Your favourite motoring experience
Discussion
I spent 45 minutes sitting on a bench in the Haynes Motor Museum just looking at the Duesenberg, totally enthralled
First sprint around Snowdonia in my Rover Mini Cooper RSP after the tubular manifold and big bore was fitted.
But my abiding childhood memory (late 70s) was on the A road around Welshpool with the 7 Sisters humps on, 4 caterham/westfield types came whizzing past in the dips "bloody idiots" shouted my dad. Still want to have one to this day
First sprint around Snowdonia in my Rover Mini Cooper RSP after the tubular manifold and big bore was fitted.
But my abiding childhood memory (late 70s) was on the A road around Welshpool with the 7 Sisters humps on, 4 caterham/westfield types came whizzing past in the dips "bloody idiots" shouted my dad. Still want to have one to this day
Passenger ride in a Radical SR3 around the short circuit at Kirkistown with one of local instructors. Came up to the hairpin and he left his braking so late I actually checked to make sure he was OK. Acceleration was unbelievable and the cornering speeds were insane.
A slightly different ride in the back of my Fiat Punto also comes to mind, but a description of that would get me booted from the forum!
A slightly different ride in the back of my Fiat Punto also comes to mind, but a description of that would get me booted from the forum!
A perfect summer's day hooning around west Northumberland's country roads in my 306 GTi-6 with a mate in tow. Just a great afternoon of driving. I loved that car.
Had a couple of great little drives around those roads in my Twingo GT as well, the whizzy little turbo made for surprisingly good acceleration.
Had a couple of great little drives around those roads in my Twingo GT as well, the whizzy little turbo made for surprisingly good acceleration.
sorry for the long read, but probably a memory I'd need a serious knock to the head to forget.
Just over a year ago I significantly upgraded my car, I was driving an old, battered, and bruised Audi A6 estate, which unfortunately I had taken over a kerb and twisted either the rear axle or the chassis, either way it was not good news. This however meant I needed a new car, and for the first time in my life I was in the position to be able to afford something a little higher up on the social ladder. That is how I ended up purchasing my GT86, which, unknowing to me, would be quite a boost to my passion for cars as well as a key to many doors that I would not have previously thought to try and open.
One of these doors was my involvement Pistonheads, by throwing myself more actively into the site I became aware of the need for members to attend Fast Car Festival 2016, as part of a display of the diversity of cars within the online community. I volunteered myself along with my recently acquired GT86 and was accepted to attend the show.
Whilst at the show, as well as making a few friends amongst the pistonheads group, going for Chinese together, and camping in neighboring tents, etc. I also got talking to the son of the man that owned the show stopping, main attraction, a deep red Aston Martin Vulcan. As it turns out, my newly made friend and I shared a few similarities, and we quickly got round to the customary Instagram follows and Facebook friend requests, what I was not expecting though, is to still be chatting on a regular basis with my now quite good friend almost a year on.
Fast forward a year later and the fast car festival is fast upon us again, only this time they have raised the noise limit for the event just so that the louder of the cars attending would be allowed on the track, this meant that as they had invited my friend and his dad to return with the Vulcan they would finally be allowed to give us all the show we had desired the first time around, I was pretty excited for this and couldn’t wait to see the car that had featured in the Grand Tour running at full chat around the track, what I wasn’t expecting is to be asked if I would like to hop in the passenger seat…
The day had arrived, I had attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday, Japfest on Saturday and now was the morning of Fast Car Festival 2017. I was more than a little excited to say the least. Whilst at Japfest along with the GT86 / BRZ Drivers club I had spoken to the event organisers and managed to cheek my way into a car pass for the Fast Car Festival, no free ticket unfortunately, and so would once again have my car on display a year later, albeit this time alongside something a lot more special.
The Vulcan was ready and waiting for us by the time we had gotten into the grounds, and all of a sudden I was centre of attention, something which I’m not used to being. My friend had asked if I would help to clean down the car and make it show ready, as I obviously said yes it meant that I was now seen to be with the owners and therefore in the firing line for all the questions. This was a task I feel I handled well, being a bit of a car nerd and having asked all the same questions last year I was more than capable.
