Lauren

Thursday and we had a long drive to Grindelwald in Switzerland. The plan was to take the Simplon Pass as recommended by a friend. Though the pass had quite nice views, it was a busy main road and not the driver's road I was expecting. There were a lot of road works and subsequently a lot of traffic too. Never mind, it was an easy drive. Due to a road being closed ahead, my satnav re-routed us, adding some 40 kms to what was already a 400km+ drive, but there was a bonus that we only became aware of us we climbed away off the valley floor.    Imagine my delight when I realised we were heading for the Furka pass. Now we didn't do all the Furka Pass, as halfway up we took the turn for the better (I think) Grimsel Pass. Oh wow. There were a lot of bikes on the road and these can be a bit of a pain when you're pressing on. They tend to overtake you on the straights then are obviously slower round the corners and I seemed to caught up in a throng of bikes in front and behind me. I admit, it was unsettling and did interfere with the flow, so I opted to pull in for a latte at the top of the pass.    DSC_2562 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The start of the fabulous downhill is what you can see ahead.    DSC_2565 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2566 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2568 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   What can I say? The downhill was an absolute blast, the brakes on the car held up well and we were just running around the tourist traffic. The road is well sighted and it was just a joy to be able to attack the road on the way down. From there it was a couple of hours to our hotel. We had left Lake Garda at 10.30am and we didn't arrive due to the detour at our hotel in Grindelwald until 6.45pm. I had done all the driving and I was feeling pretty tired by this point.    The view from our hotel balcony was simply breathtaking though, straight at the Eiger!   IMG_4607 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   We ventured into town which is a favourite haunt for Japanese tourists, they seem to arrive by the coachload. Switzerland is beautiful, but oh so terribly expensive as we found out.    Still there was the reward of traditional Swiss Rosti, this is a fried potato dish (think hash browns) and tends to have melted Swiss cheese and can have bacon and pretty much whatever else you want. I had mine with spinach and as is traditional a fried egg on top! Wonderful.    Swiss Rosti by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   It's amazing how mucky dog paws can get, as Indy had cut her paw at Lake Garda a few days earlier, she demanded a paw wash!    
IMG_4609 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

For our last day around Lake Garda, Tom drove us to one of his favourite haunts the quieter Lake d'Idro. This is a much quieter lake with no real powerboats and is a quiet and tranquil place. It was still sizzling in the mid thirties though:   DSC_2371 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   A quick stop for liquid refreshment by the lake:   DSC_2372 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2374 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   We then went to a mountain village called Bagolino. How very Italian and just beautiful:   DSC_2375 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The houses seemed to be hanging off the hillside:   DSC_2378 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2380 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2385 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Being on the mountainside there were lots of steps:   DSC_2396 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2397 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2398 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   IMG_4599 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2412 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2418 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   We took the road on from there and for Tom this was new territory. The beauty of being able to drive around is that you can simply stop wherever you want. We picked a cafe in a small fairly non-descript town for lunch. We were about to experience the best Italian meal we had on the whole trip!    Mark had this wonderful Gnnochi that was simply sublime and Tom and I tucked into this incredible pasta with a béchamel sauce, just wow!    IMG_4601 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Mark and I were encouraged to have a liqueur which was said to have 'a taste of the mountains'! It seemed a lot like ameretto to us, but was very nice!    IMG_4602 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   After a wonderful lunch we hit the road again and soon we were climbing:   DSC_2419 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   This time towards the Baremone Pass. This pass is listed under Italy's most dangerous road at 1450m, http://www.dangerousroads.org/italy/254-passo-baremone-italy.html   This is about half unpaved and would have been difficult in my car, but thankfully Tom's car has much better ground clearance, so it was no issue. The pass is mostly single track and was built during the First World War by the military to move artillery towards the Italian borders in the Alps.    DSC_2423 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2435 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Stopping for a breather and Mark takes a walk:   DSC_2446 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2460 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2465 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Mark looking a tad unhappy after suffering vertigo on the Baremone Pass!   DSC_2480 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2484 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   A well protected outer edge of the pass, typical of what we were to experience. This is a road less travelled I think!    DSC_2487 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2491 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2493 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Mark in the midst of vertigo!   DSC_2499 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2505 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2512 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Atop the Baremone Pass:   DSC_2511 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2516 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Indy manages to find a stick, but there is nowhere to throw it!   DSC_2520 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2523 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr    
We took a long drive back and stopped at Lake d'Idro, Tom and Indy had a swim, then out for more pasta that night.

