Jump to content
The mkiv Supra Owners Club

My epic European roadtrip in the Supra


j_jza80
 Share

Recommended Posts

As some of you may know, I've just returned from an amazing 2 week trip through Europe in my Supra, and I thought I'd share some of my experiences and pictures. :)

 

One of the reasons I bought my Supra was for this trip. My friends had arranged to get married near Barcelona, and as this was going to be my holiday for the year, I had planned to fly to Tolouse in France and hire a classic or sports car for the duration. I found a place that would rent me an E-type for 10 days for £2k, and my heart was pretty much set on that. But then with a liberal application of 'man maths', and a few other influences, I hatched the idea of using that £2k to put towards another Supra. It just so happened that a club member pointed out that Torque GT were selling a Tiptronic Supra for a bargain price, and the rest is history. (please see HERE for further details)

 

I then figured that, as I was going to be taking my Supra across to the European mainland, it would be a good excuse to take another trip to the Nurburgring, as it has been 9 years since my last visit. It all came together pretty quickly after that.

 

So two and a half weeks ago, I left for the ferry port. I was getting the ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge, and I was in convoy with a VW Camper which was taking the groom, the grooms brother and two other lads.

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

I should take this opportunity to apologize for the quality of some of the pictures. Unfortunately my phone self destructed at the end of the first week, which means that the few remaining photos of that time I have left were ones I uploaded to Instagram.

 

There were a few interesting cars on the Ferry, including this wrapped Ferrari.

image

 

And this Vauxhall Omega. Complete with working water cannon! :D

image

 

 

On the boat, what was supposed to be a few beers and an early night predictably turned into a 2am Jaeger bomb filled session :D

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

When we landed, the lads in the camper set off for Barcelona, and I went to the Nurburgring, which is a 3 hour drive from Zeebrugge. I has booked a villa, and before I even got to it I bumped into this motley crew at the end of my street.

 

image

 

They had brought over an FC RX7 running a single turbo 1JZ & R154, an S13, an R33 GTR, an EP3 Civic Type R, a BMW 1 series and a DC2 Integra. Their house looked like the one out of the Fast and the Furious with all the cars outside. :D Great bunch.

 

This was my Villa.

 

image

 

And this was the amusingly named street opposite...

image

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After I dropped my stuff off, I went straight to the petrol station to fill up for my first session at the 'ring. I noticed an army green E36 3 series a couple of cars ahead of me in the que, more on that later...

As it was a German bank holiday, the place was busier than I have ever seen. The car park was overflowing, which was not helped by the fact that the track had been closed due to an accident. This happened a lot on the first day, and I reckon there must have been the best part of 20 crashes in my 2 days there.

I was approached by a fellow Supra owner in the car park who owns a big single turbo auto. We chatted for a bit and I agreed to take him out in my car on the first lap.

 

image

 

About a minute into my first lap, I found the cause of the track closure. The green E36 I had seen earlier had gone into the barriers, and totally smashed the front of the car up. Although I would encourage any petrol head to visit the Nurburgring, I would also advise that you do not get into racing other cars there or even timing your laps. Keep to the right and go at your own pace. There is no room for error, due to the constant camber changes and almost non existent run off, if you loose control you will crash and it will cost you a fortune.

 

Anyways, I managed 7 laps over my 2 days there, and was denied my final lap due to yet another crash. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about my Supra. The paddleshift setup on my car was very well suited to the track, and I was extremely glad I had binned my j-spec brakes in favour of UKs! :D Unfortunately it developed a misfire on WOT towards the end of my time there, which I suspect is a coilpack/clip related issue, caused by me replacing the spark plugs a few days before my trip.

 

As I said before, I would really encourage any car enthusiast to go the the 'ring. It is worth it just to see the assortment of cars there, as these pictures will prove. :)

 

image

All these turned up together. It sounded like thunder.

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

This Evo later met with the armco :(

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

This 993 was amazing. It had a sequential shifter and dustbin lid sized Brembos all round. And I watched it utterly destroy an R35 on the final straight.

 

image

 

image

 

image

Edited by j_jza80 (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On my way back to the villa, I decided to bring a gift from Germany for the groom...

image

 

:D 80 large bottles of Bitburger and a huge bottle of Jaegermeister.

 

 

On my second night, there was a huge thunder storm over Germany. It was humid and I couldn't sleep, so at around 1am I decided to jump in the car and start the long drive to Barcelona. I was driving in the dark, in a lightning storm and over hills. I was the highest object around for quite a bit of it, which was pretty scary! :D Although the storm itself was stunning, on the downside I discovered that they don't use 'cats eyes' on the roads in Europe, which means that driving in the rain and the dark is much more difficult than at home. I hap a couple of hour naps in the car when I stopped for fuel, and drove down from Germany through Luxembourg, and then through into France. The weather in France was fantastic, and the drive from this point was brilliant, stunning scenery and great roads.

