Travel report, Italy 2012 with the 320iS (pic heavy + video)
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:34 pm
Note: all video is 1080p HD format, worth to watch full screen
Left rainy Holland to drive south for a little vacation. First stop was at the Bodensee lake in southern Germany where the weather was already wonderful.
Initial plan was to take the Austrian Bielerhohe from there (most hairpins on one stretch of road in Europe I believe) but due to late snowfall that road was still closed. Better next time then, and we took the inside roads passing towns like Egg and Au, enjoying the views...
... and reach the Hochtannbergpass to cross Austria and then the Passo di Resia into Italy. Made a little video there…
From there it was more or less straight to the Stelvio pass that sadly was the most convenient way to get to the lake Como area. Time for a video driving up from the north side, and a few photos taken at the south side that had much more snow than I was used to this time of year.
Drove part of the old pass road at the south side. Not in use anymore but for old time's sake...
The next day we drove along the west side of lake Como…
Then down to Genova using the motorway to save lots of time, do some driving along the coast...
... and stay in wonderful hotel d’Abetaia in Levanto, just outside the Parco Cinque Terre and just inside the Tuscany area. They had a lot of art in their gardens and we ended up buying the frog lol
The Parco Cinque Terre is a nature reserve that officially is not accessible by car but after some driving we found a narrow and bumpy road inside and drove to the small town of Vernazza, that was struck by a flood last year. The damage was still very clearly visible:
Luckily, the historic town centre was still in tact
Spectacular view over La Spezia
Then on to a must see, the Pisa tower
From there we drove back to the coast and further south to sta in San Vincenzo, right at the beach. After a few relaxing days it was time to drive inland on our discovery trip, destined to lake Bosena, an untouched area just south of Tuscany and just north of Rome. On our way we managed to drive over a snake and just miss a deer lol
The lake is beautiful and so was our hotel. I could really see us living there and fill the 1st floor with classic cars. Not many tourists here, just a British couple. They had planned to do the Mille Miglia in their 1937 Lagonda, but since it wasn’t ready on time they were now about to do the Mille Miglia route in their Mercedes SL.
After a round trip of lake Bosena we headed north and enjoyed the variety of landscapes with Olive trees, Vinyards and fields. A little shopping stop in wine village Montalchino where they produce their famous Brunello wines.
Lucky us the town was hosting the Tuscan Rewind classic rally that weekend so nice stuff to see. Sadly only one BMW competing (E30 with 318iS engine fitted) and it had ruined its oil pan in the preliminary stages. They were very interested in my engine but we couldn’t agree on the price haha
Some nice other cars though, including the one and only great car that ever came from Ingolstadt
Next up was Siena, the town that’s been hosting the famous Palio horserace since 1287 (!!). We had to visit the Piazza del Campo where the race is being held and we had both lunch and dinner there.
After short visits to Volterra and San Gimignano...
... we ended up in this wonderful hotel just outside Firenze (Florence)
Nice view from the pool
And a small piece of candy on the parking lot…
…that appeared to belong to the owner of the hotel and the car was just restored. The engine was tweaked to make it lots of fun on the local mountain roads… we’ll have to take his word for that
So Firenze was the next stop. Nice, but also too touristic to my taste
Last stop in Italy was the lovely town of Lucca.
From there we took the motorway north to Merano. While driving through Merano there was a beautiful Italian lady driving behind me in a Cooper S. Looks like she knew what the model designation on my trunk meant since she honked and gave me both thumbs up and a smile when she came alongside. Anyway, time to take the Timmelsjoch pass into Austria. When speeding up the pass we had a little surprise at the end of the tunnel…
Inside the tunnel that sounds like this:
Spent the night in the Oetztal… cowbells waking us up in the morning! Off to Daun in the German Eifel for our E21 weekend… with the E30
We were lucky those two weeks I guess, as it has been dry and sunny almost every day. A few mornings we had some slight rain during breakfast, but after leaving for our next destination things dried up pretty quickly every time.