On the Saturday, we were to meet up with another intrepid traveller and GT86 owner, Chris. He'd gone the other way round the Alps and was staying in Riva on the north of the lake. Fortunately it was merely an hour or so down the Autostrada to where we were in Desenzano del Garda. 
  And then there were two:   IMG_4577 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Naturally this caused some interest in the car park around Tom's apartment block and soon people were out taking pictures of the cars!    Tom dropped us off in Sirmione and we were soon eating Italian ice cream. Now I must add, that I'm not really that keen on ice cream, but Italian ice cream is a must do! Hazelnut for me. Chris can be seen here clearly enjoying himself!    IMG_4578 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Unfortunately the weather turned and the rain set in, so about all we could do was grab some shelter in a bar and drink the afternoon away. It could be worse I guess. Then the next day it was our turn to meet Chris at his hotel in Riva. Tom drove us, but the traffic was a nightmare and it took two and a half hours to travel what should have taken an hour and twenty minutes, but never mind.    IMG_4579 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr     Chris had told us a lot about his hotel which has it's own resort and I must say having gin and tonic (Sipsmiths Gin as well!) was a bit of an albeit expensive treat. Oh how decadent!   IMG_4580 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The weather was mind numbingly hot and it seemed as if there was no escape. Even Indy plonked her belly down in a puddle in a sunken manhole cover on the pavement at one point. We sought solace in the hotel grounds which were beautiful and slept on the sun loungers out of the sun! More pizza and pasta was consumed before a late night trip back.    The next couple of days were 'Indy day's and we found a dog beach especially for dogs. Indy was in her element!   Tom and Mark staying out of the sun!    IMG_4582 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   On the dog beach and a very happy Indy paws!    IMG_4588 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Baldo beach, the stuff of Indy heaven!   IMG_4586 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Indy with her favourite uncle in Lake Garda:   DSC_2352 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   A dog's life, she even has her own sun lounger:   DSC_2355 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Meanwhile, Mark found it all a bit too much:   DSC_2369 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   We stayed in a hotel for our last two nights in Lake Garda, it was getting very humid and we needed aircon. The view from the balcony could have been better, but at least I could see my car:   IMG_4592 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   It turned out that next to the hotel there was a classic car hire place, I went round and took some pics of what they had:   IMG_4596 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   IMG_4597 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Alas no Ferrari's. Well it is Italy!   IMG_4598 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

The next day, was for the chill out part of our trip, catching up with Tom in Lake Garda and having a few days off from driving. We had an easy 125kms (and hour and a half) drive to our friend Tom in Desenzano del Garda which is near to Sirmione at the southern tip of Lake Garda. It didn't take long before Indy was in the Lake. Some things never change. We even found a stick!   IMG_4576 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   After a trip to the local shopping mall to pick up supplies, we went into Sirmione. This is a beautiful part of Lake Garda and features a point that goes out about mile into the lake. It's got ancient Roman ruins at one end and also you have to cross a drawbridge to gain entry. It's a place packed full of piazza's, ice cream parlours and restaurants. A nice place just to hang out. There is also Jamaica Beach which is where the rock extends out like a reef into the lake, keeping the water shallow and warm.    Indy didn't hang around getting into it!    DSC_2327 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Mark in the foreground, Tom behind:   DSC_2330 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Soon the heat got to us and we escaped to a bar where the beer was cold and there was shade and a breeze to cool us:   DSC_2349 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr    
Pizza on the piazza was had that night with lashings of beer, then back to Tom's.

