RE: PistonHeads Tours 2013 Preview

[Hamsternator]

Aizle said:

You try it cheaper for 40 people and overheads.

I don't understand why it should be more expensive if there's a greater number of people?

I can appreciate some people would like to do these trips in a large group, but personally I would prefer the independence of both organising and enjoying it with a partner or perhaps one or two other cars.

I have driven from the UK to China over the course of 5 weeks and it cost me £400 in fuel and (conveniently ignoring the very large cost of a return flight) a little more than the same again in expenses. Perhaps I am both a cheapskate and a loner, but £2k for a week on the other side of the North Sea seems like madness to me.

[Harsh]

Hamsternator said:

Aizle said:

You try it cheaper for 40 people and overheads.

I don't understand why it should be more expensive if there's a greater number of people?

I can appreciate some people would like to do these trips in a large group, but personally I would prefer the independence of both organising and enjoying it with a partner or perhaps one or two other cars.

I have driven from the UK to China over the course of 5 weeks and it cost me £400 in fuel and (conveniently ignoring the very large cost of a return flight) a little more than the same again in expenses. Perhaps I am both a cheapskate and a loner, but £2k for a week on the other side of the North Sea seems like madness to me.

Hiya...
Thought i'd jump in and explain some of your points.
Firstly, Norway (and Scandinavia in general) is an expensive place to visit - although well worth it so the comparison with your trip sadly doesn't work - UK to China does sound like a lot of fun though

Included in the price is the cost of the ferry trips to and from the UK with decent outside window'd cabins rather than the tiny cheap inside ones with no windows, have a look at the cost of those at the time we're going and you'll see it's a large chunk of the price. (Incidentally timing for a trip like this is paramount too).

At the hotels, as well as breakfast, we also include evening meals which if you cost separately are silly money. The loan of the sat navs, the licenced 5 watt (not cheap 0.5 watt) walkie talkies, two tour managers and everything else that goes to make a trip like this a simple 'turn up and enjoy yourself' affair is what you are paying for.

Of course as you say, traveling in a group isn't for everyone and you might just be able to shave a couple of ££'s from the price if you do it yourself but then you'd unlikely to be staying in the same kind of accommodation, you'd miss out on one of us staying with you if you break down, the leave no-one behind group camaraderie and potentially the best roads which we've done years of research on, having been to Norway several times in the past. This trip is different to the one we ran in 2010 and different again from 2011, the more times we go the better it gets.

We're used to hearing that it sounds expensive - always from people who have never tried us out. Similarly we're used to hearing it's cheap from people who join us. To me, that means we have the balance about right, we don't add large margins, in fact ours are very tight indeed because we want to try and make it as accessible as possible, not just this trip but all of the tours we run. Yes it's £2k for the Norway trip, but in 2011 we were selling this at £2,300. We've rearranged it and nailed down some of the prices from our suppliers so we can reduce the price to you guys as we want as many people to experience it as possible.

The trip is limited to 15 or 16 cars i think, we've taken 10 bookings for this already and it's still 7 months away.

If you do a long haul again i might join you 'cos it sounds fun. We don't do this for the money, we do this because it's a lot of fun with hard work in between...but even that can be fun. The best bit is listening to everyone in the bar at the end of each day raving about how much fun they are having.

[VerySideways]

Harsh said:

The best bit is listening to everyone in the bar at the end of each day raving about how much fun they are having.

[Happy Eater]

Hamsternator said:

I have driven from the UK to China over the course of 5 weeks and it cost me £400 in fuel and (conveniently ignoring the very large cost of a return flight)

Wow thats good, what car did you use? and when did you go?
From London to Bejing is over 5000 miles so thats a 1000 miles a week, 142 miles a day - with no allownace for sea or river crossings, and no rest days. It also assumes not one mechanical breakdown day. All on just over £11 worth of fuel a day!
Must have been a great trip do you have any Photos?

J

[Hamsternator]

Happy Eater said:

Hamsternator said:

I have driven from the UK to China over the course of 5 weeks and it cost me £400 in fuel and (conveniently ignoring the very large cost of a return flight)

Wow thats good, what car did you use? and when did you go?
From London to Bejing is over 5000 miles so thats a 1000 miles a week, 142 miles a day - with no allownace for sea or river crossings, and no rest days. It also assumes not one mechanical breakdown day. All on just over £11 worth of fuel a day!
Must have been a great trip do you have any Photos?

J

I did the Mongol Rally with my old man back in 2007. We used a 1.0 1988 VW Polo. Total distance was a little over 7k miles, with 3 rest days on the way. Over 200 average per day. Critically, fuel costs from the Ukraine and beyond are essentially zero. Certainly a minor expense.

I won't deny it's an entirely different vibe to what is being offered here, but I guess it's skewed my view of what a good value trip is. Each to their own, apologies for my narky first comment.

[Hamsternator]

Happy Eater said:

Must have been a great trip do you have any Photos?

J

PS

[zeb]

Ive been on a nirvana tour and actually told them I thought it was too cheap for the quality of tour they provided.

[chrisemersons]

VerySideways said:

Ditto! My first LM24 was back in 2002 and it's so different now. The Classic on the other hand is still about the cars, the noise and the racing (rather than the diesels and the alcohol).

Mm, there are chav's and alcohol everywhere at home too, just ignore them and enjoy the racing i say, we have a great time and before you suggest i'm a chav, our group consists of 2 50+ year olds and a 20 year old!
If you go looking for things to piss you off then you will find them, do your own thing and get stuck into the racing and its immense still.
As for the diesels theres 3 of them in a 56 car grid, so hardly shabby !
I found the classic a bit disjointed in terms of racing, dont get me wrong theres some amazing cars but i saw them racing in the day and enjoy seeing new stuff and new technology now.
But each to their own eh.

