Driving to Scotland for a week

[AlasdairMc]

Paulm4 said:

Travel outside peak times if you can, the roads go from busy to quiet pretty quickly after 7pm.

Stop in for a cup of tea if your going through Drumnadrochit ????

This. Depending where you are, things quieten down after even 5. I kept in the Drumnadrochit part of your message as I had a great drive from Tyndrum to Garve passing there, leaving at 5 and I had almost no traffic aside from Fort William. Sadly I was in a van but it was still spirited driving.

The NC500 has been a disaster for getting around though. So many drivers who just don’t have a clue about passing place etiquette, camper vans on the Bealach na Ba etc.

[revvingit]

Pit Pony said:

I'd say " Why?"

England is st. The roads are full. The hospitals are full. The jobs are boring. And there's nothing to see or do.

There's some good roads in England if you look hard enough.

Or get a bike.

[GetCarter]

AlasdairMc said:

The NC500 has been a disaster for getting around though. So many drivers who just don’t have a clue about passing place etiquette, camper vans on the Bealach na Ba etc.

Indeed. This deserves another post

[Carlson W6]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for such a well replied thread.

Things changed. After a bit of research i found out that a lot of the locations i needed to be at were down tracks and forestry commission roads which ruled the 911 out. I recently had the Scoobies paint work refreshed and it's currently nice and safe under a cover in a nice dry garage. There was really only one choice, and it's turning out to be a lot of fun.

The RS6 ate the motorway miles for breakfast. I made it from London to the Scottish Border in 4.5hrs and onto Aviemore in a total of 7.5hrs. It was mainly cruise control wafting with Waze on (which saved me a ticket in Scotland from a stationary marked car in a layby at the bottom of a long mtorway hill with the driver out using a handheld camera gun, using his door to steady his aim) with a bit of blasting when i knew it was safe.

I'm doing a lot of 6am 40 mile journeys in the highlands which is great because the car gets to stretch its legs and its surprisingly nimble for a tank (it's on Bilstein PS9's).

The 4 wheel drive saved me on a muddy field and its a thing of beauty opening up the turbos through 3rd and 4th on the highland roads.

Here's a picture-

Edited by Carlson W6 on Tuesday 23 July 21:29

[Orchardab]

I’d fly up and get a hire car.
They are the fastest cars in the world after all!

[Pit Pony]

Paulm4 said:

I live up here, take some of these comments with a pinch of salt ??

It's not a total desert, don't bother with fuel cans and satellite

If you are going on a 2 stroke motorbike and have paranoia about the quality of 2 stroke oil, take enough for a week.

Running up to Skye on a just rebuilt RD350LC was somewhat stressful when I found the only garage for miles stocked something I wouldn't put in a lawn mower. (1987, so it's probably no better given that less 2 strokes are on the road)

[Dave.]

GetCarter said:

AlasdairMc said:

The NC500 has been a disaster for getting around though. So many drivers who just don’t have a clue about passing place etiquette, camper vans on the Bealach na Ba etc.

Indeed. This deserves another post

Foreigners parking in passing places gets old very quickly!