Discussion
Just when you think everything is going fabulously...
We went out to a pub on Saturday (very unlike us) and it hosed it down while we were inside. When we drive home I put my shirt on the rear parcel shelf and discovered it was wet by the time we got back home. I did the same on the way out so it only started once we got there. Some intensive googling is pointing to the rubber seal on the high level brake light having failed and allowing a little water in. It rained pretty heavily last night and a quick check doesn't really show anything though.
We're away in Norfolk this weekend so I'm going to grab some silicone spray from a Halfords on the way up, give that a spritz as a temp measure until I can find time to drop it off to someone sensible.
We went out to a pub on Saturday (very unlike us) and it hosed it down while we were inside. When we drive home I put my shirt on the rear parcel shelf and discovered it was wet by the time we got back home. I did the same on the way out so it only started once we got there. Some intensive googling is pointing to the rubber seal on the high level brake light having failed and allowing a little water in. It rained pretty heavily last night and a quick check doesn't really show anything though.
We're away in Norfolk this weekend so I'm going to grab some silicone spray from a Halfords on the way up, give that a spritz as a temp measure until I can find time to drop it off to someone sensible.We moved house a few weeks ago from our pokey basement in W9 to a semi detached in the suburbs of Surrey. The only reason that is at all relevant is that the car now lives on a driveway! And my insurance is now under £500 a year.
Faux carbon fibre stuff: Discuss. Basically, I'm not a fan but somehow managed to buy a car that is coated in it. Now I have somewhere to "work" on the car I finally got round to starting the job of de-carboning. I removed the ugly peeling fake carbon R8 badge with some Gtechniq glue remover stuff. That worked a treat but when I went to find the new badge it had gone missing sometime in the move so I've had a debadged R8 for a few weeks now.
My wife could see how frustrated this was making me ("it can't have just vanished, it must be here!") so she kindly located it this weekend.
When we bought it I didn't notice that the mirrors were actually a wrap rather than real carbon - they looked really good. The edges are starting to wrinkle now though and it annoys me every time I see them.
The wrap on the wheels was a really good job (as far as these things go) but one of us has nudged something on one of the back wheels and it's starting to peel. In good news I think I can see the wheels underneath are silver rather than black. We've got no idea what state they're in under there but it' got to be better than wrapped.
The last item is the front grill which is yet more fake carbon and is starting to look tatty from stone strikes. And a bug. I will go back to stock - new price £1200 or £300 on ebay 2nd hand.
I guess people who wrap things are also knowledgeable at unwrapping so I need to find one of those in the area or maybe it's time I got it detailed and polished.
MOT is due next month and I will get another key sorted and the leak looked at at the same time, so I think I'll get it booked into an Audi dealer to do all that.
After all the boring stuff, I've had a few amazing drives as well. Strangely, I'd never managed a proper drive without my wife in the car (which does tend to temper the speeds) until recently. I took a drive up in Norfolk and some back roads too and from Sevenoaks early Saturday and Sunday morning this weekend and when you are properly up it, this car is immense. The speed you can carry across even tight roads with grumpy British tarmac is on another level to anything I've driven before. It soaks up bumps and compressions really well, never gets bounced off line and the brakes are super powerful. And the engine, I love that engine. So I still love it!
Faux carbon fibre stuff: Discuss. Basically, I'm not a fan but somehow managed to buy a car that is coated in it. Now I have somewhere to "work" on the car I finally got round to starting the job of de-carboning. I removed the ugly peeling fake carbon R8 badge with some Gtechniq glue remover stuff. That worked a treat but when I went to find the new badge it had gone missing sometime in the move so I've had a debadged R8 for a few weeks now.
My wife could see how frustrated this was making me ("it can't have just vanished, it must be here!") so she kindly located it this weekend.
When we bought it I didn't notice that the mirrors were actually a wrap rather than real carbon - they looked really good. The edges are starting to wrinkle now though and it annoys me every time I see them.
The wrap on the wheels was a really good job (as far as these things go) but one of us has nudged something on one of the back wheels and it's starting to peel. In good news I think I can see the wheels underneath are silver rather than black. We've got no idea what state they're in under there but it' got to be better than wrapped.