The first track session quickly came around and the Vulcan was sharing track space with a P1 and a Lotus Evora GT3 car, the owner of the Vulcan was behind the wheel first off, we expected things to go smoothly, things went a lot less than that. Lap 2 came around and at the bottom of the finishing straight, approaching the first corner, the Vulcan span, we winced, the P1 chasing it panicked, and fortunately no contact was made by anyone with anything. A full set of tyres was, however, ruined. The Vulcan was brought back to the Pits, the session was stopped and everyone was crowding around to see what was going on. As it happened, not a lot, tyres replaced, car checked, parked up and waiting for the next session.
Session 2, my friend was now driving, we were all ready to get things going, his lady friend was to ride shotgun first, I was second, and another friend was third, we were all set. The session began, the first few laps went smoothly, and then another car ended up in the gravel, Red flag, everyone back, session over. No ride in the car. No one was happy.
Session 3, mid-afternoon, the Supercar Drivers Club had been out, an over enthusiastic R8 had binned it, our session time was getting shorter and shorted while the R8 was crow-barred out of the tyre wall. At long last we were ready to go, I squeezed myself into the passenger seat, had the Aston Martin Racing mechanic show me how the harness worked a couple of times (safety first) and we were sat ready to go in the Pit lane. This was it, the lights went green and the group trickled out onto the track.
The noise of the car, the firmness of all the carbon, the tightness of the harness were all gloriously sensory overloading. What I had not expected was the side of the seat which came around the side of my head, and so when warming up the tyres it took me quite by surprise to be smacking my helmet into something, one side and then the other. I learned quickly to predict the movement and resist it, saving myself a concussion.
The power delivery was brutal, instantly out of a corner you were getting ready for the next, straights were eaten up and corners spat out, this was like nothing I had ever been in before, the harness and helmet help to dull the brutality of such forces but I was glad to have them there, even more so when we started hitting proper speeds and braking with proper force. The first couple of braking zones caught me completely off guard, where I would be slowing down in my car we were still accelerating and then with the equivalent force of hitting a wall we were down to turning speed and around the corner, I wasn’t certain my chest would take the pressure against the harness. I again learned to anticipate the changes in momentum and began to revel in the G forces my body was being put through and the speed in which we were doing laps.
Well, lap, we managed the warm up lap, a fast lap and then, disaster, approaching a sharp right hand corner, my friend pressed for the brake only to find his foot slipping off the edge of the pedal and sliding in-between the brake and accelerator pedals, we were heading at full speed towards the gravel and then the wall, as it happened the part of the wall we headed for was just after the tyres, brilliant! My friend retrieved his foot, I retrieved my heart rate, and he again slammed onto that middle pedal, unfortunately this was too late, we had lost the precious time window to remain on the track and were now skirting through the gravel, that wall getting closes are closer, it was showing no regard for how hard the brake pedal was being pressed. My friend turned hard right, we continued straight, he kept his foot pressed on the brake and the wheel at full lock and miraculously the car dug in, we ended up 3 feet from the wall sitting parallel to it, we were both understandably relieved. My friend was also angry, he wasn’t sure what had happened, but was definitely certain that it wasn’t what was supposed to have..
The session was red flagged, we were towed onto the grass and I think I’m now one of a few people who can say they’ve been off-roading in an Aston Martin Vulcan, unfortunately I wasn’t able to squeeze my phone out of my pocket until after we were back on track so you’ll just have to take my word for it. We returned to the Pits and waited to be allowed to go out again. This is where I Noticed that my Air con vent wasn’t blowing out any air, something of a concern as it was a little over the temperature of the Sun inside the car without Air con. I let my friend and his dad know, they said it will be fine and the engineers can have a look after we return, I accepted that and waited for the assault on my body to start all over again when the light went green.
The light never got to go green again… We were sat waiting and I mentioned I could see steam from the front of the car, my friend stated it was probably just the engine heat, and a couple of moments later said he was getting out to check, I was relaxed and calm with his knowledge and so continued my wait for the green light. My calmness was, however, short lived, the word Fire Extinguisher being shouted to a steward suddenly triggered a primal flight reaction in me and before I could say anything I had undone the 5 point harness, opened the door, squeezed through the carbon scaffolding and climbed the pit wall. I was impressed with my reaction time, and thanked the extra couple of explanations of the harness release by the Aston Engineer.
