UK roads vs: Supercars

[zedmtrappe]

As a non UK resident, but someone who visits with car a couple of times a year I've just retuned from my latest trip.

And .... bloody hell ....the state of the roads !

They are unbelievably busy* - literally unbelievable. Any time of day , nose to tail traffic just about everywhere.

Then there is the actual condition of the roads themselves: Pot holes, drastic sunken & raised areas , rows & rows of parked cars creating one-way systems, temporary roadworks every couple of miles.

I'm very fortunate to have what I would consider one of the best cars to cope with these roads - a Sterrato - but even then, 90% of the trip was not a lot of fun.

Just wondering how you guys with more conventional supercars cope with it?

Was I just unlucky / you live in areas that have billiard-smooth & empty roads ?

Maybe it was just the huge culture shock compared to my last visit when I was driving in the Scottish highlands .... totally sublime ..... but even then I don't remember the journey there and back being so dismal ..

Anyway .... first world problems and all that ...!

• yes I fully accept that I am part of the problem.

[Blib]

Hard to comment without knowing where you were driving?

'Frinstance, Knightsbridge on a Friday night may be a tad busier than deepest Suffolk on a Sunday morning.

Give us a clue!

[70proof]

roads are shocking, b roads in cambridge that used to be fun are now poor and have to be taken slowly, you find find the odd road that is still driveable, but sadly the current repair protocol for most roads is fill the worst hole and hope!

[andrew]

apart from the decrepit surfaces, the anit-car town centres, the anti-car politically-driven rhetoric, the school run, the rush hours, the cameras enforcing random speed limits, lots of "new people" with strange driving habits, charging for everything and our crap public transport forcing everyone into cars, it's ok

[samoht]

I still enjoy a run in my 570GT on local B-roads south-east of Cambridge on a sunny summer evening, when most people are eating supper. So IME it's still possible to enjoy a supercar in this country, for all the issues you mention.

Also coming back from Edinburgh recently I decided to take the A68 rather than A1, had a pretty good run between the border and Newcastle.

[MingtheMerciless]

I have never been disappointed in a trip to Scotland. Some of Wales is very nice too albeit busier and with more cameras.

[bennno]

MingtheMerciless said:

I have never been disappointed in a trip to Scotland. Some of Wales is very nice too albeit busier and with more cameras.

Try west wales, nearly zero cameras, empty yet well surfaced roads.

There were cameras on the black mountain (a4069) road, but locals cut them all down last time we went up there.

[MingtheMerciless]

Good to know. It's an easy ferry ride for me so will be back in Wales again soon.

[Bispal]

Very much depends on the roads and timing. I regularly go for drives with my friends in the south east, Surrey & Sussex and we have no problems. Mostly driving LT McLarens, RS Porsches - including Carrera GT - and Lotus. I even led out a group of American T50 owners in McLaren 675LT and they had a great time. I also do 2-3 Welsh weekends a year and the roads are clear & smooth. But you do need to know what roads and what time.

[ajm_ph]

Blib said:

Hard to comment without knowing where you were driving?

'Frinstance, Knightsbridge on a Friday night may be a tad busier than deepest Suffolk on a Sunday morning.

Give us a clue!

This.

Basically pointless having a discussion unless we know what area you are on about. The UK covers around a quarter of a million square km. Great Britain is about 600 miles long and 300 miles wide. This is a bit like saying "I heard a song on the radio and I thought it was st; what do you guys think?" but without mentioning the track or radio station.

I've had multiple brilliant days driving in the UK in the last few years, even in the south east, which is probably the worst area for finding good quiet roads. Even within a 20 mile radius of my house the roads vary from great open driving roads to congested poorly maintained urban streets. You just need to know where to look.

Edited by ajm_ph on Monday 20th October 14:36

[ex-devonpaul]

This week I've driven from Malage to Jerez, to and from the Criscuit 3 times, and now over to Cordoba on the main 'road' over the plains. I long for a British B road now.

Glad I was in a hire car, many of the humped crossings would have me seriously worried in the Z4, let alone anything low, and miles and miles of reduced speed limits on the motorways for subsiding roads.

Oh, and it was the Jerez 1/2 marathon on Sunday morning, most of the roads from the city our were closed until lunchtime. The first we knew was seeing the barriers out the night before then doing some Googling. A lot of visitors to the Superbike races didn't get there on the Sunday.

Makes the UK seem sane

[RSbandit]

Live on the London fringes and if you get out early on a Sunday (6am) you can have a great blast through parts of Kent, stop for breakfast at 8.30 and then back home. Still lots of fun to be had but you have to make the effort to get out.

[zedmtrappe]

Blib said:

Hard to comment without knowing where you were driving?

Yes - fair point !

It was basically a week round trip to and from Portsmouth , with 3 days in West Yorkshire area and stops up & down.

I did get to have 2 great drives:

The A54 into Buxton from about 5 miles out.

A6033 up on the Moors between Hebdon Bridge & Oxenhope.

Both of those were excellent, mostly decent surface & pretty quiet - but that is a pretty low strike-rate !

[ImbackYo]

samoht said:

I still enjoy a run in my 570GT on local B-roads south-east of Cambridge on a sunny summer evening, when most people are eating supper. So IME it's still possible to enjoy a supercar in this country, for all the issues you mention.

Also coming back from Edinburgh recently I decided to take the A68 rather than A1, had a pretty good run between the border and Newcastle.

Until your accumulators fail. Been through 2 sets in 5 years. Can not wait to leave this hell hole.

[spartridge]

Apart from the odd trip out to keep everything in good order, most of the miles are on an annual trip to Europe with friends. I'd say on average about 90% are the latter.

[Longy00000]

Generally rhe further north you go the better. Once passed Leeds things do improve BUT the road surfaces are still a joke. They are at least getting more empty and more interesting. Northumberland and Scottish borders particularly good

[Shnozz]

spartridge said:

Apart from the odd trip out to keep everything in good order, most of the miles are on an annual trip to Europe with friends. I'd say on average about 90% are the latter.

Which almost makes it worthwhile buying LHD.

[samoht]

ImbackYo said:

samoht said:

I still enjoy a run in my 570GT on local B-roads south-east of Cambridge on a sunny summer evening, when most people are eating supper. So IME it's still possible to enjoy a supercar in this country, for all the issues you mention.

Also coming back from Edinburgh recently I decided to take the A68 rather than A1, had a pretty good run between the border and Newcastle.

Until your accumulators fail. Been through 2 sets in 5 years. Can not wait to leave this hell hole.

No accumulators on the Sports Series, so one less thing to worry about. Even without the trick suspension though, it copes better than I expected with terribly surfaced B-roads.

If the 'failure' is just gradual loss of pressure, V Eng can do refillable ones which they then just top up at the annual service. Obv doesn't help if one bursts or something.

I hear Portugal has some nice empty well-surfaced (EU-funded?) winding roads, haven't made it there yet myself.