 

image

 

As I got to Barcelona, I noticed a grinding sound coming from the front of my car as I went around corners. I foolishly assumed that it was an issue with the anti rattle clip on the brake caliper, as I had one come off a few days before. I decided to push on, as I wasn't too far from my destination.

 

I got there at 6.30, having covered over 900 miles in that day! I was greeted by a much needed cold beer, and after a catch up with the others, I discovered that the grinding noise was actually one of the front wheels working loose! One of the wheel nuts had gone, and the others could all be undone by hand. We assume it was caused by the long drive and the track time at the 'ring, but from then on I checked the tightness of the wheel nuts before every journey. Thankfully it hasn't happened again since, but I would recommend that anyone using alloy wheel nuts to check them VERY regularly.

 

I was in Barcelona for a week. The wedding was fantastic, good times with good people and a seemingly never ending flow of alcohol! :D The Supra continued to be a good workhorse, acting as a taxi and doing runs to the shops. I was also pulled over by the local constabulary, though only because they were intrigued by the car.

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

Spotted this stunning 'cafe racer' classic BMW K100. I tempted to get one now :)

 

image

 

image

 

After the weeks festivities, I parted ways with the others, and set off for Andorra. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful places in the world, and some of the best roads I've ever driven.

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

Edited by j_jza80 (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I stayed there for one night, and set off for Paris. This was another long days drive, and at the end of it I had to find a hotel. Unfortunately the area I ended up in was a total ****hole. The following morning I went to the Paris Airshow at Le Bourget.

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

I found this amusing. :D

Edited by j_jza80 (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rather than spend another night in Paris, I set off for Bruges in the afternoon, and made it just in time to enjoy a beer in the setting sun. :cool:

 

image

 

image

 

A few pics of the local area

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

I spent a couple of days in Bruges, stuffing my face with waffles and chocolate, and indulging in the local beer. :D

image

 

It is a great place, very much like York in a lot of respects. And only a 20 minute drive to Zeebrugge, which was handy as it was time to head home. Not before a bit of shopping though... :D

 

image

 

The grooms brother had also made it to the ferry port, but this time with his family. Unfortunately they had experienced several breakdowns in the camper, but nothing too serious.

 

image

 

 

Thankfully the return journey on the ferry was tamer than on the way out, as I was totally knackered after all that driving! :D

 

I got home on Thursday morning, desperately in need of a holiday to get over my holiday. :D I was very impressed with the Supra. They are a fantastic GT, able to cover huge distances quickly and in comfort. They are also more practical than you would expect, especially with the rear bench folded flat. The only creature comfort I really missed at all was cruise control, which I'm hoping I can gain when I go single/Syvecs.

Edited by j_jza80 (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like a brilliant trip, I'd love to take my Supra across Europe and that's a very nice Supra you have there. :thumbs:

 

Incidentally, I was in Clervaux in Luxembourg week before last, there was an electrical storm of biblical proportions on the evening Friday 5th June, wonder if it was the same storm?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really enjoyed reading that Jay, sounds like you had a good time. I have done tonnes of driving holidays, much cheaper & nicer than holidaying in the UK. We are spoiled, espically down South to be pass through a few countries in just a matter of a few hours.

 

Supra looked stunning :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers pal :)

 

Yeah the reason I went via Hull is it's only a 40 min drive from here late in the afternoon, then its an over night ferry to Belgium which lands at 8AM. Beats a 6 hour drive down to Dover! :D

 

As for cost, well I don't really want to think about that :D Covering all the fuel costs, accommodation, tolls etc on my own etc certainly added up, and that's not including the price of the laps at the ring etc :D But it was worth it :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers pal :)

 

Yeah the reason I went via Hull is it's only a 40 min drive from here late in the afternoon, then its an over night ferry to Belgium which lands at 8AM. Beats a 6 hour drive down to Dover! :D

 

As for cost, well I don't really want to think about that :D Covering all the fuel costs, accommodation, tolls etc on my own etc certainly added up, and that's not including the price of the laps at the ring etc :D But it was worth it :cool:

 

Much better way to do it, think of the fuel you saved if you did the 6 hour trip down! Not to mention traffic :D

 

Haha no doubt it wasn't cheap but it feels great eh?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. You might also be interested in our Guidelines, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.