My new 982 718 Cayman S PDK

[COD981]

Hello Brian

Nice report, unfortunately your experience of driving standards whilst you were down there is all too familiar to me as someone who used to live there (Kent) it's just daily life, it was the same on the m6 on Monday morning when we came back aa guy who was about to undertake me pulled out behind straight into the path of the vehicle behind me nearly causing an accident then undertook me before roaring off to tailgate a number of other cars and then when one fiat 500 did not get out of his way he moved to undertake at the exact moment she moved left without indicating which was near miss no. 2 and even that didn't have any effect as he then crossed all four lanes to take the exit and nearly caused another shunt.

I also only use v power where possible like you and you always pay a lot more on motorways, I topped the tank at Abington on the way down and luckily there's a shell garage just round the corner from the hotel pcgb use in Buckingham so filled up there to come home.

Glad you enjoyed the access and atmosphere at Silverstone to be honest that is usual for historic meetings unlike other championships.

Finally thanks again for taking me knockhill recently Regards chris

 

[Brian_Innes]

My decision to enter the Donington Park track day was a mix of nostalgia, and convenience. Nostalgia, because I had previously driven this fast, undulating track way back in the late 1970's, when I made the ambitious decision to enter a tutored track day session organised by British Championship F3 racer Ian Taylor and New Zealander Rob Wilson. My tutor on that day was the then current F3 racer James Weaver. The preliminary saloon car laps were in a Morris Marina 1800 TC no less, an awful boat of a machine which handled like a torpedoed ship on a rough sea. The subsequent laps in a FF1600 and FF2000 single seater were far more exciting, and I can still recall feeling the air pressure lifting my safety helmet off my head as I zoomed down the long straight under the Dunlop Bridge towards the chicane. Oh to be that young age again, if only with my current experience. The convenience aspect was that Donington was on my way back north to Scotland, following my visit to friends in Watford and attending the Silverstone Classic.

I had decided an afternoon track day session at Donington would fit the bill perfectly, as I didn't intend doing many laps with my car in "touring mode" and loaded with luggage. The weather was hot and sunny with air temperatures in the high 20's. Track temperatures were in excess of 40c, and with my previous recent experience of the PS4S tyres at Knockhill, I decided to spare my tyres the torture of overheating and drive according to the prevailing conditions. Being a "noisy" track day, the entry included several very quick racing Porsches with full aero and slick tyres. Steve Kevlin mentioned this at the driver's briefing and warned us to keep a sharp look out for these race machines coming up behind. The warning was well heeded, as these searingly fast cars appeared looming large in my mirrors several times per lap. Much mirror watching was the order of the day and I seldom had a clear lap the whole afternoon. I decided to take tuition as after a 40 year gap I didn't trust my memory to remember the quick groove around such a fast and technically demanding track. Following that, I only completed around 15 - 16 laps which was less than I had hoped to do, but under the circumstances of the day it was probably best to err on the side of caution. I have already described my disappointment regarding the PS4S as an occasional track day tyre in an earlier post so I'll not repeat myself here. As Mr D has already stated, the best option for experienced track day fans is to buy a second set of wheels with Cup 2's and have your fun without the worry of shredding your car's everyday all-weather road rubber. Chris W was also remarking that the Cup 2's on his GT4 were also feeling the heat on that day. For competent, experienced, track day pilots driving "cooking" Porsche sports cars, standard road tyres are no longer durable enough for the chassis and suspension developments now being tuned into the modern non-GT sports Porsches. Such is the rate of progress.

One of the highlights of the Donington day was meeting up with fellow contributors to this particular Cayman forum thread. Andrew T and wife Julie, Graeme and Jane, Steve Brooks, Chris W, and the redoubtable Mr D, all made for a most enjoyable and entertaining day. Mr D was there with his new Guards Red GT3 manual, and kindly offered me a quick passenger road blast along the local byways. Even with Mr D restricting the revs below 5k, the car had less than 400 miles up, the performance was awesome. I particularly liked the throttle blipping feature on the manual downshifts when in Sport mode. The GT3 manual is surely the purest modern driving machine on the Porsche menu. Thank you Mr D for a memorable experience.

I attach a photo below of the forum foursome at Donington on July 24th 2018.

Left to Right: Mr D, BJ Innes, Steve Brooks, Chris W.