Our next drive, was possibly one of the best drives I've ever had over Alpine passes. Driving into the Dolomites was simply spectacular and literally as you drive out of Cortina you are hit by endless hairpins on a serious ascent on the Falzarego Pass. This rises to 2105m, but it's the way it does it. The pass is cut into the rock, but generally well sighted. As you climb there are no obvious big drop offs and whilst the road surface varies in quality, with some amazingly grippy brand new surfaces you soon hit old and worn road surfaces with breaks in the tarmac. But it's not enough to slow the pace.    As we descended I found myself getting into a lovely rhythm with the car, just cruising past locals and getting into the flow of the road. It wasn't long before we had to stop take a few pictures as the Dolomites are simply breathtaking.    DSC_2294 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   What a road!   DSC_2301 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Obligatory picture of my car and I:   The GT86 and I by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Dropping into the valley and it wasn't long before we were going back up again, this time on the Giau Pass which is even higher at 2236m. This is equally spectacular as the ragged and sheer faces of the Dolomites reveal themselves. Unfortunately we didn't really get any pictures as there was a long way to go, but we stopped off and took a cable car up Col Rodella for lunch and some amazing views.    IMG_4567 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Indy was happy!   DSC_2310 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2312 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   As you can see, it really is stunning:   DSC_2314 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The valley below, which would be our route through:   DSC_2320 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   At the top of the hill on the mountain there is a restaurant with a sky terrace. What a place to have lunch! You can see the cloud coming in here:   IMG_4570 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   IMG_4571 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   It's mad how the views change from one minute to the next. This peak just seemed to always have cloud around it:   DSC_2324 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   This was simply an epic day of driving with just incredible scenery. Whilst we were on the road all day, we had a nice two hour break for lunch going up the cable car. The mountains changed as we headed towards Bessano Del Grappa becoming less fierce and daunting in their appearance, but it was time to find the hotel and stop over for the night. The hotel I booked in Nove was really lovely, but it was seemingly on it's own in a pretty non-descript area. The beautiful (well according to the photos) Bessano Del Grappa was a a fifteen minute drive away. Feeling tired and also feeling the heat (it had got progressively hotter as we headed south into Italy), we dropped our bags and headed to the only restaurant in town which was next to the hotel!    Nice room though:   IMG_4572 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr    
The restaurant was bizarre as we sat out front on a busy intersection without a blade of grass anywhere and trucks coming and going just a few metres from where we were sitting. Still it just goes to show you can't always get it right when it comes to pre-booking all your hotels. It was in stark contrast though to previous nights where we had stayed some where notable and in a different country three nights running.

