Love driving fast? Then please try not to ruin Wales for the rest of us

BIKERS are more us than them. Devotees of all things two-wheeled are genuinely into their machinery, they’ll meet up with likeminded folk at shows and they appreciate a journey is about so much more than the destination.

They also know something I’ve rarely experienced as a car nut. The stigma of being tarred with one broad sweep of an angry community’s brush, simply because a few idiots are going out there and ruining it for everyone else.

That’s the pain I came away with after venturing out of Champion-land and reading one of the North Wales newspapers, in which frustrated farmers are teaming up with the local bobbies to condemn just about anyone who even thinks driving a certain trio of roads in the Conwy countryside for enjoyment’s sake.

The sort of heavy-handed policing traditionally reserved for hedonists with Honda Fireblades and Suzuki Hayabusas is now being mooted for people with hot hatchbacks and Caterhams. Not without justification, mind; North Wales Police is apparently getting a bit fed up with groups of cars doing upwards of 90mph on their home turf!

All of which leaves me a tad pensive. I am one of the very people some of those farmers would probably like to see banned – I’ve driven the roads in question on many occasions in my Minis and Mazda MX-5s for no good reason other than to enjoy them. It is 30 miles of some of Britain’s most enjoyable motoring, where you can appreciate all the little nuances of the suspension set up and the smile-inducing way the steering chats excitedly to you through the corners. Yet here’s the shocking thing - you can do all of that without breaking the 60mph speed limit.

The real problem’s when you get thrillseekers tearing past in even quicker bits of kit, which is exactly what happened a few years ago on a petrolhead outing a few mates and I were on. My MX-5, a Ford Racing Puma, a Volkswagen Polo G40 and a Metro GTi aren’t exactly slouches – yet all four of our cars were overtaken by a Porsche Boxster S, a Mini Cooper Works GP and a tuned Civic Type R. We were doing 60mph, but for this trio the limit just wasn’t enough.

I dread the idea of a 60mph road that can be enjoyed safely (and legally) being forced down to 40mph because of the idiots who insist on taking it at 100mph – and chances are they’ll continue doing that speed anyway. I understand how bikers feel, because a reckless minority are ruining it for everyone else who loves great cars and wonderful roads.

Chances are if you’re reading The Champion that you’re not a Welsh farmer, but if you are then please appreciate that 99% of us petrolheads are just normal, law-abiding people who like cars. On the other hand, if you’re someone who’s tempted to belt down the A543 at 100mph then sell the Honda S2000 and get something you’ll enjoy at normal speeds.

You’ll be doing the rest of us all a massive favour.

Wirral to Llandudno Mini Run 2013

 

WELSH car enthusiasts were in for a treat this weekend when dozens of Minis descended on the seaside of Llandudno.

Despite bitterly cold weather fans of the classic small car turned out in force for a show on the resort's promenade, many of them having made the journey from Wirral, Merseyside earlier this morning as part of an organised convoy along the A55 into North Wales.

Life On Cars - fresh from an equally chilly trip across the Welsh countryside - took these pictures in a rather frosty Llandudno:

Have you got a classic car event you'd like to promote? Get in touch with Life On Cars at david.simister@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment below...

Cold but brilliant open air motoring

AS we headed ever higher into the mountains above Bala, the muddy green of the countryside became a chilly shade of white.

Today Life On Cars is one of its adventures over the border, with our merry gang of enthusiasts on the way to Llandudno to see the gaggle of Minis which travel to the resort on their annual run from the Wirral.

On the way however, we've ventured through the mountains on the wonderful roads which wind their way through Bala, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Betws-y-Coed, even though at a frosty two degrees it was probably  a tad too cold to have the MX-5's roof down.

 Bloody freezing but big, big fun.

 Check out Life On Cars tomorrow for a full report on the 2013 Wirral to Llandudno Mini Run

Petrolhead heaven in North Wales

TWO rather tidy Rover SD1s, several confused-looking sheep, a charming countryside cottage ironically called The Ugly House and a disused viaduct stuck halfway up a mountain.

These are just some of the sights I’ve clocked on a bit of a petrolhead tour of North Wales, which saw a Mazda MX-5 (driven by Yours Truly), a Ford Racing Puma and a diesel Saab 9-3 (it’s the economy, stupid) pitted against some of the windiest roads I could find in the AA road atlas I’d bought three days earlier.

More importantly, what I saw a lot of on these trips is mile after mile of deserted tarmac, criss-crossing remote bits of moorland in the middle of nowhere in particular. If you’re really, really keen on driving then the words Croeso i Gymru should bring a smile to your face!