Brian

 

[Brian_Innes]

Following much thought and extensive consultations with friends, I have decided to go ahead with a car tour of Germany in my 718CS. The tour will be of 14 days duration, using the Newcastle - Amsterdam ferry as my route to the continent. I have German friends living near Frankfurt, who have kindly offered me accommodation for the first two nights of my tour. They have also provided me with useful tips and assistance for my tour, including the purchase of the appropriate emissions control, windscreen vignette which applies to most German towns and cities these days. I was told by my German friends that the local authorities take a relaxed view of enforcing this requirement for newish foreign cars, particularly the premium German models, but as the vignette only costs 5 Euros at their local TUV office, I have decided it's best policy to comply with their urban emission enforcement laws and get the appropriate sticker for my windscreen.

My schedule naturally includes a Porsche museum and factory tour, already pre-booked. I am very much looking forward to that, particularly as I have a list of questions ready as a 718CS owner and PCGB member, regarding the future of the Cayster range and possible power plant developments. I'll probably not get meaningful answers, but I can only try.

The route south extends to the Black Forest region where I am based in Freiburg for a couple of nights. It's an interesting area worthy of exploring. The Schausinland former European Hillclimb track is nearby where the original Porsche 718 won on several occasions. Freiburg is also the home of the Porsche tuner FVD Brombacher. I intend making a stop there at their premises to investigate. Purely curiosity......[]

From Freiburg my route will head north via Baden-Baden, and Heidelberg, to the Mosel valley where the annual wine festival gets underway in early October. I have 2 nights booked for the Mosel region to allow time for some sampling of the local beverages.

My final stop is at Nijmegen in the Netherlands which is a short drive to the ferry port at Amsterdam and my homeward journey back to the Highlands. I expect to cover around 2000 miles altogether, and it's purely a touring holiday, no track days are on my schedule. It's an ambitious trip I've set myself, particularly when travelling on my own, but I have the "safety net" of having friends in Frankfurt should anything unforeseen happen. Hopefully, all will go well.

Brian

 

[ralphmusic]

Environmental stickers can be ordered on-line from here for €6.00, mine arrived within 5 days. Very efficient service.

Sounds a great trip deserves some pictures...

 

[COD981]

Sounds like a good trip Brian i am sure everything will go well and you will have a great time, we did a similar trip last year covering a similar distance taking in Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, we did not go to the factory but did the museum and managed to find some of the old street circuit in Salo on lake garda.

You will find the road surface quality a big improvement although Belgium was a bit rough in places but you won`t have to bother with that, we started at the channel tunnel as we were still living in Kent then, you should find lane disapline much improved too !

 

[Brian_Innes]

Those who follow my scribblings on this thread will well know that my 718 CS is principally a car for touring, with a few track days thrown in to keep my motorsport skills sharp and active while I still have the capability to do so. It also keeps my 718 rev range exercised, the engine in full suck and blow athletic trim, and the brake discs nicely buffed.

Last weekend I had an invitation to join long standing friends at the Portavadie Marina resort in Argyll and Bute. This involved an A, B, and unclassified road journey of some 216 miles. Being August, the tourist traffic on my long and winding road south west from Inverness was in full nose-to-tail camper van and caravan mode. Single file, traffic controlled road works were also frequently encountered throughout. The first leg of my journey took me on the A9, A827, and A85 to Crianlarach. It was on the A827 sector that I encountered one of the most foolish and dangerous examples of boy-racer driving have ever had the misfortune to witness. About 5 miles from Killin, a Golf driven by a young lad and his teenager passenger pal, approached from behind and soon loomed large in my rear view mirrors. For those unfamiliar with this route, the A827 is a twisty, undulating road with many blind bends and scattered farming and domestic residences. The road is also quite narrow in places and bordered by both dry stone walls and post and wire fences. As I am well practiced at driving on rural roads, I was progressing at a safe, sensible speed according to the prevailing road conditions. Golf boy-racer behind was clearly intent on overtaking at the first opportunity. Ahead, on a straight section, a car slowly pulled out from one of the residences in the same direction as we were travelling. Golf boy-racer seized the opportunity to shoot past me and the other car, showering us with with spray, steam, and assorted debris from the standing water pools accumulated at the opposite roadside edge. A short distance further on, I also took advantage of a safer and far less dramatic opportunity to overtake the slower car. Around the next bend, I could see boy-racer ahead weaving in and out hustling a Merc estate car in front of him. On a downhill straight section approaching a wooded glade, boy-racer had his indicator on and was soon barging past the Merc and hurtling towards the wooded glade and left hand bend at a speed in excess of which he could safely see to be clear. As he disappeared around the bend, a large cloud of blue smoke drifted into view among the trees. Ahead of me, the Merc's brake lights came on, then the hazard flashers. As I rounded the corner, two black tyre marks extending for some 10 metres, marked the trajectory of the speeding Golf which had left the road on the opposite side, ploughed through a post and wire fence, knocked down a B&B sign, and ended the right way up across some boulders into a grassy field. The boy-racer and his pal clambered sheepishly out of the Golf apparently uninjured. The Golf was less fortunate. The reason for the boy-racer's field excursion? A large Highway Maintenance 6-wheeled truck loaded with road ballast had stopped at the roadside just around the corner, to allow some cars coming in the opposite direction to pass. It was by good fortune alone that the incident did not have more serious consequences, possibly even a fatality. I hope this will be a stern lesson learned for the errant Golf boy-racer. Excessive, inappropriate speed on rural roads where there are unsighted summits and blind bends, is a very dangerous game to play. Needless to say, on my return journey north, I chose an alternative route from the A827.