So the Grossglockner Pass. This pass has been in the news recently after two British guys went through a barrier and fell to their death. But I really think Alpine driving is not about trying to set records, it's about enjoying the drive and the scenery and whilst you can drive briskly, it is obviously simply not worth the risk of having an accident or falling off the edge of the road when there is a 2500m drop!    The Grossglockner is Austria's second biggest tourist attraction as it runs alongside the Grossglockner mountain which is the highest mountain in Austria at 3798m. This road which is the highest surfaced road in Austria at 2504m was started in 1930. The idea was to open Austria to tourism and the road was completed in 1935. It costs €34.50 to drive the Grossglockner but you do get a sticker included with that. Also for another €5 you can get a book with the history of the pass which is a surpsringly good read! I'm sure many would like to hear about how I blasted up the pass with the exhaust richoteting off the mountains, but the reality is, this is not a quiet road. There was a lot of traffic on the first section and sometimes you just have to sit back and admire the view.    There are lots of parking places on the way up where you can pull over and take a picture. We opted to do this, to let the traffic disperse. Here's Mark with my car:   IMG_4553 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr     The views are absolutely spectacular:   IMG_4555 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   As you can see, the cloud was coming in:   IMG_4560 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   For some reason the traffic cleared for a good five minutes and I was able to get a bit into the ebb and flow of the Grossglockner, heel and toeing down through the gearbox for the inumerous hairpins as we ascended the pass.    Here you can see (well sort of) further up the pass that the cloud was closing in:   IMG_4561 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The reality was as we neared the top, the cloud descended and not in a good way. Quickly the joy of the Alpine views dissapeared, but a shame though that was, it just got worse and worse on the way down. In fact it was so bad, I could barely see twenty metres ahead of me. I had to resort to foglights on front and rear which is the first time I've used them in nearly seventy thousand miles. It wasn't safe to drive over twenty miles an hour, visibility was just so poor, I could hardly see where the road went.    Eventually as we decreased in altitude it did clear. I admit, I do feel a little short changed as I only saw half of the pass and the downhill is nearly always my favourite part. Never mind, we had to keep pushing on and into Italy.    We crossed the border into Italy at Winnebach and the Italia sign was on the side of someone's house! We pressed on in what was a long day's driving to Cortina D'Ampezzo in Italy which hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and where Cliffhanger, The Pink Panther and For Your Eyes Only were filmed. Cortina is a pretty little town which is obviously rammed come the Alpine skiing season. In the summer, though, it's a little quieter.    We arrived in typical so I hear, Cortina weather, which is rain. The view from our balcony gives you an idea:   IMG_4562 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Soon the rain was to be torrential, so we sought solace in an Italian restaurant to sample the first pizza of our trip. It tasted good!   IMG_4563 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Indy was predictably a little tired, but not so tired that she couldn't take a little fuss from the waiting staff.    IMG_4564 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   From there and after a break in the rain, we dashed along the pedestrianised high street and found a bar suitably not far from the hotel.    IMG_4566 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr    
It was a small bar full of locals and very Alpine in presentation. We sampled a few beers and I had a natter with some of the locals, well the ones who could speak English.

So, to our first Alpine pass, the Hahntennjoch Pass.
  http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/austria/3580-hahntennjoch.html   Naturally it's listed in dangerous roads, but it does have something of a full on start. The road rises very sharply and soon you're into a series of hairpins with steep inclines. Unfortunately only a few minutes after the start, we got stuck behind a local bus. It soon transpired though that the bus drivers was on a bit of a mission! We noted he had only one poor passenger onboard, but still there is a limit to what a bus can do. Eventually the bus stopped, presumably so the passenger could escape and finally I was able to get going. I admit, perhaps I got carried away with the ebb and flow of endless chicanes and hairpins and swooping bends as we climed the pass. This tended to highlight the lack of secured items in the back of the car tending to fly around. After being told to slow down a few times, I eased my pace and soon we were atop the Hahntennjoch.    IMG_4550 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   We were met by a Dutch couple who had driven up in their Jaguar XJS V12 and yes, it had overheated, producing it's own Alpine stream of coolant! We wished them good luck and stopped to catch our breath. Here's Mark and Indy with my car:   IMG_4549 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   From there, the downhill loomed and Mark made it clear that I should curtail my pace somewhat. So I did, but still enjoyed carving our way down the side of the mountain and getting a chance to take in the views. It was thoroughly enjoyable and for me, just what it's all about. From there we had around an hour driving through the valley at the bottom to our destination for the night, Innsbruck, Austria.    It's a pretty city with a medieval feel to it.    DSC_2262 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The big tourist attraction here is the 'Golden Roof'.    DSC_2274 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   This was built in 1500 and designed as a 'royal box' whereby royalty would observe tournaments and events in the square below.    DSC_2271 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   We always look for traditional dishes for dinner wherever we go and for me anyway it provides a way of knowing we've travelled to somewhere new. This time it was Schnitzel. This is breaded pork and really I didn't find it that amazing, certainly not as fun as the Tarte Flambee or the wonderful Rosti we had in Switzerland. Still, Indy liked it!   DSC_2267 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   We had a nice walk around the city in the evening and sampled some very good beer.    DSC_2271 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2266 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The following day we were up early, breakfast had with a wonderful selection of cooked meats and soon we were on our way. We were planning the Gerlos Pass and the famous or perhaps now infamous Grossglockner High Alpine Pass.    For some inexplicable reason the Gerlos Pass was just full of Dutch tourists driving quite slowly. This was ever so slightly infuriating as there was nothing we could do, so we opted to stop off for a walk around halfway up.    DSC_2275 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   DSC_2276 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Weirdly they even had a golf driving range here!   DSC_2280 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Indy managed to find a stick too:   DSC_2284 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   There was a cafe by the reservoir which had it's own outside bar and BBQ area, the owner had a Cavalier like Indy, so we got on well!    DSC_2293 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

