TridentTested
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My QP and me are in the western part of the Western Isles. Not only are the Western Isles remote in themselves but the friend we are staying with lives on the western coast, in a small community, up a cul-du-sac; really, as far as one can get in Europe, in the middle of nowhere.
Getting here was great fun and we took our time doing it, stopping several places en route. I learnt a lot about the car along the way.
I now know that the enjoyment of the car is dependent on the road conditions unlike any I've driven before. Sure it's more fun to drive any car on better rather than bad roads but the QP varies from painful on poor roads to magnificent on good ones. It is like a mistress who sulks when things aren't going well and shines when they are.
As someone who lives in London I find the car to be perfectly okay in London; not brilliant but no more difficult than any other big car. Where I really struggled with it, and I admit I was very surprised, was in Yorkshire. We stayed with friends near Holmfirth and more Maserati unfriendly roads it is hard to imagine. Narrow, poorly surfaced, bumpy, busy, lined with alloy-killing kerbs, and very hilly which made Duo Select parking a real challenge. Busy towns full of clutch-killing slow queues and car parks that were designed for scale model cars, not five metre long ones.
I was glad to head north over Northumberland National Park and that's where the real fun began and just got better and better the further we went. The run from Dalwhinnie to Spean Bridge will stay with me. Sparse traffic, nice surfaces, no kerbs!, and beautiful curves curves curves.
These are the roads Duo Selects are designed for. After several hours of one amazing bend after another I know I would have been getting tired and lazy with a conventional gearbox; too lazy to change up for the short straights, or too lazy to change down for a small curve. I know a conventional hydraulic auto would have been changing at unforeseen times mid-corner upsetting the flow. But the Duo Select was heaven on wheels: a flick down here, a flick up there. The marvellous grip from the front end, the perfect balance and the lovely traction allowing me to keep a very rewarding constant speed through the twisties. The memory will stay with me.
The real surprise is Lewis. I was expecting single-track Scottish pain but while they do still exist up here most of the roads are surprisingly new and lovely. And not only is traffic unheard of but our friend tells us in all the years she's been living here she has only ever seen one policeman, once. Lewis is fun.
I'm not looking forward to heading south again
Somewhere on Skye
Rush hour on the way to the west of Lewis
Getting here was great fun and we took our time doing it, stopping several places en route. I learnt a lot about the car along the way.
I now know that the enjoyment of the car is dependent on the road conditions unlike any I've driven before. Sure it's more fun to drive any car on better rather than bad roads but the QP varies from painful on poor roads to magnificent on good ones. It is like a mistress who sulks when things aren't going well and shines when they are.
As someone who lives in London I find the car to be perfectly okay in London; not brilliant but no more difficult than any other big car. Where I really struggled with it, and I admit I was very surprised, was in Yorkshire. We stayed with friends near Holmfirth and more Maserati unfriendly roads it is hard to imagine. Narrow, poorly surfaced, bumpy, busy, lined with alloy-killing kerbs, and very hilly which made Duo Select parking a real challenge. Busy towns full of clutch-killing slow queues and car parks that were designed for scale model cars, not five metre long ones.
I was glad to head north over Northumberland National Park and that's where the real fun began and just got better and better the further we went. The run from Dalwhinnie to Spean Bridge will stay with me. Sparse traffic, nice surfaces, no kerbs!, and beautiful curves curves curves.
These are the roads Duo Selects are designed for. After several hours of one amazing bend after another I know I would have been getting tired and lazy with a conventional gearbox; too lazy to change up for the short straights, or too lazy to change down for a small curve. I know a conventional hydraulic auto would have been changing at unforeseen times mid-corner upsetting the flow. But the Duo Select was heaven on wheels: a flick down here, a flick up there. The marvellous grip from the front end, the perfect balance and the lovely traction allowing me to keep a very rewarding constant speed through the twisties. The memory will stay with me.
The real surprise is Lewis. I was expecting single-track Scottish pain but while they do still exist up here most of the roads are surprisingly new and lovely. And not only is traffic unheard of but our friend tells us in all the years she's been living here she has only ever seen one policeman, once. Lewis is fun.
I'm not looking forward to heading south again
Somewhere on Skye
Rush hour on the way to the west of Lewis
