NC500 Rental Advice

[Leonard]

That’s interesting, I went last July and thought the roads were actually really good. Narrow yes, but of a fairly good with not a massive amount of potholes and relatively good visibility. I saw several Mclarens going round and didn’t seem to have much of an issue.

Campers were annoying as lots of them were ignoring the signs that tell you to stop impeding/slowing down traffic.

Only reason I’d not take the Emira is because I don’t think it’s possible, given Lotus ineptitude to make the fucking thing.

I think it depends what you want to do. Stick to the A roads and you are fine in pretty much whatever (seen Diablos, R8s, 488s etc)

However if you want to deviate, which I recommend ie Applecross Pass and Peninsula etc, them smaller car is definitely easier

 

[Jonhklee]

Don’t forget to stop to top up with Scotch!

 

[Leonard]

Don’t forget to stop to top up with Scotch!

New M3 Touring for the win

 

[Justin]

Thanks Guys for all the tips. After checking around some more, supplies of sports models are limited from the agencies in the area and we’re going to go with a mix of more nimble hatches and saloons. Hero cars, while available from the midlands and London, are expensive for private trips (2-3 more compared to Germany). We’ll try to make the best impressions of it with what we got. Scotland has 2 of the top 20 European driving roads and my aim is to chalk these off my multi-years personal project to complete all of them (I’m half way there). And yes, will definitely check into some distilleries of our favorite single malt scotch brands. Cheers boys.

 

[Mac71]

Thanks Guys for all the tips. After checking around some more, supplies of sports models are limited from the agencies in the area and we’re going to go with a mix of more nimble hatches and saloons. Hero cars, while available from the midlands and London, are expensive for private trips (2-3 more compared to Germany). We’ll try to make the best impressions of it with what we got. Scotland has 2 of the top 20 European driving roads and my aim is to chalk these off my multi-years personal project to complete all of them (I’m half way there). And yes, will definitely check into some distilleries of our favorite single malt scotch brands. Cheers boys.

Hi Justin. I would be interested in the list (perhaps you have a link) to the top 20 European driving roads if you are willing to share (The NC500 and the old military road ars absolutely epic BTW). Thanks

 

[TomE]

Hi Justin. I would be interested in the list (perhaps you have a link) to the top 20 European driving roads if you are willing to share (The NC500 and the old military road ars absolutely epic BTW). Thanks

This thread is worth reading if you are looking for inspiration for great driving roads:

An ode to roads.

For the drivers, right? I think that's everyone here. I want to know about the best road you've ever driven. Where is it? What did you drive? Which roads do you want to drive in your Emira? What if time, money and shipping your Emira were no object? I'm a bit obsessed with this. And by that I...

www.emiraforum.com

 

[Mac71]

This thread is worth reading if you are looking for inspiration for great driving roads:

An ode to roads.

For the drivers, right? I think that's everyone here. I want to know about the best road you've ever driven. Where is it? What did you drive? Which roads do you want to drive in your Emira? What if time, money and shipping your Emira were no object? I'm a bit obsessed with this. And by that I...

www.emiraforum.com

Thanks Tom

 

[Justin]

Hi Justin. I would be interested in the list (perhaps you have a link) to the top 20 European driving roads if you are willing to share (The NC500 and the old military road ars absolutely epic BTW). Thanks

https://www.ultimatedrives.net/top-10-roads/ here u go. There‘s actually 21 on this list, with #14 numbered twice (I’ve told the site owners previously). I’ve done 7 of these roads over 4 Alps drive trips across the years, actually missed 3 planned passes (Furka/Grimsel/Susten) due to bad weather early closure on my last Alps trip in Sep/Oct last year, plan to cross out the 2 Scottish ones this year, and planning another trip to cover 6 in a Swiss/Riveira drive in 2024, and that should put me at 15/21. Have done it variously in supercars, M cars, and in Porsches, with me leading 6-8 cars convoys. There are many other great driving roads in the surrounding areas of the roads in this list, such as everywhere around the Dolomites, but following this list is a convenient scorecard for me. Keeps it interesting and have targets to aim for in life.