So, ever thought about a Euro Trip? This in my mind means driving a very long way and lots of different stopovers. Sure a beach holiday in the Costa Del Sol is easier to book and whilst sometimes I liken it to going on holiday without thinking which might appear to be a tad harsh, I really think that a holiday should incorporate a number of things. Part of this is to see a bit of the world. You only live once right and so it's fitting to ensure that there is plenty going on. Yes, I know there will be some that love just to read a book sat on the beach looking at their recent pedicure in the distance and contrasting it with lapping waves on the shore, but really, when you can do so much more, why wouldn't you?    Well, in regard to that, I think it's mainly due to a European tour taking a fair bit of organising and working out. This is not without pain and commitment you must surely understand and it will involve long periods behind the wheel at times. But I would contest, if you like driving, why not spend your holiday doing a bit of it? For me, I love to travel, I know some will think it's boring, but really the travelling is simply part of the holiday, it doesn't all need to be long motorway slogs whether on the peage in France or the Autobahn in Germany for example. It can be so much more than that. A lot of it is the quaint places off the beaten track you see on the way and obviously the people you meet. These things don't happen when you board a plane at Manchester airport and arrive at Almeria or Malaga, having seen mostly just clouds.    So where to go? Well there's this place called Europe which has a wide variety of things to look at along the way. It also has this big mountain range called the Alps which is simply spectacular and each side of it offers something different. You could be in France, Switzerland, Austria or Italy and all have their own unique flavour. So why just visit one country when you can visit seven as I have on this trip?    All this helps if you're not driving a diesel Vectra of course, so a decent car capable of doing the trip helps. You could even take your friends and have a laugh along the way. But to the crux of the matter and now I'm going to explain why I love it so much, despite sitting on my hotel balcony in the middle of the Swiss Alps after an eight hour drive, not helped by an accident blocking a road but made somewhat more pleasant by being diverted up a famous Swiss Alpine pass.    Firstly you start at Calais or whatever port of entry you choose. The sensible option is to subscribe to the Sanef Toll tag so there is no queuing when you hit the peage. Whilst I agree that France has some great points, getting down to the Alps is simply where it is at if you like your driving. This enables you to see if you can beat the 30km/h speed limit approaching the barriers to see if they will lift in time. Experience has confirmed they won't but it saves all the faffing around with change and Euros as you make your progress. I would recommens a stopover in France somewhere as you head south.    We chose Strasbourg. Not just for the Tarte Flambee, which is fantastic by the way, but because it offered a break and then we could have a short hop into Germany and the Austrian Alps.    So here we are on the Eurotunnel. We opted for this route rather than the ferry since we had our dog, Indy with us and it was better for her:   IMG_4540 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Strasbourg is not round the corner so it's a long old drive down the peage. Using the peage will relieve you of £60 to get to Strasbourg, so it's not cheap, but the roads are fast and relatively empty. We encountered no traffic issues in what was a 430 mile drive. This was a case of sticking on the cruise control at a GPS verified 130km/h and letting the miles or kilometres pass by.    IMG_4539 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   One note about France is, don't ever speed. It's easy to get carried away after a few hours and think that you can take advantage of empy motorways, but the French have speed cameras and they will have you. Bear in mind that up to 30km/h over the limit the fine is 90 Euro, but over that and it can be 750 Euro or worse!    We drove from nine am till five at night and arrived in Strasbourg. No issues, just a long day. We were rewarded with a nice cold beer and the local speciality, Tarte Flambee:   IMG_4543 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   After dinner we had a walk around. The cathedral in Strasbourg was stunning in the evening sun:    DSC_2256 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Here's a tired Indy on the hotel bed:   IMG_4544 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   We were predictably up early and finally felt like we were on holiday.   When we booked the hotels, we opted to choose deals with breakfast included. This is a good move as you can eat a whole load for breakfast and not need a lunch as such, which is great when you've got some miles to cover. This hotel even had Epoisse cheese available for breakfast. Only in France!    IMG_4548 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   It's almost uncanny that when you drive out of Strasbourg you crosss the border into Germany over a bridge, which is just bonkers as everything changes in the space of a few metres. But worth it to see of course. There happens to be around 300km of most de-restricted autobahn on the way to Austria and chasing high speeds soon becomes utterly addictive and just totally liberating. Getting over 200km/h (120mph) is where it's at and getting a new GPS verified 226km/h (141.25mph) was great fun. Doing it round what became a real bend on two lane autobahn whilst annihilating an A Class was even more satisfying I do admit. But this is what makes road trips so much fun. It's like another world being able to go as fast as you can without fear of being arrested. Those that know me will know I'm no straight line junkie, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't just love cruising at what are normally considered to be silly speeds and not to mention getting every last mile per hour or kilometre per hour out of the car. After all if your can apparently do 140mph, you'd want to test it wouldn't you?    On the way through Germany we picked up the necessary vignettes for Austria €8 and the Swiss vignette €35. These are the necessary passes so you can drive on Austrian and Swiss motorways. There is apparently a hefty fine if you don't have one. I opted not to chance it. Here's the Austrian one, valid for ten days:    Vignettes by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   And the Swiss vignette valid for a year:    Vignettes by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr      
After the crazy speeds on the autobahn, we crossed the border in to Austria. What came next was something completely different. The hills turned into mountains and soon we were driving through tunnels. The scenery had changed to something decidedly more Alpine.

