Euro Trip June 2012

Nosa · Post by **Nosa** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 3:27 pm

Hope you guys are having a great trip so far, Looking forward to the pics and report, and will we getting a Poem Jack

Adamski · Post by **Adamski** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 3:59 pm

Overtaken whilst doing 130mph!

Sounds fun

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jaxZ4 · Post by **jaxZ4** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:12 pm

JimmyPop wrote:Enjoy! You do realise you are missing the local Gala Day this weekend though, don't you

Yeah and it's raining in Davos too -not looking good for stelvio ! Done 4 countries today ! Germany, Austria , Lichtenstein & Switzerland . . .

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SUUNTOBOB · Post by **SUUNTOBOB** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:56 pm

Thanks for that I will forward to the report

jaxZ4 wrote:that sounds excellent - it's a long way to Croatia - I've been there a few times but not by car and love it.

My route back from Davos (base for doing Stelvio etc.) is via Silvrettestrasse then up Romantic Road heading across into Munich but only to visit BMW Museum ( no time for anything else this trip). Then heading back west to drive the Route 500 up towards Baden Baden.

Found this site useful for "best roads" etc.

http://www.ultimatedrives.net/routes/be ... routes.php

we're manging to do 5 or 6 of these -but not the ring on this trip - another time for sure.

I'll post full report, pics etc. later in June.

jaxZ4 · Post by **jaxZ4** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:40 am

Far too much rain here right now for proper hooning ! Anyway did fluella pass in pouring rain, stelvio in mixture of fair, rain and at the top snow then descended into valley in 24degrees top down heaven. Favourite pass of the day was Bernini without a doubt though as weather was great by then that helped. Stelvio from the national park side ascent was tight and slow and mixed surfaces but not too much traffic descent down the other side was excellent with smooth surface and free flowing switchbacks.. Our pics are kinda grey due to cloud and snow but cant upload yet. There was a clear sense of camaeraderie at top of stelvio between car drivers, bikers etc but the true we,re not worthy award goes to the cyclists - an unbelievable climb including aussie on an recumbent

Off to a castle now having driven through 4 countries yesterday in non stop rain and having to abandon silvrettastrasse due to "chains required" warning and thick fog anyway - not a good idea we thought. Dry today so seeing some romantic road around the beautiful town of Fussen.

JimmyPop · Post by **JimmyPop** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:25 pm

Sounds like you're having a great time - looking forward to seeing the photos!

RichardG · Post by **RichardG** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:42 am

You've been back days now according to SWMBO.

jaxZ4 · Post by **jaxZ4** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:38 pm

2 days ! I know - trip report to follow and pics - trying to sort through hundreds from 3 cameras - just been mad busy with work since got back. Great trip though - 2200 miles in 10 days - only damage is another shot set of EBC discs - my last EBC purchase !

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Guiseley · Post by **Guiseley** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:50 pm

jaxZ4 wrote:2 days ! I know - trip report to follow and pics - trying to sort through hundreds from 3 cameras - just been mad busy with work since got back. Great trip though - 2200 miles in 10 days - only damage is another shot set of EBC discs - my last EBC purchase !

Cheers - looking forward to detailed route ideas for Guiseley family euro-hoon in August. Passes and forests based around Zurich sound good.

jaxZ4 · Post by **jaxZ4** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:44 pm

OK - here's a bit of a trip report from one of our days, along with some pics - more to follow.

Day 3 – Fluella, Stelvio, Bernina & more

The day of the passes, starts with rain, dark clouds, and a frustrating encounter with an unmanned Davos petrol pump (though ultimately I score a bargain half tank for €20 !)

First pass of the day, Fluella is on the doorstep of Davos, which we tackle roof up in steady rain, climbing quickly and a little nervously hoping for improving conditions.

We elect not to drive through the Livigno tunnel knowing that another option will arise later and soon find ourselves tailing a rather usefully quick, pace setting Swiss Polizie Volvo, the driver of which I feel might know the pass rather better than this Alpine Pass virgin. He seems unperturbed by our presence, I keep a reasonable distance and try to recall how to switch off the Tom Tom Speed Camera / POI feature, confident that is the only Swiss motoring law I am breaking for now. Our uniformed friend stops soon in a hotel, meets another cop car and we’re sure they’re stopping for coffee and some fondue flirting with their female colleague.