The last item is the front grill which is yet more fake carbon and is starting to look tatty from stone strikes. And a bug. I will go back to stock - new price £1200 or £300 on ebay 2nd hand.
I guess people who wrap things are also knowledgeable at unwrapping so I need to find one of those in the area or maybe it's time I got it detailed and polished.
MOT is due next month and I will get another key sorted and the leak looked at at the same time, so I think I'll get it booked into an Audi dealer to do all that.
After all the boring stuff, I've had a few amazing drives as well. Strangely, I'd never managed a proper drive without my wife in the car (which does tend to temper the speeds) until recently. I took a drive up in Norfolk and some back roads too and from Sevenoaks early Saturday and Sunday morning this weekend and when you are properly up it, this car is immense. The speed you can carry across even tight roads with grumpy British tarmac is on another level to anything I've driven before. It soaks up bumps and compressions really well, never gets bounced off line and the brakes are super powerful. And the engine, I love that engine. So I still love it!
September took us up to the Peak District for a four day family thing away and the R8 was as capable as ever on the motorways and loads of fun away from them! We took ourselves off for a drive one day and managed to take in both the Cat and Fiddle and Snake Pass.
Cat and Fiddle was pretty, busy and the average speed cameras were a touch irritating - I found if you drop off the car in front after you go through one then sit still until you see someone coming up behind, you can then catch up to the first car before you go through the next cameras.
Snake Pass was really spectacular though and no where near as busy (mostly fellow "drivers" including another R8 in the other direction). We went West to East and it starts with wide open corners with good sight over some amazing moors, then drops down into a forest with some tight and twisty and then opens out next to the river. I was surprised but I would come back to the Peaks just for that road!
We were staying in the South of the Peaks and went out for a morning at the Tram museum which was cool, if you're a nerd which I am so it was. On the "way back" I managed to convince the missus that a slight extra hour detour loop was in order and it was really worth it. I'd cadged a few roads of a couple of Peak threads on here that were nearby and we had a ball - the missus said they might have been better than Snake Pass. The link is below but the B5054, B5053 and the Blakelow Road along a ridgeline were fab.
https://goo.gl/maps/Bo6D2Gnzjcea5Hu87
Back inLondon Surrey and I took the R8 to an Audi dealer for MOT and to sort a few things. It sailed through the MOT, the tech sent a video of the underside saying how clean it all looked which was nice. They looked at the backlight behind the Fuel / Water gauges and said it worked fine, thanks for £120, I think maybe the instrument brightness dial only effects those ones and I'm an idiot for not checking it! 
They also looked at the leak and took another £120 to say they couldn't find anything. Naturally it pissed it with rain this week and the parcel shelf is really quite wet again so I'm not exactly happy about that. I've bought one of those 1kg silica bags to dry it out for now and I've left them poor feedback on their "tell us how we did!" thing which they say they'll follow up but we'll see.
But I don't care because I still have a half tank of fuel, I get to admire my car from the front window whenever I want and we're booked into the Saturday ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao for two weeks of perfect Spanish roads and ham!
Cat and Fiddle was pretty, busy and the average speed cameras were a touch irritating - I found if you drop off the car in front after you go through one then sit still until you see someone coming up behind, you can then catch up to the first car before you go through the next cameras.
Snake Pass was really spectacular though and no where near as busy (mostly fellow "drivers" including another R8 in the other direction). We went West to East and it starts with wide open corners with good sight over some amazing moors, then drops down into a forest with some tight and twisty and then opens out next to the river. I was surprised but I would come back to the Peaks just for that road!
