Driving in the highlands
Susan has a knack, a gift if you will. She can sense if good deals are on sale around her, and she can also tell if the price is right. Even if she knows nothing about the product, she can usually negotiate quite successfully. This time was no different. Somewhere in the depth of the world wide web she found a deal, a "driving experience" - which is how we (and several other wide eyed fanatics) ended up at Lock Earhnead faced to face with 4 cars: Ford Focus RS - rally spec, Caterham, Astin Martin DB9 and... drum roll please...... a Ferrari F430. This was her present to me, isn't she the best :)
From driving_loch_earnhead
The rules of engagement were simple: 20 minutes per person per driving seat, slow down to 30 when driving through villages, don't drive into any lakes. And with that we were all sent to the respective vehicles and told to "start the engines".
First up for me was the Focus.
From driving_loch_earnhead
From driving_loch_earnhead
If you've ever stood next to, or been inside an Impreza WRX, or perhaps an EVO 9 then you'll be familiar with the sound. That slightly guttural, rumbling glug, glug, glug closely followed by the higher pitched scream, as the driver tests out the accelerator while still in neutral. When you hear sounds like that, you know something exciting is about to happen. When you are in the driver's seat the smile starts to slowly make its way through your cheeks, in the general direction of your ears. And then you drop it in gear and take off. Oh YEAH!!! Even if you've never really liked overtaking, you suddenly want to do it, right now, a caravan, a truck, a Ferrari, anything. Come to think of it, that's probably the reason the guides insisted that the F430 always goes last in the convoy :) At the same time, you never have the feeling of too much power, it's fun to drive without the feeling that 10 bulls have been let out of the gate, and your chariot is attached to all of them.
Summary: predictably AWESOME!!!
Next came the Caterham.
From driving_loch_earnhead
When getting in, I got this feeling that something both exhilarating and very very wrong was about to take place. This car seems to lack even the most basic creature comforts, like say doors - instead there are these 2 leather flaps.
From driving_loch_earnhead
There is no roof either, but you do get a very narrow sport seat (read: butt inches from the ground), and a 4 point safety harness. That last feature is usually quite promising in a rally car, with say, a roll cage. In a dune buggy with no roof, I started to get worried. The pedals in this thing are so close to each other, I had to bend my ankle so that I wouldn't accelerate and break at the same time. Very carefully and nearly stalling it twice I drove this strange concoction out of the pub car park and onto the highway.... And then I put my foot down... Wow... I was pushed into the seat with so much force, I lost the ability to speak for a second. The trees and hills around became an instant blur. Even at 40, this thing felt like 100. As I was propelled towards 60, I seriously started to worry that I've inadvertently torn a hole in space/time. By 80, I knew exactly where "highway to hell" is. But then something funny happened at around 100. I've found peace and tranquillity, and having asked forgiveness for my sins realised, that this really isn't such a bad way to go. Climbing to 120 my only tentative hope was that when they do find the smouldering wreckage of this Satan mobile, there are at least 2 or 3 teeth left of me, so as to conduct positive dental identification. And then just like that, it was over. In the past, when I saw Caterhams on the highways of UK, being driven by well to do gentlemen 60+, I sometimes wondered why I have never seen anyone younger driving that fun and funny looking little car. I can now categorically tell you, no one under 60 would survive owning one.
Summary: the quickest and most exhilarating way to kill yourself ever
At the upcoming truck stop, I swapped insanity for luxury.
From driving_loch_earnhead
Astin Martin DB9.
Just saying it out loud evokes in your mind images of money, power and Vodka Martinis (shaken not stirred). Actually sitting in one, is something else. Large comfortable leather seats, wood trim on the dash, electrics that actually help and enhance the experience of being in this car, and not just gadgets added afterwards to boost the price. It feels like the kind of car that a cocktail party could be hosted in, with quite chatter and background clinging of the champagne flutes. And all of that before you even turn they key. Here another surprise awaits you. The powerful rumbling V8 can be heard, and even enjoyed, but at no point does it become loud enough to annoy, or perhaps get in the way of closing a multi-million pound business deal. Even driving this car feels elegant. Smooth acceleration, flappy panel gear box, I didn't even blink and I was suddenly doing 80, and yet at no point did I feel the need to overtake. This car is all about understatement. The power is there, but you are not tempted to show it of. It makes you feel like an English millionaire. And when I say English, I mean the made up image from books and movies, you know, tall, quite, with an aura of self-worth and a firm belief in being just slightly better than the French. I actually felt the smugness levels rise within me as I drove it down the highway, every so often catching up to the idiot in the Caterham up ahead :)
Summary: Understated elegance, engineered to perfection
Last was the Italian Stallion himself, the godfather - Ferrari F430.
