Tales of a V8V (illustrated)
Discussion
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/post.asp?h=0&a...
Just because you could, doesn't mean you have to! Anyway, could use autobahn on way down and back if you want v max?
Just because you could, doesn't mean you have to! Anyway, could use autobahn on way down and back if you want v max?
Fantastic photos - as always. Beautiful part of the planet and the best looking car.
My wife & I were round the same places in the summer, in a Mini Countryman!
They were digging up and resurfacing the road up to the Grimsel Hospiz back then.
One thing which did surprise us was the lack of signage for the famous Furka Pass Bond Scene. We happened upon it quite by accident.
My wife & I were round the same places in the summer, in a Mini Countryman!
They were digging up and resurfacing the road up to the Grimsel Hospiz back then.
One thing which did surprise us was the lack of signage for the famous Furka Pass Bond Scene. We happened upon it quite by accident.
I’ve only just found your wonderful thread as I’m very new to PH & AM. Is that me & my V8V you’re writing about??!!**. I’d thought mine was the best car ever; seems it’s now 2nd!? I LOVE the way you USE your car in the same way that I promised myself I would before taking the leap here in the UK. She came immaculately cared for [48k/12yrs] but I’ve loved every minute of sporadic ‘daily use, road trips through The Lakes, N Wales, Cornwall & around E Anglia’s coast (all with my very amateur Canon btw!) Even had my first track day experience just last Fri! Europe next year, now I’m confident with it…. that ‘fits like a glove’ feeling
rovcallum said:
Fantastic photos - as always. Beautiful part of the planet and the best looking car.
My wife & I were round the same places in the summer, in a Mini Countryman!
They were digging up and resurfacing the road up to the Grimsel Hospiz back then.
One thing which did surprise us was the lack of signage for the famous Furka Pass Bond Scene. We happened upon it quite by accident.
Thanks Callum. The Countryman is aptly named for those parts! My wife & I were round the same places in the summer, in a Mini Countryman!
They were digging up and resurfacing the road up to the Grimsel Hospiz back then.
One thing which did surprise us was the lack of signage for the famous Furka Pass Bond Scene. We happened upon it quite by accident.
It`s true, they don`t seem to make anything of the Bond connection, unlike Austria where they`ve gone all out with their 007 Elements museum. I guess I drove past the place where it was filmed but have no idea where it was!
Omaruk said:
I recognise that place
Yep, that looks familiar! AMvantageBJB said:
I’ve only just found your wonderful thread as I’m very new to PH & AM. Is that me & my V8V you’re writing about??!!**. I’d thought mine was the best car ever; seems it’s now 2nd!? I LOVE the way you USE your car in the same way that I promised myself I would before taking the leap here in the UK. She came immaculately cared for [48k/12yrs] but I’ve loved every minute of sporadic ‘daily use, road trips through The Lakes, N Wales, Cornwall & around E Anglia’s coast (all with my very amateur Canon btw!) Even had my first track day experience just last Fri! Europe next year, now I’m confident with it…. that ‘fits like a glove’ feeling
Thank you Let`s go with 1st equal for the cars, but keep it to ourselves, might get a few noses out of joint otherwise. 
You seem to be using yours too which is excellent. It would feel a shame to have all that driving and visual pleasure locked away.
The track day I did earlier this year was huge fun with a great bunch, but in some ways driving the passes, especially in the conditions a couple of weeks back, was more enjoyable. I felt the car was in it`s element, there was less need (self imposed admittedly) to push the car towards the limits, but I suspect the scenery and slightly raw nature of it all makes things a bit more visceral.
hornbaek said:
Wonderful pictures Mr T. of a terrific landscape. Switzerland is a beautiful place. I lived there 2 years ago (Thalwill). Now in Austria. Not as dramatic a scenery but the fines are manageable (if snapped), so ultimately a better driving destination in my opinion.
The one fine I have had was a cracker...Prost!
cayman-black said:
Absolutely superb pictures. I was there this June gone in my SVR. Great roads.