We were staying in the South of the Peaks and went out for a morning at the Tram museum which was cool, if you're a nerd which I am so it was. On the "way back" I managed to convince the missus that a slight extra hour detour loop was in order and it was really worth it. I'd cadged a few roads of a couple of Peak threads on here that were nearby and we had a ball - the missus said they might have been better than Snake Pass. The link is below but the B5054, B5053 and the Blakelow Road along a ridgeline were fab.
https://goo.gl/maps/Bo6D2Gnzjcea5Hu87
Back in
They also looked at the leak and took another £120 to say they couldn't find anything. Naturally it pissed it with rain this week and the parcel shelf is really quite wet again so I'm not exactly happy about that. I've bought one of those 1kg silica bags to dry it out for now and I've left them poor feedback on their "tell us how we did!" thing which they say they'll follow up but we'll see. But I don't care because I still have a half tank of fuel, I get to admire my car from the front window whenever I want and we're booked into the Saturday ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao for two weeks of perfect Spanish roads and ham!
Edited by seefarr on Friday 8th October 14:29
On the subject of the wrapping I always think it looks pretty bad. That said obviously the real thing is expensive so a good half way house is hydro-dipping. I did some small pieces on my SL55 and it looks very very good indeed. Way better than a wrap and a durable finish - 8 years and counting. The only downside is you need to take the items off to do it and it depends on the skill of the place doing it. I used Wicked Coatings in Poole who are top notch.
I forgot to mention - I went to the Audi dealership for all that work because we only had one key and I wanted a replacement but when I got there....out of stock. Think I'll just get an off-brand one for the spare...
easy_rider33 said:
This is a good thread. Thanks for the updates. I’m following with interest as I’m looking at an R8 or a 911 of a similar age.
Thank you, I'll do a travel diary for Spain too so more coming. I had similar thoughts of cross-shopping with a Porsche but my wife thinks they've got an image problem (her words "they're driven by knobs" despite us having great friends with them!) so put the kibosh on that.emmetb said:
On the subject of the wrapping I always think it looks pretty bad. That said obviously the real thing is expensive so a good half way house is hydro-dipping. I did some small pieces on my SL55 and it looks very very good indeed. Way better than a wrap and a durable finish - 8 years and counting. The only downside is you need to take the items off to do it and it depends on the skill of the place doing it. I used Wicked Coatings in Poole who are top notch.
Hopefully the wheels under the wrap are in OK condition so I don't have to worry about that but thank you. 
What a great thread ! We have also done similar Euro road trips and have been to some of the places you mention. Its always a great adventure, and we have broken down, fixed the car, almost got arrested, etc etc, in all sorts of places ! Packing reasonably light and making best use of available space is all part of the fun.
Saturday we set off at 9am for our 12:00 ferry from Portsmouth. A foggy but uneventful drive down in plenty of time and we lined up waiting for a delayed ship. We had half a tank of fuel left and if you're reading this in the future or from another country this is important because Britain currently has fuel shortages. Really.
After a wait we got to the next line up then we were all excited about actually boarding. We got to the front of the queue and there was a Cayman with Martini stripes in the next row so I gave it a blip to make him question why he was 2 cylinders short of 8. This clearly woke up the traffic controller who stopped us and told us we were too low / wide to go up the ramps so we would have to wait! #fatshaming. So we pulled over to the side at the front of the queue while everyone else went past, giving us a big old stare wondering if we'd broken the rules or just plain broken down ("you know this is your fault, don't you?” "yes."). On the upside this meant we were parked down on the lowest deck with the trucks so were off first.
The missus had booked us into Commodore class cabin right at the front of the ship. Pluses included more space, a guaranteed dinner reservation, breakfast in your cabin and a great view:
Minuses included being at the front of the ship, so your wife gets seasick and you don't get to go to dinner! Beer and crisps in the bar ("it's the centre of the ship so moves around the least" did the job for me anyway.
When we woke up the famously choppy Bay of Biscay wasn't and we set off at the front of the queue on Sunday with minimal lines at passport control. Compared to the slog through France I'd love to do a ferry again - it just seems like a big floating bar with nothing to do but drink beer and look at the ocean, which is about my favourite thing. Not sure how the wife feels about it though - we'll have to see how the seasickness tablets work on the way back.
