John 'O' Groats To Lands End - Our Story & Potential Record?
Discussion
skimbleshanks said:
Indeed I had a 3am schelp to Scotland. 300 miles almost constantly over 100. Well over 100 more often than not. Result?
79mph average. Mid 80's is good going.
Surely you was doing 79 mph more often than not. Maybe 100 for half the time. 58 the other half. But not almost constantly over 100!!79mph average. Mid 80's is good going.
Pablo Escobar said:
This story would be cooler if the car was a Lotus Carlton.
There's a great account of a chap who did a road race in 'Murica and was sat flat out for much of the duration in one.
Joe Ellis BTB Exhausts - Nevada State Classic Road race Lotus Carlton in WhiteThere's a great account of a chap who did a road race in 'Murica and was sat flat out for much of the duration in one.
90 (ish) miles 33 mins
This car does not need a ring sticker
He is on PH and covered the story briefly on here a while back but in a thread on LC's
Please can we have some pictures OP?!
I believe the story but would just like to see the cars you used and how you did all the fabrication work etc. (unless you think you'll get arrested....
)Also agreeing with the pointlessness of the moving-refuel, tbh if you'd pulled in and tanked it up quickly from the homemade tanker it can't have taken longer than 5 minutes anyway.
Pics please!!!!
B'stard Child said:
Joe Ellis BTB Exhausts - Nevada State Classic Road race Lotus Carlton in White
90 (ish) miles 33 mins
This car does not need a ring sticker
He is on PH and covered the story briefly on here a while back but in a thread on LC's
That's the badger. I remember reading the thread but couldn't remember the name.Thanks for the info 90 (ish) miles 33 mins
This car does not need a ring sticker
He is on PH and covered the story briefly on here a while back but in a thread on LC's
ajcj said:
Interesting! I remember putting my Cerbera in for a service and driving a 1.1 Fiesta on my normal 45-minute commute. Time difference that day? 1 minute.
A few years ago Performance Bike magazine did a test between a Skoda Fabia 1.1 (or similar) and a sports bike to Knockhill. Admittedly the car was driven by Guy Martin like a loon, but it got there first has it didn't have to refuel.Pablo Escobar said:
B'stard Child said:
Joe Ellis BTB Exhausts - Nevada State Classic Road race Lotus Carlton in White
90 (ish) miles 33 mins
This car does not need a ring sticker
He is on PH and covered the story briefly on here a while back but in a thread on LC's
That's the badger. I remember reading the thread but couldn't remember the name.Thanks for the info 90 (ish) miles 33 mins
This car does not need a ring sticker
He is on PH and covered the story briefly on here a while back but in a thread on LC's
HereBeMonsters said:
Pablo Escobar said:
B'stard Child said:
Joe Ellis BTB Exhausts - Nevada State Classic Road race Lotus Carlton in White
90 (ish) miles 33 mins
This car does not need a ring sticker
He is on PH and covered the story briefly on here a while back but in a thread on LC's
That's the badger. I remember reading the thread but couldn't remember the name.Thanks for the info 90 (ish) miles 33 mins
This car does not need a ring sticker
He is on PH and covered the story briefly on here a while back but in a thread on LC's
I would love it if he did the full story - I'm actually thinking I might have a copy somewhere
Reason for edit Rubbish formating on Link
Edited by B'stard Child on Thursday 11th April 22:12
coolCraikeybaby said:
For those interested in this sort of thing 32 hours 7 minutes, the film about Alex Roy crossing America is now available.
I enjoyed some of it but the second half drags a bit. There's some serious legal wrangling going on between the director and Alex Roy as they've fallen out over the editing and the fact that it's taken so long.Just bumping this excellent story after reading about the guy who covered the US in 28 hours..
MrMoonyMan said:
Just bumping this excellent story after reading about the guy who covered the US in 28 hours..
better to start a new thread surely....but thanks I enjoyed that read
So I'm new to the 'posting' game so forgive me if I'm not quite familiar with forum etiquette so please be kind.