Some evaluations…
New tyres (Toyo R1-R)
Just before the trip I fitted new tyres. The tough sidewalls make the ride more harsh than with regular tyres, but in return you get the most precise handling I ever encountered on a more or less all purpose tyre. Toyo's R888’s have more grip, but they suck in rain. The R1R’s are not the most grippy in rain which is a known fact, but under the 320iS which doesn’t put out much torque that works very well. In rain, under- and oversteer are still pretty far away. Dry there’s tons of grip and not the slightest hint of over- or understeer unless provoked. Defo recommended if you usually drive when the weather is good and have a sporty style of driving… and you can do a decent trackday without a tyre change.
320iS
Had some major maintenance and updates done prior to the trip. Fresh conrod bearings, oil pan baffle, intake adjustment and installed an Eibach Anti Roll Kit. Car went plain great and even though the Eibach sway bars are only a mild upgrade, they do their work. Both swaybars have three positions and they work very well in the middle position. Over tightening in combination with these tyres might make the car more tricky in the wet so I think I’ll leave those settings like they are for now.
Spots
Just a few highlights apart from the rallycars and Fiat Abarth I mentioned before: 2x Z1, 1x Brasilbraun E21 323i in a wonderful condition, sadly no picture. Too busy traffic and no camera on hand. More: matt black 456GT, yellow 360 Stradale, E-Type V12 convertible and most remarkable was a 501 V8 i out in the wild in Austria.
Italians in traffic
Some basic rules there: towns where kids are playing in the streets are crossed best at 80 kph, other speed limits are neglectible and overtaking is best done when prohibited. Italians clearly have no sense of danger and their plan to overtake is announced by dusting off your rear bumper. On the other hand, I saw only a few Italians using a mobile phone when driving, it looks like –even though they take a lot of risks- they pay more attention to traffic than the average Dutchman. Speed traps on motorways are usually announced (missed one just after a tunnel while doing 180 so perhaps I might get some fanmail after all) and we encountered only one team with a laser gun, but they were too busy chatting.
All ’n all a great trip. Tuscany is wonderful, beautiful, the Italians are very hospitable and the food is great. Definitely worth visiting again and I will!
Most pictures were taken with a Nikon D300 with a 18-200mm ED VRI. Some pictures and video shot with Samsung WB2000 compact.
Left rainy Holland to drive south for a little vacation. First stop was at the Bodensee lake in southern Germany where the weather was already wonderful.
Initial plan was to take the Austrian Bielerhohe from there (most hairpins on one stretch of road in Europe I believe) but due to late snowfall that road was still closed. Better next time then, and we took the inside roads passing towns like Egg and Au, enjoying the views...
... and reach the Hochtannbergpass to cross Austria and then the Passo di Resia into Italy. Made a little video there…
From there it was more or less straight to the Stelvio pass that sadly was the most convenient way to get to the lake Como area. Time for a video driving up from the north side, and a few photos taken at the south side that had much more snow than I was used to this time of year.
Drove part of the old pass road at the south side. Not in use anymore but for old time's sake...
The next day we drove along the west side of lake Como…
Then down to Genova using the motorway to save lots of time, do some driving along the coast...
... and stay in wonderful hotel d’Abetaia in Levanto, just outside the Parco Cinque Terre and just inside the Tuscany area. They had a lot of art in their gardens and we ended up buying the frog lol
The Parco Cinque Terre is a nature reserve that officially is not accessible by car but after some driving we found a narrow and bumpy road inside and drove to the small town of Vernazza, that was struck by a flood last year. The damage was still very clearly visible:
Luckily, the historic town centre was still in tact
Spectacular view over La Spezia
Then on to a must see, the Pisa tower
From there we drove back to the coast and further south to sta in San Vincenzo, right at the beach. After a few relaxing days it was time to drive inland on our discovery trip, destined to lake Bosena, an untouched area just south of Tuscany and just north of Rome. On our way we managed to drive over a snake and just miss a deer lol
The lake is beautiful and so was our hotel. I could really see us living there and fill the 1st floor with classic cars. Not many tourists here, just a British couple. They had planned to do the Mille Miglia in their 1937 Lagonda, but since it wasn’t ready on time they were now about to do the Mille Miglia route in their Mercedes SL.