We did 1:30 on toll roads to Logroño which is in La Rioja region and is famous for its pintxos which is Basque tapas. €2 beer and €1.60 local young rose (called clarete) almost makes the plentiful petrol seem cheap (€100 for 60L). The hotel had reserved us a wide parking spot so no worries there but this may become a theme as the Spanish love a tiny parking garage...
We had a couple of people stick phones out to film us on the way and some pointing and thumbs up. The car seemed to always have people staring at it when we parked up so I guess they're a rarer sight than in the UK. Or I'm very handsome.
Monday we went to a small town with a big cathedral and then up to a vineyard for a lamb chops set menu which included a bottle of wine, served outside under vine leaves which was an impossibly relaxing way to kick off a holiday. It was a £700 a night hotel too (Marques de Riscal) so loads of fancy cars in the carpark (evil sounding GT3 RS and 996 turbo), mostly Brits.
After a wait we got to the next line up then we were all excited about actually boarding. We got to the front of the queue and there was a Cayman with Martini stripes in the next row so I gave it a blip to make him question why he was 2 cylinders short of 8. This clearly woke up the traffic controller who stopped us and told us we were too low / wide to go up the ramps so we would have to wait! #fatshaming. So we pulled over to the side at the front of the queue while everyone else went past, giving us a big old stare wondering if we'd broken the rules or just plain broken down ("you know this is your fault, don't you?” "yes."). On the upside this meant we were parked down on the lowest deck with the trucks so were off first.
The missus had booked us into Commodore class cabin right at the front of the ship. Pluses included more space, a guaranteed dinner reservation, breakfast in your cabin and a great view:
Minuses included being at the front of the ship, so your wife gets seasick and you don't get to go to dinner! Beer and crisps in the bar ("it's the centre of the ship so moves around the least" did the job for me anyway.
When we woke up the famously choppy Bay of Biscay wasn't and we set off at the front of the queue on Sunday with minimal lines at passport control. Compared to the slog through France I'd love to do a ferry again - it just seems like a big floating bar with nothing to do but drink beer and look at the ocean, which is about my favourite thing. Not sure how the wife feels about it though - we'll have to see how the seasickness tablets work on the way back.
We did 1:30 on toll roads to Logroño which is in La Rioja region and is famous for its pintxos which is Basque tapas. €2 beer and €1.60 local young rose (called clarete) almost makes the plentiful petrol seem cheap (€100 for 60L). The hotel had reserved us a wide parking spot so no worries there but this may become a theme as the Spanish love a tiny parking garage...
We had a couple of people stick phones out to film us on the way and some pointing and thumbs up. The car seemed to always have people staring at it when we parked up so I guess they're a rarer sight than in the UK. Or I'm very handsome.
Monday we went to a small town with a big cathedral and then up to a vineyard for a lamb chops set menu which included a bottle of wine, served outside under vine leaves which was an impossibly relaxing way to kick off a holiday. It was a £700 a night hotel too (Marques de Riscal) so loads of fancy cars in the carpark (evil sounding GT3 RS and 996 turbo), mostly Brits.
Today was quick 3 hour tour on the way to another enormous lunch.
https://goo.gl/maps/3nTwJTGiyAnKJrBk9
I'd seen a ribbon of tarmac on Google maps that had some MC Escher like road thing happening so this was where we headed.
The NA718 headed up to the top of one of the flat Mesa looking mountains here abouts and then down the other side. It started out amazingly twisty running up through a gorge and ended up in forests by the top. The switchback stuff was a few at the top and them down the bottom again. There was a fair amount of traffic on this road with campers and walkers around but getting a clear section just required patience to pull over and wait. I was leaning on the brakes and firing it out of the hairpins in 2nd and I could really feel it starting to send power to the front as I came out. Listening to the car happily ticking away with a used brakes smell here at the top and bottom:
It was so good we drove back up again and turned onto the NA7130 which was glorious. Dead empty, perfect tarmac, good sight and a few sleepy villages to break it up, it went up a wooded valley and down the other side of a mountain. Rock n roll and window down enough to hear the rumble and occasional punt through the revs. Just amazing.