Thanks. Just driving around taking photo, so enjoyable. The season is officially not summer, autumn or spring, and the winter wheels have been fitted for a few weeks now. While being fitted I had AM check out a warning light that had popped up a few weeks ago, “SRS AIRBAG SERVICE URGENT” which apparently turned out to be just a sensor so I was happy it was a relatively quick, cheap and easy fix, except that five days later the message returned so back it goes next week. Yesterday I was out in some nice late afternoon conditions and had a camera with me... surprise surprise.
Despite the colder months being upon us the car is still getting out every few days as readers of this thread have come to know, for both required trips, driving trips and semi-frequent visits to the car wash in between. I guess some people on here will be appalled to see an Aston in an automated car wash, but this has been a regular feature of my car`s life for four winters now. With all of these machines being guaranteed scratch free in Switzerland, and also providing underbody washing, with winter driving they are a godsend.
Yesterday I was reminded of how potent this car can be now while driving a stretch of drying motorway with occasional wet areas. While doing around 100km/h I dropped it down from 5th to 3rd and punched it, and the rear end stepped out rather dramatically! The initial surprise at it breaking traction at this speed in third was quickly replaced with a childish laugh. Don`t know how it looked to the driver 50 metres behind me...
Despite the colder months being upon us the car is still getting out every few days as readers of this thread have come to know, for both required trips, driving trips and semi-frequent visits to the car wash in between. I guess some people on here will be appalled to see an Aston in an automated car wash, but this has been a regular feature of my car`s life for four winters now. With all of these machines being guaranteed scratch free in Switzerland, and also providing underbody washing, with winter driving they are a godsend.
Yesterday I was reminded of how potent this car can be now while driving a stretch of drying motorway with occasional wet areas. While doing around 100km/h I dropped it down from 5th to 3rd and punched it, and the rear end stepped out rather dramatically! The initial surprise at it breaking traction at this speed in third was quickly replaced with a childish laugh. Don`t know how it looked to the driver 50 metres behind me...
Edited by Mr.Tremlini on Saturday 26th October 19:20
Ken Figenus said:
Dean! A Car wash! Rattling cages indeed - but I am envious as I had to rinse/snow foam/rinse/hand wash/rinse/foam glossy finisher/rinse/blow dry mine twice this week - that's almost 4 hours of my life gone! Are these 'no scratches' machines expensive !?
Envious, I am sure, as I guess the B-52 would not fit into any of these anyway...Expensive, I would say not, runs from around 10chf / 8 quid for basic wash to 30chf / 23 quid for the full treatment, foam pre-wash, rinse, wash, underbody wash, wax and dry, and several variations in between. All I do afterwards is open up all the opening up bits and run around them with a shammy. I had my wife research this extensively before venturing forth the first time with the Vantage, but I had put our previous cars through these things several times with no consequence.
They are often a petrol stations and along with stand-alone car wash businesses have separate bays where you can wash and high pressure wash manually, and often hoists so you can list you car up and clean the underside yourself, which I`ve done at the end of winter and is a pretty useful feature!!
When it comes to rattling cages, I have thought many times to post an auto-wash photo, as I`ve taken a few with that in mind, but I feared the discord that would ensue!
cayman-black said:
Mr Tremlini if your photos weren't so good i would ask that you be banned!
Hopefully I can appease you in the next few days... Have just met up with another PHer of UK extraction and planned a drive tomorrow along with a couple of other vehicles through what is, despite the elongated winter, hopefully some interesting and extremely drive-able Swiss terrain. I shall probably take a camera. First stop tomorrow will apparently be a car wash...
So Soofsayer came to Switzerland, and brought three friends. The plan was hatched some months ago but as the mid-May date came nearer the prospect of driving through the fantastic Swiss passes dwindled due to the elongated grip of winter, and the latest snow in Switzerland since 1945, evidently. This meant passes that would normally be open were still closed. Despite this I concocted a driving route that should see the visitors happy enough with the limited offerings, hopefully...
On the Tuesday evening I drove 10 minutes to a nearby hotel, the Seerose, and met up with the DB9 driving Soofsayer, who I knew from a previous gathering in the UK, and his three colleagues scattered across a Jaguar F-Type SVR, Mercedes AMG GT and a Mclaren 720s. Over a G&T we reviewed my plan and agreed to meet up the following morning at local castle, Schloss Heidegg.
