My First ‘Proper’ Road Trip
- Thread starter idej_z4
- Start date
Great videoR60BBA said:Sounds like a cracking trip!
If you can, try and plan your routes so that you can avoid toll roads, there are quite a few in France.
I also visited Circuit du Reims earlier this year as a part of my Germany road trip. From memory Pommery Champagne is based in Reims and should be worth checking out.
What I will say is that you will never really appreciate these cars until you take them for a ‘proper’ road trip as you put it.
Good luck buddy
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Given me plenty of food for thought !
This post is a little overdue, but with the post-holiday rush and then a bad crash on my mountain bike (3 broken ribs, a potentially fractured heel and more bruises and cuts that white bits left on my body) the weekend after I got back, I’m just getting around to sorting through the photos and videos.
In short the trip was awesome / epic / amazing / the bomb / boss / wicked / time of my life!
The car was faultless. When we were on the Autoroutes it sat at 130kmph churning out 34mpg, when I wanted to go into spirited driving mode it didn’t let me down, even with a boot full of wine and two people in it. All that weight though did mean it was a bit more challenging to get the rear end out as we seemed to be following +20 degree weather everywhere we went which made the tyres very sticky. Over the whole 2,100 miles we averaged 31.1mpg pretty amazing considering what is under the bonnet and the amount of fun driving we did.
It also seemed everywhere we went people were staring, waving and even at one point slowing down on the autoroute to get a video or photo whilst driving (and that person was driving a brand new X5) all of which made me feel quite proud to be driving a car that still turns heads. I even opened Instagram one day and under the #z4coupe (which I follow) my car popped up from someone else who had taken a picture of it!
HIGHLIGHTS
From a purely driving experience point of view the Vecours have to be the number one highlight of the trip – mile after mile of hairpin turns, sweeping corners, open roads…it had the job lot. I even let the Mrs have a drive there was so much road and tried to teach her how to drive sports car style. Thanks to MrPT for recommending, had it not been for this forum I would have never known and probably driven around it.
From a scenery point of view mixed with awesome roads, The Route De Grand Alpes was mega. We spent the whole day exploring different routes and found some truly magical little villages in the process. Driving into Chamonix with the glacier just out of your window is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. Another plus point with the route is the number of tunnels. I had a lot of fun pretending I was 16 again in every tunnel we hit (by the end the Mrs was like, surely not again) winding down the windows and dropping the clutch and revving it like a proper child.
I can also highly recommend Chartreuse just next to the Vecours as another national park well worth spending sometime in, lots of long sweeping roads with stunning views.
Finally, the Circuit De Reims was a great place to stop and a must for any car enthusiast, but also a great strip to fire your car past a load of appreciative drivers.
I could go on and on about other driving highlights and even more about the wine tours, vineyards, restaurants and places we visited – France truly is a stunning country with such a good vibe whereever you are.
TIPS
Thought I would provide a few tips we picked up on the way if anyone else is considering doing a trip like this:
If you’re travelling long distances, use the Autoroutes. Yes they are expensive but they really are the easiest way to get around and so easy to drive. At times you don’t see cars for miles.
If you’re driving the Autoroutes, and using cruise control, remember to keep putting you feet on the pedals – I went about an hour without touching them and when it came time to press the brake as a lorry pulled out my feet had forgot where they were supposed to go!
Use the Michelin app for times and costs of routes – every time it was bang on the money.
Plan well – we did and it meant it went without a hitch.
If you’re into wine, try and find the smaller vineyards for your bottles. You get to try some amazing wines and brilliant prices.
Try and speak a bit of French. If you make the effort to learn a few of the basics the people seem to appreciate it.
If you want to keep your car clean, take a few supporting products. The coin operated jet washes (which are easy enough to find) sometimes don’t have brushes and no way of drying the car.
Don’t be afraid when you are having a day of driving to try smaller roads. The surfaces are much better quality than ours.
The French love a speed bump and I was lucky my £8 splitter made it home…just[/list]
PHOTOS
Here is a small selection of the car pics I took on our trip that didn't make the cut of 'special'…the rest you’ll probably see popping up in the photo comp from time to time.
I've also have about 4 hours of video footage to go through so will post on here when I have done the edit.
In short the trip was awesome / epic / amazing / the bomb / boss / wicked / time of my life!
The car was faultless. When we were on the Autoroutes it sat at 130kmph churning out 34mpg, when I wanted to go into spirited driving mode it didn’t let me down, even with a boot full of wine and two people in it. All that weight though did mean it was a bit more challenging to get the rear end out as we seemed to be following +20 degree weather everywhere we went which made the tyres very sticky. Over the whole 2,100 miles we averaged 31.1mpg pretty amazing considering what is under the bonnet and the amount of fun driving we did.
It also seemed everywhere we went people were staring, waving and even at one point slowing down on the autoroute to get a video or photo whilst driving (and that person was driving a brand new X5) all of which made me feel quite proud to be driving a car that still turns heads. I even opened Instagram one day and under the #z4coupe (which I follow) my car popped up from someone else who had taken a picture of it!