Lunch was at a place that specialises in roast mutton so we went the tasting with upgraded Grand Riserva Rioja - an extra €10 got us a '94!! Two courses followed by a dish of mutton that could feed a rugby team meant a sedate drive back to Logroño through the vineyards to cap off another cracker of a day.
Tomorrow we drive up to the Pyrenees proper. We seem to have collected every single bug in Spain on the windscreen so we're hanging out for a services with a screen wipe thing too! No more lamb.
https://goo.gl/maps/3nTwJTGiyAnKJrBk9
I'd seen a ribbon of tarmac on Google maps that had some MC Escher like road thing happening so this was where we headed.
The NA718 headed up to the top of one of the flat Mesa looking mountains here abouts and then down the other side. It started out amazingly twisty running up through a gorge and ended up in forests by the top. The switchback stuff was a few at the top and them down the bottom again. There was a fair amount of traffic on this road with campers and walkers around but getting a clear section just required patience to pull over and wait. I was leaning on the brakes and firing it out of the hairpins in 2nd and I could really feel it starting to send power to the front as I came out. Listening to the car happily ticking away with a used brakes smell here at the top and bottom:
It was so good we drove back up again and turned onto the NA7130 which was glorious. Dead empty, perfect tarmac, good sight and a few sleepy villages to break it up, it went up a wooded valley and down the other side of a mountain. Rock n roll and window down enough to hear the rumble and occasional punt through the revs. Just amazing.
Lunch was at a place that specialises in roast mutton so we went the tasting with upgraded Grand Riserva Rioja - an extra €10 got us a '94!! Two courses followed by a dish of mutton that could feed a rugby team meant a sedate drive back to Logroño through the vineyards to cap off another cracker of a day.
Tomorrow we drive up to the Pyrenees proper. We seem to have collected every single bug in Spain on the windscreen so we're hanging out for a services with a screen wipe thing too! No more lamb.
elvismiggell said:
I am deriving significant amounts of vicarious enjoyment from all of this! 
Boring question - how do you manage with the luggage situation? Is it all just rammed in behind your seats or have you got some wedged in around you inside the cabin itself?
Boring question - how do you manage with the luggage situation? Is it all just rammed in behind your seats or have you got some wedged in around you inside the cabin itself?
Loads of luggage space! A soft skinny Eastpak wheely and a cabin-max backpack on the shelf behind the seats (doesn't impact rear or blindspot views) and then a smaller Eastpak soft cabin wheely in the frunk with shoes, oil, spare coats etc. We packed clothes for nine days this trip.
Yesterday we left Logroño and stopped off at Sos del Rey Catolico. Rather than the Autoroutes I plotted a route that took us to the South end of the A127 which was not exactly on the way but...
And yes, twisty toad on Google equalled a good one! Loads of nice views when we got to the top too.
The town of Sos is the most perfect medieval hilltop town. If it was in Italy it would be swarmed with American tour buses and have the same shop every 20 meters. Instead it had 2 restaurants that only open at 13:30, a cafe, a food store and that's about it. It's a wonderful place unless you need the bathroom at 12:00 and were thinking of lunch sooner after. We pushed onto Jaca, our overnight stop.
Next day we had a drive from the Michelin guide to do. Did I mention how good these are? "Scenic" often corresponds to "good roads" and it's a much easier sell to say "we've got a drive to a church, a monastery and a scenic valley" rather than "I've found a road with enough switchbacks to make you barf"!
https://goo.gl/maps/sMvCJdkeZ1rrkaLZA
And yes, twisty toad on Google equalled a good one! Loads of nice views when we got to the top too.
The town of Sos is the most perfect medieval hilltop town. If it was in Italy it would be swarmed with American tour buses and have the same shop every 20 meters. Instead it had 2 restaurants that only open at 13:30, a cafe, a food store and that's about it. It's a wonderful place unless you need the bathroom at 12:00 and were thinking of lunch sooner after. We pushed onto Jaca, our overnight stop.