The photo below shows a mist covered Glen Etive. I decided to take this short detour off the A82 Glen Coe road, to break the monotony of a particularly tedious convoy.

On the Boxster thread someone is enquiring about mpg on a 718. Various replies posted have attested to figures approaching 40mpg. My 718 CS PDK has now covered 15k miles and my average mpg is still under 30mpg. On the tour I have just described above, I attained 32.7mpg on the outward journey, and 28.8mpg on the homeward leg. I have never, ever, seen mpg figures starting with a 4 in my 10 years of Cayman ownership. If fuel economy is your objective, don't buy a 718. I drive my car in Sport mode and take the mpg as a consequence. Porsches are driving machines, not frugal A to B transport.

My Germany trip is now only 5 weeks away. I only have the headlight switching PCM settings to test, otherwise my 718 is all set to go. Looking forward to it........

Brian

 

[Blink982]

I too have experienced some shocking driving since picking up my 718, more so than in any car I've driven, which I can only attribute to people thinking that by driving like a complete Richard Head and overtaking a Porsche is some sort of badge of honour. I've been harassed by everything from a Transit van to Jag XF's but the one that stood out was some idiot in a cheap SUV that overtook me on the hatched part of an overtaking lane i.e. where he shouldn't have been which flung up all sorts that led to my first stone chip(s).

Great thread and I've enjoyed reading your experience with the 718. They are fantastic cars.

 

[PHB1969]

On the topic of mpg, if I’m local I’m seeing 32-33 mpg off the onboard computer, its been as low as 28 sometimes - just depends on the roads and traffic. I’ve done a longer run and had an indicated 37 mpg. It’s a 2.0 PDK with about 1700 miles so likely to loosen up a bit. Never seen anything starting with 4x.xx.....yet.

Also experienced the boy racer syndrome in my VX220 which is supercharged.....had to get by at all costs...I wasn’t driving quickly due to volume of traffic maybe 40 in a 60 limit single carriageway - this guy decides to go and nearly goes head on into an oncoming car which had to stop to avoid being hit. The boy racer then pulled off at the next right and turned roundand drove off.....!!!

I sometimes worry about how quick the car is, both the 718 and the VX220 - it’s so easy to get to 60 or 70 and with PDK it’s almost effortless.....I have the speed limiter alerts set to prevent straying away from the speed limit.....

 

[Brian_Innes]

I'm not at all surprised to hear of other owner's similar experiences with d-h boy racers and real world 718 mpg.

My daily driver Abarth 595 180 also attracts the attention of various ned-heads in assorted VX Corsa's, Honda Type R's and over-lowered Golfs. Also, my Abarth to the casual onlooker, looks similar in a rear view mirror to a Fiat 500. I have on many occasions had to take avoiding action due to lazy, inattentive SUV drivers pulling out in front of me while conducting an A and B road overtaking manoeuvre. Track driving is a much safer proposition than road driving........

