Help me enjoy my car in Surrey?

Help me enjoy my car in Surrey?

Author
Discussion

Mark300zx

Original Poster:

1,388 posts

259 months

Saturday 14th September
quotequote all
Sold my e46 m3 and bought a manual R8 V10 and live on the Surrey/London borders. Part of the problem is the car is too fast for the local busy roads, so this means trips out, so looking for local clubs, track days or other options?

lancslad58

1,104 posts

15 months

Saturday 14th September
quotequote all
Mark300zx said:
Sold my e46 m3 and bought a manual R8 V10 and live on the Surrey/London borders. Part of the problem is the car is too fast for the local busy roads, so this means trips out, so looking for local clubs, track days or other options?
Pirbright Bends ...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...







brillomaster

1,395 posts

177 months

Saturday 14th September
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Well I'd do a trackday. Start with bedford, then if you like it, do brands. Then go across into Belgium and do spa francorchamps. You're probably too noisy for Thruxton and goodwood, but they're options too.

As for driving on the roads... get up at sunrise on a Sunday, then you might get an hour or two to yourself on local roads. Or weekend away... the further away from London you are, the better and less congested the roads are. Still recommend getting up at dawns crack though.

Mr Tidy

24,297 posts

134 months

Saturday 14th September
quotequote all
I'm in Surrey too and it's difficult to find roads you can actually enjoy.

The only hope is early on a Sunday in some of the more rural parts, but luckily I'm not far from Hampshire which does seem to have more quiet roads.

But I'd agree that you're only going to get to drive a car like yours properly on a track!

LHRFlightman

1,992 posts

177 months

Saturday 14th September
quotequote all
lancslad58 said:
Pirbright Bends ...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Average speed cameras have been up for months so no good. And really not suited to an R8 V10 anyway.

Get yourself to a track day.

flimper

565 posts

190 months

Sunday 15th September
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Drove the Pirbright bends yesterday with no traffic whatsoever. Made me so angry.

Ubiquitous2024

169 posts

3 months

Sunday 15th September
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Plenty of decent, empty and uber fast roads near Pirbright that are very accessible. Look south of Normandy at the likes of Elstead, Tilford, Puttenham and all the surrounding e.t.c. You could literally drive for hours round there.

UTH

9,519 posts

185 months

Friday 8th November
quotequote all
A couple of the roads on this short loop were quite fun

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/51.26286,-0.431946...

I plan to do some more exploring further south of this loop and hopefully start mapping some longer fun bits in that sort of area.

Ubiquitous2024

169 posts

3 months

Friday 8th November
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Thats an odd loop - complete cyclists mecca and full of very steep hills

Mr Tidy

24,297 posts

134 months

Friday 8th November
quotequote all
I' agree, that loop is definitely best avoided at weekends. Much of it was used for the 2012 Olympics so it attract loads of Lycra warriors and it can be tedious having to follow them up hills like the ones either side of Newlands Corner until you are able to get past.

nessiemac

1,641 posts

248 months

Friday 8th November
quotequote all
lancslad58 said:
Mark300zx said:
Sold my e46 m3 and bought a manual R8 V10 and live on the Surrey/London borders. Part of the problem is the car is too fast for the local busy roads, so this means trips out, so looking for local clubs, track days or other options?
Pirbright Bends ...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I don't think a superb few miles of flowing twisty roads through a forest completely ruined by 40mph average speed cameras is the best idea!

UTH

9,519 posts

185 months

Saturday 9th November
quotequote all
Ubiquitous2024 said:
Thats an odd loop - complete cyclists mecca and full of very steep hills
Sorry for trying to help laugh

cliffords

1,811 posts

30 months

Saturday 9th November
quotequote all
I ride motorcycles around Sussex and Surrey, weekdays and sometime weekends. I know a lot of roads and routes and they all have changed in the past few years.

Lower speed limits , cameras really increased, calming measures and at the weekend a lot of cyclists and horses .

The new reality is many cars and many motorcycles are completely out of place in performance terms with our surroundings. In terms of motorcycles many of us have just arrived at the point where we go the speed limits everywhere, so in effect never go more than 75 mph in the UK. It's easy to buy a motorcycle with warp speed , but it's not the trend now of what's being sold.

I think hooning I did 20 years ago is a thing of the past .

Gavarnie

139 posts

65 months

Saturday 9th November
quotequote all
cliffords said:
I ride motorcycles around Sussex and Surrey, weekdays and sometime weekends. I know a lot of roads and routes and they all have changed in the past few years.

Lower speed limits , cameras really increased, calming measures and at the weekend a lot of cyclists and horses .

The new reality is many cars and many motorcycles are completely out of place in performance terms with our surroundings. In terms of motorcycles many of us have just arrived at the point where we go the speed limits everywhere, so in effect never go more than 75 mph in the UK. It's easy to buy a motorcycle with warp speed , but it's not the trend now of what's being sold.

I think hooning I did 20 years ago is a thing of the past .
This is spot on. I've been driving on and around the Pirbright Bends (or the Brookwood Bends as we always called them) for 40 years or so. For me the solution to enjoying some very good roads is the same today as it was back then - something small, low and nippy rather than massively powerful. This little Fiat is as much fun today on those roads as it was back in the mid 80's.



Bathroom_Security

3,464 posts

124 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
Go out at 9pm.

I avoid driving during the day at all unless absolutely necessary. Hate Surrey, I grew up in East Yorkshire with the wolds on my doorstep. Miles of flowing back roads.

Then moved to Surrey. It's possible to enjoy driving later in the evening but I have my own local loops and roads to enjoy but lower speed limits and traffic calming measures have ruined many of them. The enjoyable parts are short and sweet when you're not stuck doing 20mpg below the limit behind some drooling doylum.

Go for a back road drive down to the coast or something. Plenty of long NSLs to be found heading out of Surrey toward the coast.

Take up mountain biking.