Weekend Wales Road Trip Inc Evo Triangle (UK)

[h-manuk]

Hi all

There's been talk about a road trip to Wales and I thought I would start a thread and see how many people would be interested in doing this. Haven spoken to fellow 1M owners at the recent ACE Cafe meet there seems to be quite a few that would be interested!

Marcus and Jo have done this before so appreciate their help in organising. The idea would be to meet on a Friday evening at a hotel for a meal and then after breakfast head off in the morning for some driving and stay over somewhere in Wales on the Saturday night. We would continue with some more driving on Sunday morning with perhaps a lunch stop and drive back home late afternoon early evening!

We would include the famous EVO Triangle and a few visitor spots on route. I have identified a couple of good places where the Evo team and other car journalists stay.

I am suggesting a weekend in September, so let's get the ball rolling and ask who is up for this?

[Aussie_in_London]

Yep for sure and a mate of mine Wayne who has a 330ci would be up for it as we had spoken at the wedding I was at during the weekend about doing just this.......

A couple of yrs ago the misses and I did the entire coast run (boarder to boarder) and then ran it back down through the mountains back home.........Plus the best run, through Snowdonia etc at 2am in rain and fog coming back from a drive around Ireland.....

So yeah count be in .....

[as7920]

Count me in as provisional. Need to farm the kids and missus off somewhere!

[jan9]

I'm very keen to do this.Also is anyone planning on bringing their partners?Will leave the kids with their grandparents but if any partners are coming thought it would be nice for them to meet and complain about us!

[Aussie_in_London]

Originally Posted by jan9

I'm very keen to do this.Also is anyone planning on bringing their partners?Will leave the kids with their grandparents but if any partners are coming thought it would be nice for them to meet and complain about us!

Yeah mate my wife would come, it is her car lol

[jan9]

Originally Posted by Aussie_in_London

Yeah mate my wife would come, it is her car lol

Oh yeah Fantastic, looking forward to this already!

[mlhj83]

Haha, I guess I don't need to say Joe and I are in. Anyway, I'll be more than happy to do the routing. Although, I must say that your cars will be splashed with lots and lots of mud and poo . The best roads are just littered with horse and sheep droppings, so don't worry about detailing your car before the trip. I keep a Google maps log of the best roads that I have enjoyed:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ms...83383,28.54248

I will use it to draw a route that suits everybody's liking, so feel free to chime in any roads/routes/destinations you like and I'll add that to the route. Cheers.

[Jezzer]

I'll give that one a miss then

[will-w]

Anyone mind if a lowly F20 joins in the fun?

Would be the first road trip in the new car

[mlhj83]

Originally Posted by will-w

Anyone mind if a lowly F20 joins in the fun?

Would be the first road trip in the new car

A driving enthusiast will always be a driving enthusiast, regardless to whatever car you have. A F20 118d M Sport is no slouch and you might find the softer M Sport suspension setup well suited to hustle the Welsh roads with speed.

[mlhj83]

Also, what I'll do is create 2 separate route maps. One for iDrive and another for those without iDrive.

For those with iDrive, all you have do is upload a nav file that I'll send you and you are good to go, so you needn't worry about getting lost. Note that Route Criteria will be disabled given that a custom route is being used.

For those without iDrive, I'll send you a Google maps link and then you will have to somehow make your satnav take a particular route between destinations rather than the typical shortest, fastest or most fuel efficient route. Or you could get your co-driver to navigate .

I also suggest that we avoid the urge or the pressure to drive in convoy, especially over long distances, as different people will have different driving comfort zones, and the purpose of the drive is to enjoy yourself rather than having to keep pace or set the pace. I'll set way-points throughout the route where we will wait for all to arrive before we continue our journey. Therefore, allowing people to take their time, and stop when they feel like it without needing the whole group to stop etc.

[will-w]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by mlhj83

...
For those without iDrive, I'll send you a Google maps link and then you will have to somehow make your satnav take a particular route between destinations rather than the typical shortest, fastest or most fuel efficient route. Or you could get your co-driver to navigate .
...

