24 hours in Cardiff with F458 and Porsche 997 Turbo

[picardwebber]

Myself and some mates are lucky enough to be doing a 24 hour hire on a new F458 Italia and a Porsche 997 Turbo. We're going to base ourselves overnight in Cardiff so would love to know what would be the good driving routes from Cardiff in any direction.

Ideally would like roads that have the chance to put the cars through their paces with a good mixture of twists & turns combined with some long straights. If there is also really great scenery along the way then all the better ! 100 mile round trip maximum ideally.

Any recommendations would be great.

[mx5tom]

Was going to say head up to A470 into the Brecon Beacons, but I think you'd struggle to keep the whole trip under 100 miles. But worth a look, I guess. The road from Penderyn/Hirwaun back to the A470 is fantastic with lots of fast turns and decent straights, though . Will find it on Google Maps now...

Edit: The A4059. Connects Hirwaun/Penderyn to the A470 near Nant-Ddu. Fantastic bit of road. After that, not sure. I'd head towards Llandovery via Sennybridge but no doubt there are better routes.

Edited by mx5tom on Sunday 19th June 23:34

[picardwebber]

Thanks for the advice. I'll do a Google map search and have a look.

The 100 mile is not hard and fast it's just the cars come with a limited mileage before you start paying an excess per mile. We can go a little over 100 miles if we get a good driving route but have to watch the mileage as it kicks in at nearly £3 a mile (ouch !).

We're looking to do it in September so have a bit of time to do some planning.

[ewenm]

The B4560 is good too. Basically head North into the Brecon Beacons.

[mybrainhurts]

Hope you've booked dry roads...

[picardwebber]

Nice one. Good to get recommendations from those that know. Our biggest problem (although it's not really a problem) is what car we hire as a companion to the F458. We currently thinking the 997 Turbo Porsche as it's as rapid as the Ferrari and handles brilliantly. But, we also have the option of a new Maserati GT MC Stradale or the Jaguar XKR-S. We think the XKR-S is probably a bit too soft but the Maserati could be a good alternative.

Anyway, that's probably a discussion for a different forum.

Thanks for ths suggestion on the B road. I'll look up the details.

[picardwebber]

Ah, we'll be fine. It never rains in Wales :-)

[ewenm]

Hire something with good punchy acceleration - the roads aren't that wide and the visibility can be limited so top speed is mostly irrelevant. In the Caterham I've kept up with/been held up by much more exotic machinery and numerous bikes in South Wales.

On the B4560 I prefer it north to south as there's a lovely uphill hairpin to drift round (evo use it a fair bit). The southern end is more open and flowing but watch out for sheep (no walls or fences).

Edited by ewenm on Sunday 19th June 23:59