From driving_loch_earnhead
Actually calling it a stallion would be incorrect. There are in fact 483 horses in the 4.3L V8 that sits directly behind the driver, under the see-through bonnet cover. This car looks like a work of art. The endless curves lavishly painted in "Ferrari red", it's sheer size. It is the embodiment of speed and beauty. And then you get in, turn they key..... and the fairy tale abruptly stops. This car is Crap, and capitalization is not a mistake :( I tried to like this car, I really did - this was after all the dream, something I never thought I would get to do in this or the next 3 life times. I thrashed it, I dropped into lower gears, I overtook things that should never be overtaken on windy Scottish roads, and at one point, I was nearly sideways around a corner. It was all pointless. Yes, you hear it, but you never really feel part of it. That excitement that runs down the back of your neck when driving something ridiculously fast... just not there. Secondly the road - you don't feel that either, at all. And in a car this big and this powerful that's downright dangerous. Don't get me wrong - it handles very well, when the steering wheel turns, so does the car, but it just doesn't let you in on the fun. And speaking of steering wheels, and the interior in general. Whoever designed it should fired and kicked out of Italy. The wheel looks and feels like it came from an arcade game. Everything inside that can rattle, does. Past 30, it feels like mirrors and door handles are going to start falling off. And this from a car whose price starts well on the other side of £150 000? What exactly are you paying for? Well, the looks. Every village I drove through, all heads turned to look at me. Every single male, wanted to be me and every single female wanted to occupy the seat next to me. At one point some hikers climbed out of the nearby bush, to see what all the racket was about, and for a brief moment, they were ready to trade their backpacks and walking lifestyle, to be in that car. Funny thing, I'd trade had they offered. So after all that, my advice to anyone who sees an F430 on the road, speeding past them, like a Da Vinci work on wheels - enjoy that moment, because right then you have the best seat in the house.
Summary: Ridiculously good looking rubbish.
From driving_loch_earnhead
From driving_loch_earnhead
From driving_loch_earnhead
So overall, having just sampled some of the best engineering Europe has to offer, what would I take home - given the opportunity? The Astin. That car makes anyone inside feel like they've been born into aristocracy. That they deserve the finer things in life, simply by fact of existence. I would drive it home from the office and people on the street would instantly recognise that they are in the presence of class and success. And then, as the automatic doors of my garage would close behind me, I would let just a hint of smile cross my face, because right there next to me, would be parked the Focus RS and the Imprezza WRX STI, all ready for some weekend fun.
From driving_loch_earnhead
The rules of engagement were simple: 20 minutes per person per driving seat, slow down to 30 when driving through villages, don't drive into any lakes. And with that we were all sent to the respective vehicles and told to "start the engines".
First up for me was the Focus.
From driving_loch_earnhead
From driving_loch_earnhead
If you've ever stood next to, or been inside an Impreza WRX, or perhaps an EVO 9 then you'll be familiar with the sound. That slightly guttural, rumbling glug, glug, glug closely followed by the higher pitched scream, as the driver tests out the accelerator while still in neutral. When you hear sounds like that, you know something exciting is about to happen. When you are in the driver's seat the smile starts to slowly make its way through your cheeks, in the general direction of your ears. And then you drop it in gear and take off. Oh YEAH!!! Even if you've never really liked overtaking, you suddenly want to do it, right now, a caravan, a truck, a Ferrari, anything. Come to think of it, that's probably the reason the guides insisted that the F430 always goes last in the convoy :) At the same time, you never have the feeling of too much power, it's fun to drive without the feeling that 10 bulls have been let out of the gate, and your chariot is attached to all of them.
Summary: predictably AWESOME!!!
Next came the Caterham.
From driving_loch_earnhead
When getting in, I got this feeling that something both exhilarating and very very wrong was about to take place. This car seems to lack even the most basic creature comforts, like say doors - instead there are these 2 leather flaps.