Next day we had a drive from the Michelin guide to do. Did I mention how good these are? "Scenic" often corresponds to "good roads" and it's a much easier sell to say "we've got a drive to a church, a monastery and a scenic valley" rather than "I've found a road with enough switchbacks to make you barf"!
https://goo.gl/maps/sMvCJdkeZ1rrkaLZA
We started off with a petrol fill and finally a windscreen clean - it was such a relief to be able to see out again! The first interesting part of the drive was up a wooded valley to a town called Echo. Cute stone houses with strange conical chimneys and tight streets.
We carried on after a quick walk to check out a 10C monastery a few clicks after that but stopped there as the road went down to 1 lane.
Next up the A176 was as good as roads get in terms of surface and also had strangely wide lanes so racing lines became mandatory. Good sight lines meant that many left hand corners were taken as God intended using both lanes. We turned off onto the NA176 which I'd picked up from a Jethro Bovingdon drives series on Motortrend. And it was awful! Rutted 1.5 lanes wide (despite having a middle lane marked) that went down to single lane for the tight corners was not a lot of fun.
After a few clicks we crossed over the Navarro border and it was clear these guys understood roads as it changed immediately. It was just 2 lanes wide so I was using more than my fair share I'm the tight twisty stuff but great surface and we saw no other car, bike or cycle the whole time. There was even a couple of sections of tunnel interspersed with tight corners with just enough space to get to the higher registers of 2nd gear in between.
What we did see were sheep though, a whole herd of them complete with shepherd taking up the whole road. We spotted them in plenty of time but it was a useful reminder to dial it back a notch.
We turned right up the NA137 (another one from the Bovingdon show) which climbed up along a river, through some tight gorges up above the treeline all the way to the French border. Up near the top we started to see lots of cow poop on the road so calmed down a bit where there was no sight lines.
After a cattle grid we had switchback nirvana up to the top. Amazing road and stunning views at the top.
After we caught our breath it was the same but downhill! I wasn't leaning on the brakes that hard here so don't really know if they fade - engine braking is pretty high at 8000rpm so I made use of that. We stopped in for a quick beer half way down ("ooh that one looks interesting, never seen that, I'll have that one...oh it's 7.6%... are you ok to drive from here?”) then found a little cafe near the bottom that did ham and cheese sandwiches big enough to feed a family.
Back into town for wine and ham and discussions about how we can make a move up here work ("I'll farm goats and make cheese!”).
We carried on after a quick walk to check out a 10C monastery a few clicks after that but stopped there as the road went down to 1 lane.
Next up the A176 was as good as roads get in terms of surface and also had strangely wide lanes so racing lines became mandatory. Good sight lines meant that many left hand corners were taken as God intended using both lanes. We turned off onto the NA176 which I'd picked up from a Jethro Bovingdon drives series on Motortrend. And it was awful! Rutted 1.5 lanes wide (despite having a middle lane marked) that went down to single lane for the tight corners was not a lot of fun.
After a few clicks we crossed over the Navarro border and it was clear these guys understood roads as it changed immediately. It was just 2 lanes wide so I was using more than my fair share I'm the tight twisty stuff but great surface and we saw no other car, bike or cycle the whole time. There was even a couple of sections of tunnel interspersed with tight corners with just enough space to get to the higher registers of 2nd gear in between.
What we did see were sheep though, a whole herd of them complete with shepherd taking up the whole road. We spotted them in plenty of time but it was a useful reminder to dial it back a notch.
We turned right up the NA137 (another one from the Bovingdon show) which climbed up along a river, through some tight gorges up above the treeline all the way to the French border. Up near the top we started to see lots of cow poop on the road so calmed down a bit where there was no sight lines.
After a cattle grid we had switchback nirvana up to the top. Amazing road and stunning views at the top.
After we caught our breath it was the same but downhill! I wasn't leaning on the brakes that hard here so don't really know if they fade - engine braking is pretty high at 8000rpm so I made use of that. We stopped in for a quick beer half way down ("ooh that one looks interesting, never seen that, I'll have that one...oh it's 7.6%... are you ok to drive from here?”) then found a little cafe near the bottom that did ham and cheese sandwiches big enough to feed a family.
