North Scotland (NC500) Road Trip

[Warrington guy]

Deffo up for Scotland trip 👍

[Flytvr]

46 minutes ago, Toothy said:

I'd recommend taking a whole week to do it properly. There is so much to see and do. Over the 7 day trip I did last year. We were travelling around 9-10 hours a day. With about 1/3 to 1/2 of that driving. The rest was taken up with many stops for photos, castles, distilleries, beaches, caves, craft shops, loo breaks, breakdowns, etc. We missed so much even then we're going back for another full week this year.

Totally agree. With the amount of miles required just to get to Scotland, there's no point rushing it.

If we did something like Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, it would those that live a little closer to  participate for the weekend portion.

[Neil E]

9 hours ago, Jgtcracer said:

I agree with this, see no reason why anyone cannot attend, the more the merrier as far as I am concerned.  Do you think its worth this topic being in the general LOC meets forum?

 

I think it would be good to advertise it in the general forum but I fear the list of ISFs and the obligatory silver headgear may be slightly intimidating. Unless they read it regularly, most members won't appreciate that the ISF section is less about track day red mist and all about paint colour.

1 hour ago, Toothy said:

I'd recommend taking a whole week to do it properly. There is so much to see and do. Over the 7 day trip I did last year. We were travelling around 9-10 hours a day. With about 1/3 to 1/2 of that driving. The rest was taken up with many stops for photos, castles, distilleries, beaches, caves, craft shops, loo breaks, breakdowns, etc. We missed so much even then we're going back for another full week this year.

Completely agree with this David, Scotland is a big country but it would be difficult to keep everyone happy, more of a 'holiday tour' than a car club road trip perhaps?

Being serious, (just for one paragraph) unless it's on your doorstep, most would want to do the NC500 at their own pace. If you know and have sampled what Scotland has to offer already, it could be just a long fun weekend jaunt with like-minded enthusiasts but if it's your first time with some serious miles to do to get there, say from Kent or Devon, then you might want to fly to Inverness or incorporate it into a much longer stay using your own Lexus.

I would suggest settling on a proposed itinerary acceptable to the core group and go from there.

So if the plan is to cover the ground over 2 days, just to get it started, open/load maps and try this.

Thursday 7.00 p.m. Dunblane Hydro/Stirling Premier Inn (for those with a long journey North) http://www.doubletreedunblane.com/

Friday      7.30 a.m. Depart Stirling (Southern convoy) 

Friday     11.00 a.m. Inverness Halfords car park, re-fueled and ready to go. 

Friday       1.00 p.m. car park top of high mountain pass of the cattle to Applecross - Guinness free Pic-nic. 

 

Friday       6.00 p.m. Ullapool Caledonian/Argyle Hotel. (avoid the Loopallu weekend) 

Saturday 10.00 a.m depart Ullapool

Saturday 12.00 noon Kylesku - lunch at the bridge/Kylesku Hotel 

Saturday   2.30 p.m. Durness 

Saturday   4.30 p.m. John O'Groats

Saturday   7.30 p.m. Shore of Loch Ness The Clansman Hotel 

Sunday     Enjoy another route out to the west or journey home.

 

The timings are very rough. I'm not the best judge of time. Mostly, I listen properly to the rally-style pace notes provided by my wife on such adventures so we make good progress but occasionally, when I'm feeling brave, I slow down or even stop to take in the scenery instead of concentrating on the stage finish line.

With this plan, if some members couldn't make the Friday meet, they might consider starting at Inverness early Saturday morning to join the group at Ullapool. It's a little over an hour from Inverness to Ullapool via the direct route.

If the dates chosen by the group work for me, I would probably try to incorporate it into a 1 or 2 week long holiday staying at a comfortable cottage within an hour of Inverness. If you enjoy driving, having a well chosen base is a good alternative to hotel hopping.

 

[Jgtcracer]

Certainly as far as an itinerary, I'm super easy as to what we do or when.  Also, I really don't mind if it's a week or long weekend.  

The itinerary Neil has put together is brilliant for a weekend.

What dates are we looking at then?  Any preferences?  Are we hanging on for the better weather?