As it turns out, there was no fire, part of the Air conditioning system had effectively self-destructed, sending chunks of metal into the engine bay and green coolant everywhere, explaining the steam and my air vent issue. The car was returned to the Pit garage to be looked at and the cars day on the track was over. The Aston engineer tried to re-assure me by saying that if that had happened at full pace around the track the engine would have more than likely broken quite severely and we may have ended up in a lot of trouble, always nice to be told how close to a big situation you just were.
The Aston was packed back into the trailer, the owner having decided not to risk another run without air-con, the show came to an end and we all went home. All in all it was a pretty memorable day, with a story to share I then realised I had to go start a night shift… reality came crashing back down, I was no longer a millionaire playboy, I was me again...
Just over a year ago I significantly upgraded my car, I was driving an old, battered, and bruised Audi A6 estate, which unfortunately I had taken over a kerb and twisted either the rear axle or the chassis, either way it was not good news. This however meant I needed a new car, and for the first time in my life I was in the position to be able to afford something a little higher up on the social ladder. That is how I ended up purchasing my GT86, which, unknowing to me, would be quite a boost to my passion for cars as well as a key to many doors that I would not have previously thought to try and open.
One of these doors was my involvement Pistonheads, by throwing myself more actively into the site I became aware of the need for members to attend Fast Car Festival 2016, as part of a display of the diversity of cars within the online community. I volunteered myself along with my recently acquired GT86 and was accepted to attend the show.
Whilst at the show, as well as making a few friends amongst the pistonheads group, going for Chinese together, and camping in neighboring tents, etc. I also got talking to the son of the man that owned the show stopping, main attraction, a deep red Aston Martin Vulcan. As it turns out, my newly made friend and I shared a few similarities, and we quickly got round to the customary Instagram follows and Facebook friend requests, what I was not expecting though, is to still be chatting on a regular basis with my now quite good friend almost a year on.
Fast forward a year later and the fast car festival is fast upon us again, only this time they have raised the noise limit for the event just so that the louder of the cars attending would be allowed on the track, this meant that as they had invited my friend and his dad to return with the Vulcan they would finally be allowed to give us all the show we had desired the first time around, I was pretty excited for this and couldn’t wait to see the car that had featured in the Grand Tour running at full chat around the track, what I wasn’t expecting is to be asked if I would like to hop in the passenger seat…
The day had arrived, I had attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday, Japfest on Saturday and now was the morning of Fast Car Festival 2017. I was more than a little excited to say the least. Whilst at Japfest along with the GT86 / BRZ Drivers club I had spoken to the event organisers and managed to cheek my way into a car pass for the Fast Car Festival, no free ticket unfortunately, and so would once again have my car on display a year later, albeit this time alongside something a lot more special.
The Vulcan was ready and waiting for us by the time we had gotten into the grounds, and all of a sudden I was centre of attention, something which I’m not used to being. My friend had asked if I would help to clean down the car and make it show ready, as I obviously said yes it meant that I was now seen to be with the owners and therefore in the firing line for all the questions. This was a task I feel I handled well, being a bit of a car nerd and having asked all the same questions last year I was more than capable.
The first track session quickly came around and the Vulcan was sharing track space with a P1 and a Lotus Evora GT3 car, the owner of the Vulcan was behind the wheel first off, we expected things to go smoothly, things went a lot less than that. Lap 2 came around and at the bottom of the finishing straight, approaching the first corner, the Vulcan span, we winced, the P1 chasing it panicked, and fortunately no contact was made by anyone with anything. A full set of tyres was, however, ruined. The Vulcan was brought back to the Pits, the session was stopped and everyone was crowding around to see what was going on. As it happened, not a lot, tyres replaced, car checked, parked up and waiting for the next session.
Session 2, my friend was now driving, we were all ready to get things going, his lady friend was to ride shotgun first, I was second, and another friend was third, we were all set. The session began, the first few laps went smoothly, and then another car ended up in the gravel, Red flag, everyone back, session over. No ride in the car. No one was happy.
Session 3, mid-afternoon, the Supercar Drivers Club had been out, an over enthusiastic R8 had binned it, our session time was getting shorter and shorted while the R8 was crow-barred out of the tyre wall. At long last we were ready to go, I squeezed myself into the passenger seat, had the Aston Martin Racing mechanic show me how the harness worked a couple of times (safety first) and we were sat ready to go in the Pit lane. This was it, the lights went green and the group trickled out onto the track.
