Your most stressful car journey?
Discussion
I was just reminiscing about mine.
My first ever Caterham race weekend was coming up and it was over 300 miles away at Pembrey. Dad had offered me the use of his large covered trailer, but I had no tow car. Due to towing laws I had a very specific set of criteria for the car to meet (including the requirement for a tow bar), not to mention a tight budget, and there just weren't that many cars out there. Time was marching on and it was down to the wire...
Finally a suitable car came along- a 2003 Mondeo TDCI. I paid £1,900 and dispite some cosmetic damage to a front wing I was chuffed. It already had a tow bar. However I was now very short on time indeed and Dad was using the trailer a lot- so my first towing experience was six miles from our workshop to my house, for a restless night's sleep before a 300 mile drive towing for only the second time ever.
In the intervening week or so between buying the car and going racing, I'd had sufficient time to realise that the Mondeo, at 100k, might ot have been such a wise purchase (what with the DMF and the fuel pump/injector problems they suffer). Gulp! I did like it though, It was a Ghia X with leather and 17" alloys. To 20-year-old me, the spec and the colour made Mondeo ownership 'bearable' rather than out-right embarassing.
Come Friday, and dispite going the wrong way and spending much of the journey on narrow single carriageway roads, we made it with only a couple of stalls. With a sense of jubilation and acheivement after the hardest journey I'd ever driven,I switched off the engine at the gates of the circuit after an unneccesarily long but otherwise incident free journey.
The stress arrived when the gate was opened some minutes later and I turned the key to start the car. The starter didn't engage with the flywheel and made an unhealthy chattering/whirring sound. Arse. Those of you who know DMFs will know that starter motor is a sure sign of impending flywheel failure. My floundering rig was towed into the confines of the paddock by a friendly competitor's Freelander.
Much of the weekend was spent confined to the circuit paddock unable to drive to town for dinner etc. We slept in the trailer which was freezing (It was March). On the Saturday night we got the car bump started by a circuit marshall's truck and spent a luxurious evening eating takeaway pizza in the car park of some welsh town in the car with the engine running, knowing that if I switched it off it wouldn't start again. I sent a friend of mine into the supermarket for some essentials including beer and wine to numb the misery, stave off the cold and ease sleeping...
By Sunday we were all exhausted, especially me having not slept well, spent all weekend not eating properly, trying to prepare a poorly-prepared racing car, competing etc. I was pooped.The adrenaline had worn off and left me in a depleted zombie-like state.
Leaving time arrived and the car was once again bump started, trailer hitched and my friends and I aboard.
The 300 mile drive back, still not fully comfortable with the trailer, deprived of sleep and food, contantly petrified of stalling or the flywheel failing, physically and emotionally exhausted by my first and most disasterous race weekend, was the most stressful journey I have ever had the missfortune to be part of.
yours?
My first ever Caterham race weekend was coming up and it was over 300 miles away at Pembrey. Dad had offered me the use of his large covered trailer, but I had no tow car. Due to towing laws I had a very specific set of criteria for the car to meet (including the requirement for a tow bar), not to mention a tight budget, and there just weren't that many cars out there. Time was marching on and it was down to the wire...
Finally a suitable car came along- a 2003 Mondeo TDCI. I paid £1,900 and dispite some cosmetic damage to a front wing I was chuffed. It already had a tow bar. However I was now very short on time indeed and Dad was using the trailer a lot- so my first towing experience was six miles from our workshop to my house, for a restless night's sleep before a 300 mile drive towing for only the second time ever.
In the intervening week or so between buying the car and going racing, I'd had sufficient time to realise that the Mondeo, at 100k, might ot have been such a wise purchase (what with the DMF and the fuel pump/injector problems they suffer). Gulp! I did like it though, It was a Ghia X with leather and 17" alloys. To 20-year-old me, the spec and the colour made Mondeo ownership 'bearable' rather than out-right embarassing.
Come Friday, and dispite going the wrong way and spending much of the journey on narrow single carriageway roads, we made it with only a couple of stalls. With a sense of jubilation and acheivement after the hardest journey I'd ever driven,I switched off the engine at the gates of the circuit after an unneccesarily long but otherwise incident free journey.
The stress arrived when the gate was opened some minutes later and I turned the key to start the car. The starter didn't engage with the flywheel and made an unhealthy chattering/whirring sound. Arse. Those of you who know DMFs will know that starter motor is a sure sign of impending flywheel failure. My floundering rig was towed into the confines of the paddock by a friendly competitor's Freelander.
Much of the weekend was spent confined to the circuit paddock unable to drive to town for dinner etc. We slept in the trailer which was freezing (It was March). On the Saturday night we got the car bump started by a circuit marshall's truck and spent a luxurious evening eating takeaway pizza in the car park of some welsh town in the car with the engine running, knowing that if I switched it off it wouldn't start again. I sent a friend of mine into the supermarket for some essentials including beer and wine to numb the misery, stave off the cold and ease sleeping...