This weekend I am off to Knockhill circuit to spectate at the British Touring Car Championships and Porsche Carrera Cup races on their annual visit to Scotland. I'll be taking the Abarth, as my 718 CS is currently resting. Watching the pros driving a track I know so well is always a special treat. Those of you who have viewed my 718 CS Knockhill laps kindly posted by Steve Brooks on a previous page, will have observed that my approach to Duffus Dip after the spectator bridge is around 118-120 mph, with an apex speed after braking of about 80-85mph. The Carrera Cup pros are doing 130-135mph under the bridge, and 100+mph at the Duffus Dip apex....on two wheels! Respect.......!

The BTCC drivers are always an exciting bunch to watch at Knockhill. The short track and technical corners make for much elbow pushing and paintwork trading. The kerbs at Knockhill are there to be used, and the BTCC pros certainly make full use of them, and more.......

My vantage point of choice is on the in-field at Duffus Dip where much of the action takes place. It's also a good place to observe the tricky section leading up to the chicane.

All the action will be televised live on Sunday on ITV4. It's worth a view.

Brian

 

[Fudgie]

Great pic Brian and glad to hear that only the boy racer pride was hurt and not you or any other innocent motorists. Unfortunately risky overtakes are also only too common down here in the Cotswolds, especially this time of the year with holiday makers and farm vehicles causing frayed nerves etc!

With regard to mpg, I've never seen a 4x usual early / mid 30's average, which I don't think is too bad and like you say it's not really a car to buy with economy in mind...!

 

[Brian_Innes]

For those interested, a few Porsche relevant points on my attendance at last weekend's Knockhill British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), and Porsche Carrera Cup championship rounds at this exciting and challenging technical circuit.

Saturday was warm and sunny, which enabled all the drivers to fully exploit the new track surface and kerb profiles. Feedback from the pros was very positive with drivers from all categories praising the high levels of grip and smooth kerb profiles. For a few of the more flamboyant drivers, the smooth kerbs were too much of a temptation, and several competitors fell foul of exceeding track limits resulting in some of their qualifying laps being disallowed. See photo below.

As I predicted, the Porsche Carrera Cup lap record of 49.9 seconds held by Michael Meadows since 2014, was well and truly smashed by no less than 3 drivers. Dan Harper, Lewis Plato, and Dino Zamparelli all recorded 48 second times in their 485 bhp GT3 Cup cars. It was the amazingly talented 19 year-old Dan Harper who topped the time sheets on the dry Saturday qualifying with a stunning lap of 48.7 seconds. This young rookie also drove a very mature and controlled Race 1 in the atrociously wet Sunday morning to secure a pole to flag victory. Not many pundits would have bet on a 19 year old Ginetta Junior driver keeping a 485 bhp GT3 Cup car on the track for 32 streaming wet laps at Knockhill. The high standard of driving skills demonstrated by the current crop of pro drivers in all categories during the extreme wet conditions on Sunday was pure joy to watch.

Another surprise, for me at any rate, was the engine sound of the 2.0 flat-4 turbo Subaru Levorg driven by the current BTCC champion Ash Sutton. First a little history. For those not familiar with current BTCC regulations, I'll quickly recap on the engine specs. All cars must be two wheel drive and have a 2.0 4 cylinder turbo charged engine with a maximum regulated power output of 350bhp. Sports catalysers are also obligatory. The MSA Touring Car Association (TOCA), provide New Generation Mountune 4 cylinder in-line turbo engines built by Swindon. These engines are used by the majority of teams in a variety of body-shells. Alternatively, car manufactures tuned engines can be used, provided they fully comply with the TOCA capacity and power restrictions of the TOCA engines. Are you still with me? Good.

At the beginning of the season Team BMR Subaru had major engine performance issues which resulted in a lack of pace. Swindon, their engine builder worked very hard to improve the performance and power delivery of the flat-4 turbo Subaru engine. Thankfully this has been successful and the Subarus are back on pace. Now to the interesting bit. While spectating at the track side on Saturday I was intrigued by the engine and exhaust sound of the Subaru. So much so, that I became convinced that Team BMR had ditched the flat-4 Subaru engine and installed a straight-4 Toca engine in it's place. A subsequent visit to the Team BMR garage revealed that the flat-4 Subaru engine was indeed still installed in the car.