 

[Mac71]

https://www.ultimatedrives.net/top-10-roads/ here u go. There‘s actually 21 on this list, with #14 numbered twice (I’ve told the site owners previously). I’ve done 7 of these roads over 4 Alps drive trips across the years, actually missed 3 planned passes (Furka/Grimsel/Susten) due to bad weather early closure on my last Alps trip in Sep/Oct last year, plan to cross out the 2 Scottish ones this year, and planning another trip to cover 6 in a Swiss/Riveira drive in 2024, and that should put me at 15/21. Have done it variously in supercars, M cars, and in Porsches, with me leading 6-8 cars convoys. There are many other great driving roads in the surrounding areas of the roads in this list, such as everywhere around the Dolomites, but following this list is a convenient scorecard for me. Keeps it interesting and have targets to aim for in life.

Brilliant, Justin. Thanks. What has been your favourite road or region so far? I haven't done any drives on the continent but looking at the Ultimate Drives list I am drawn to Romania...

 

[Justin]

Brilliant, Justin. Thanks. What has been your favourite road or region so far? I haven't done any drives on the continent but looking at the Ultimate Drives list I am drawn to Romania...

Anywhere in the Alps is great, to be honest. You can’t go wrong selecting a few from the list to sting together a holiday. The mid-highlands roads between villages with endless chicanes are great for driving especially on quiet sundays while the high mountain passes are spectacular for their views though the continuous hairpins needs care. Munich is the best staging ground as you can get very good and reliable cars (M2s, P cars, Alpines!) at very good prices from honorable agencies. Switzerland has the best tarmac, followed by Germany and Austria, then Italy. The Italian South Tyrol and Dolomites region though has the most enlightened attitude towards spirited driving and so you will likely see a lot of interesting convoy groups on your drives. Like on a single Sunday, i encountered a Mini convoy, a Supercars convoy, an Air-cool convoy, and many more. On another day, we met a Mustang convoy. 30 Mustangs in an Italian mountain?, where did they all come from! When you then reach the top of the pass which is usually a rest stop area, it’s all good fun interacting with fellow gearheads. High mountain passes fully open only from mid June to Mid October though, so July to Sep is the logistically safest period to go.

 

[nelly111s]

One other tip about the NC500 - if you can do it anti-clockwise, I think that’s best. West side of Scotland is worth waiting for.
Another good detour is, rather than going all the way to Wick up the East, head inland at Helmsdale and go via Forsinard. Miles and miles of FA up that road.

 

[Mac71]

Anywhere in the Alps is great, to be honest. You can’t go wrong selecting a few from the list to sting together a holiday. The mid-highlands roads between villages with endless chicanes are great for driving especially on quiet sundays while the high mountain passes are spectacular for their views though the continuous hairpins needs care. Munich is the best staging ground as you can get very good and reliable cars (M2s, P cars, Alpines!) at very good prices from honorable agencies. Switzerland has the best tarmac, followed by Germany and Austria, then Italy. The Italian South Tyrol and Dolomites region though has the most enlightened attitude towards spirited driving and so you will likely see a lot of interesting convoy groups on your drives. Like on a single Sunday, i encountered a Mini convoy, a Supercars convoy, an Air-cool convoy, and many more. On another day, we met a Mustang convoy. 30 Mustangs in an Italian mountain?, where did they all come from! When you then reach the top of the pass which is usually a rest stop area, it’s all good fun interacting with fellow gearheads. High mountain passes fully open only from mid June to Mid October though, so July to Sep is the logistically safest period to go.

Invaluable advice - thanks so much.

I second nelly111s advice about going anticlockwise on the NC500 if possible because: a) as nelly says, you save the best scenery until last and b) it seems that most people tend to go clockwise and so you should have a little less traffic if you run counter to that. In terms of a good balance between traffic and weather, I reckon the best time to go is between the start of April to about the middle of May. Mid-September through to Mid-October may also be ok. I have never been in season but I imagine it could be busy. But with Scotland, expect the weather to be highly variable whenever you go. Have fun!