CALIFORNIA trip, 4th to 20th November.
Discussion
The annual trip to the winter sun and wide open spaces has once again been booked!
Will, are you still interested in coming along?
Hot Stu's excellent recommendation for Santa Barbara dining will once again be put to good use and no doubt we'll be taking a rather fast car/bike or three along the awesome Route 166, at some fairly scary speeds, once more!
Last November, shoving 100 octane into a 2006 7-litre Z06 Corvette and then trying and coax the magic double-ton from the gorgeous yellow beast was kinda fun, to say the very least!
Will, are you still interested in coming along?
Hot Stu's excellent recommendation for Santa Barbara dining will once again be put to good use and no doubt we'll be taking a rather fast car/bike or three along the awesome Route 166, at some fairly scary speeds, once more!
Last November, shoving 100 octane into a 2006 7-litre Z06 Corvette and then trying and coax the magic double-ton from the gorgeous yellow beast was kinda fun, to say the very least!
Anyway, it's basically as safe a road as i have found anywhere, really.
I discovered it for the first time, when i was doing a 200-mile bike ride on a mate's Laverda Jota and took a wrong turn, meaning i ran out of fuel on Highway 33, (Ventura Highway).
The road has arrow straight sections, virtually no other traffic and there are no buildings/solid objects anywhere, along much of it.
The run off, if you do make a mistake, is mainly sand.
I discovered it for the first time, when i was doing a 200-mile bike ride on a mate's Laverda Jota and took a wrong turn, meaning i ran out of fuel on Highway 33, (Ventura Highway).
The road has arrow straight sections, virtually no other traffic and there are no buildings/solid objects anywhere, along much of it.
The run off, if you do make a mistake, is mainly sand.
Sorry, i forgot to answer you!
Every year, since the very early 80s, mate.
It's a place i love and i have many car-fanatic friends over there.
The fact that they get 310 (!!!) sunny days per year helps, just a touch and the bike-rides in the canyons are absolutely fantastic.
The UK is a speed-camera infested car park by comparison.
The best bike ride i ever had was 45 miles on Route 2 on a Ducati 999R. Just awesome.
Every year, since the very early 80s, mate.
It's a place i love and i have many car-fanatic friends over there.
The fact that they get 310 (!!!) sunny days per year helps, just a touch and the bike-rides in the canyons are absolutely fantastic.
The UK is a speed-camera infested car park by comparison.
The best bike ride i ever had was 45 miles on Route 2 on a Ducati 999R. Just awesome.
No problems.
I have been fortunate enough to go to California every year, since the turn of the 1980s.
My best friend at school went there in 1979, never to return.
He has made his money in the car and tee shirt business. (He always has a huge stand every year, for example, at 'S.E.M.A.' and is a self-made multi-millionaire.)
Anyway, i lived in California for 2 years, planning to stay, but it never worked out fully, so it's just been holidays there every year.
The Corvette in question is my pal's. He is Corvette-mad and has owned around 20 of them. (I have had 2 Corvettes in the UK, one small block 350ci from 1982 and 1 big-block 454ci from 1969.)
The Z06 he has at the moment is lightly fettled, with exhaust/cold air/re-map and has around 550 bhp but he has plans for it this spring and is having a twin-turbo conversion, with 800 bhp. He could have gone as high as 1,000 bhp but wants to keep the car reliable and easy to drive.
I can't wait to drive it in November. It'll be stunning.
He also has a mint Ferrari F50 and an as new Porsche 993 turbo.
I have been fortunate enough to go to California every year, since the turn of the 1980s.
My best friend at school went there in 1979, never to return.
He has made his money in the car and tee shirt business. (He always has a huge stand every year, for example, at 'S.E.M.A.' and is a self-made multi-millionaire.)
Anyway, i lived in California for 2 years, planning to stay, but it never worked out fully, so it's just been holidays there every year.
The Corvette in question is my pal's. He is Corvette-mad and has owned around 20 of them. (I have had 2 Corvettes in the UK, one small block 350ci from 1982 and 1 big-block 454ci from 1969.)
The Z06 he has at the moment is lightly fettled, with exhaust/cold air/re-map and has around 550 bhp but he has plans for it this spring and is having a twin-turbo conversion, with 800 bhp. He could have gone as high as 1,000 bhp but wants to keep the car reliable and easy to drive.