After a round trip of lake Bosena we headed north and enjoyed the variety of landscapes with Olive trees, Vinyards and fields. A little shopping stop in wine village Montalchino where they produce their famous Brunello wines.
Lucky us the town was hosting the Tuscan Rewind classic rally that weekend so nice stuff to see. Sadly only one BMW competing (E30 with 318iS engine fitted) and it had ruined its oil pan in the preliminary stages. They were very interested in my engine but we couldn’t agree on the price haha
Some nice other cars though, including the one and only great car that ever came from Ingolstadt
Next up was Siena, the town that’s been hosting the famous Palio horserace since 1287 (!!). We had to visit the Piazza del Campo where the race is being held and we had both lunch and dinner there.
After short visits to Volterra and San Gimignano...
... we ended up in this wonderful hotel just outside Firenze (Florence)
Nice view from the pool
And a small piece of candy on the parking lot…
…that appeared to belong to the owner of the hotel and the car was just restored. The engine was tweaked to make it lots of fun on the local mountain roads… we’ll have to take his word for that
So Firenze was the next stop. Nice, but also too touristic to my taste
Last stop in Italy was the lovely town of Lucca.
From there we took the motorway north to Merano. While driving through Merano there was a beautiful Italian lady driving behind me in a Cooper S. Looks like she knew what the model designation on my trunk meant since she honked and gave me both thumbs up and a smile when she came alongside. Anyway, time to take the Timmelsjoch pass into Austria. When speeding up the pass we had a little surprise at the end of the tunnel…
Inside the tunnel that sounds like this:
Spent the night in the Oetztal… cowbells waking us up in the morning! Off to Daun in the German Eifel for our E21 weekend… with the E30
We were lucky those two weeks I guess, as it has been dry and sunny almost every day. A few mornings we had some slight rain during breakfast, but after leaving for our next destination things dried up pretty quickly every time.
Some evaluations…
New tyres (Toyo R1-R)
Just before the trip I fitted new tyres. The tough sidewalls make the ride more harsh than with regular tyres, but in return you get the most precise handling I ever encountered on a more or less all purpose tyre. Toyo's R888’s have more grip, but they suck in rain. The R1R’s are not the most grippy in rain which is a known fact, but under the 320iS which doesn’t put out much torque that works very well. In rain, under- and oversteer are still pretty far away. Dry there’s tons of grip and not the slightest hint of over- or understeer unless provoked. Defo recommended if you usually drive when the weather is good and have a sporty style of driving… and you can do a decent trackday without a tyre change.
320iS
Had some major maintenance and updates done prior to the trip. Fresh conrod bearings, oil pan baffle, intake adjustment and installed an Eibach Anti Roll Kit. Car went plain great and even though the Eibach sway bars are only a mild upgrade, they do their work. Both swaybars have three positions and they work very well in the middle position. Over tightening in combination with these tyres might make the car more tricky in the wet so I think I’ll leave those settings like they are for now.
Spots
Just a few highlights apart from the rallycars and Fiat Abarth I mentioned before: 2x Z1, 1x Brasilbraun E21 323i in a wonderful condition, sadly no picture. Too busy traffic and no camera on hand. More: matt black 456GT, yellow 360 Stradale, E-Type V12 convertible and most remarkable was a 501 V8 i out in the wild in Austria.
Italians in traffic
Some basic rules there: towns where kids are playing in the streets are crossed best at 80 kph, other speed limits are neglectible and overtaking is best done when prohibited. Italians clearly have no sense of danger and their plan to overtake is announced by dusting off your rear bumper. On the other hand, I saw only a few Italians using a mobile phone when driving, it looks like –even though they take a lot of risks- they pay more attention to traffic than the average Dutchman. Speed traps on motorways are usually announced (missed one just after a tunnel while doing 180 so perhaps I might get some fanmail after all) and we encountered only one team with a laser gun, but they were too busy chatting.
All ’n all a great trip. Tuscany is wonderful, beautiful, the Italians are very hospitable and the food is great. Definitely worth visiting again and I will!
Most pictures were taken with a Nikon D300 with a 18-200mm ED VRI. Some pictures and video shot with Samsung WB2000 compact.
