your 3 best drives ever
#1
12-13-2009, 04:42 PM
your 3 best drives ever
I have wanted to start this thread for some time. LAbrits and JOX's plan of a teamspeed European driving feast egged me on a little. So here it goes.
I love cars and I love driving, and every once in a while, rather unexpectantly, you get to enjoy a car and the drive so much that the two become linked forever. When I look back at my life (33, no kids) my best drives represent some of the best times I have had. Having been on teamspeed for a little while now I get the feeling that you may have this in common with with me.
I am going to tell you about the three drives that I think are the most memorable for me. I hope you will return the favour.
1. 2007 - Corvette c6 Z06 black/black - A26, Italy 5:45am
Since the age of 0 I have loved cars. I grew up in the South of France and our mid 80s trips to Monaco meant only one thing. The chance to maybe see a 308, a Testarossa, or best of all a Lamborghini Countach. I had a black hotwheels countach a that time, underneath it said stated the name and top speed.
300km/h.
Fast forward 22 years and 3 car magazines per month. I have moved to Monaco, primarily (subconciously of course) to have monaco plates. Two weeks earlier I have bought one of the first European C6 Z06.
It is 4:30 in the morning and I have, late in the night, decided to surprise my girlfriend in Geneva. I can't sleep, my mind is already sitting 5 floors further down in the driving seat of my new 500 plus HP beast, and I am convinced that I can hear it rumbling at me. At 4:30 sleep is not happening and I dash for the door. I leave everything behind, apart from my passport and press the green starter button. I get unto the motorway to Genova. The air outside is cold and noisy, I know this because every kilometer I shift down to third, open the window enter a tunnel and a few seconds later shoot out the other end. window goes up... and repeat.
Just before Genoa I turn left towards Allessandria, 20 minutes later the cold hills are behind me and the sun is rising on 3 lanes of dead straight deserted Autostrada. I am already in 6th but this time I am keeping my foot down and more down. The head up display flies past 300km/h and starts to nudge 330km/h. I try to take a picture on my mobile phone, but immediately realise the futility and stupidity of this. As 321km/h hits I know that pictures aren't neccessary, I will remember this forever. A truck appears in the horizon and its all over as I mash the brakes to a safe overtaking speed of 250km/h. I spend the next hours smiling, thinking about my first Countach. At 8:30 I arrive in Geneva, my girlfriend is appaled that I have obviously been speeding..... Who cares? I fall asleep, almost immediately, and doze back to motoring heaven.
Attached is a small pic of the exact stretch on googlemaps. I must have cleared that km stretch in 11 seconds or so.
I will post the next instalment in the coming days.
I love cars and I love driving, and every once in a while, rather unexpectantly, you get to enjoy a car and the drive so much that the two become linked forever. When I look back at my life (33, no kids) my best drives represent some of the best times I have had. Having been on teamspeed for a little while now I get the feeling that you may have this in common with with me.
I am going to tell you about the three drives that I think are the most memorable for me. I hope you will return the favour.
1. 2007 - Corvette c6 Z06 black/black - A26, Italy 5:45am
Since the age of 0 I have loved cars. I grew up in the South of France and our mid 80s trips to Monaco meant only one thing. The chance to maybe see a 308, a Testarossa, or best of all a Lamborghini Countach. I had a black hotwheels countach a that time, underneath it said stated the name and top speed.
300km/h.
Fast forward 22 years and 3 car magazines per month. I have moved to Monaco, primarily (subconciously of course) to have monaco plates. Two weeks earlier I have bought one of the first European C6 Z06.
It is 4:30 in the morning and I have, late in the night, decided to surprise my girlfriend in Geneva. I can't sleep, my mind is already sitting 5 floors further down in the driving seat of my new 500 plus HP beast, and I am convinced that I can hear it rumbling at me. At 4:30 sleep is not happening and I dash for the door. I leave everything behind, apart from my passport and press the green starter button. I get unto the motorway to Genova. The air outside is cold and noisy, I know this because every kilometer I shift down to third, open the window enter a tunnel and a few seconds later shoot out the other end. window goes up... and repeat.
Just before Genoa I turn left towards Allessandria, 20 minutes later the cold hills are behind me and the sun is rising on 3 lanes of dead straight deserted Autostrada. I am already in 6th but this time I am keeping my foot down and more down. The head up display flies past 300km/h and starts to nudge 330km/h. I try to take a picture on my mobile phone, but immediately realise the futility and stupidity of this. As 321km/h hits I know that pictures aren't neccessary, I will remember this forever. A truck appears in the horizon and its all over as I mash the brakes to a safe overtaking speed of 250km/h. I spend the next hours smiling, thinking about my first Countach. At 8:30 I arrive in Geneva, my girlfriend is appaled that I have obviously been speeding..... Who cares? I fall asleep, almost immediately, and doze back to motoring heaven.