Having been lurking in the shadows reading the thread as well as many other from this great site, This first paragraph of missingk's story struck a chord with me tonight...
''However on the basis that why does one do these things if not to share them with like minded people and for a reason that will become obvious at the end I've decided why not. To be clear this is not intended to glamorise or brag but rather an honest write up of an experience two committed petrol heads.''
I thought I would share my experience of John O'Groats to Lands End. Having grown up watching the Cannonball films and being fascinated with the original Brock Yates races of the 70s from Coast to Coast and the more recent records of Alex Roy and Ed Bolian, I have always been fascinated with endurance driving.
About 6 years ago an elderly gentleman called round to visit my father, he mentioned that he was part of the team that drove a JCB from JOG to LE. After he left I gave it a quick google and came across the motoring section of the JOGLE Wikipedia page. Two times stood out, 12:30 in 1988 (in an Alfa of all things) and 11:14 in 1984 on a bike, a few calculations followed, 840 miles in under 11:14, Doesn't seem that hard right?
Then in 2013 this story appeared, My goal was now 1:15 further from me. I plotted there timings on my map and tried to work out there strategy and tried tirelessly to try and contact the OP, I wanted to know everything, Did this happen? I had so many questions.
Nevertheless ,whether it was true or not the time was there, 10:00:55.
So the question in my mind was 'Can you drive from John O'Groats to Lands End in under 10 hours? This wasn't a hypothetical question, This was a personal challenge that became an obsession. I knew that this wasnt for the faint-hearted, I couldn't just drive to the top of Scotland, start the stop watch, and see what happens, I needed to be fully prepared.
First I needed the right car, at the time I had a 350z with these Nismo beercans on the back that sounded like it was doing 100mph idling, so not the stealthiest of cars. I needed something with a V8 block, subtle and could blend well with other traffic. I decided on an Audi S5 with the 4.2 V8, to the untrained eye there identical to the 2.0 A5. So the S5 in silver was perfect, 4WD and plenty of boot space and after a few tweaks, 400bhp.
I then did a few rallies round Europe, Having kitted the car out with the same siren and lighting system used by Greater Manchester Police, including a sign board. I had a really good time and also met the gent who would later be by my side on the record attempt.
The rallies were great fun, 2500 miles in 6 days, not quite the long distances I would have hoped, However the rallies would finish somewhere far from home and you would have to make your way back to blighty. 1000miles+ were perfect for getting in the right frame of mind of what a run would be like as well as collecting some vital data (MPG, average speeds etc).
For those of you who haven't done the journey, I'm sure you will agree, 840 miles across France is nothing like 840 miles across Britain. The task in front of me was starting seem impossible, having broke the route up into 4 sections, I knew, with an additional fuel tank I could do it with one stop. Trying to make the math work to get some sort of 'pace notes' right was difficult.
John O'Groats to Dunblane, 256 miles of single and dual carriageway, keeping an average speed like that of my euro runs just wasn't practical or safe.
It was then motorway to the refuel point and then motorway to Exeter, the A30 Dual Carriageway followed that then narrows down to a single carriageway for the Finish in Sennen. Which ever way I did the math, the overall time was always close to the 10 hour mark. I realised that a sub10 hour time would mean a lot longer at above 130mph than I originally thought.
So now for the elephant in the room, The route passes through 15 police constabularies, a couple of Gatso Cams and countless average speed cameras (Ohh that A9). Having mentioned Alex Roy at the start and mentioning my car being practically a homage to his great M5, I don't need to go in to too much detail about how these obstacles were overcome, Luckily for us Europeans, most emergency services use the Tetra digital network which can be legally detected. So I knew where our friends in uniform were going to be and I had 'Parking sensors' front and back aswell as a trusty Valentine One (more as good luck charm these days), A pair of IR night vision goggles (Retro Reflective Decals look like a second sun through them at 500m). As for mitigating the average speed cameras.....Ill let you come to your own conclusion with that one.