The noise of the car, the firmness of all the carbon, the tightness of the harness were all gloriously sensory overloading. What I had not expected was the side of the seat which came around the side of my head, and so when warming up the tyres it took me quite by surprise to be smacking my helmet into something, one side and then the other. I learned quickly to predict the movement and resist it, saving myself a concussion.
The power delivery was brutal, instantly out of a corner you were getting ready for the next, straights were eaten up and corners spat out, this was like nothing I had ever been in before, the harness and helmet help to dull the brutality of such forces but I was glad to have them there, even more so when we started hitting proper speeds and braking with proper force. The first couple of braking zones caught me completely off guard, where I would be slowing down in my car we were still accelerating and then with the equivalent force of hitting a wall we were down to turning speed and around the corner, I wasn’t certain my chest would take the pressure against the harness. I again learned to anticipate the changes in momentum and began to revel in the G forces my body was being put through and the speed in which we were doing laps.
Well, lap, we managed the warm up lap, a fast lap and then, disaster, approaching a sharp right hand corner, my friend pressed for the brake only to find his foot slipping off the edge of the pedal and sliding in-between the brake and accelerator pedals, we were heading at full speed towards the gravel and then the wall, as it happened the part of the wall we headed for was just after the tyres, brilliant! My friend retrieved his foot, I retrieved my heart rate, and he again slammed onto that middle pedal, unfortunately this was too late, we had lost the precious time window to remain on the track and were now skirting through the gravel, that wall getting closes are closer, it was showing no regard for how hard the brake pedal was being pressed. My friend turned hard right, we continued straight, he kept his foot pressed on the brake and the wheel at full lock and miraculously the car dug in, we ended up 3 feet from the wall sitting parallel to it, we were both understandably relieved. My friend was also angry, he wasn’t sure what had happened, but was definitely certain that it wasn’t what was supposed to have..
The session was red flagged, we were towed onto the grass and I think I’m now one of a few people who can say they’ve been off-roading in an Aston Martin Vulcan, unfortunately I wasn’t able to squeeze my phone out of my pocket until after we were back on track so you’ll just have to take my word for it. We returned to the Pits and waited to be allowed to go out again. This is where I Noticed that my Air con vent wasn’t blowing out any air, something of a concern as it was a little over the temperature of the Sun inside the car without Air con. I let my friend and his dad know, they said it will be fine and the engineers can have a look after we return, I accepted that and waited for the assault on my body to start all over again when the light went green.
The light never got to go green again… We were sat waiting and I mentioned I could see steam from the front of the car, my friend stated it was probably just the engine heat, and a couple of moments later said he was getting out to check, I was relaxed and calm with his knowledge and so continued my wait for the green light. My calmness was, however, short lived, the word Fire Extinguisher being shouted to a steward suddenly triggered a primal flight reaction in me and before I could say anything I had undone the 5 point harness, opened the door, squeezed through the carbon scaffolding and climbed the pit wall. I was impressed with my reaction time, and thanked the extra couple of explanations of the harness release by the Aston Engineer.
As it turns out, there was no fire, part of the Air conditioning system had effectively self-destructed, sending chunks of metal into the engine bay and green coolant everywhere, explaining the steam and my air vent issue. The car was returned to the Pit garage to be looked at and the cars day on the track was over. The Aston engineer tried to re-assure me by saying that if that had happened at full pace around the track the engine would have more than likely broken quite severely and we may have ended up in a lot of trouble, always nice to be told how close to a big situation you just were.
The Aston was packed back into the trailer, the owner having decided not to risk another run without air-con, the show came to an end and we all went home. All in all it was a pretty memorable day, with a story to share I then realised I had to go start a night shift… reality came crashing back down, I was no longer a millionaire playboy, I was me again...
thatjagbloke said:
GetCarter said:
Here's that road today:
(And there's still only one pub and one shop)
Thanks for the pic. That's brought back loads of memories. Sadly I've never been back but I believe there is now a much easier route along the coast.(And there's still only one pub and one shop)
https://coffeesandcars.wordpress.com/2018/01/03/no...
littlelewis6 said:
It's included as part of the North Coast 500 route, one of the highlights of the journey IMO.
https://coffeesandcars.wordpress.com/2018/01/03/no...
Many of the locals here are trying to get it removed, due to the dreadful standard of driving and knackering of the single track road.https://coffeesandcars.wordpress.com/2018/01/03/no...
Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 1st March 09:17
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