Admittedly, the staff at the bar in Betws-y-Coed we always stay at on these trips are probably getting familiar with our faces by now, but I’m always happy to chuck a few quid at the Welsh economy given what we always get in return. In this case, it was heading up the back road towards Ffestiniog, turning a corner and being greeted with a glorious panorama of the countryside stretching out for miles below us, a faint blue sky above us and the Irish Sea somewhere in between.  Staggeringly beautiful scenes like these are what motoring through Wales is all about.

Then of course, there’s the driving itself, which as long as you stay beneath the speed limits and keep an eye out for the real troublemakers of rural driving – sheep and hairpin bends – is truly good fun. At one point on the Evo Triangle (if you haven’t heard of it, Google it) we got overtaken by a souped-up Subaru Impreza, a MINI Cooper GP and a Porsche Boxster S and I don’t think any of us were particularly bothered, because even at sensible speeds we were loving every minute.

These roads were enjoyable even in a diesel Saab (especially if you’ve got the smug factor of overtaking just about everything and getting 50.3 to the gallon while you’re at it) so you can imagine how much of a ball it would have been in a Ford Racing Puma and an MX-5 with its roof down.

I know I’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again - if you like your driving there really are some stunning roads that aren’t a million miles away. Get out there and give them a go – you won’t regret it!

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Ford Racing Puma: A postscript

A COUPLE of Life On Cars readers - specifically, some of the petrolheads who joined me on my adventures in Wales last weekend - were disappointed with my reflections on the Ford Racing Puma in the last edition of The Champion.

Their main criticism was that my piece suggested the fettled Ford was the superior car when compared to the Rover Metro GTi and the Volkswagen Polo G40, which also ventured into deepest Snowdonia, and the MK1 Mazda MX-5 which I was driving. All four, of course, are fabulous cars in their own particular ways, and proved more than capable of handling the challenging roads and the worst weather Wales could throw at them!

Life On Cars, while striving to be factually accurate on all matters motoring, is always happy to hear your feedback. Get in touch via the usual Champion channels or by email at david.simister@hotmail.co.uk

Why the Ford Racing Puma ruled the roost in Wales

TWO things surprised me in the wilds of deepest Wales, where a couple of car-loving friends and I ventured last weekend for a bit of full-throttle fun.

Firstly that everyone there, even when we had to ask for an extraordinary amount of help after a breakdown, is lovely. With the exception of a slightly surly barmaid in Aberyswyth each and every person seemed to bend over backwards for us - in fact one pub landlord, upon hearing we needed something to seal a punctured radiator, actually ventured up to his farm to fetch us some araldite. What a guy!

But the one lingering memory I'll have of enjoying the twisty mountain roads around Dolgellau and Llangurig won't be the relentless rain we had almost all weekend, or the stunning scenery. It'll be the Ford Racing Puma and the rally-bred buzz of its exhaust note. Most of you will have forgotten the Racing Puma even existed, overshadowed by the Escort Cosworth that went before it and the go-faster Focuses that followed.

Ford took a normal 1.7 Puma and gave it to tuning firm Tickford, who then rebuilt it from scratch at great expense, which is why it cost more than a significantly more powerful Subaru Impreza Turbo when it was new. As a result only a couple of hundred were ever made, meaning that it's not only spine-tingingly quick but incredibly rare these days.

Sure, its sharpened-up steering rack means it's a pain to park at Sainsbury's but in Wales it ruled the roost, even though it was up against my neat 'n' nimble two seater roadster, a Rover Metro GTi - don't laugh, it's much faster than you think - and a Volkswagen Polo equipped with a supercharger which cost more than the engine it was attached to. On the face of it, it's still just a Puma (which is itself a great little car) but it's only on really demanding roads that you realise where all the £23,000 asking price went. Every single component, from the splitter to the wildly flared arches, has been designed with devouring B-roads in mind.

It's a shame the Racing Puma's been almost erased from non-petrolhead memory, because it is a frantic future classic in the best fast Ford tradition. Oh, and the people of Wales all told us they loved it. See, I told you they were lovely...

Fear and fun on The Horseshoe Pass

IT WAS with a particularly potent blend of apprehensiveness that I approached one of my all-time favourite roads yesterday.

On the way to the Mini show in Llandudno I ventured onto the wonderful bit of winding tarmac that is the Horseshoe Pass, which after an agonisingly long climb from the picturesque town of Llangollen takes you to one of the most stunning bits of scenery you'll find anywhere in North Wales. Only this time, I was more than a little nervous.


Only days earlier it'd been the scene of a tragic accident in which two people had been killed, which served as stark reminder that while a good road is great fun, it's deadly in the wrong conditions at the wrong speeds, and with it being such a cold day the threat of black ice was never far away. Nor was my weapon of choice for tackling it the best for a greasy winter run; while my MX-5, on new tyres, was no longer scarily skittish, the relative unfamiliarity meant I'd be taking it very easy on the way up.

