Harry's Garage - YouTube

[CSNY]

Another entertaining video from Harry, who for me produces the most watchable YouTube car videos bar none. I love the lack of hyperbole, although if he had chosen to attempt Hardknott Pass we may well have seen tears. The Lake District is great for touring in cars but not necessarily driving if that makes sense - I'd love to see him come back with the Elan, which would be much better suited for the roads here.

I think the only road where he could have really stretched the SLR's legs would be the A595 which skirts the western Lakes and is full of swoops, bends and straights, with amazing scenery. Maybe next time.

[niva441]

soxboy said:

Last time I went over Hardknot Pass was in a Ford Kuga which loved it, once you've got past the first bit it's not too narrow.

Problem I faced was some Swiss bikers who had either lost brakes or confidence as one of them was sat on their bike 'walking' it down the descent towards Eskdale. If anyone is used to steep hills you would think it was the Swiss?!

I had a similar experience of being held up by bikers in my MGA, later I discovered the master cylinder was leaking, so I wasn't that far off losing brakes myself.

[Uncle John]

Excellent insight to the world of an SLR. My take away is it’s a perfectly useable brute of a car.

One thing, can you state torque in lbs/ft as well please? NM’s means nothing to me, thanks.

[Mammasaid]

Uncle John said:

NM’s means nothing to me, thanks.

Roughly 3/4, so 400 Nm ~ 300 ft lb.

[Mars]

I holidayed in the Lake District two years ago, at the bottom of the Kirkstone Pass. I have a wide car too. It's not really a good place to drive around - the drystone walls are a bit uncompromising and occasionally there were pieces of those walls on the edges of the roads, further reducing the width of the road. My car - more a truck really - gave me the height advantage to see further down the twisty roads but I am still convinced it's not a "driving" location.

I went through in my Caterham years ago. Obviously there's more room in a Caterham SLR than in a McMerc SLR but it still feels perilous for the same reason as above.

BUT, if I had a McMerc to play with, I'd bloody go anywhere just for the experience. It's totally my kind of car although not at the price they're going for. The concept is lovely though, the colour, and the noise...

[Gilhooligan]

Enjoyed the SLR video. Was surprised when I saw Harry attempting the Hardknott Pass. Glad he took the sensible option of turning round.

Like a lot of the Lake District passes, the roads are too narrow to enjoy. I’ve cycled Hardknott twice and remember the smell of burning clutch lingering when cars have gone up. Driven Kirkstone pass which was more fun as you can get a bit more speed. I did it in an automatic Focus hire car which was pretty good for the job.

[Yeti97]

If you skip the paint and re-trim on that MSO you seem to be getting some really good upgrades for a decent price. Almost 50% off the total price IIRC? Lovely car though but can imagine it does drone quite badly down the motorway.

[Pistom]

Caddyshack said:

Pistom said:

Enjoyed the video but wasn't sure what the point was of taking that car to the Lakes. What was he thinking attempting Hardknott in it? Surely there couldn't be any pleasure in that.

I was left unimpressed with the car and really couldn't live with it on motorways.

I guess we would not have known that though unless he tried it and showed us?

It is a GT car of sorts so the vid shows how suited it may be to that sort of road trip?

What I was trying to say is that it seemed a waste of the road trip opportunity to take that car there when he must have known the car wasn't suited to the smaller roads. I've done Hardknott many times and maybe Harry didn't know what to expect.

You sum it up well referring to it as a "GT car of sorts" and I think that's what left me unimpressed. What is is supposed to be? It's sounds horrible on motorways, it's not great on country roads, I don't think it looked very attractive. I guess fast A roads are its forte.

I've got to admire Harry for his tenacity as after his time in Wales, I think I would have just turned around and gone home.

[M4SER]

Pistom said:

Caddyshack said:

Pistom said:

Enjoyed the video but wasn't sure what the point was of taking that car to the Lakes. What was he thinking attempting Hardknott in it? Surely there couldn't be any pleasure in that.

I was left unimpressed with the car and really couldn't live with it on motorways.

I guess we would not have known that though unless he tried it and showed us?

It is a GT car of sorts so the vid shows how suited it may be to that sort of road trip?

What I was trying to say is that it seemed a waste of the road trip opportunity to take that car there when he must have known the car wasn't suited to the smaller roads. I've done Hardknott many times and maybe Harry didn't know what to expect.

You sum it up well referring to it as a "GT car of sorts" and I think that's what left me unimpressed. What is is supposed to be? It's sounds horrible on motorways, it's not great on country roads, I don't think it looked very attractive. I guess fast A roads are its forte.

I've got to admire Harry for his tenacity as after his time in Wales, I think I would have just turned around and gone home.

You have to remember on these road-trip videos, you're basically joining us on a private trip away and I hadn't been to the Lake District for 40 odd years, while Mrs.M had never been at all, so we had no knowledge of what the roads were going to be like until we got there.

I had planned on taking the Espada on this trip but then the offer came in from MSO, which seemed like a great opportunity to revisit the SLR and see what it was really like to live with over a few days on a decent road trip.

As for the Hardknott Pass, I had no idea how tight the approach road was going to be and you saw what happened as we attempted it in real time. From what I've learnt since, I'm very glad we aborted when we did.

[RSTurboPaul]

M4SER said:

You have to remember on these road-trip videos, you're basically joining us on a private trip away and I hadn't been to the Lake District for 40 odd years, while Mrs.M had never been at all, so we had no knowledge of what the roads were going to be like until we got there.