Cracking pics... Just recovering from 3000miles plus myself, but in the Citroen! Calais, Angouleme, Bordeaux, Bilbao, Picos de Europa, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Costa Brava, Toulouse, Dordogne and home again with family in tow.

Agree - it's the only way to travel - you actually see a country - and found some decent non-autoroute routes this year through France...

As for the Piz Gloria - I've skied off that. f***ing terrifying!

Disloyal though it is, I prefer the old one. Toyota made some good looking cars in that era.

Took both cars out tonight for pics:
 
AE86 % GT86 2 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr
 
DSC_2640 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Changed title of thread to correct spelling! 

Well, you would be best to get the front camber bolts. A bit more negative camber the front helps turn in. 
 
For the rear, you may get lucky and lowering will increase the negative camber and it may be just right. If it's within half a degree either side it's not too bad. 
 
You have to redo your geo setup, yes. Changing the springs and lowering the car will change the geometry. 

Update on my situation!
 
I finally managed to get a refund over PayPal from Jay this morning. I've been dealing with Jay and the lack of the camera kit for over a year, even when finally demanding a refund it took almost 2 months and several more excuses, delays and chats to get this sorted out.
 
A huge shoutout and a big thank you to Lauren who has helped a long way! There is no doubt that she really cares for this forums and it's members I hope to one day drive my GT86 from Denmark to the UK and attend a club meeting and thank Lauren in person. Also a thank you to Rob for his time and help - it all helps!
 