From driving_loch_earnhead
There is no roof either, but you do get a very narrow sport seat (read: butt inches from the ground), and a 4 point safety harness. That last feature is usually quite promising in a rally car, with say, a roll cage. In a dune buggy with no roof, I started to get worried. The pedals in this thing are so close to each other, I had to bend my ankle so that I wouldn't accelerate and break at the same time. Very carefully and nearly stalling it twice I drove this strange concoction out of the pub car park and onto the highway.... And then I put my foot down... Wow... I was pushed into the seat with so much force, I lost the ability to speak for a second. The trees and hills around became an instant blur. Even at 40, this thing felt like 100. As I was propelled towards 60, I seriously started to worry that I've inadvertently torn a hole in space/time. By 80, I knew exactly where "highway to hell" is. But then something funny happened at around 100. I've found peace and tranquillity, and having asked forgiveness for my sins realised, that this really isn't such a bad way to go. Climbing to 120 my only tentative hope was that when they do find the smouldering wreckage of this Satan mobile, there are at least 2 or 3 teeth left of me, so as to conduct positive dental identification. And then just like that, it was over. In the past, when I saw Caterhams on the highways of UK, being driven by well to do gentlemen 60+, I sometimes wondered why I have never seen anyone younger driving that fun and funny looking little car. I can now categorically tell you, no one under 60 would survive owning one.
Summary: the quickest and most exhilarating way to kill yourself ever
At the upcoming truck stop, I swapped insanity for luxury.
From driving_loch_earnhead
Astin Martin DB9.
Just saying it out loud evokes in your mind images of money, power and Vodka Martinis (shaken not stirred). Actually sitting in one, is something else. Large comfortable leather seats, wood trim on the dash, electrics that actually help and enhance the experience of being in this car, and not just gadgets added afterwards to boost the price. It feels like the kind of car that a cocktail party could be hosted in, with quite chatter and background clinging of the champagne flutes. And all of that before you even turn they key. Here another surprise awaits you. The powerful rumbling V8 can be heard, and even enjoyed, but at no point does it become loud enough to annoy, or perhaps get in the way of closing a multi-million pound business deal. Even driving this car feels elegant. Smooth acceleration, flappy panel gear box, I didn't even blink and I was suddenly doing 80, and yet at no point did I feel the need to overtake. This car is all about understatement. The power is there, but you are not tempted to show it of. It makes you feel like an English millionaire. And when I say English, I mean the made up image from books and movies, you know, tall, quite, with an aura of self-worth and a firm belief in being just slightly better than the French. I actually felt the smugness levels rise within me as I drove it down the highway, every so often catching up to the idiot in the Caterham up ahead :)
Summary: Understated elegance, engineered to perfection
Last was the Italian Stallion himself, the godfather - Ferrari F430.
From driving_loch_earnhead
Actually calling it a stallion would be incorrect. There are in fact 483 horses in the 4.3L V8 that sits directly behind the driver, under the see-through bonnet cover. This car looks like a work of art. The endless curves lavishly painted in "Ferrari red", it's sheer size. It is the embodiment of speed and beauty. And then you get in, turn they key..... and the fairy tale abruptly stops. This car is Crap, and capitalization is not a mistake :( I tried to like this car, I really did - this was after all the dream, something I never thought I would get to do in this or the next 3 life times. I thrashed it, I dropped into lower gears, I overtook things that should never be overtaken on windy Scottish roads, and at one point, I was nearly sideways around a corner. It was all pointless. Yes, you hear it, but you never really feel part of it. That excitement that runs down the back of your neck when driving something ridiculously fast... just not there. Secondly the road - you don't feel that either, at all. And in a car this big and this powerful that's downright dangerous. Don't get me wrong - it handles very well, when the steering wheel turns, so does the car, but it just doesn't let you in on the fun. And speaking of steering wheels, and the interior in general. Whoever designed it should fired and kicked out of Italy. The wheel looks and feels like it came from an arcade game. Everything inside that can rattle, does. Past 30, it feels like mirrors and door handles are going to start falling off. And this from a car whose price starts well on the other side of £150 000? What exactly are you paying for? Well, the looks. Every village I drove through, all heads turned to look at me. Every single male, wanted to be me and every single female wanted to occupy the seat next to me. At one point some hikers climbed out of the nearby bush, to see what all the racket was about, and for a brief moment, they were ready to trade their backpacks and walking lifestyle, to be in that car. Funny thing, I'd trade had they offered. So after all that, my advice to anyone who sees an F430 on the road, speeding past them, like a Da Vinci work on wheels - enjoy that moment, because right then you have the best seat in the house.
Summary: Ridiculously good looking rubbish.
From driving_loch_earnhead
From driving_loch_earnhead
From driving_loch_earnhead
So overall, having just sampled some of the best engineering Europe has to offer, what would I take home - given the opportunity? The Astin. That car makes anyone inside feel like they've been born into aristocracy. That they deserve the finer things in life, simply by fact of existence. I would drive it home from the office and people on the street would instantly recognise that they are in the presence of class and success. And then, as the automatic doors of my garage would close behind me, I would let just a hint of smile cross my face, because right there next to me, would be parked the Focus RS and the Imprezza WRX STI, all ready for some weekend fun.