The day dawned grey but dry, and happily stay dry it did, and the clouds parted on a few occasions to give us some sunshine too. The four arrived promptly at the castle car park and parked alongside my V8 Vantage. We discussed the first move, as there was the issue of a bird strike discussed the evening before, so with things organised and some noticing that outside of the vehicles the breeze was certainly coming off the snowy mountains, we headed to a local petrol station for fuel and to water-blast the remains of said bird from the AMG. What followed was a 30 minute drive through the "Dragon Valley" as it`s known locally, and up and over to a small town of Sempach on the other side. I stopped through the city gates of Sempach and the other four pulled over behind me. I jumped out to explain that I would take some photos as the cars drove through the old town, and less than 90 seconds later when I went back to my car, some typically uptight local was on the phone complaining about the 5 cars that had just stopped in front of the church in non-designated parking and was reading out my number plate when I drove away. Switzerland is a great country, however the inflexibility and busy-body nature of many people is astounding.
After this we followed a couple of slow moving tractors but after dispatching them had a reasonable run through to Malters and then over a cool little road that I had found by chance a few years ago, a sort of mini-pass, that leads to Entlebuch, and then over the Glaubenberg Pass to Sarnen, leaving Kanton Luzern for the first time and entering Obwalden. Glaubenberg Pass is possibly not know by many, but it`s a decent drive of 30km (18.5 miles) with lots of terrain change and a height of 1540m (5000ft). It offered spots to take some photos along the way and lots of work for throttles and brakes, the right feet getting a good work out, and left foot too if your me and the only one driving a manual in the group!
Being the lead car, as I was for the day, comes with a certain amount of assumed expectation, as every time a truck, tractor or slow vehicle gets in the way, you feel an immediate responsibility, but generally everyone seemed pleased enough with my guiding and pace.
In Sarnen there was a need for coffee so we stopped for a drink and snack then blasted off over the Brunig Pass (1000m) and into the Kanton of Bern where the Susten and Grimsel passes live. (These passes were both closed, but I had found out that the Grimsel was open for around 17km so we could at least do a back and forth, as those 17km are still pretty special.)
Enjoying some good squirts of motoring over the Brunig, particularly the second half, we then headed to our lunch destination, Grandhotel Giessbach, an incredible old hotel with a phenomenal outlook. Built in the 1870`s overlooking Lake Brienz and next to the Giessbach Falls, which drop over 500m in 14 stages, seemed a fitting spot for a break in proceedings. We (sorry, I) cheekily drove down to the small hotel car park, bypassing the one 300m away, with the others following. The parking attendant was questioning but very nice and upon asking if we were a group, said we could park next to the hotel today, but that it was not normally allowed. Lunch was tasty and not badly priced considering, and provided a very nice outlook and a post-lunch trek up to and under a section of the falls.
We then back-tracked through Meiringen and enthusiastically onto the Grimsel. Part way into the drive the road was blocked by a tree felling operation. We waited 5 minutes until they had loaded up a trailer, then the workmen waved us through, while one hastily swept the road clean of dirt and sticks, would have made a great photo! Even though it was a limited drive, it did not disappoint, and when the barrier across the road signaled an end, it left everybody wanting more. The return drive was also quite spirited regardless of a few photo stops and back into Meiringen for a refuel, (not strictly necessary other than for the 50 litre tank in the Mclaren) then the drive was back over the Brunig an onto the motorway to pass Luzern, succeeded by a bit of country driving to take us back to where we started, 275km (170 miles) later, and a relaxing evening with a Thai dinner.
All in all a decent outing in some terrific machinery, fine company, nice food, a few photos to help remember it all, and no harm done, except to the delicate mental balance of the Shrew of Sempach.
So as not to raise the ire of those that would point to the images of non-Aston`s and say, "Harumph!! This is an Aston Martin forum, the nerve!" I shall make them smaller than the ones of Astons, a certain photographic one-upmanship if you will.
Below is the first stage of the trip, until the lunch stop, and the section of the Grimsel that we drove.
Edited by Mr.Tremlini on Tuesday 29th October 09:17
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