By Sunday we were all exhausted, especially me having not slept well, spent all weekend not eating properly, trying to prepare a poorly-prepared racing car, competing etc. I was pooped.The adrenaline had worn off and left me in a depleted zombie-like state.
Leaving time arrived and the car was once again bump started, trailer hitched and my friends and I aboard.
The 300 mile drive back, still not fully comfortable with the trailer, deprived of sleep and food, contantly petrified of stalling or the flywheel failing, physically and emotionally exhausted by my first and most disasterous race weekend, was the most stressful journey I have ever had the missfortune to be part of.
yours?
Edited by HustleRussell on Friday 1st March 14:38
375 miles Elgin to Bradford on a Sunday night in an MR2 Turbo with a space saver on the rear.
I finished work on the Sunday evening, jumped in the car to head down to Bradford and with luck I'd be home before midnight. 2 mins later and the rear tyre blows out.
I'd have turned around and got a new tyre Mon morning, but an early morning flight to Gatwick for a friends wedding in Mauritious meant I had no choice but to nurse it down.
Never got chance for some sleep before checking in I cut it that fine!
I finished work on the Sunday evening, jumped in the car to head down to Bradford and with luck I'd be home before midnight. 2 mins later and the rear tyre blows out.
I'd have turned around and got a new tyre Mon morning, but an early morning flight to Gatwick for a friends wedding in Mauritious meant I had no choice but to nurse it down.
Never got chance for some sleep before checking in I cut it that fine!
Driving in Istanbul during rush hour traffic. I'm an experienced driver and like to think I'm above average when it comes to observation, hazard perception and reaction time but this was a true test of all of them. Far too many cars on the road for the road infrastructure to support properly (a dual carriageway is turned into a 4 lane melee without a thought), no signalling, people changing lane\direction at will, cutting across lanes to get to turnings, people going too fast for the conditions, total disregard of traffic signals\signs, some of the crasiest taxi drivers in the world, if you leave anything more than a 5cm gap, someone will try to squeeze into it mentality, beeping, flashing, shouting, gesticulating and to top it off, pedestrians who are positively suicidal in regards to car vs human logic.
After two hours of this my neck, shoulders and back where in knots due to tensing up from the stress and I think my fingernails had made there way through to the metal in the steering wheel. Strangely you do get used to it after a few days but I'd compare that first time to a nice fat fish being thrown into a tank full of piranha's.
After two hours of this my neck, shoulders and back where in knots due to tensing up from the stress and I think my fingernails had made there way through to the metal in the steering wheel. Strangely you do get used to it after a few days but I'd compare that first time to a nice fat fish being thrown into a tank full of piranha's.
Just arrived in Australia and decide to buy a cheap motor, $500 on a 1995 Saab 9000CD
Drive it home and get stopped by cops after 10 mins, for not having a pink slip (MOT over here). Tell him my situation and lets me go.
Keep driving and constantly looing out for more cops as it's automatic with plate scanners etc.
10 mins later get pulled over again.
This cop is not so nice and throws the book at me.
$1200 fine. Tells me to appeal it!
I do and get away scott free
(pleaded to be a poor PhD student and a foreigners learning the road rules of a new country)
That was rather stressful!
Drive it home and get stopped by cops after 10 mins, for not having a pink slip (MOT over here). Tell him my situation and lets me go.
Keep driving and constantly looing out for more cops as it's automatic with plate scanners etc.
10 mins later get pulled over again.
This cop is not so nice and throws the book at me.
$1200 fine. Tells me to appeal it!
I do and get away scott free
(pleaded to be a poor PhD student and a foreigners learning the road rules of a new country)That was rather stressful!
Collection in Leeds and the journey back home to Swindon in the MX-5. It was a Sunday, I didn't have car tax sorted, I didn't have the seating position set up like I wanted, and it felt a world away from the Golf I'd driven up in.
It was only later that week that I discovered the insurance company hadn't processed the change until the Monday, so I'd been driving uninsured too.
It was only later that week that I discovered the insurance company hadn't processed the change until the Monday, so I'd been driving uninsured too.
Driving to Wales with three small kids in the back (mine I hasten to add), the middle one of the three would not stfu all the way there, whining, crying, whinging, shouting etc, even a McDonalds dint shut him up, only about four, the youngest the decided to disgorge his fast food feat into his car seat, we dont remember buying that much food, 1 Hamburger, a few chips and a drink, he must have nipped in for more as the car seat was litterally full, gallons of cheesy puke with undigested clods of burger floating in it, got there lifted him out, trying not to spill the contents (was full to the brim) and hosed the lot down, whilst the Dog was trying to get in on the action and eat the bits. There was a rather full nappy involved along the way and the DOg trying to f
k off down the A55 on foot as well.
k off down the A55 on foot as well.We drove from Great Yarmouth to Peterhead in Scotland. 550+ miles in a Ford KA (old shape). Awful traffic, terrible weather, 12 hours in that little car were bloody awful, it was my OH's first time driving on a motorway so she did 4 hours in total, I'd been at work before hand for 9 hours so was shattered and the little KA started over heating in the middle of Aberdeen.
