FlybyWyre Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Off to see the Millau bridge in the T Sport. Had a long think about which car to take and the Celica won. There is a slightly noisy wheel bearing but I can't figure out which one and I doubt it will do no more than make more noise. Long drive fron Cumbria to Dover is the part I am not looking forward to. So boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowchinaman Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 I sooo want to do that in my four! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyRacer Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 I'm jealous. Hope you get some good pics. Need to go to the same viewing place that Top Gear was at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlybyWyre Posted July 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Will try, but I suspect Top Gear used one of those awfull whirly things. The car survived an Aldi machine polisher today so will be invincible! (Just in case I bought some breakdown insurance) Getting to be a bit of a wimp. Business trips to Aberdeen in January are far more testing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 Have to agree the trip to Dover is the worst bit. English motorways have so little to look at. Angus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlybyWyre Posted July 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 (edited) Boring, plus the nightmare of the M25. At least it's Sunday I go. Sometimes I wish I lived on the South coast but there are far too many people. Your Scot M ways are good to drive at 69.9mph. Great scenery but I need more drama and I reckon the Pyrenees can provide that. The Celica was second choice and surprisingly more expensive than the Boxster to cover Euro breakdown. I would have thought the £200 tyres and a threat of of a 12k engine going bang would have made the Box more expensive. Guess it's all to do with whether a piece of paper really covers you. I am going with my son who loves taking photos so hopefully I can post something. A picture outside his school. Edited July 30, 2011 by FlybyWyre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 Sunday is a good plan. Makes a huge difference in Europe too - no lorries on the road, and not many other folks either! I did live down in Kent for a few years ... but had my fill of the rat-race SE England way of life and came home again. Nice picture. Looking forward to seeing some ones of the trip ... Angus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nthnmunky Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 Nice pic Looking forward to seeing more on your return. Enjoy it, it sounds like it could be a really nice trip, good company, great roads and a fun car to drive them... Sorted God's speed, safe journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gen6GT Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 Have to agree the trip to Dover is the worst bit. English motorways have so little to look at. Angus Leave early morning... I do the Dover-Calais trip at least 6 times a year (looking at French properties and buying booze and fags) and we always leave home at around 0400, the roads are pretty clear then, even the M25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlybyWyre Posted August 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 Thanks all. Now almost there (Bourges) so 4 more hours tomorrow. Had to swap the wheels round on the old blue car cos the fronts went out of balance. Not good because the vibration was as at 130kph. Better now but no fixed completely. Only 2 Celicas seen. First a GT and the other a Euro T Sport (different spoiler?) Both G7. As ever the roads are brill and the traffic flow.... flows. Sat Nav finish time is spot on. Cheap hotels have totally free internet in every room. Anyhow looking forward to seeing Millau bridge and will get son to take some pics in a format I can understand. The youngest Celicas are now 5 years old but still attract attention in a country only 20 miles from the UK. This may seem weird from a guy that spends his life travelling the world but I never do it in a Celica! Others may agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Posted August 2, 2011 Report Share Posted August 2, 2011 Gen6GT - it's not so much the traffic, just the interminable boring-ness of the roads and the fact that everyone pretty much sticks to the speed limit nowadays. You just have to accept that it's going to be a drone all the way. We even cut the trip in two this year, because I just couldn't face a dawn to dusk drive on Britain's motorways. The only things worth looking at on the A1 are the big viaduct at Berwick (5 seconds, if you know when and where to look), Lindisfarne in the distance (30 seconds), the Angel of the North (a minute or so), that Lightning at Newark (4 seconds), and the Harrier gate-guardian at RAF wossname (3 seconds). The M1 is even worse. Angus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlybyWyre Posted August 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) Sunday is a good plan. Makes a huge difference in Europe too - no lorries on the road, and not many other folks either! I did live down in Kent for a few years ... but had my fill of the rat-race SE England way of life and came home again. Nice picture. Looking forward to seeing some ones of the trip ... Angus As I guessed, sons pictures need PhotoShop cos they are in RAW or something that is huge. Luckily I took a pic on my pocket camera. Was up staged massively as a 2011 Porsche GT3RS decided to make an appearance but hey my T Sport is paid for! Before setting off this morning I did a walk round of the car and found the offside rear pad retainers sticking out. I just had the brake fluid replaced and rear calipers rebuilt. Great pedal feel but the pins had no retainer springs. Bits stuck in the pins, so I can only presume wrongly fitted. Anyhow I did a P clip type pin retain on the pads and considered what could have happened on the switchback roads around here! Will be speaking to the garage involved. Edited August 2, 2011 by FlybyWyre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planc Posted August 2, 2011 Report Share Posted August 2, 2011 Bearing noise could be the rear tyres out of shape, run your hand around the tread to feel for any treads feeling higher. Pirelli PZERO 17" tyres are a pig for going out of shape on Gen7's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlybyWyre Posted August 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 Bearing noise could be the rear tyres out of shape, run your hand around the tread to feel for any treads feeling higher. Pirelli PZERO 17" tyres are a pig for going out of shape on Gen7's. Cheers Planc. Got rid of the P Zeros sometime back and can appreciate what you're saying. I think I have one wheel/tyre that has gone bad cos the vibration lessened after I swapped front to back. 1600 miles now in 4 days, mostly at 120 kph, go over 130 and the buzz on the steering wheel is not pleasant. My spare has a different offset so I don't want to use that unless I have to. Orleans now, Caen tomorrow then back to the far North. No problem at UK speeds but will have all wheels checked on return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyRacer Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 Great picture, Noel. A first for CCUK probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlybyWyre Posted August 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Back to sea tomorrow and road trip over. 9 years old in 2 months (owned it for 7) Just did 1200 miles to get to Millau and no cleaning before the pic. I'm impressed. Great cars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts