Carfreax

PASS MASTERS

Gnnnf.....I....do....need.....more.....horse....gnnnf....power......more......torque.....damn! Curve is coming, curve is coming. Tuck in head, trying to get a glimpse of what might come from above, anticipating what will come next. Down shift, push metal, hoping for those revs, where is the turbo? One more shift, click clack, whirring cogs, screaming engine, full lock, .....almost there....made it. Another hairpin and still many more to come. This hurts, this soaks energy, this is fun! Welcome to Pass Masters.

Driving a car on the autobahn at high speeds is exciting, this weekend though we play a different ball game. It is all about curves, altitude and a magnificent scenery. ....., our playground a twisty strip of tarmac, draped over the Alps.

Our destination? Who cares, these days are made for driving. We will cross borders, visit four countries within two days, but most of all scratch some limits, be it grip or our own driving capabilities. Timing, rhythm, tempo. Mastering the passes is like a dance. Get into the groove and you experience a high where everything seems so easy. Get thrown out of it and things can become nasty very quickly.

This years edition I have joined the Pass Masters crew with a co driver at my side. The right decision. Before I get too excited I hear a voice. "Kodak moment!" My co driver seems to have guardian angel qualities. At yet another of many summits we find ourselves snapping some fresh air and enjoying the scenery. We wait for the colorful train of cars to pass by to shoot some pictures. When the road seems clear we jump in the car, slam the doors and hit the metal for another set of custom cut curves.

-Matt.

Atlantis, Shambhala, Stelvio

Some myths will always be a secret.  Not stelvio, the gods offered me a sneak peak and I enjoyed every piece of it.

It all started when my phone rang. It was Matty: “Michiel is it you?”. I replied:  “I’m taking a leak”. Matty:  “Are you alone?” I: “Dude, that’s a sick thought!”. Anyway, as the discussion continued it converted to the core. Matty said: “I’m looking for a co-pilot at this year’s Passmasters, are you in?”  BAM!

We woke up, touched by the sun.  The sun would be our guide for the next three days.  Firstly it led us to the Pinakothek in Munich. The private parking was filled with dozens of beautiful cars. An unorthodox mix of cars: All kinds of 911’s, Ferraris varying from Dinos to brand new 458s, vintage Celicas, Gallardos in all colors, a Roadrunner, Customized Elises, lots of Audis and so on. Their passionate drivers proudly presented their cars to each other and to enthusiastic commuters.

All ingredients were there: the sun, the cars, the people and the mountains. Let’s hit the road! As we moved our way out of Munich the environment changed. More mountains, less traffic.  That day we hit three mountain passes. We outnumbered the Indianapolis 500 concerning left corners. The atmosphere, the cars, the music and our brotherhood. Not bad for a day’s drive.

Then a barrier brutally stopped  the driving experience.  Suddenly  I heard Steve at the other side rev up the V10. Seconds later I looked up mountain and saw a glimpse of his white R8 racing towards the eternal snow. More cars followed, like green-, orange-, yellow- and red bullets on a greyish canvas.  

Later that night we gathered in Silandro. A hidden piece of Austria in Italy. Pizza in Tirol. Chianty-redbull, Hitlolini, Steyrari. The pizza was great, the talks even greater. What would tomorrow bring us?

Tomorrow brought us a lot. Österei and bacon for breakfast. Watching the mountains; supposed to lead us to Switzerland. Did you say Switzerland? Don’t you need a passport for that? Do you have one with you? No? Good luck!

Nevertheless we took off. The whole village came out to wave us goodbye. We left and right and left again and there it was: Stelvio; the most beautiful road I’ve ever been. 48 hairpins bringing us to the top of the eastern Alps. 2758 meters above sea level . Imagine to be one of those cyclists and being overtaken by 80 cars from the book “most desirable cars of the world”. Imagine to be in one of those cars. Stick shifting your way through kamikaze cyclists in a scenery that could easily match a crater on the moon.

The Swiss are nice flexible people so why worry, not having a passport? Indeed. Nevertheless we took as much precautions as possible, left the tarmac at the Umbrail and never saw any customs. At a comfortable distance of the border we stopped in a graveled hairpin to enjoy seeing our new buddy’s slide through it. The Lambo’s did, just like the vintage Alpina.

We overtook, drove, stopped and watered a creek just before entering Davos. It felt like attending the world caronomic forum. The sun played with the cars. Three decades of car history beautiful y lined up in front of the local pool “eau-la-la”.  

We hit the roads again and entered a surreal environment of huge rocks and steep cliffs. We stopped at the Munt la Schera Tunnel. I watched a sign saying  “only wide enough for a single vehicle”.  Our buddies gathered behind us. Together we stared at the red light. It became green 15 minutes later.  We started the car, entered the small tube, opened our windows and enjoyed the cylinder symphonies around us. Three kilometers later a huge lake appeared in front of us.

“Welcome to Livigno”. Never heard of the place. Never realized we left Swiss again, but happy nobody asked for my passport. We stopped for a traffic jam of fun cars, all waiting for a gas station. We filled up the car for less than a euro per liter. Still dazzled by the symphonies, the surrounding and the fact that we had our windows open in the tunnel, I did not realize we were in some kind of tax-heaven. It all came clear to me when the ultimate clean vintage 911 (wow!) had to show his passport at the Italian border. Que?! Yes, passport and Italian border. Shit! In a split second I imagined a future in the tax-heaven-beautiful-yet-boring village. It was too late to hide myself in the trunk.  I put on my most trustworthy face, smiled at the officer and was allowed into Italia. 2-0

Back in süd-Tirol we had a great garden BBQ. The cars, the petrol heads,  the stories: “sorry guys I had to overtake you that rude to keep up with my Boss” or “we we’re drifting so extreme I only looked through my side window today”.  It became a long night …

I realized this was an exceptional trip, perfectly organized by some thru passionate people. Special thanks to Stevie. Wonder how he took the stress and still kept smiling.