I had planned on taking the Espada on this trip but then the offer came in from MSO, which seemed like a great opportunity to revisit the SLR and see what it was really like to live with over a few days on a decent road trip.

As for the Hardknott Pass, I had no idea how tight the approach road was going to be and you saw what happened as we attempted it in real time. From what I've learnt since, I'm very glad we aborted when we did.

And therein lies the adventure and joy of a roadtrip somewhere new

'Driving' a route beforehand on GoogleMaps is all well and good, but it's nice to be surprised sometimes

[Leithen]

RSTurboPaul said:

M4SER said:

You have to remember on these road-trip videos, you're basically joining us on a private trip away and I hadn't been to the Lake District for 40 odd years, while Mrs.M had never been at all, so we had no knowledge of what the roads were going to be like until we got there.

I had planned on taking the Espada on this trip but then the offer came in from MSO, which seemed like a great opportunity to revisit the SLR and see what it was really like to live with over a few days on a decent road trip.

As for the Hardknott Pass, I had no idea how tight the approach road was going to be and you saw what happened as we attempted it in real time. From what I've learnt since, I'm very glad we aborted when we did.

And therein lies the adventure and joy of a roadtrip somewhere new

'Driving' a route beforehand on GoogleMaps is all well and good, but it's nice to be surprised sometimes

Heavens yes. Mrs L has never let me forget the short cut "direct" route from Morzine to Tignes. It was the summer, and we were in a Boxster, but the road at the highest point was even narrower than anything I've found in the Lake District and contained numerous Belgian motorhomes coming in the opposite direction. The Tibetan monastery in the mist/clouds at the top of the pass was the clincher. Great fun.

Needless to say, we returned the boring long way round.

[RSTurboPaul]

Leithen said:

Heavens yes. Mrs L has never let me forget the short cut "direct" route from Morzine to Tignes. It was the summer, and we were in a Boxster, but the road at the highest point was even narrower than anything I've found in the Lake District and contained numerous Belgian motorhomes coming in the opposite direction. The Tibetan monastery in the mist/clouds at the top of the pass was the clincher. Great fun.

Needless to say, we returned the boring long way round.

haha, you've just reminded me of the time I almost drove myself and the missus down what I later found out would have been Violets Lane in Furneux Pelham - 'the longest ford in England'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOE4ah1tLXc

[Pistom]

M4SER said:

You have to remember on these road-trip videos, you're basically joining us on a private trip away and I hadn't been to the Lake District for 40 odd years, while Mrs.M had never been at all, so we had no knowledge of what the roads were going to be like until we got there.

I had planned on taking the Espada on this trip but then the offer came in from MSO, which seemed like a great opportunity to revisit the SLR and see what it was really like to live with over a few days on a decent road trip.

As for the Hardknott Pass, I had no idea how tight the approach road was going to be and you saw what happened as we attempted it in real time. From what I've learnt since, I'm very glad we aborted when we did.

Completely understandable if the areas were so unfamiliar and the video was all the better for it. Hardknott would be great in something like your Elan or your Fulvia once you get it back.

[tombar]

I remember doing the Hardknott in my Citroën Dyane back in the late 80s. It handled it well!

Nice to see the roads by me in Ruthin being featured too. Now that the B5105 has been resurfaced it is again like a mini - Spa!

[Mars]

Hugely happy to see the Arctic Roller getting some love.

I regret passing on a Bentley Turbo R when they were affordable, on the basis that it wasn't very affordable to keep but I suspect I could have made some friends with little out of the way garages and brought the ownership costs down a lot. If only I knew then what I know now.

[twizellb]

Venisonpie said:

Caddyshack said:

My Cerbera gear selector used to get so hot that you could not touch it...which was nice!

I'd forgotten about that particular TVR quirk, my Tuscan used to do the same. Still, leave it in 2nd and treat it like a one speed box.

My first Tuscan was the same used to get very hot.
My second one didn't have a problem.
My Cerbera had no problem either, I think there was a recall.

[M4SER]

tombar said:

I remember doing the Hardknott in my Citroën Dyane back in the late 80s. It handled it well!

Nice to see the roads by me in Ruthin being featured too. Now that the B5105 has been resurfaced it is again like a mini - Spa!

We had a cottage close to Ruthin when I was growing up and I used to go there almost every weekend as a kid. I even used to cycle there from my school in Birkenhead, then back again on a Sunday night! Can't believe it now..

Ruthin is a great market town and there are some fab roads around there too. I did do some clips of the SLR on the roads around Ruthin but the vid would have ended up being over an hour long, so I cut it all out in the end. Shame..

[V1nce Fox]

Can i put in a request for some classic superbike content please?

[M4SER]

V1nce Fox said:

Can i put in a request for some classic superbike content please?

I'm really struggling with the sound on bike videos, it was just okay doing the Dakar bikes off-road as speeds were slower than on road reviews but once I get to 60mph, the sounds distorts too much. Also, despite being well received the views were terrible on the Dakar bike videos, so I'm in no hurry to do any more at the moment!

[V1nce Fox]

M4SER said:

I'm really struggling with the sound on bike videos, it was just okay doing the Dakar bikes off-road as speeds were slower than on road reviews but once I get to 60mph, the sounds distorts too much. Also, despite being well received the views were terrible on the Dakar bike videos, so I'm in no hurry to do any more at the moment!

Ah that’s a shame. Really enjoyed them though so thank you. Great to have a spot of land to ‘test’ the Dakar models over as well.