Back into town for wine and ham and discussions about how we can make a move up here work ("I'll farm goats and make cheese!”).
Can you jump an R8? Yes!
Should you jump an R8? No.
Yesterday's drive was up to a famous pass on the border called Portalet then down to our overnight stop at Ainsa.
https://goo.gl/maps/eiRvkKogGcFRtqvS9
We headed up to the pass and it was a nice road but enough traffic that it was annoying. I made a few overtakes but just kept coming up on the next miserable small SUV and figured it wasn't worth it. Near the top the road surface turned to absolute poo. We had 2km before the view point, stuck behind a Citroen something and the missus said "with the terrible road and no guard rails probably best to just cruise". But an overtaking lane appeared so overtake we did! And overtake we should not. Just over a rise there was what I would describe as a washout, like a creek had flowed through the tarmac and washed out a section to be 20cm lower. I saw it at the last second but still managed to get air, scrape the front and I think something at the back as we landed.
Very slow up to the top and it seems like nothing is broken so that's a plus. Still upset but the view was pretty amazing. A camper van pulled up and out popped a friendly Portuguese bloke called Madeira and a tiny floofy dog. He told stories of rallying Audis in Portugal back in the day and my mood greatly improved.
Back down the hill at a subdued pace, we made an unscheduled detour up to some thermal baths that Michelin recommended. The road was pretty amazing up a narrow canyon but a little too narrow for the passenger apparently. I built speed gradually and it seems fine - there's a bit of a shudder under braking but I think that was from another day when I might have warped a disk putting the parking brake on after a mountain session.
Onwards to the North bit of the N260 to Broto (which is a road that has four sides in a loop plus a tail so very confusing). After a couple of clicks it starts to get tight and windy and we see the "Windy Road, Next 23km" sign. It did not disappoint. Hardly any traffic on our side, enough room to get a hustle on and seemingly endless corners. And views.
If you're getting sick of seeing of seeing "Audi on Mountain" pictures just let me know, so I can ignore you. Anyway, we stopped at Broto for lunch and carried on to the East side of the N260 to be greeted by another windy road sign, this one warning of 32km.
Another fabulous drive and Ainsa was just as pretty as the last time we were there 9 years ago, but now they had a bar selling craft beer so it's better.
Should you jump an R8? No.
Yesterday's drive was up to a famous pass on the border called Portalet then down to our overnight stop at Ainsa.
https://goo.gl/maps/eiRvkKogGcFRtqvS9
We headed up to the pass and it was a nice road but enough traffic that it was annoying. I made a few overtakes but just kept coming up on the next miserable small SUV and figured it wasn't worth it. Near the top the road surface turned to absolute poo. We had 2km before the view point, stuck behind a Citroen something and the missus said "with the terrible road and no guard rails probably best to just cruise". But an overtaking lane appeared so overtake we did! And overtake we should not. Just over a rise there was what I would describe as a washout, like a creek had flowed through the tarmac and washed out a section to be 20cm lower. I saw it at the last second but still managed to get air, scrape the front and I think something at the back as we landed.
Very slow up to the top and it seems like nothing is broken so that's a plus. Still upset but the view was pretty amazing. A camper van pulled up and out popped a friendly Portuguese bloke called Madeira and a tiny floofy dog. He told stories of rallying Audis in Portugal back in the day and my mood greatly improved.
Back down the hill at a subdued pace, we made an unscheduled detour up to some thermal baths that Michelin recommended. The road was pretty amazing up a narrow canyon but a little too narrow for the passenger apparently. I built speed gradually and it seems fine - there's a bit of a shudder under braking but I think that was from another day when I might have warped a disk putting the parking brake on after a mountain session.
Onwards to the North bit of the N260 to Broto (which is a road that has four sides in a loop plus a tail so very confusing). After a couple of clicks it starts to get tight and windy and we see the "Windy Road, Next 23km" sign. It did not disappoint. Hardly any traffic on our side, enough room to get a hustle on and seemingly endless corners. And views.