I can't wait to drive it in November. It'll be stunning.
He also has a mint Ferrari F50 and an as new Porsche 993 turbo.
I love how 800bhp is the 'sensible' option for Corvette tuning!!!
Sounds like a good deal you've got there with the yearly trip!!
I've just booked flights for my girlfriend and me to go out this year.. and we were planning on driving around california for 2 weeks, including vegas back to santa maria, which very luckily drops us on the R166 that you mentioned..
I will have to make sure I hire a reasonably interesting car
(any tips on that? Mustang's seem reasonable to hire, but I have concerns that they're not the real deal, and will be the measly V6 version...
)
also, care to elaborate on this bit:
Sounds like a good deal you've got there with the yearly trip!!
I've just booked flights for my girlfriend and me to go out this year.. and we were planning on driving around california for 2 weeks, including vegas back to santa maria, which very luckily drops us on the R166 that you mentioned..
I will have to make sure I hire a reasonably interesting car
(any tips on that? Mustang's seem reasonable to hire, but I have concerns that they're not the real deal, and will be the measly V6 version...
)also, care to elaborate on this bit:
beemer-5 said:
Hot Stu's excellent recommendation for Santa Barbara dining
Edited by Pierscoe1 on Tuesday 19th February 09:21
Mail me, if you want some places to visit and details of some of the best driving/riding roads on Earth.
I have many photos that might be of interest.
'Enterprise Fish Restaurant' was the place Hot Stu recommended, whilst i was out there and is a great Santa Barbara seafood restaurant. It's on State Street, IIRC and is worth the visit.
You can hire a V6 Mustang easily enough, but there isn't much trunk space and as you say, it's not a V8. Better than a 'normal' rental car though!
You can hire classic American V8s, but they are quite expensive, to be honest.
Do have fun over there. Go for it!
I always return, bemoaning the ridiculous cost of buying and owning a car in the UK and also the ridiculous amounts of traffic and scameras we have to live with.
My mate paid a converted £33K for his new Corvette Z06!
A new V8 Mustang is £14K there.
I have many photos that might be of interest.
'Enterprise Fish Restaurant' was the place Hot Stu recommended, whilst i was out there and is a great Santa Barbara seafood restaurant. It's on State Street, IIRC and is worth the visit.
You can hire a V6 Mustang easily enough, but there isn't much trunk space and as you say, it's not a V8. Better than a 'normal' rental car though!
You can hire classic American V8s, but they are quite expensive, to be honest.
Do have fun over there. Go for it!
I always return, bemoaning the ridiculous cost of buying and owning a car in the UK and also the ridiculous amounts of traffic and scameras we have to live with.
My mate paid a converted £33K for his new Corvette Z06!
A new V8 Mustang is £14K there.
OK, well, i'd advise doing the helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. Shop around, don't take the first price which comes along.
Go and see the Hoover Dam, impressive.
Let me know where you're staying in Vegas. I have stayed in every major hotel along the strip now, just about. All have their unique appeal.
If you're into nature, Yosemite is amazing. That's where we saw a Brown bear in the wild. I think he wanted us for a starter, by the look on his face!
Go and see the Hoover Dam, impressive.
Let me know where you're staying in Vegas. I have stayed in every major hotel along the strip now, just about. All have their unique appeal.
If you're into nature, Yosemite is amazing. That's where we saw a Brown bear in the wild. I think he wanted us for a starter, by the look on his face!
that Hummer's just rediculous! :O
Where did you hire your mustang from?
Having a nightmare sorting the car out at the moment..
e.g. Hertz - expensive to begin with, and if you read the smallprint there's ~$100 of extra "local additional charges and taxes may be applied at time or rental" to add on too! :angry:
Avis - .co.uk site doesn't have any vaguely interesting cars.. .com site has interesting cars, but it's all in dollars with different prices so presume not for non-US citizens
Where did you hire your mustang from?
Having a nightmare sorting the car out at the moment..
e.g. Hertz - expensive to begin with, and if you read the smallprint there's ~$100 of extra "local additional charges and taxes may be applied at time or rental" to add on too! :angry:
Avis - .co.uk site doesn't have any vaguely interesting cars.. .com site has interesting cars, but it's all in dollars with different prices so presume not for non-US citizens
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