[Zed 44]

chrisemersons said:

VerySideways said:

Ditto! My first LM24 was back in 2002 and it's so different now. The Classic on the other hand is still about the cars, the noise and the racing (rather than the diesels and the alcohol).

Mm, there are chav's and alcohol everywhere at home too, just ignore them and enjoy the racing i say, we have a great time and before you suggest i'm a chav, our group consists of 2 50+ year olds and a 20 year old!
If you go looking for things to piss you off then you will find them, do your own thing and get stuck into the racing and its immense still.
As for the diesels theres 3 of them in a 56 car grid, so hardly shabby !


I found the classic a bit disjointed in terms of racing, dont get me wrong theres some amazing cars but i saw them racing in the day and enjoy seeing new stuff and new technology now.
But each to their own eh.

I went in 2010 and was disappointed. Just an excuse for a booze up by men behaving badly with a little racing thrown in. Last year, I went to the practice day and it was fantastic. Could go to every spectator part of the circuit easily for a view. No pissheads and most of the cars were there. I would only go again if Snoozebox was there or possibly get somewhere in Le Mans and travel in and out on the metro.

[Happy Eater]

Hamsternator said:

Happy Eater said:

Hamsternator said:

I have driven from the UK to China over the course of 5 weeks and it cost me £400 in fuel and (conveniently ignoring the very large cost of a return flight)

Wow thats good, what car did you use? and when did you go?
From London to Bejing is over 5000 miles so thats a 1000 miles a week, 142 miles a day - with no allownace for sea or river crossings, and no rest days. It also assumes not one mechanical breakdown day. All on just over £11 worth of fuel a day!
Must have been a great trip do you have any Photos?

J

I did the Mongol Rally with my old man back in 2007. We used a 1.0 1988 VW Polo. Total distance was a little over 7k miles, with 3 rest days on the way. Over 200 average per day. Critically, fuel costs from the Ukraine and beyond are essentially zero. Certainly a minor expense.

I won't deny it's an entirely different vibe to what is being offered here, but I guess it's skewed my view of what a good value trip is. Each to their own, apologies for my narky first comment.

Cool, both end of the spectrum I think - the Mongol Rally looks great fun but obviously requires a certain expectation/mindset.
mmmmm my step daughter has a T reg polo 1.4, I wonder.....

[Rochester TVR]

I am itching to go on the viking tour! Unfortunately I dont want to commit myself until I have got myself a proper sports car again, like to be April now. By then guess all the places will be gone...

Do the number of cars going increase as time goes on? or is the 15 set in stone?

(P.S Hi John, long time! Hope your well. I never did see that SS convoy video...)

[VerySideways]

Rochester TVR said:

I am itching to go on the viking tour! Unfortunately I dont want to commit myself until I have got myself a proper sports car again, like to be April now. By then guess all the places will be gone...

Do the number of cars going increase as time goes on? or is the 15 set in stone?

Number of cars is not set until we have to finalise the numbers for the ferry company, which is April 18th.
Even after that date it may be possible to add a car, but i wouldn't count on it...

What's wrong with the Clio? We regularly have a red Clio RS200 on tour with us and it's every bit as capable as any "sportscar"

[Harsh]

VerySideways said:

What's wrong with the Clio? We regularly have a red Clio RS200 on tour with us and it's every bit as capable as any "sportscar"

[zeb]

Nicole ?

[Rochester TVR]

VerySideways said:

Rochester TVR said:

I am itching to go on the viking tour! Unfortunately I dont want to commit myself until I have got myself a proper sports car again, like to be April now. By then guess all the places will be gone...

Do the number of cars going increase as time goes on? or is the 15 set in stone?

Number of cars is not set until we have to finalise the numbers for the ferry company, which is April 18th.
Even after that date it may be possible to add a car, but i wouldn't count on it...

What's wrong with the Clio? We regularly have a red Clio RS200 on tour with us and it's every bit as capable as any "sportscar"

Thanks for the info. Nothing wrong with the Clio (to be honest its a cracking little car) but Im selling it in the new year to replace with a 'shed' and a Cerbera (man maths that is!). The question is whether or not i'll have a Cerb in time for the trip...

I'll check in with Harsh before 18th April. Sounds like I'll have plenty of time though

[Happy Eater]

Rochester TVR said:

I am itching to go on the viking tour! Unfortunately I dont want to commit myself until I have got myself a proper sports car again, like to be April now. By then guess all the places will be gone...

Do the number of cars going increase as time goes on? or is the 15 set in stone?

(P.S Hi John, long time! Hope your well. I never did see that SS convoy video...)

As above I have some good footage of a certain Clio, sits in the car on a usb in case you turn up at any meets!
Hows the FFRR?
All the Nirvana tours look great - im always tempted by the Highland one.

[Harsh]

Happy Eater said:

Rochester TVR said:

I am itching to go on the viking tour! Unfortunately I dont want to commit myself until I have got myself a proper sports car again, like to be April now. By then guess all the places will be gone...

Do the number of cars going increase as time goes on? or is the 15 set in stone?

(P.S Hi John, long time! Hope your well. I never did see that SS convoy video...)

As above I have some good footage of a certain Clio, sits in the car on a usb in case you turn up at any meets!
Hows the FFRR?
All the Nirvana tours look great - im always tempted by the Highland one.

We're giving Highland a rest this year, but have something waiting in the wings for next year to replace it