If you're getting sick of seeing of seeing "Audi on Mountain" pictures just let me know, so I can ignore you. Anyway, we stopped at Broto for lunch and carried on to the East side of the N260 to be greeted by another windy road sign, this one warning of 32km.
Another fabulous drive and Ainsa was just as pretty as the last time we were there 9 years ago, but now they had a bar selling craft beer so it's better.
Thanks for the positive feedback!
Yesterday we had a 4hr trip via France planned. The point of it was to do the Col du Portillon pass from France back to Spain. This may not be shown via these waypoints depending on when you view it, as shall become clear.
https://goo.gl/maps/BPwgW2ch2Dpt3EeSA
The first pass from Spain to France... Was a 3km long tunnel with a fair amount of traffic on it so the road up was pretty but not fast. It was operating a single lane too so everyone got to queue for 5 minutes for a green light. On the upside after we got through there was a series of switchbacks to get to the valley floor and I knew if we pulled over we'd have 5 minutes of clear space.
and if you're on the side of a mountain, you may as well take a picture.
Our plan worked to perfection and we caught up to the car-train as we entered the first town. The trip through France was generally dull roads but pretty mountain scenery. We got through the last town and the start of the pass we'd been aiming for and
Ah. That's a shame is what I said except with a lot more colour and passion. We had to backtrack and head North so to get a waypoint in the navigation I just saw a restaurant next to a lake and headed for that. And it turned out to be a pretty damn happy accident in the end.
There were some large tour group sort of tables set up but we thought that France doesn't really screw up food and it was great. A whole bunch of noise in the parking lot and then a whole bunch of noisy Spaniards at the big tables was explained by the MG car club visit.
Back down another pass into Spain with a bit of traffic and then onto the C28 to Sort for our overnight. It started out with cracked concrete so I wasn't too hopeful but they had resurfaced it after a few Kms with lovely fresh tarmac and the fun started properly. All the way up to 2070m to a ski resort, only some bikes around to play with, alpine meadows with cows and horses, more jaw dropping views and then some switchbacks to finish off.
Down into Sort which is a.... town.... In a pretty place. It had a Rock Bar playing punk rock with craft beer. Apart from that I'm not sure if I'd go back. Except for the amazing roads all around, so I probably will.
Yesterday we had a 4hr trip via France planned. The point of it was to do the Col du Portillon pass from France back to Spain. This may not be shown via these waypoints depending on when you view it, as shall become clear.
https://goo.gl/maps/BPwgW2ch2Dpt3EeSA
The first pass from Spain to France... Was a 3km long tunnel with a fair amount of traffic on it so the road up was pretty but not fast. It was operating a single lane too so everyone got to queue for 5 minutes for a green light. On the upside after we got through there was a series of switchbacks to get to the valley floor and I knew if we pulled over we'd have 5 minutes of clear space.
and if you're on the side of a mountain, you may as well take a picture.Our plan worked to perfection and we caught up to the car-train as we entered the first town. The trip through France was generally dull roads but pretty mountain scenery. We got through the last town and the start of the pass we'd been aiming for and
Ah. That's a shame is what I said except with a lot more colour and passion. We had to backtrack and head North so to get a waypoint in the navigation I just saw a restaurant next to a lake and headed for that. And it turned out to be a pretty damn happy accident in the end.
There were some large tour group sort of tables set up but we thought that France doesn't really screw up food and it was great. A whole bunch of noise in the parking lot and then a whole bunch of noisy Spaniards at the big tables was explained by the MG car club visit.
Back down another pass into Spain with a bit of traffic and then onto the C28 to Sort for our overnight. It started out with cracked concrete so I wasn't too hopeful but they had resurfaced it after a few Kms with lovely fresh tarmac and the fun started properly. All the way up to 2070m to a ski resort, only some bikes around to play with, alpine meadows with cows and horses, more jaw dropping views and then some switchbacks to finish off.
Down into Sort which is a.... town.... In a pretty place. It had a Rock Bar playing punk rock with craft beer. Apart from that I'm not sure if I'd go back. Except for the amazing roads all around, so I probably will.
Edited by seefarr on Sunday 17th October 21:36
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