Yet taken properly I can understand why the bikers love the Horseshoe as much as they do; it really is an awe-inspiring journey. With the Mazda behaving itself I could drop the roof, take in the crisp mountain air, and enjoy what really is some wonderful scenery.


Every year I always pull in at the same spot at the top for the obligatory, badly-taken smartphone snap, and it amazed me how different conditions at different times of year can completely change the same setting. Twelve months ago I ventured up there in my old Rover and was met with wet 'n' wild weather on a dark, grey day, while a few months before that I was in a brand new MX-5 and pulled up in a scene from The Italian Job. Yesterday, in my much, much older Mazzer, the steely blue skies and relentless low sunlight made for a different atmosphere again.

It is an endlessly enjoyable part of the world if you love cars and driving but as I pointed the MX-5's pop-up lights towards Ruthin I couldn't shake the feeling that that car and those roads had so much more to offer.


Roll on summer...

Driving delight in Dolgellau

THE line of vintage lorries taking on one of Snowdonia's steepest mountain passes were putting my own efforts to shame.

I honestly thought, with the Rover's engine note rising from its usual simmer to an urgent third gear hum, that I was doing well. The A470 just south of Bleanau Ffestiniog is a bit of a desolate place at the best of times, packed with challenging corners and tricky inclines, and I summised that I done rather well there on what was a wet, cold and windy morning in the wilds of Wales.

Then I saw the parade of ERFs, Scammels and Cammells chugging faithfully up the other side (albeit rather more slowly, and presumably on their way to a show somewhere). The same road that broken me into a sweat was no problem at all for lorries older than my parents. Still, that was the only downside of two days of being let loose on the wonderful, empty roads of one of my favourite parts of the world.

I love driving in Wales for all sorts of reasons. There is, for example, the cerebral joy of pulling up in places with names like Cwmllecoediog, and the frustration of trying to pronounce them properly. Then there's the food, the drinks and the people you come across on your travels, all of which are second to none. But best of all are the miles and miles of empty roads which wind their way across some of Britain's most rugged scenery. Some of the best ones, like the famed Evo Triangle, are little pieces of petrolhead heaven less than two hours from Liverpool and Manchester.


Usually, I'd head towards the Horseshoe and Llanberis Passes but this time a journalistic assignment in Dolgellau gave me the chance to discover some equally cracking driving further south than I'd usual venture, but it's well worth a try. If you ever find yourself in Dolgellau with a couple of hours to kill, enough money to pay for 100 miles of motoring and even a vaguely nice car then I can happily reccomend the following; the A487 to Aberystwyth, A44 as far as Llanidloes, the backroads past the beautiful Llyn Clywedog reservoir, hit the A470 at Llanbrynmair and then blast yourself over the mountains back to your starting point.

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It's hard work, but you'll love it. I just wish I could drive roads like these more often...

David Simister's review of his destination in Dolgellau - the charming Cross Foxes hotel - will appear in the next issue of GR8Life Magazine.

Battling the Welsh weather? Choose your weapon...

A FAST Ford, a classic Mini, a regal old Rover and a vivacious Italian supermini. Given the choice and a wet weekend in the wilds of Wales, which would you take?

It's not a question you've ever needed to answer before but - in the noble interests of Life On Cars research - a few friends and I have ventured over the border and battled with flash flooding, high winds and twisty roads strewn with rocks and tree branches, so you won't have to. Oh, and sampled a few of the best roads in Britain while we were at it.

Our mission for the weekend was to head to Llandudno to meet up with an annual parade of old Minis which meet up on the town's promenade for a special display, but given only one of our party was actually in one we decided to give the official route a miss and head over the mountains and through the valleys. If you fancy giving it a go yourself tap some of the following phrases into your computer; Horseshoe Pass, Evo Triangle, Llanberis Pass, accident recovery.

I've always enjoyed a good road as much as a good car, making the route we'd chosen a sort of petrolhead's paradise; twisty, challenging, and blessed with stunning scenery instead of traffic. Thanks to the miracle of Google Street View you can even check out these captivating roads long before you reach them.

The four machines we'd brought along, I wager, were all brilliant in their own particular way and yet none were really perfect either for the job of providing hours of fun and frolics on narrow, twisty lanes while surviving torrential rain and battering gales.

The Ford Mondeo ST Estate, for instance, was the fastest and comfiest, but more than once it struggled to get round some of the tighter bends on account of it being so big. The Fiat Punto a friend had brought along and the Rover 214 I was travelling in could, but you always got the sense they were designed for stages smaller than the testing terrain of a really, really challenging road in the middle of nowhere.

In fact, the one car I was coveting the entire trip was the Mini in my mirrors, because having owned one I know its pin-sharp steering and bouncy suspension would easily have made up for the shortfall in the engine department. Well, I coveted it right up until it refused to start the following morning, helping me to remember that they don't make 'em like they used to. They make 'em better.

