The Quadra Chronicles - part 546

[DaveL485]

...or is it part 547? I've had this car so long I can't remember.

Anyway. As described on my cars thread its been panic stations to get it ready to cavort across Europe...again....this time we are headed for the Alps in Switzerland. I'm in France right now after a first day from hell.

Positives- Left on time. Car great.
Not so positives-
Traffic on M40 was slow.
Traffic on M25 was AWFUL.
Credit card error and wouldnt work at Cobham services.
Traffic on M20 was terrible.
Late for the tunnel. Not much though. Didn't matter anyway because...
Four hour delay at the tunnel.
Credit card PIN blocked and Lloyds can't fix it. Twats.
And then we get on the train and get to the other side. Fifty miles to go. Waiting to unload from the train.

And waiting.

And waiting.

Forty five minutes later we are reversing down the carriage as a brand new range rover is stuck with the handbrake locked on solid and they can't move it.

Hoping things smooth out tomorrow and I'll have some pictures from where we are staying

 

[Duncan Grier]

Can only get better Dave!

Hope today is business as usual

DG

 

[DaveL485]

Today we did many, many miles. I think about six hundred miles. It was a killer, but we didnt suffer traffic and everyone made it trouble free.

The scenery is spectacular. And i'm half cut after a few bevvies. That'll do!

 

[DaveL485]

 

[DaveL485]

First day on the passes. There was a lot of traffic, damn tourists! However the scenery was...wow. its something else here. We are based in Andermatt in Switzerland.
I'll let the pictures do the talking.

 

[DaveL485]

If I can upload anything anyway the bandwidth in the house we are staying at split between 8 people makes it a struggle lol

 

[DaveL485]

 

[DaveL485]

 

[DaveL485]

Yesterday we went Paragliding. Wow, what an experience. You basically get strapped to an instructor, run like hell off a mountain and fly over a town and land in a field in front of a Hooters bar. Its not cheap, if you take the USB drive with footage its 200 swiss francs but as a once in a lifetime thing it was awesome. The way the instructor navigates for lift to extend the flight is very clever and you just soar around like a bird in absolute awe of the fantastic scenery.



On the way home from there we found a nice spot by the side of a stunning jade coloured lake and took a break. I stuck my hand in the water and it was surprisingly warm...the water I put my hand in in the passes was icy cold but this was swimmable! So we did



On the way home (I didnt take the 21) Tim threw me the keys to his 420bhp Focus RS. Yup, thats right. Me and a souped up RS. I warned him I wasnt going to pootle across the hills...he seemed fine with it. I acclimatised to short shift six speed, super light pedals and the feel of the car and let it loose a bit. Flipping heck, the power delivery was sublime, torque curve was ALL THE POWER ALL THE TIME. I was chasing the Porsche and we were properly going for it when traffic allowed. Loved it!


Today we went and drove the Nuffernen, Furkha and Grimsel passes. Some of the poor little chickens were exhausted and stayed at the house so five of us went in three cars, me in the 21 and then the Noble M12 GTO and the V8 Ultima Can Am.
What roads! We spent probably half the main passes at warp factor 472...traffic and bikes and stuff was vastly reduced from the weekends traffic. Climbing these passes is a hard slog on the cars, engine temps rise as its loaded up so much and the brakes cool off because you barely use them. The hairpins slow you right down then accelerating uphill needs a fair wedge of throttle so one eye on the temp gauge and lift & coast into the corners. Downhill, well, how brave are you? We were shifting some, all three cars were wriggling about a bit and the brakes were all taking some hammer but you're always always aware of the thousand foot drop on the left or right side. Barriers? Nah theyre for poofs. Few small posts, bit of railing....if you go off you're going over the cliff no question. Petrifying, exhilarating, frightening, electrifying.


Breaking for lunch now before we decide what to do this afternoon. To be honest i'd happily go and repeat the mornings sprint lol

 

[Duncan Grier]

Looks epic Dave!!!!

Some quality quick cars in the gang also, boys and toys

How is the 21 going keeping up?

DG

 

[DaveL485]

How is the 21 going keeping up?

Pretty good. It's on par with the tweaked Focus ST give or take, I brake a LOT later than most and I can boot it out of the corners a lot harder than the RWD supercars. Add to that a smidge of bravado and the fact I am happy to push a lot harder than they do (understandable) and it evens out the fact that they mostly all have double the horsepower I do.

I mean, don't get me wrong, if they wanted to 5 out of the other 6 could drop me easily if they tried there's no illusions there.

Me - Renault 21 Turbo Quadra (Turbo 242bhp)
Mark - V8 Ultima Can Am (NA 550bhp)
Dave - Lotus Exige S (Supercharged 345bhp)
Tim - Focus RS (Turbo 420bhp)
Jason - Noble M12 GTO R3 (Twin Turbo 400bhp)
Rich - Focus ST (Turbo 300bhp)
James - Porsche 996 (Turbo 500bhp)

As far as stats go i'm so far out of my league its like Iceland playing England at football. Oh wait...

 

[Turbjj]

Pretty good. It's on par with the tweaked Focus ST give or take, I brake a LOT later than most and I can boot it out of the corners a lot harder than the RWD supercars. Add to that a smidge of bravado and the fact I am happy to push a lot harder than they do (understandable) and it evens out the fact that they mostly all have double the horsepower I do.

I mean, don't get me wrong, if they wanted to 5 out of the other 6 could drop me easily if they tried there's no illusions there.

Me - Renault 21 Turbo Quadra (Turbo 242bhp)
Mark - V8 Ultima Can Am (NA 550bhp)
Dave - Lotus Exige S (Supercharged 345bhp)
Tim - Focus RS (Turbo 420bhp)
Jason - Noble M12 GTO R3 (Twin Turbo 400bhp)
Rich - Focus ST (Turbo 300bhp)
James - Porsche 996 (Turbo 500bhp)

As far as stats go i'm so far out of my league its like Iceland playing England at football. Oh wait...

It's not always about the power of the car

 

[DaveL485]

We spent the rest of the time on the passes. Wow, what roads.



What you dont realise is the effects of altitude on the car. You lose power, lag increases and the heat, wow they run so much hotter due to the lack of air to cool the car. We went so high it sent my idle mental and with the engine off the MAP sensor was reading under 80kpa at altitude.

 

[Turbjj]

Reminds me of my bike trips

 

[Turbjj]

No trip to the Ring this time?

 

[DaveL485]

No trip to the Ring this time?

Yes, of course...and a steak on the stone @ the Pistenklause

 

[Turbjj]

Nice, what a 21 is still capable of!
Makes me smile

 

[gtmatt]

Wow hell of a trip Looks amazing

 

[DaveL485]

Wow hell of a trip Looks amazing

That pretty much sums it up!