The following morning, we wrapped up, said goodbye and head home. As the mountains got lower,  home came closer. Some of the secrets of Stelvio have been revealed, but many still need some exploration. And I volunteer!

ONE GR8 SUMMER - PART ONE

My summer of speed kicked off at the beginning of July with Goodwood, followed just a week later by Pass Masters (previously reported by Mattijs) that was my first chance to have a proper blast with my new R8.

Yes! I did say MY! R8, admittedly a company car and only for the next 6 months, but still MINE! And Dude! Was I going to use it?

I’d been planning a mega road trip to the U.K. for some time and now I had the right tool for the job!  

Leaving Münich at 6.00a.m one misty Sunday morning in August, I literally flew across Germany, often seeing speeds hovering on the edge of 300 km/h. Rapidly dispatched Holland and France I hit the Channel tunnel only 8 hours later. The fly splattered, hot and ticking R8 deserving a well earned rest on the train ride under the sea.

First pilgrimage in the U.K. was to be the Black Mountains located on the West side of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales. The Black Mountain road’s are favorite test routes for the U.K’s Car Magazines and especially the A4069 which has become very popular ever since it featured on BBC’s Top Gear, with Jeremy Clarkson hammering an AMG SLK along it’s route. I quickly discovered why? Long winding roads greeted me, challenging corners, a good mix of fast and tight sections all linked by a good road surface and when you reached the hairpins you were rewarded with views to die for. You just had to beware of the pesky sheep everywhere!

I spent several hours discovering the aural delights of the R8’s responsive engine and the forgiving handling. The R8 is enormously capable, with scary amounts of grip on these tight and twisting roads, but when you lift off the tail will come around and you can drift gently through the turns in beautifully predictable slides.

I was expecting to meet lot’s of other performance cars enjoying these dream roads and conditions, but I hardly saw anybody else during my time up there, this was my playground today! My Driving Nirvana!

The roads in the valleys on the North side weren’t bad either, long straights and fast sweeping bends, many snaking their way through tunnels of over-hanging trees. As the sun began to go down and with the navigation switched off! I just followed the roads where they took me.

Next stop Brooklands and a return to Goodwood, this time not just to look, but to drive!   

 

THE WORLD'S MOST CHALLENGING ROLLER COASTER

If after two paragraphs you think CFX has been taken over by children, that might very well be true because mentally your editor feels 7 years old whilst writing this. Why? I just finished my first Track Day on BrandsHatch in my Vauxhall VX220 Turbo - Stage II.
Having done races and trackdays on Zandvoort, Assen, Zolder and Bedford, I was increasingly confident about my abilities to drive a car on a race track quickly. Luckily Brands Hatch is there to relegate my confidence back to square one! This place brings car control to a whole new level! My apparent (serious) lack of talent means I am constantly fighting to keep the car on track, even the main straight is a challenge…

It all starts at a deceptively nice afternoon: the Brits have introduced a brilliant concept called a Track Evening; you arrive at 16.00 hours, Brief at 16.30 and at 17.00 you are at the wheel until 20.00. Arriving at a Track Day is a bit like a your first ‘House Party’ when you are 11 years old and you have left the comfort of parties that cater for running around the house covered in grass stains; everything around you suddenly looks alien and intimidating.

Brands Hatch is no different; many Caterhams rolling out of closed Brian James Trailers, the Porsche-boys always seem to arrive in droves with the various specifications of 911 GT3 R/RS/RSR etc. Obviously the chaps from Norfolk are well presented in various specifications of the Exige, Elise and (dare I say in this line-up?) the VX220. To sum up we cannot forget the propeller-boys from Munich with their M3’s varying in age from E92 – E36 and modified from roll cage fitted to just slick-tires.
My standard VX220 that was driving me home from the office and delivering the groceries to the missus a mere few hours earlier made me feel I brought a knife to a gunfight … BIG GULP! On trackdays, three sighting laps are mandatory. For most drivers however, this is a bit like foreplay; they have done this game so often they just want to get on and go do the deed. For yours truly on the other side this was a very welcome addition to the program.

Entering the Arena: Blimey! You drive out of pitlane and you fall into an abyss of 10 meters! They call this Paddock Hill Bend …bend is a highly overrated word for this hole! Later I would find out that at speed you accelerate so quickly that you actually bounce off the rev-limiter in second, imagine how sheer the drop. During my sighting laps I cannot help think; if this impresses me whilst I am chasing a Vauxhall Vectra 1.6; how will I survive without the protection of the sighting laps?

OH NOSTALGIA !

Just when you thought it was safe to go back onto the world wide interweb...

...our friends at formfreu.de hit you right in the sensitive parts with their latest blog, the über-nostalgic 'Autostolz' (Car Pride).

Though not too densely populated just yet, this lovely initiative can only grow as it eagerly anticipates any heart warming contribution from folks with the car-heart in the right place.

That's you and me!

So, after indulging in the warm bath that is Autostolz, why don't you go up your attic and dust off that good ole shoebox of yours to dig out some car-piccies that turn smiles on people's faces?

God knows that that is just what today's profit-driven car industry needs: soul.

Great stuff Tom, keep it coming; (nice one with the Kadett!) :)

- G.