Attached is a small pic of the exact stretch on googlemaps. I must have cleared that km stretch in 11 seconds or so.
I will post the next instalment in the coming days.
#4
12-13-2009, 07:32 PM
Cool thread. One I can remember, I was in my aunts Infinity Maxima in France and Belgium. Infinity Maxima was in Europe what a Infinity I35 is here.
We were driving from Brussels to Bruge at over 210 kph and I ask my aunt in the back seat why the cruise control wasn't working. She told me it didn't work when you go this fast. Oh.. ok.
As we are (in my eye's) flying toward the coast, I notice in the rear view this white car coming up on us fast. I'm thinking WTF ... were doing over 100 mph. Before I can look again the thing blows past us like we were standing still.
Both my brother who's riding shotgun and I look at each other and say "BMW M1!" Man that thing was hauling ass! Kinda put our sorry 210 kph asses in perspective.
We were driving from Brussels to Bruge at over 210 kph and I ask my aunt in the back seat why the cruise control wasn't working. She told me it didn't work when you go this fast. Oh.. ok.
As we are (in my eye's) flying toward the coast, I notice in the rear view this white car coming up on us fast. I'm thinking WTF ... were doing over 100 mph. Before I can look again the thing blows past us like we were standing still.
Both my brother who's riding shotgun and I look at each other and say "BMW M1!" Man that thing was hauling ass! Kinda put our sorry 210 kph asses in perspective.
Last edited by 96740; 12-13-2009 at 07:38 PM.
#7
12-13-2009, 10:24 PM
One of my best drives was in my dad's C5RS6. Driving that car anytime was a blast. When we just got it, I would only really get to drive it when he was with me. However, the first time I got to drive it myself for any substantial distance was after dropping my dad in NYC - leaving me 50 miles of road to get home - alone in the 450hp beast. I was 17 at the time. Needless to say, I stretched the car out a bit through the crappy roads of Staten Island, on my path to Jersey. When I hit my exit on the Parkway, it was dark, I'd guess around 9pm. I cruised off the ramp and onto the right lane of the highway that would take me to my house. Literally 30 seconds after merging, a car pulled out in front of me.
From a distance, I knew it was something sweet. But, from my vantage point I couldn't what it was exactly. After trying the accelerator pedal a bit, I discerned that this sleek, low sports car was in fact a Lamborghini Diablo. For the next 10 or so miles, I 'cruised' alongside this masterpiece of a car I envied from childhood. We did a few small runs from dig and roll to about 90. Luckily I had enough power to keep up, and volume was heavy so there was not much room for stupidity.
Eventually, he exited and I proceeded carefully home. I must admit I was shaking with excitement and adrenaline for a large part of this trip and even after parking the car. Here I was at 17 in a super-sedan having some fun with a guy in one of my favorite cars. This is the type of thing that I could have only dreamed of prior to my experience.
I had many other great and exciting memories in this car, and in others, but this one I will never forget.
From a distance, I knew it was something sweet. But, from my vantage point I couldn't what it was exactly. After trying the accelerator pedal a bit, I discerned that this sleek, low sports car was in fact a Lamborghini Diablo. For the next 10 or so miles, I 'cruised' alongside this masterpiece of a car I envied from childhood. We did a few small runs from dig and roll to about 90. Luckily I had enough power to keep up, and volume was heavy so there was not much room for stupidity.
Eventually, he exited and I proceeded carefully home. I must admit I was shaking with excitement and adrenaline for a large part of this trip and even after parking the car. Here I was at 17 in a super-sedan having some fun with a guy in one of my favorite cars. This is the type of thing that I could have only dreamed of prior to my experience.
I had many other great and exciting memories in this car, and in others, but this one I will never forget.
#8
12-13-2009, 10:35 PM
Great thread H-bo, I loved your story, I felt like I was right there with you.
Most stories are going to be about speed, mine is more about fulfillment. November 2002. I was 22 years old and I was driving southbound on Beverly Glenn from Sherman Oaks to West LA. A year before this day I had just moved to LA driving my little econo clunker my parents got for me when I was in high school.
It was a beautiful sunny Saturday morning and I was experiencing for the first time blissful top down driving through the canyon roads. On this glorious day I was in my shiny new Lapis Blue on Savannah Beige 2003 Porsche Boxster. It was my first "cool" car that I had earned and acquired with my own money. The exhaust note sent chills down my spine, the crisp morning air was blowing around in the cabin, and I remember looking in the side view mirror at what can only be described as my first sighting of "permagrin" on my face. I may have even laughed out loud like a little girl I was so excited. I stuck my left arm out the window and played with the wind as I cruised down the traffic-less streets.