The answer is that doesn't matter which of our unlikely foursome you take to the thrilling mountain passes in this captivating corner of Wales. You'll be enjoying yourself so much, it won't matter.

The wonders of Wales from behind the wheel

YOU might not know it yet, but there’s a reason why they call the limestone cliffs that linger over Llandudno the Great Orme.

The official website of the café complex sitting at the top of this stunning piece of seaside geology recommends that you reach it either by a Victorian tramway or Britain’s longest cable car ride, but both, I reckon, sell the place short. If you want to enjoy the journey then you’ve got to head for the twists of turns of the access road instead. That’s what makes it great, and there’s no better way to enjoy it than in an open-top sports car.

St Tudno’s Drive is like a stretch of tarmac that’s been stolen from a mountain pass in the Alps by people who love driving and then draped over a British backdrop for our own enjoyment, so exciting are the series of crests and hairpins which catapult you from sea level to an eatery almost 700 feet above. It’s places like these that make motoring exciting, and the whole of North Wales is awash with them.

Don’t think my trip to one of the most captivating corners of the British Isles was just for fun, though; I was here for a birthday bash, because it’s 20 years since the first examples of Mazda’s MX-5 started arriving on our shores. Time flies when you’re having fun.

You have to remember what small roadsters were like in 1990 to appreciate the original MX-5’s impact - apart from the front wheel drive Lotus Elan, there weren’t any - and after years of no sports cars at all drivers were suddenly treated to an soft-top, rear wheel drive roadster which reminded us of decades ago when everybody drove around in MGBs, Triumphs and Austin-Healeys. It might have been a shameless copy of the original Lotus Elan, but nobody cared because they loved it.

Two decades later and almost every car company now offers its own sports car, but even though the latest 2.0i Sport Tech version is a little flabbier than the lithe original it’s still an absolute delight to drive. It’s something it actually seemed keen to show off on the way up the Horseshoe Pass, an inviting road heading between Ruthin and Llangollen. By combining its flick-of-the-wrist gear change with inspiringly precise steering, it just goes where you want it to.

If anything I reckon it’s actually better than Britain’s own old sports cars, because unlike them the MX-5 actually works and means you can spend your weekends in the countryside, rather than the garage. Just make sure you share the driving with whoever you take along for the ride, otherwise they’ll forget it’s a driver’s car and start going on about the interior being too cramped, the boot too small and the ride too firm.

It’s also got the same problem most convertibles have when it comes to roof-up visibility, but I reckon the Mazda’s folding fabric roof is easier and faster than the metal most of its rivals come with. You can have metal origami as an optional extra, if you insist, but while you get added security it’s slower to shelter you and it weighs the little lightweight roadster down.

While it does have just the two seats it’ll still do everything you’d expect a £20,145 car to do, and although I wasn’t expecting it in something so single-mindedly sporty it was great to have toys like cruise control, a CD autochanger and a Bluetooth system at my fingertips. But you’ll forget all of them on a cross-country blast, because even when it’s not its birthday the Mazda’s partying, and you’re always invited.

That’s the feeling I got when I spotted a group of MX-5 owners out on their own adventures in one of Snowdonia’s more remote valleys, because they all smiled the smile you get when you’ve got a sports car at your disposal. Even though they owned MX-5’s from the model’s early days they all agreed on that what they own is so much more than a way of getting to work and back. It’s a go-kart with a CD player.

There are roomier, comfier cars out there but if you drive simply because you enjoy it you can’t go far wrong with an MX-5, particularly if you’re the sort of person who deliberately takes the long route just so they can go over the Llanberis Pass on the way.

It might be 20 years old, but the Mazda MX-5 isn’t as good as the British sports cars of yesteryear. It’s much better than that.

Read the full story in the Autumn edition of GR8Life magazine, out now, and in the Life On Cars magazine.

RIP John Phillips

I WAS shocked to read a story earlier this week from my former colleagues at the Daily Post in North Wales about John Phillips, who was tragically killed at a rally last weekend after being hit by a competing car.

Judy, John's wife, worked with me from the same office in Llandudno Junction when we were both reporters for The North Wales Weekly News, and I can't even begin to imagine how she and the rest of her family must be feeling at the moment.

I know from her that John was a passionate motorsport man and committed petrolhead - one of his most prized possessions was an Escort Cosworth - and the number of tributes left directly underneath the Daily Post's story show just how much he will be missed by the rallying fraternity.

I've also been told that a full tribute to John is going to be published in this week's North Wales Weekly News, due out on Thursday (August 6, 2009), which serves John's home town of Llandudno.

My deepest condolences go out to Judy and her family, and while it goes without saying that motorsport is always going to be a dangerous sport, he died doing something he loved.