Those of us without Nav but have Android mobile phones can bookmark the Google map in your Google account and follow it directly on your phone's sat nav

[h-manuk]

Cheers Marcus for your suggestions.

I have created a poll to see which weekend suits everybody: http://doodle.com/9w4zyvuza559pf6i

I will be closing the poll by Friday 20th July so to give us time to organise the weekend.

Marcus, can you pm your email address please. Also can we avoid the dirty roads please lol!

[Tamara]

[quote=mlhj83;12221162]Haha, I guess I don't need to say Joe and I are in. Anyway, I'll be more than happy to do the routing. Although, I must say that your cars will be splashed with lots and lots of mud and poo . The best roads are just littered with horse and sheep droppings, so don't worry about detailing your car before the trip:*)


Count me and Jeremy in. About time the baby got properly christened. (And I can always take all Monday off to clean it!)
Am idrive Luddite but co driver will manage with maps, androids etc.

[mlhj83]

We are rocking! Have got a stunning preliminary route already with allocated waypoints and food stops. Hetan is researching hotels and they certainly look good.

There will be some mountain edge roads so quiet and corners with sufficient space to get the backend out if anyone is so inclined .

[h-manuk]

Right, our starting point will be just below Brecon Beacons which fits well with our plans and won't be too difficult to reach for people on the Friday evening.

Our rest points will be safe and secure and we shall not post any specific details on the locations/routes on this thread.

Please can you select your preferred weekend dates ASAP and pm me your email address.

[will-w]

Updated the poll.. We're easy to please as we're pretty much free all of September

[mlhj83]

Right, I have finalised the route for Saturday, regardless of the Hotel we stay on Friday night. I'll pm the route to all of you now. I have tested all these roads over the years and have drawn some of them from videos from Driver's Republic (before they shut down), Evo, Car magazine, Autocar and also Topgear's CLK63 AMG Black Series feature. I have picked the roads for their:

-relative elevation to the surroundings, so as to get a good view
-quietness
-twistiness
-group photographic opportunities
-frequent changes in elevation and camber
-natural scenic beauty

Obviously, not all the roads will be as scenic, as we do have to get onto arterial roads at various points, but they are minimal and typically more scenic than most of the roads in the Midlands and South East England anyway.

[h-manuk]

Just had a look at Marcus's suggested route for Saturday and it looks awesome

[will-w]

Originally Posted by h-manuk

Just had a look at Marcus's suggested route for Saturday and it looks awesome

+ 1

Well done that man!

Any idea on where we'll all be staying? Wonder if we can arrange discounted rates for group bookings (tight arse me!)

[mlhj83]

Originally Posted by will-w

+ 1

Well done that man!

Any idea on where we'll all be staying? Wonder if we can arrange discounted rates for group bookings (tight arse me!)

Cheers. h-manuk is in charge of hotel bookings. Somewhere cheap and comfortable for friday night and somewhere a little nicer on Sat night.

Anyway, Sunday's route is now complete. Some jaw dropping roads which will make your butt clench whilst staring down the cliff edge. Don't worry, they are all well paved and safe . All roads tried and tested.

All pm'ed.

[oldBMWguy]

Originally Posted by mlhj83

Right, I have finalised the route for Saturday, regardless of the Hotel we stay on Friday night. I'll pm the route to all of you now. I have tested all these roads over the years and have drawn some of them from videos from Driver's Republic (before they shut down), Evo, Car magazine, Autocar and also Topgear's CLK63 AMG Black Series feature. I have picked the roads for their:

-relative elevation to the surroundings, so as to get a good view
-quietness
-twistiness
-group photographic opportunities
-frequent changes in elevation and camber
-natural scenic beauty

Obviously, not all the roads will be as scenic, as we do have to get onto arterial roads at various points, but they are minimal and typically more scenic than most of the roads in the Midlands and South East England anyway.

Any chance of PMing me that route also? I am hoping to visit Wales this fall or next spring, and, while we will not be driving the 1M, we would love to drive some of the back roads to really "see" the Country-- I hate the Interstates here and the M roads in your area!