Back when I ordered from Jay I only heard good things about him and to this day I still believe Jay is a genuine nice guy. All of this and all the orders on camera kits might have gone over his head and he took in more than he could handle. However, his way of dealing with all the problems, the excuses, the lies, the waiting and making all things a lot more complicated than they have to be for whatever reason, I would strongly advise against doing any business with Jay in the future. I hope those who are still having problems get it sorted out quickly so that both you, the forum and Jay himself can put this behind us.

Good luck with that. Hope you're not just flogging a dead horse though, it certainly seems like an autobox is not the way to do it if you want to produce a huge amount of power and then try to transmit it to the road. 

Went to pick up a new set of wheels yesterday. 
  This was the first really long trip for the car, so a real reliability test. We had to drive from Manchester to Rugby and back. The wheels I bought are Work Meister S1's. I had this funny idea that when we met up with the seller, we'd change the wheels over on the on spot. Sounds a bit crazy I know, but why not eh?    So we drove down, no problem, the engine feels really good and though I've not given it more than a third throttle and still haven't ventured much farther than 5000rpm, it's running really sweetly. A bit less sweet is the mismatched suspension. It just feels horrible, but the ride is bearable. Much work is definitely needed here. I had a relatively quick drive back on a familiar road on Friday night following a meal out.    The front suspension has stock replacement KYB long stroke dampers. The car sits on TRD Blue springs we think and had TRD short stroke blue dampers that are adjustable. When I got the car it had TRD green shortstroke dampers in the front and the ride was well, just terrible. These are seriously stiff!    So the car wallows about, roll control is not good, I think the whole suspension needs polybushing, as the bushings are likely 30 years old! Still, as I said, it really needs sorting out as whilst it is possible to settle the car and when the suspension loads up it feels okay, there is no precision at all.    We met up with Zack from the Corolla Brotherhood in a pub car park and set about swopping the wheels over:   Work Meister S1 for AE86 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   We lined Zack's car up with mine. His is a bit more serious 20v on Watanabes. Very nice.    Work Meister S1 for AE86 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Work Meister S1 for AE86 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Work Meister S1 for AE86 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Close ups of the new wheels:   Work Meister S1 for AE86 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Work Meister S1 for AE86 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The new wheels have differing offset. The fronst are 0 and the rears -5. They are 15x7.5" running 195/50/15s.   So after we put the wheels on we noticed there wasn't much clearance on the rears. Zack suggested we put the zero offset wheels on the back to help, but I thought we'd try it with th -5's. It took to the first set of services to realise they were rubbing badly over pretty much any mild bump or dip on the M1. I should point out the excitement had led us to miss the M6 turning off the M1, though I entirely blame not having sat nav!    So we stopped at Leicester Forest services and it was clear that on the offside the tyre was getting shredded by contact with the wheel arch. So we swopped the -5 offset wheels to the front and the zero offset wheels to the rear. The weight of four stock wheels in the boot wasn't helping our cause of course. As I started jacking the car up two young guys came over and wanted to take pictures, I had a chat with them whilst Mark went off to find drinks. Once the wheels were swopped over we were on our way again, albeit it a different way home to what we had planned, but never mind.    The rubbing was less but still present. So in the end we just drove home very slowly avoiding all bumps. The car looked so cool, but we couldn't drive it properly. So frustrating. My car has the GT Apex wheel arch extension trims, but all this does is reduce the clearance you might have. So rolling the arches is not a straightforward job really. The extensions bolt through the wheel arch lip too, so you can't just take them off and leave them. Weirdly it is only the offside that is catching but I think the car being lowered on a stock panhard rod has shifted the axle to the offside by a bit.    The plan is to remove the inside material from the wheel arch extension and hope we'll have no more rubbing problems. 

As I own an MX5 as well shall I offer to do Keith's hair for him ?

Really? Is a car a hairdressers car simply because it's optimised for road use? Apart from the vaguely homophobic connotations anyway, the general thrust is that the car is more about the looks than the road manners.