I can't tell you how good that felt. Looking back it's funny how I thought I had "made it" and it couldn't get any better than this. lol @ that, but I was young, and I just had my first taste of success. That year I put 15,000+ miles on my Boxster (0 roadtrips) most of it was top down cruising with no destination. I'll never forget that drive.
Most stories are going to be about speed, mine is more about fulfillment. November 2002. I was 22 years old and I was driving southbound on Beverly Glenn from Sherman Oaks to West LA. A year before this day I had just moved to LA driving my little econo clunker my parents got for me when I was in high school.
It was a beautiful sunny Saturday morning and I was experiencing for the first time blissful top down driving through the canyon roads. On this glorious day I was in my shiny new Lapis Blue on Savannah Beige 2003 Porsche Boxster. It was my first "cool" car that I had earned and acquired with my own money. The exhaust note sent chills down my spine, the crisp morning air was blowing around in the cabin, and I remember looking in the side view mirror at what can only be described as my first sighting of "permagrin" on my face. I may have even laughed out loud like a little girl I was so excited. I stuck my left arm out the window and played with the wind as I cruised down the traffic-less streets.
I can't tell you how good that felt. Looking back it's funny how I thought I had "made it" and it couldn't get any better than this. lol @ that, but I was young, and I just had my first taste of success. That year I put 15,000+ miles on my Boxster (0 roadtrips) most of it was top down cruising with no destination. I'll never forget that drive.
#9
12-13-2009, 11:06 PM
Does it have to be on the street?
At the last 24 hours of Lemons race I did a 2 1/2 hour stint, just me spending two and a half hours pounding that crappy little 323 around the track over and over and over again, just me and my lap timer, chasing an ever elusive smaller number on the little XT's screen. My best lap was the very last one of the race: 2:34.80
At the last 24 hours of Lemons race I did a 2 1/2 hour stint, just me spending two and a half hours pounding that crappy little 323 around the track over and over and over again, just me and my lap timer, chasing an ever elusive smaller number on the little XT's screen. My best lap was the very last one of the race: 2:34.80
#10
12-14-2009, 04:15 AM
The best three drives, well there is many but the best three are the following:
1)
February 2009 driving from Kuwait city to the borders of Saudi Arabia where my friends chalet is, I wasnt in the mood to go out that day just felt tired during the weekend but the phone calls keep coming, come to the chalet the weather is great were going to go offroad and bbq later at night.
I went down to the garage and saw the SLK55 AMG parked for a longtime without an exhilirating drive, the top comes down and the ipod playlist is on. The trip took me 1 1:15 minutes as I drove slowly at first, however once I've passed "Bnaider" chalet/coastal area I gave it all its got once I've passed the radars. Smack down, downshifts and the car sounds very brutal ;I overtook a speeding harley davidson on the highway and the speedo reaches 255kmh easily, shifts and it continues to hit 295kmh and slowly increasing to 302km/h and continues to pull with the topdown. I have never ever once felt this much alive in my life, the experience was very exhilarating but I felt as if I was on holiday, the music, the road, weather and sound was the complete package...listening to tracks such as Apollo 440 can stop the rock, seven nation army...
2)
July 2009
LP560-4 Spyder (rented in cannes)
Drove it to Montecarlo for dinner with a friend at night, drove through the F1 track and passed by the tunnel at WOT, sounds insane.
August 2009-
Rented Maserati Granturismo, drove till Portofino and back to Theoule sur mer (france) On the way back lots of mountainous routes, traction off and drove aggressively kicking back the tail of the gt and having it slide.
1)
February 2009 driving from Kuwait city to the borders of Saudi Arabia where my friends chalet is, I wasnt in the mood to go out that day just felt tired during the weekend but the phone calls keep coming, come to the chalet the weather is great were going to go offroad and bbq later at night.
I went down to the garage and saw the SLK55 AMG parked for a longtime without an exhilirating drive, the top comes down and the ipod playlist is on. The trip took me 1 1:15 minutes as I drove slowly at first, however once I've passed "Bnaider" chalet/coastal area I gave it all its got once I've passed the radars. Smack down, downshifts and the car sounds very brutal ;I overtook a speeding harley davidson on the highway and the speedo reaches 255kmh easily, shifts and it continues to hit 295kmh and slowly increasing to 302km/h and continues to pull with the topdown. I have never ever once felt this much alive in my life, the experience was very exhilarating but I felt as if I was on holiday, the music, the road, weather and sound was the complete package...listening to tracks such as Apollo 440 can stop the rock, seven nation army...
2)
July 2009
LP560-4 Spyder (rented in cannes)
Drove it to Montecarlo for dinner with a friend at night, drove through the F1 track and passed by the tunnel at WOT, sounds insane.
August 2009-
Rented Maserati Granturismo, drove till Portofino and back to Theoule sur mer (france) On the way back lots of mountainous routes, traction off and drove aggressively kicking back the tail of the gt and having it slide.