HIGHLIGHTS
From a purely driving experience point of view the Vecours have to be the number one highlight of the trip – mile after mile of hairpin turns, sweeping corners, open roads…it had the job lot. I even let the Mrs have a drive there was so much road and tried to teach her how to drive sports car style. Thanks to MrPT for recommending, had it not been for this forum I would have never known and probably driven around it.
From a scenery point of view mixed with awesome roads, The Route De Grand Alpes was mega. We spent the whole day exploring different routes and found some truly magical little villages in the process. Driving into Chamonix with the glacier just out of your window is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. Another plus point with the route is the number of tunnels. I had a lot of fun pretending I was 16 again in every tunnel we hit (by the end the Mrs was like, surely not again) winding down the windows and dropping the clutch and revving it like a proper child.
I can also highly recommend Chartreuse just next to the Vecours as another national park well worth spending sometime in, lots of long sweeping roads with stunning views.
Finally, the Circuit De Reims was a great place to stop and a must for any car enthusiast, but also a great strip to fire your car past a load of appreciative drivers.
I could go on and on about other driving highlights and even more about the wine tours, vineyards, restaurants and places we visited – France truly is a stunning country with such a good vibe whereever you are.
TIPS
Thought I would provide a few tips we picked up on the way if anyone else is considering doing a trip like this:
If you’re travelling long distances, use the Autoroutes. Yes they are expensive but they really are the easiest way to get around and so easy to drive. At times you don’t see cars for miles.
If you’re driving the Autoroutes, and using cruise control, remember to keep putting you feet on the pedals – I went about an hour without touching them and when it came time to press the brake as a lorry pulled out my feet had forgot where they were supposed to go!
Use the Michelin app for times and costs of routes – every time it was bang on the money.
Plan well – we did and it meant it went without a hitch.
If you’re into wine, try and find the smaller vineyards for your bottles. You get to try some amazing wines and brilliant prices.
Try and speak a bit of French. If you make the effort to learn a few of the basics the people seem to appreciate it.
If you want to keep your car clean, take a few supporting products. The coin operated jet washes (which are easy enough to find) sometimes don’t have brushes and no way of drying the car.
Don’t be afraid when you are having a day of driving to try smaller roads. The surfaces are much better quality than ours.
The French love a speed bump and I was lucky my £8 splitter made it home…just[/list]
PHOTOS
Here is a small selection of the car pics I took on our trip that didn't make the cut of 'special'…the rest you’ll probably see popping up in the photo comp from time to time.
I've also have about 4 hours of video footage to go through so will post on here when I have done the edit.
1066 Country
Marlon said:What a wonderful trip and great pics
Must have felt good that your P&J received all that positive attention
Thanks Colin, it’s going to make getting rid of it all that harder. The ///M is calling me but I’ve put so much time and effort in this one I don’t know if I’ll be able to let it go when the time comes!
Amazing trip! Well done for doing your homework - looks like it totally paid off. 
I had never even heard of the Vercors until last year. They made quite an impression on me too. They might not have the wow factor of the alpine passes but, like you say, there is just so much good road out there and so often you have it all to yourself.
I had never even heard of the Vercors until last year. They made quite an impression on me too. They might not have the wow factor of the alpine passes but, like you say, there is just so much good road out there and so often you have it all to yourself.
idej_z4 said:Marlon said:What a wonderful trip and great pics
Must have felt good that your P&J received all that positive attention
Thanks Colin, it’s going to make getting rid of it all that harder. The ///M is calling me but I’ve put so much time and effort in this one I don’t know if I’ll be able to let it go when the time comes!
Am too paranoid to take my //M on a Euro roadtrip, though know from my 3.0SE just how good they are.
If you've got the space & savings, my suggestion would be to keep the Coupe for the roadtrips, acquire an //M for crazy moments
Jembo said:idej_z4 said:Marlon said:What a wonderful trip and great pics
Must have felt good that your P&J received all that positive attention
Thanks Colin, it’s going to make getting rid of it all that harder. The ///M is calling me but I’ve put so much time and effort in this one I don’t know if I’ll be able to let it go when the time comes!
Am too paranoid to take my //M on a Euro roadtrip, though know from my 3.0SE just how good they are.
If you've got the space & savings, my suggestion would be to keep the Coupe for the roadtrips, acquire an //M for crazy moments
Why are you paranoid about taking your M to Europe?
Looks like the trip of a lifetime! Being the first, you'll never forget it, Mate. Some great pics and stunning scenery. Makes me want to bring my trip forward a year!
This sort of post makes belonging to this Forum so brilliant! Great that MrPT could give his recommendations. We all benefit..
This sort of post makes belonging to this Forum so brilliant! Great that MrPT could give his recommendations. We all benefit..
Joneeboy said:Looks like the trip of a lifetime! Being the first, you'll never forget it, Mate. Some great pics and stunning scenery. Makes me want to bring my trip forward a year!
This sort of post makes belonging to this Forum so brilliant! Great that MrPT could give his recommendations. We all benefit..
Hopefully this will be the first of many - your trip will be here before you know it...look forward to reading all about it on here.