How that didn't put me off driving I have no idea!
How that didn't put me off driving I have no idea!
HustleRussell said:
StottyZr said:
Would anybody care to admit not making it to the porcelain throne?
I've come close a couple of times, when you're in despirate need of a word, your guts are bubbling and you hit a traffic jam it can be pretty stressful
The 'Oasis' bottle is your friend!I've come close a couple of times, when you're in despirate need of a word, your guts are bubbling and you hit a traffic jam it can be pretty stressful
I still wouldn't fancy manouvering a butt nugget into one, that could be pretty stressful in itself
Driving back from south Wales after finishing uni for Xmas. It snowed heavily overnight and all in had that day was an exam in the afternoon. I went in early to check it had been cancelled which it had been and got in the car (a 28 year old bmw 3 series!) which I packed the night before.
It was snowing quite heavily but the forecast said heavy snow solid for over 1 day so knew it was "now or never"
I left home an d got stuck quite quickly but managed to get free. The roads were atrocious and thought "get to the dual carriageway and it'll be fine" I got there, and it wasn't. I crawled along in 2ns gear in stop start conditions and thought "get to the motorway and it'll be fine".
Got to the motorway and it was just like an ice/slush rink. fk. It was awful and a journey which usually takes 2 hours took around 7....joini the M4 from the A470 going up the slip road sideways thinking "please car, please make it!" was pretty scary but it managed it ok!
It was snowing quite heavily but the forecast said heavy snow solid for over 1 day so knew it was "now or never"
I left home an d got stuck quite quickly but managed to get free. The roads were atrocious and thought "get to the dual carriageway and it'll be fine" I got there, and it wasn't. I crawled along in 2ns gear in stop start conditions and thought "get to the motorway and it'll be fine".
Got to the motorway and it was just like an ice/slush rink. f
k. It was awful and a journey which usually takes 2 hours took around 7....joini the M4 from the A470 going up the slip road sideways thinking "please car, please make it!" was pretty scary but it managed it ok! I had a nightmare drive from Road Atlanta in northern GA down to Orlando FL, back in September 2004.
I'd driven up to the track and met friends from Indiana for the Petit Le Mans. Arrived on the Friday lunchtime and parked my C5 in the Corvette Corral - and then proceeded to get very thoroughly sh!tfaced.
I was roused from my slumber on race-day morning by a cell phone call from my wife, at home in FL, telling me that a hurricane was due to hit the area we live in - in around 24 hours - and that there was a road curfew sheduled to start in around 12 hours.
I had the mother and father of all hangovers and was undoubtedly still over the limit from the previous day's libation - so I had to sit around, hoping for the alcohol fog to clear.
Just got to see the opening laps, before I hit the bricks and headed back south.
I had to maintain a fairly high average speed to get back before the curfew (didn't fancy spending a night in the slammer) at the same time avoiding the attention of Georgia and Florida State Troopers - all the time heading into nastier and nastier weather and nursing a stinking beer headache into the bargain.
No fun. Missed an awesome race, spent an entire weekend up and down I-75 and got back just in time for the hurricane to tear down my pool enclosure.
I'd driven up to the track and met friends from Indiana for the Petit Le Mans. Arrived on the Friday lunchtime and parked my C5 in the Corvette Corral - and then proceeded to get very thoroughly sh!tfaced.
I was roused from my slumber on race-day morning by a cell phone call from my wife, at home in FL, telling me that a hurricane was due to hit the area we live in - in around 24 hours - and that there was a road curfew sheduled to start in around 12 hours.
I had the mother and father of all hangovers and was undoubtedly still over the limit from the previous day's libation - so I had to sit around, hoping for the alcohol fog to clear.
Just got to see the opening laps, before I hit the bricks and headed back south.
I had to maintain a fairly high average speed to get back before the curfew (didn't fancy spending a night in the slammer) at the same time avoiding the attention of Georgia and Florida State Troopers - all the time heading into nastier and nastier weather and nursing a stinking beer headache into the bargain.
No fun. Missed an awesome race, spent an entire weekend up and down I-75 and got back just in time for the hurricane to tear down my pool enclosure.
This has to be going through Mombasa in the rush hour!!
What a journey - I am glad that I was not driving and it all ended quite ok, despite everyone wanting to be in the same piece of road at the same time. If there was the smallest hint of a gap someone would be in that space.
Istanbul is a sort of similar experience but there they drive a LOT faster!
What a journey - I am glad that I was not driving and it all ended quite ok, despite everyone wanting to be in the same piece of road at the same time. If there was the smallest hint of a gap someone would be in that space.
Istanbul is a sort of similar experience but there they drive a LOT faster!
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