So you could accuse various hatch based cabrios, Audi TT, various horrible little coupes (Vauxhall Tigra perhaps?), but not the MX5 which has ALWAYS been about driving first and foremost. I'll say it again, not everyone who enjoys driving wants to play at being a racing driver. The Mazda has always been a decently engineered little road car and doesn't deserve to be sneered at.

Dual clutch transmissions, but not slush boxes with a set of paddles on the steering wheel. Also there are those of us out there which is worth remembering that actually like to drive a car properly and find it more rewarding as a result! I wonder why it is in car reviews these days that journos get excited at the prospect of a manual box or why Ferrari 355's are soaring in value as they are the last of the Ferrarris with a manual box? A driver's car should have a gearstick and three pedals in it's purest form. 
 
You're right about luck though, there is no such thing. 

My new MY16 White Aero is landing next week

I decided to have a day out in my car today. Opted to drive to Chester to pick up some vape supplies and pop in and see my old work colleagues. I was a tad nervous as it's the first 'big' trip the car has done since being back on the road all of a day! 
  Well, I stopped a number of times and checked under the bonnet, but the car felt strong and I've begun to acclimatise to it again. There is a fair bit of differential whine as is the way with these cars and they are inherently noisy, but that's what it was like some 30 years ago.    I've been careful to run the car in, so no high revs, generally not going over 4000rpm, but making sure the engine has some load. Well I took it to nudging 5000rpm a few times in third, fourth and fifth gear and you can really feel the engine come on cam, just after the TVIS opens. The engine feels really strong and in such a light car with it's terribly short gearing, it moves along at a decent rate alright. At the lower end of the revs the engine is typical torquey 4AGE, so it's a synch to drive really.    The controls all feel very light and this has taken a bit of getting used to compared with the weightier controls of the GT86, but really as I have been driving the AE86 since yesterday I'm starting to get used to it all again.    I must admit, I was sitting there on the motorway on the way to Chester and I was just thoroughly enjoying myself being back in the car again. That smile lasted all the way to Chester and all the way home again as I took the A roads on the way back. I even loaded the chassis a little to get a feel for the car again. Sure it doesn't have the precision and mega grip that the GT86 seems to pluck from nowhere, but it felt all of a piece. The suspension is a bit mismatched on the AE86, but it's okay as long as you know how to manage it. I haven't tried booting it out of slow corners as I want to ease the running in of the engine, but the diff locks up just as it always did.   Overall it's just great to be back behind the wheel again and the charisma of the car is winning me over all over again.   Here it is, parked outside my old work in Chester:   IMG_4739 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Dual clutch transmissions, but not slush boxes with a set of paddles on the steering wheel. Also there are those of us out there which is worth remembering that actually like to drive a car properly and find it more rewarding as a result! I wonder why it is in car reviews these days that journos get excited at the prospect of a manual box or why Ferrari 355's are soaring in value as they are the last of the Ferrarris with a manual box? A driver's car should have a gearstick and three pedals in it's purest form. 
 
You're right about luck though, there is no such thing. 

Dual clutch transmissions, but not slush boxes with a set of paddles on the steering wheel. Also there are those of us out there which is worth remembering that actually like to drive a car properly and find it more rewarding as a result! I wonder why it is in car reviews these days that journos get excited at the prospect of a manual box or why Ferrari 355's are soaring in value as they are the last of the Ferrarris with a manual box? A driver's car should have a gearstick and three pedals in it's purest form. 
 
You're right about luck though, there is no such thing. 

Dual clutch transmissions, but not slush boxes with a set of paddles on the steering wheel. Also there are those of us out there which is worth remembering that actually like to drive a car properly and find it more rewarding as a result! I wonder why it is in car reviews these days that journos get excited at the prospect of a manual box or why Ferrari 355's are soaring in value as they are the last of the Ferrarris with a manual box? A driver's car should have a gearstick and three pedals in it's purest form. 
 
You're right about luck though, there is no such thing. 

Haven't done bad for me on Conti 5's, track and road. Results speak for themselves.