My Co-Pilot, a British expat banker, was perfect for the job. Not only had he been on the last two rallies through Europe as my co-pilot, he also had a passion for the challenge, as well as being a numbers man, he could read traffic and weather reports with out getting travel sick, we trusted each other and we worked very well as a team.
So the car was ready, Now able to carry 140l of fuel, thanks to the additional 80L tank in the boot, two cockpit cams, a third party minute by minute GPS tracking device, a full service, upgraded brakes and tyres as well as upgraded headlights (I felt deer may be a concern in the highlands) and all the counter measures that would be required.
In the last 12 months before the run I had gathered a few of my closest friends to help out. We had decided that refuelling would be quite risky on the forecourt, even at that time of night, plus the pumps aren't the quickest, so a Kangoo van was temporarily converted into our mobile filling station with a 150l tank and transfer pump, the transfer pump was much quicker than the forecourts and we could do it out of sight. I also I needed someone waiting at LE to load the car onto a trailer and drive us back.
This was the outlined planned timings...
Leave JOG at 8pm
Meet with the Refuel Van and Team at 1:40am - 2:00am
Arrive at LE before 6:00am
Load car onto trailer and return to HQ 6:30am
Everything was set, my co pilot arrived on the Sunday the whole team spent the night together going over last minute details and on the Monday morning we left for JOG.
I leave it there for now as I've just realised the time,Thanks for reading, Ill write the ending soon.
Having been lurking in the shadows reading the thread as well as many other from this great site, This first paragraph of missingk's story struck a chord with me tonight...
''However on the basis that why does one do these things if not to share them with like minded people and for a reason that will become obvious at the end I've decided why not. To be clear this is not intended to glamorise or brag but rather an honest write up of an experience two committed petrol heads.''
I thought I would share my experience of John O'Groats to Lands End. Having grown up watching the Cannonball films and being fascinated with the original Brock Yates races of the 70s from Coast to Coast and the more recent records of Alex Roy and Ed Bolian, I have always been fascinated with endurance driving.
About 6 years ago an elderly gentleman called round to visit my father, he mentioned that he was part of the team that drove a JCB from JOG to LE. After he left I gave it a quick google and came across the motoring section of the JOGLE Wikipedia page. Two times stood out, 12:30 in 1988 (in an Alfa of all things) and 11:14 in 1984 on a bike, a few calculations followed, 840 miles in under 11:14, Doesn't seem that hard right?
Then in 2013 this story appeared, My goal was now 1:15 further from me. I plotted there timings on my map and tried to work out there strategy and tried tirelessly to try and contact the OP, I wanted to know everything, Did this happen? I had so many questions.
Nevertheless ,whether it was true or not the time was there, 10:00:55.
So the question in my mind was 'Can you drive from John O'Groats to Lands End in under 10 hours? This wasn't a hypothetical question, This was a personal challenge that became an obsession. I knew that this wasnt for the faint-hearted, I couldn't just drive to the top of Scotland, start the stop watch, and see what happens, I needed to be fully prepared.
First I needed the right car, at the time I had a 350z with these Nismo beercans on the back that sounded like it was doing 100mph idling, so not the stealthiest of cars. I needed something with a V8 block, subtle and could blend well with other traffic. I decided on an Audi S5 with the 4.2 V8, to the untrained eye there identical to the 2.0 A5. So the S5 in silver was perfect, 4WD and plenty of boot space and after a few tweaks, 400bhp.
I then did a few rallies round Europe, Having kitted the car out with the same siren and lighting system used by Greater Manchester Police, including a sign board. I had a really good time and also met the gent who would later be by my side on the record attempt.
The rallies were great fun, 2500 miles in 6 days, not quite the long distances I would have hoped, However the rallies would finish somewhere far from home and you would have to make your way back to blighty. 1000miles+ were perfect for getting in the right frame of mind of what a run would be like as well as collecting some vital data (MPG, average speeds etc).
For those of you who haven't done the journey, I'm sure you will agree, 840 miles across France is nothing like 840 miles across Britain. The task in front of me was starting seem impossible, having broke the route up into 4 sections, I knew, with an additional fuel tank I could do it with one stop. Trying to make the math work to get some sort of 'pace notes' right was difficult.