[emjay82]

Those who can find the time to have the week long tour should go for it 👍, there's an awful lot to explore. Others who are more pushed for time (like me) might need to join for parts of the tour where possible.

[Big Rat]

1 hour ago, Neil E said:

I think it would be good to advertise it in the general forum but I fear the list of ISFs and the obligatory silver headgear may be slightly intimidating. Unless they read it regularly, most members won't appreciate that the ISF section is less about track day red mist and all about paint colour.

Completely agree with this David, Scotland is a big country but it would be difficult to keep everyone happy, more of a 'holiday tour' than a car club road trip perhaps?

Being serious, (just for one paragraph) unless it's on your doorstep, most would want to do the NC500 at their own pace. If you know and have sampled what Scotland has to offer already, it could be just a long fun weekend jaunt with like-minded enthusiasts but if it's your first time with some serious miles to do to get there, say from Kent or Devon, then you might want to fly to Inverness or incorporate it into a much longer stay using your own Lexus.

I would suggest settling on a proposed itinerary acceptable to the core group and go from there.

So if the plan is to cover the ground over 2 days, just to get it started, open/load maps and try this.

Thursday 7.00 p.m. Dunblane Hydro/Stirling Premier Inn (for those with a long journey North) http://www.doubletreedunblane.com/

Friday      7.30 a.m. Depart Stirling (Southern convoy) 

Friday     11.00 a.m. Inverness Halfords car park, re-fueled and ready to go. 

Friday       1.00 p.m. car park top of high mountain pass of the cattle to Applecross - Guinness free Pic-nic. 

 

Friday       6.00 p.m. Ullapool Caledonian/Argyle Hotel. (avoid the Loopallu weekend) 

Saturday 10.00 a.m depart Ullapool

Saturday 12.00 noon Kylesku - lunch at the bridge/Kylesku Hotel 

Saturday   2.30 p.m. Durness 

Saturday   4.30 p.m. John O'Groats

Saturday   7.30 p.m. Shore of Loch Ness The Clansman Hotel 

Sunday     Enjoy another route out to the west or journey home.

 

The timings are very rough. I'm not the best judge of time. Mostly, I listen properly to the rally-style pace notes provided by my wife on such adventures so we make good progress but occasionally, when I'm feeling brave, I slow down or even stop to take in the scenery instead of concentrating on the stage finish line.

With this plan, if some members couldn't make the Friday meet, they might consider starting at Inverness early Saturday morning to join the group at Ullapool. It's a little over an hour from Inverness to Ullapool via the direct route.

If the dates chosen by the group work for me, I would probably try to incorporate it into a 1 or 2 week long holiday staying at a comfortable cottage within an hour of Inverness. If you enjoy driving, having a well chosen base is a good alternative to hotel hopping.

 

I agree with all this apart from the last words on the on the Friday 1pm bit 😂

Big Rat

[Neil E]

 

44 minutes ago, Jgtcracer said:

Certainly as far as an itinerary, I'm super easy as to what we do or when.  Also, I really don't mind if it's a week or long weekend.  

The itinerary Neil has put together is brilliant for a weekend.

What dates are we looking at then?  Any preferences?  Are we hanging on for the better weather?

Once you get distracted by the scenery and the awesome roads, I think my opening bid would be quite a challenge over 2 days. 

For most of the year and most hours of the day, the roads North of Inverness have very light traffic. Avoid the school holidays and be aware of the ferry times.

Spring or late Summer/early Autumn would be my recommendation. Lighter traffic, fewer midges, more accommodation availability, etc. It's great at any time of year but winter tyres could be appropriate up to mid April-ish. As for warmer weather, just be prepared for anything and be pleasantly surprised if it's dry and clear. Taking an SC430 to the highlands is the definition of optimism.

[Spacewagon52]

Not wishing to spoil the trip but this clip has quite a bit of dashcam footage to give you an idea of what to expect. It did whet my appetite!

 

 

[Spacewagon52]

The dash camera has been speeded up to approximately the speed your ISF's will be doing I expect.

[Big Rat]

At that speed on those roads in an IS-F you will need the following

. Suspension rebuild

. New dentures - well for some anyway

. Chiropractor 

. One petrol bowser per car

Still lots of fun and just look at the scenery 😎

Big Rat

[Warrington guy]

Don't forget the wartering holes on way big rat.🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺

[Big Rat]

3 minutes ago, Warrington guy said:

Don't forget the wartering holes on way big rat.🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺

Now why didn't I think of that, no no I will be on my best behaviour with all that driving after all......... what is the limit in Scotland are they more generous than there English counterparts 👮😂😂😂

Big Rat

[Warrington guy]

well it'll have to be afternoon session then .after a hard morning drive 🍽🍺🍺

[Jgtcracer]

11 minutes ago, Big Rat said:

Now why didn't I think of that, no no I will be on my best behaviour with all that driving after all......... what is the limit in Scotland are they more generous than there English counterparts 👮😂😂😂

Big Rat

It's as good as zero tolerance to any alcohol in the blood.  Equivilant to something like an eggcup of Guinness or something 

[Big Rat]

2 minutes ago, Jgtcracer said:

It's as good as zero tolerance to any alcohol in the blood.  Equivilant to something like an eggcup of Guinness or something 

Right ok I see ,do you think we could wazz round the whole route in 1 day and spend the next 6 drinking 😂

Im sorry that's an appalling thing to say,  how many egg cups can you get in the back of an IS-F lol

🐀

[Neil E]

David, what a great video diary. That brought back a few memories.

I'm glad I haven't done one. Apart from revealing the racing line, it would just go from one distillery to the next.

[dr_rick]

There's a parallel discussion going on via Pistonheads over the North Coast Road. May aswell pick up their findings and possibly combine if it suits:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=118&t=1569491

[Spacewagon52]

Fuelling could be an issue after 4.00 pm for the ISF group. The Ls's will be fine as we can carry more fuel - AND do a bit better on mpg. I would be very disappointed to get anything less than 30mpg.

[Spacewagon52]

Off to purchase a lottery ticket - then to please the salesman at Lexus Croydon with a BIG tip!

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201701191449539?model=IS F&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&radius=1500&sort=price-desc&postcode=ct149te&make=LEXUS&advertising-location=at_cars&page=1

 

[Warrington guy]

Well it would be Guinness time with big rat after 4 pm 

[Big Rat]

Did I hear my name mentioned , did I also hear the name of the worlds foremost fantastically thirst quenching beverage, that has been scientifically proved to make men more intelligent 🤓 

The Rat is sometimes prone to exaggerate the benefits of this drink, I can assure you that it's not as a result of consuming the odd one or two 🤢  

Big Rat

 

[Big Rat]

48 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Off to purchase a lottery ticket - then to please the salesman at Lexus Croydon with a BIG tip!

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201701191449539?model=IS F&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&radius=1500&sort=price-desc&postcode=ct149te&make=LEXUS&advertising-location=at_cars&page=1

 

Go on matey treat yourself you know you want to after all it's almost Silver as well 🙄

Big Rat

[emjay82]

3 hours ago, Big Rat said:

Did I hear my name mentioned , did I also hear the name of the worlds foremost fantastically thirst quenching beverage, that has been scientifically proved to make men more intelligent 🤓 

The Rat is sometimes prone to exaggerate the benefits of this drink, I can assure you that it's not as a result of consuming the odd one or two 🤢  

Big Rat

 

Does life get much better than this @Big Rat ....................

 

[emjay82]

4 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Fuelling could be an issue after 4.00 pm for the ISF group. The Ls's will be fine as we can carry more fuel - AND do a bit better on mpg. I would be very disappointed to get anything less than 30mpg.

A serious consideration.........how many 20 litre gerry cans will fit in the back of an ISF? Or do we just draw straws for who tows the bowser. 

 

[Big Rat]

6 hours ago, emjay82 said:

Does life get much better than this @Big Rat ....................

 

You are now officially my new best friend and invited drinking partner if I was allowed to award you with 20 likes I would 👍

@emjay82 you are a star ✨

I shall treasure this award and unaccustomed as I am to public speaking I shall only keep you all for ............. 😂

Big Rat

Edited February 16, 2017 by Big Rat
Missed sentence