KMII
[Montblanc Moderator]
51224
Thanks Michael 👍🏻🙏🏻
As for the M3 it had its ups and downs. It was on proper winter tires as opposed to all seasons, which was good given the conditions and I doubt you would get all season tires in the required sizes in Europe anyhow.
Would I have preferred my old E63 for the same route? Absolutely. But it was no longer around and the M3 was generally a competent choice.
What spoke for it was the monster front axle grip, the relentless torque almost throughout the rev range, and the very competent damping.
What spoke against it was that the seats were not fully long distance capable (OK for the first two days but a real pain on day 5), the brake feeling was very dodgy and there was no bite right at the top (retardation was fine and there was little fade) and the rear axle was not tied down - not in the sense that it progressively broke away but that it stepped out unexpectedly and without predictability. Easy to catch but taking some of the commitment away.
Would love to repeat the route with the current AWD C63 as I have not tried that one yet and am curious about how different it performs in real life when compared to magazine tests 😊👍🏻
Dolce Vita Road Trip Part 2 - Glurns till Limone sul Garda via mainly SS238 and SS421 🇮🇹🏁
A while ago I posted the first installment of the Italian roadtrip here: www.watchprosite.com - it might have been the first one to be written up, also due to the dear Captain’s love of Mille Miglia but not the first installment of the journey. This is so...
Thanks for the wonderful postcards of your journey!
The M3 seemed perfectly suited to the adventure and varying road conditions. It really is a do-all solution with all season tires. I love the scenes from Europe. You set the mood so well!
Thanks Michael 👍🏻🙏🏻
As for the M3 it had its ups and downs. It was on proper winter tires as opposed to all seasons, which was good given the conditions and I doubt you would get all season tires in the required sizes in Europe anyhow. Would I have preferred my old E63 for t...
A circumvolute and romantic way of...
Saying that it really sucks! But, as it often happens in these cases, adrenaline may help a lot 😉
😂😂😂
There used to be spiked winter tires for motorcycles, too but not sure they are still on offer or sale nowadays. That would be fun for a while but not for a long trip I imagine 🤷🏻♂️
They are much better for ice or very...
Frozen snow. By the way, are the photos from these days?!
While snow this far North…
Was nothing unusual, it turned out that we encountered it in places where there shouldn’t be any further South. If you would contemplate going now that would be a non-issue 😊👍🏻
All those places are very dear to me, the old roads, the tunnels...
The forests. They are now a bit far from here (Catalonia) and my old motorbike today takes only short rides around the Costa Brava and Barcelona. Thanks again for sharing the images.
While I have done one road trip through Spain… 🇪🇸
It was mostly highways and a long time ago. So something I would definitely like to explore more at some point 😊👍🏻 Enjoy the rides - the season is now in full swing, right?
The best "American-style" roads in Europe, in my opinion!
Wide, long, often empty, especially in central Spain. But if you're looking for more winding roads, well nothing compares to the Alpine ones! Contact me if you're coming over.
I will definitely do that 😊👍🏻
I have done some driving on the Pyrenees but mostly on the French and Andorran side, which was great fun. But with the family in, the speed a bit lower and no pictures 😂 What I do remember is that the Spanish roads are generally perfectly surfaced. And dr...
Although…
The tarmac in France and Italy down to Emilia Romagna generally works reasonably well. Not as good as Turkey but better on average than Germany. Spain tends to be top notch 👌🏻👍🏻
I agree with you!
I guess that depends on who's the owner of the road. In Spain the highways (autopistas) are terrible compared to toll-free roads (autovías). In Italy it is quite the contrary.
What matters is how well they are financed…
And if the money from the usage actually ends up being used for maintenance 👍🏻
Thank you for taking us along the SS238 and SS421 roads!
A truly enjoyable trip, despite the snowy and cloudy weather! ;-) Best, Emmanuel
The clouds were perhaps not a feature…
But the snow was a benefit for sure - although the roads would be fun dry as well. Glad you enjoyed the little trip. There’s two or three more installments of the trip still to come 😊👍🏻
Quite sure you’d have a blast in the Alpine 🏁🇫🇷👏🏻
The road on the West coast of Lago di Garda was not spectacular - low speed limit and no ability to overtake, not great even during the off season. But so many interesting mountain roads all around 👏🏻🗻
Speaking of which…
Did you do a long road trip with the Alpine yet? How good was it over a period of several days in terms of comfort?
Right you are 😁
Definitely had a blast during the trip. All the way until the seats started getting unpleasant 😂
I thought you might like the stretch…
Even if it is a tad further away from your old hunting grounds, as I understood them. But the next installment will be closer to Florence again 😉👍🏻🇮🇹 So what was your road racer of choice back in the day?
I was a poor student so it was my legs I guess 😁
However even before I started working my Dream car was the Ferrari 355, to cut a long story short, I managed to buy one, my daily had a broken fan belt and had no choice but to take the 355 to work, our department head was shocked to see me roll in to wor...
Your department head didn’t know how to prioritize…
And didn’t roll in style 😁🤷🏻♂️ Cool wheels 🏁👌🏻 I guess the rest is history. Was this your first car?