John O'Groats to Dunblane, 256 miles of single and dual carriageway, keeping an average speed like that of my euro runs just wasn't practical or safe.
It was then motorway to the refuel point and then motorway to Exeter, the A30 Dual Carriageway followed that then narrows down to a single carriageway for the Finish in Sennen. Which ever way I did the math, the overall time was always close to the 10 hour mark. I realised that a sub10 hour time would mean a lot longer at above 130mph than I originally thought.
So now for the elephant in the room, The route passes through 15 police constabularies, a couple of Gatso Cams and countless average speed cameras (Ohh that A9). Having mentioned Alex Roy at the start and mentioning my car being practically a homage to his great M5, I don't need to go in to too much detail about how these obstacles were overcome, Luckily for us Europeans, most emergency services use the Tetra digital network which can be legally detected. So I knew where our friends in uniform were going to be and I had 'Parking sensors' front and back aswell as a trusty Valentine One (more as good luck charm these days), A pair of IR night vision goggles (Retro Reflective Decals look like a second sun through them at 500m). As for mitigating the average speed cameras.....Ill let you come to your own conclusion with that one.
My Co-Pilot, a British expat banker, was perfect for the job. Not only had he been on the last two rallies through Europe as my co-pilot, he also had a passion for the challenge, as well as being a numbers man, he could read traffic and weather reports with out getting travel sick, we trusted each other and we worked very well as a team.
So the car was ready, Now able to carry 140l of fuel, thanks to the additional 80L tank in the boot, two cockpit cams, a third party minute by minute GPS tracking device, a full service, upgraded brakes and tyres as well as upgraded headlights (I felt deer may be a concern in the highlands) and all the counter measures that would be required.
In the last 12 months before the run I had gathered a few of my closest friends to help out. We had decided that refuelling would be quite risky on the forecourt, even at that time of night, plus the pumps aren't the quickest, so a Kangoo van was temporarily converted into our mobile filling station with a 150l tank and transfer pump, the transfer pump was much quicker than the forecourts and we could do it out of sight. I also I needed someone waiting at LE to load the car onto a trailer and drive us back.
This was the outlined planned timings...
Leave JOG at 8pm
Meet with the Refuel Van and Team at 1:40am - 2:00am
Arrive at LE before 6:00am
Load car onto trailer and return to HQ 6:30am
Everything was set, my co pilot arrived on the Sunday the whole team spent the night together going over last minute details and on the Monday morning we left for JOG.
I leave it there for now as I've just realised the time,Thanks for reading, Ill write the ending soon.
Edited by CONVOIEXCEPTIONNEL on Wednesday 11th April 01:33
Both of these ahem, chinny reckon stories seem to start off with the odd premise of using big-engined petrol cars. The second one "I needed something with a V8 block", b
ks. If you really wanted to do this -and honestly I have no idea why you would- then surely you'd be well served to use just about any modern TDi which would be more than capable of sustaining high speeds when needed and would likely manage the whole thing on two short stops, possibly even one. None of this chopping up decent cars to fit needlessly large fuel tanks for the sake of one short and entirely unverifiable internet story. And rolling refuelling? FFS.
Otherwise, yep. Seems legit
Oh, and have we ever had an explanation as to why the OP needed night vision goggles at lunchtime on the M6?
ks. If you really wanted to do this -and honestly I have no idea why you would- then surely you'd be well served to use just about any modern TDi which would be more than capable of sustaining high speeds when needed and would likely manage the whole thing on two short stops, possibly even one. None of this chopping up decent cars to fit needlessly large fuel tanks for the sake of one short and entirely unverifiable internet story. And rolling refuelling? FFS. Otherwise, yep. Seems legit
Oh, and have we ever had an explanation as to why the OP needed night vision goggles at lunchtime on the M6?
Edited by Gad-Westy on Wednesday 11th April 08:36
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff