Silver Star!!

[Wobbly Dave]

Today I got up - at 05:20GMT in Holland to get a plane back to Blighty. I was back in Telford by 12ish.

Then about 2 hours later I jumped in the C70 and drove 450 miles North to Inverness. Me and the missus are looking for a place to get married and I said I wanted to get hitched in the Highlands. (this has been a planned trip for a month or so).

All said and done the C70 now showing 115K miles did not miss a beat. I did 326 miles on 50 litres (topped off the tank before hand) - which is 30mpg all told and she still pulls like a train. As anyone who has been North of Sterling will tell you the A9 is often conjested with lorries. The C70 took all that in her stride.

Despite the gloomy forecast - I shall be weaving around the North of Scotland till Tuesday and I am much looking forward to more Volvo adventures.

This car just eats up the miles. I was knackered before I started up the M6 but any other car I would not have been able to do the journey without switching (even though Ellen did offer).

Good on yer old gal. (not Ellen - the car that is).

[st1t5]

As anyone who has been North of Sterling

Stirling .. lol ..

The A9 .. done that road now since 1991 i know everybend on it in my sleep .. some good Munro's on that route aswell ..
The C70's are certainly a fantastic car for soaking up them long miles in, and you cannae whack a good long drive in a car you love ... stopping off at a service station for a "coffee to go" then having a wee smile when you realise you still have another 300 miles to go.
As you know Dave Inverness is a lovely place, so you have picked a great place to tie the knot, you obvioulsy have a soft spot for the place, any plans on maybe one day buying a house there ?? .. a nice gateway to all them hills to be walked on ;) ..
Id leave Glasgow in a second and live there .. possibly Aviemore though .... maybe one day !!

On your way back down why dont you take the A82 down the side of Loch Ness to Fort William then through Glencoe to Crianlarich .. you could stop off at Tyndrum for a bite to eat ...

[Wobbly Dave]

Indeed I was intending to come back the other way. I'd be here in a jiffy for ever but its just not that practical

[Jaseb77]

enjoy your tour Dave,

i will be in Pitlochry off th A9 this weekend at my bolt holt, so if you see the two volvo "gie's a wave"

[siamblue]

If you come down the right side of Lochness it is breath taking, we went from the bottom lochness then went over the mountains towards Daviot,

HTH Gary.

PS Myself and the missus want to get a Holiday croft out that way one day,

[wegal]

A9... my favorite driving road its sooooo much fun. Id tell ya all my quickest ever time up it to inverness but well it is a public forum and the maths aint hard !!

[Wobbly Dave]

Dear all,

I am returning to England via the A82 (I saw Pitlochry again - but alas it was dark - so maybe better to say, I went passed the sign). Ellen didnt see the top of the A9 pass at Slochin (sp??) due to the lack of light - so I am torn to show her either the Cairngorms or Glen Coe. I think I still may go for Glen Coe.

[Dangerous Dave]

Or Glen Coe at night..... with no traffic and no bloody tourists, an eeery and disorientating place to drive across!

[Wobbly Dave]

In the last 2 days alone I have driven the Wester Ross coast route from Loch Carron to Ullapool via Gairloch and today - I went to Ullapool towards Durness. Both fantatstic routes with exceptional views.

Came to the conclusion my FSDs which have 60K on them have seen their best days.

The mission continues to get my missus into a V50 (& more importantly out of the honda civic coupe)

[st1t5]

I have not been up the Gairloch road yet .. whats it like Dave ? ...

Is that the Koni FSD's ? .. and what do you think of them ? ... my C70 is in need of new shocks and its FSD's i have been planning .. its all been good things i have heard about them ...

[lance]

This brings back fond memories, I drove my First T5 winnie Glasgow, fortwilliam, inverness, ullapool, tonge, aberdeen and back down!

[Wobbly Dave]

I have not been up the Gairloch road yet .. whats it like Dave ? ...

Is that the Koni FSD's ? .. and what do you think of them ? ... my C70 is in need of new shocks and its FSD's i have been planning .. its all been good things i have heard about them ...
I have to say driving this route was a great day. Each section is different.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7GGLJ&q=gairloch%20wester%20ross&revid=1032309213&ei=DuXTSYzbAdew-Aafj7jbCg&resnum=0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

You have the wide expanse of Glen Carron which is radically different from Lochcarron to Gairloch (very twisty through spectacular mountain views) - The single track stuff is very bouncy in places - particularly along glen torridon.

Given that Inverness to Ullapool via Loch Glascarnoch is only 52 miles on the A385 - it was a long way (169 miles) in one go. But I would do it again but perhaps starting a bit earlier. We reached Ullapool by 21:00

FSDs are superb but I fear mine are getting on a bit. I am going to replace them shortly. I think the Eibachs will be OK for now.

I had the monroes before this - FSDs are a bit sportier - so if you want super ride comfort spend the extra on the monroe reflex. I had those on my 855R and the first black C70 (RIP) - and those were brilliant.

I have also the IPD anti roll bars which are beginning to show up the weakness in my aging dampers - particularly at speed.