous-----modelesque in every manner of the term
they are actually part of the military , rather than the police , and wear military fatigues which have clearly been individually tailored for each of them to accentuate every curve
initially they wouldn't let us in because we didn't have the necessary ukranian insurance , and then they wouldnt let us go back to Romania , because we ''just HAD to visit their country ''
what lovely captors to have
the drive back from the ukranian border to our hotel in north-eastern Romania, was one of my best drives ever----great newly surfaced road with no potholes , spectacular curves, great sightlines, little traffic and what traffic there was , was very cooperative--------comparable to my 2 other all time favourite drives , the col du turini and the route napolean
we returned from Romania through Austria and hungary and Germany , and in the 1 month and over 5000 miles only saw about 8 porsches , no lambos at all , and just 1 Ferrari (in hungary ) which was either a 550 or a 575, and which very sadly had broken down----flashing hazards, open front bonnet , and no owner to be seen !!
i'll stop for now on that note, but the message is that a low supercar is not really suitable for the transfagarasan or transalpina just now , but should be the ideal chariot in a couple of years time when all the hard work that is currently going on with the road re-surfacing , brings its dues
F1ten --please could you post details of your trip down to Slovenia , as this is what I have planned (togather with Croatia)as my next motoring trip
I am particularly happy to hear that the road surfaces were good/acceptable in Slovenia, as this was the one aspect of my Romanian/ukranian/Hungarian trip , that spoilt the driving experience somewhat
geopetrolhead----do take your 355 to Europe
I previously had one of the first 7 355 's to be brought into the uk by maranellos, and for about 8 years we regularly took it on v long cross-continental trips
Not once did the car break down , nor in fact did it any minor issues while abroad
the 355 has excellent boot space ., and there is some additional space behind the seats
the petrol consumption was reasonable at a cruise , but poor when the priority was listening to the engine music !! (but at least not horrendous as with the Murcie, in which you can see the fuel gauge needle falling downwards in direct synchrony with the second hand of the clock {were a conventional clock to be present } )
Have now worked out that the boxster S was averaging 41 mpg at a cruise , averaged 34.9mpg over the entire 5000mile trip , fell to the mid teens when we spent some time at 92% of the car's supposed maximum speed , and the low teens on the Nurburgring
I must say that 41 mpg makes a long road trip much , much more affordable , and was a key reason for going for the boxster S (981 6 cyl naturally aspirated)rather than a Gallardo
interestingly , the new 4 cyl turbo 718 boxster is apparently not much better in the mpg stakes in THE REAL WORLD
I am particularly happy to hear that the road surfaces were good/acceptable in Slovenia, as this was the one aspect of my Romanian/ukranian/Hungarian trip , that spoilt the driving experience somewhat
geopetrolhead----do take your 355 to Europe
I previously had one of the first 7 355 's to be brought into the uk by maranellos, and for about 8 years we regularly took it on v long cross-continental trips
Not once did the car break down , nor in fact did it any minor issues while abroad
the 355 has excellent boot space ., and there is some additional space behind the seats
the petrol consumption was reasonable at a cruise , but poor when the priority was listening to the engine music !! (but at least not horrendous as with the Murcie, in which you can see the fuel gauge needle falling downwards in direct synchrony with the second hand of the clock {were a conventional clock to be present } )
Have now worked out that the boxster S was averaging 41 mpg at a cruise , averaged 34.9mpg over the entire 5000mile trip , fell to the mid teens when we spent some time at 92% of the car's supposed maximum speed , and the low teens on the Nurburgring
I must say that 41 mpg makes a long road trip much , much more affordable , and was a key reason for going for the boxster S (981 6 cyl naturally aspirated)rather than a Gallardo
interestingly , the new 4 cyl turbo 718 boxster is apparently not much better in the mpg stakes in THE REAL WORLD
f1ten ----- the locals in romania and hungary were totally charming , and at no time over a 2 1/2 week stay , did we ever feel in any way threatened or uncomfortable
we visited and stayed in a variety of places , ranging from a room near the Zarnesti bear sanctuary in Romania , where a room for 2 for a night came to £10 , to staying in the summer palace of the governor of Transylvania
The common thread throughout was that everyone tried their best to make us feel welcome
we saw very little of the police , and were able to exercise the car where the road surfaces and traffic permitted
I too was concerned before going , but can now emphatically recommend romania and hungary , although I think a delay or a year or two would allow all the road resurfacing to be completed leading to a much more enjoyable road trip
we visited and stayed in a variety of places , ranging from a room near the Zarnesti bear sanctuary in Romania , where a room for 2 for a night came to £10 , to staying in the summer palace of the governor of Transylvania
The common thread throughout was that everyone tried their best to make us feel welcome
we saw very little of the police , and were able to exercise the car where the road surfaces and traffic permitted
I too was concerned before going , but can now emphatically recommend romania and hungary , although I think a delay or a year or two would allow all the road resurfacing to be completed leading to a much more enjoyable road trip
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