We then spot a rather tasty 911 Carrera (997) and an Audi TT RS in a layby, we guess waiting for better weather for a similar attack as us. We stop a little later and bravely drop the roof, manage a few quick pics and they pass- quickly - never to be seen again.

At the suggestion of ultimatedrives.net I’ve chosen to attack the Stelvio from the National Park side where we still have the roof down. The drive through the park is nice and fairly quick though we fail to spot that classic shot of the Stelvio’s 48 Northern side hairpins - still not sure where that shot is taken from - so for a few miles we keep asking each other “are we on the Stelvio now ? ” we’ve easily rounded a dozen or so hairpins. A few months back a friend with a 3 series BMW confessed to me that he and his partner failed to find Stelvio !

We’re now certain we’re on it proper, it’s not really possible to attack it very fast now, 2nd or 3rd gear only and my SMG gearbox is in its’ element in manual sport mode, it’s crazy tight and now the roof is up again due to steady cold rain. Visibility round the hairpins is of course limited, so much more fun with the roof down when you can better see right round. There are a number of bikers, a few tasty cars, we spot a couple of Lotus (Loti ? ) Exige descending towards us – they’re tiny so limited risk of kissing door mirrors. We do get stuck behind a camper van and another car, the former miraculously manages to find a spot to kindly pull in to allow us to pass.

I feel I’m well in the groove now and more confident in accelerating as hard as possible out of each bend, the earlier anxious whimpers from mrs jax have settled a little and she returns to camera duties. With one battery failing, a camera swap ensues to maintain some video, whilst she manages to get some stills from the DSLR, some of sky, some of snow, wall and the occasional bit of winding road.

It’s snowing now quite steady (we hadn’t really bargained on snow though have came prepared for all weathers with most of our luggage back in Davos). The Zed and his new rear nicely scrubbed in Vreds is behaving impeccably and I make no apologies for keeping DSC firmly off (i.e full traction control active), this is no place for a heroic rear end slide - those walls are way too close and crunchy.

The 2757m summit approaches, I can smell the currywurtz stalls (but avoid) and we find possibly the best parking spot and hotel coffee stop right opposite the mock cycling award rostrum, where an Aussie guy who has just climbed from the other side in a recumbent bike is trying hard to get a bystander to take a decent pic of him -yes we should have helped but in our defence, we were across the snowy street, upstairs in a cozy coffee shop with a cappuccino and a (shared) apple struddle. Anyone who can climb the Stelvio on a cycle, recumbent or otherwise deserves every respect.

Descending the other side, where I’m sure the road surface has been freshly clay barred and many of the hairpins are utterly transparent we stop briefly at a T junction and make a change of plan as the route to the left looks delightful and we just need to take it. This proves a good choice as we descend further into the Italian valleys where the roof is down again the temperature rises from -1 at the top of the Stelvio to 25 degrees! Bizarre.

The journey towards Tribano is fabulous and we stop for ice cream just across the Swiss border, after the Swiss Border Guard quizzes us if we have anything to declare, other than our grins – I guess he realizes there’s little room for serious contraband in a little zed so nonchalantly waves us through. We leave soon not knowing the best drive of the day lies ahead. . .

Rising to the Bernina Pass (not to be confused with the San Bernardino, which lies too far to the west of our base at Davos for this trip) the sun is out, the roof still down and the scenery is gobsmackingly swiss chocolate box pretty and the surface proves grippy and smooth. There’s little traffic and a Swiss 5 series touring seems miffed at a top down tourist up his chuff but quickly concedes (video available) and we have an empty road ahead, clear views and the memories of the earlier Polizie Volvo distant. This is surely the best section of the day and we eventually catch up with a zesty little Audi A1 whose driver is happy to similarly press on.

Ultimately we descend from Bernina – this road feels truly like a Scottish forum run, wide, flowing, traffic free but alas no fish ‘n chips. Our little TomTom XL makes one of only two mistakes in the entire trip and takes us on a short detour of a very picturesque village (Maragls we think), the respite offering a rather welcome breather, we loop back and we’re back en route to St.Moritz / Davos and the Fluella Pass for the second time today. We’ve already dismissed the Livigno tunnel idea as we’ve driven through so many fabulous sounding tunnels today and over the last few days, many of which were much more fun than the regimented convoy that Livigno sounds. Sound clips are available somewhere.

It’s raining heavy again and the fog reduces visibility to Hammer Horror movie levels so we tiptoe up/down Fluella with all lights blazing and few other cars around - damn this Scottish like weather and our choice of a lollipop shaped route.

We’re weirdly grateful for the mixed conditions as they added a degree of drama to the day, not that the Stelvio cries out for much added drama. The final descent from Fluella improves as the fog lifts and of course I know this section so well now.

For dinner that night we walk out of our hotel, the Davos Sheraton, in heavy rain wearing shorts (as legs dry easier than jeans) and find one of just a few restaurants open for a slightly disappointing meal but some fabulous driving memories, both thinking if only today could have been a forum run and the fun and memories shared with some forum friends.

Tomorrow it’s Austria, Lichtenstein, the Silvrettestrasse and back into Germany and the Romantic Road . . . .

Carol M · Post by **Carol M** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:48 pm

Wow! Jealous! Looks amazing. Great pics and write up. Looking forward to more.

Adamski · Post by **Adamski** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:53 pm

Phenomenal - looks like you and Mrs jaxZ4 had a good time!

The gradient in the 4th photo looks scary, but good

Cracking write up, as always

Ricey01 · Post by **Ricey01** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:53 pm

So cool. We did that last year in the 350 but without as a any cool roads and a LOT of shouting when I tried to go fast

Guiseley · Post by **Guiseley** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:22 pm

Magic - Looking forward to the next report

jaxZ4 · Post by **jaxZ4** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:31 am

Day 2 Ijmuiden Ferry Port to Stuttgart

Our third time In Netherlands but first time driving and getting on the right route from the terminal with help from TomTom is pretty simple. I’ve been warned that speeding fines & penalties in Netherlands and particularly Switzerland can be harsh and given some history I’m committed to observing motorway limits within reason (generally 120kph ). The TomTom feature of showing the limit relevant to the road your on is an invaluable little tool that we use constantly as motorway and particularly autobahn limits change frequently often with little warning, though you soon begin to understand and predict where they will drop.

After what seems like no time at all we’re on a slightly narrower 2 lane section, when an AMG Merc flies past – heck we’re in Germany, we can GLF and Tom Tom confirms by showing no limit now. It’s genuinely narrow for 2 lanes with just a modest hard shoulder so takes a little acclimatization and concentration.

Our 3.0 Zed with 231bhp is by some margin not the most powerful vehicle on these roads and it does seem that it’s usually an Audi, Merc or BMW appearing in the rear view, hinting that he can probably climb this hill quicker than you so I do pull in, as is the etiquette. Cruising ( legally !) at around 125 mph quickly becomes routine and I’m delighted and impressed that my 8 year old zed seems utterly solid at speeds that, honest gov, I’ve never seen in the UK. Feeling I’m almost flatout with limited room ahead on a slight left hand bend I’m obliged to pull in at an indicated 130mph to allow another b*oody Merc pass and an Audi or two – I confess to wishing on a few occasions that I had my own daily drive, a V6T Audi S4 Avant (333bhp) when I’m pretty sure we would have hit 150 or so. In this company the zed feels small and slightly intimidated and of course the roof is up, though we later have some spells with it down at around 100mph which was fine.

Mrs jax takes over for the final run into Stuttgart and we easily find the Holiday Inn Express watch Germany v Portugal in the bar/restaurant. Being Scottish it’s easy to be neutral and adopt a “when in Rome approach”. Food, room, breakfast etc. all just fine for a one night stop.

Day 3

Stuttgart – Porsche Museum
Like many I have always admired Porsche and I guess I now feel I want a 911 sometime. The museum is fabulous and easily the best of the three we visit, Audi & BMW.

There’s an enticing range of both historic and modern examples with good brief history and a decent audio guide. The coffee is excellent too and we buy the obligatory fridge magnet and some other souvenirs. I was surprised to find the new blue Boxster and the grey one with the red roof, in the parking garage just so attractive and once sat in the 911 Carrera available to the public it does fit and feel well……..so if I traded in both the S4 and the Z4 and bought a cheaper diesel Audi then maybe, just maybe . . . but the Porsche forum I’m sure would be a poor alternative.

The drive up to Davos gets increasingly interesting once we leave the dizzy autobahn speeds and start climbing towards St Moritz etc. in showery conditions, roof up, lots of road works but fine scenery.

The Davos Sheraton, our base for 2 days is excellent though a rather expensive indulgence. We use the spa, sauna and pool and have a late dinner, watch more football and sleep like a kid at Christmas …. i.e. not much – it’s Stelvio tomorrow.

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