Now to the point of my story, if Porsche could reproduce the sound of their flat-4 turbo to something approaching that of the Swindon Subaru unit, many of the current complaints on the sound of the 718 engines would simply evaporate. In my lifetime I have experienced the sound of many different types of racing engines. I would never have put money on that Subaru sound coming from a flat-4 turbo engine. To my ears at least, it was almost indistingushable from the other TOCA in-line 4 turbo engines. If Swindon Racing Engines can do this with the Subaru flat-4t, surely Porsche with their formidable resources, can do the same. The new 718/982 GT4 may well transpire to be a big surprise for some. For me, flat-4t or n/a flat-6, there'll be no surprises either way.

Photo below of Dino Zamparelli pushing the track limit boundaries at the Knockhill chicane.

Brian

 

[Brian_Innes]

In two weeks time my epic tour of Germany begins from the North Shields ferry terminal near Newcastle. I've taken the precaution of contacting the hotels this weekend to confirm my bookings and car parking. I thought it best to do this from past experience of double bookings. Also it lessens any chance of the hotel reallocating my room if my arrival time is unavoidably delayed due to traffic incidents. An occurrence not unknown on the autobahns.

I've also been giving thought to the planned day trips and excursions on offer along my route. The Porsche factory tour is already confirmed, as is my attendance as an interested spectator at the Baiersbronn Classic Car Rallye in the Schwarzwald region. I am also intending visiting the FVD Brombacher Porsche tuning establishment near Freiburg. Not that I'm planning on having a ECU re-map done, (not yet anyway). It's just curiosity to see for myself what kind of facilities they have, and to chat about Porsche stuff, the 718, and their thoughts on the new GT4. I'm sure they will have opinions on all of it. FVD have a good reputation and work closely with Porsche on technical issues. It promises to be an interesting visit.

I shall also be visiting the Schauinsland mountain view point near Freiburg. This location was previously used as a speed hill climb event in the European Hill Climb Championship. The original 718 sports racer won it's class there back in the 1950's. Being a former hill climber myself, I'll be interested in seeing the route they used at the time.

These are a few of my plans at the present, which may change according to circumstances. I'm keeping my options flexible. It's been 7 years since I last drove my 987 Porsche Cayman S to Cognac region in France. On that occasion I used the Euro Tunnel. This is my first car trip to the continent by ferry. The Newcastle-Amsterdam route was chosen as it's the most convenient for me. Hopefully, it'll work out ok. After I get the first day behind me I'll be more at ease as confidence builds.

I'll be reporting back with comments on how the tour went when I return, on the week beginning October 8.

Brian

 

[mr pg]

Make sure you go up the tower at Schaunisland, it's well worth the view. We were there in July (in our 981 CS).

 

[Brian_Innes]

I have decided to fit a dash cam to my 718 CS before embarking on my Germany tour. The make and model I have purchased is the NextBase 512GW Ultra. It comes with a polarised lens to dissolve the windscreen reflections that sometimes afflict the 718 in certain lighting conditions. The lap timer clock on top of the dash is the main culprit.

My decision to purchase the dash cam at this time was based on the fact that I travel alone in my car, and with only one pair of eyes and no passenger witness I thought it best to fit this before embarking on my continental tour. A dash cam is not a requirement specified by my insurer, it's my choice for piece of mind.

The set-up and fitting was straightforward. I used the suction windscreen mount rather than the more permanent adhesive option. The camera kit comes with several meters of cable which plugs into the cigarette lighter socket on the central console. (Another good reason to tick the Smokers Pack when speccing the car). The completed installation is very neat and unobtrusive. The cable is easily threaded behind the passenger's sun visor, underneath the leading edge of the rubber door trim. underneath the plastic threshold plate next to the carpet, and finally under the front edge of the passenger's seat before plugging in to the lighter socket. The installation and subsequent road test took just over an hour.

One aspect raised at the first road test was the camera's G-Force setting is much too sensitive, even on the lowest sensitivity setting. Even when cornering at very sedate rural road pace, ("honestly constable"), was enough to set off the image recording lock designed to activate in the event of an impact. Locked images are permanent and cannot be erased so they use up SD card memory space. I found cornering and braking in my normal smooth manner on winding rural roads constantly triggering the G-Force lock on the recording. I have now switched this facility "off" on the camera settings menu.

A photo below of the camera installation on the windscreen. I shall post the full set of photos on the Technical Articles thread in due course.

Finally, mr pg, thanks for your tip on the Schausinsland tower visit. It has been noted.

Brian

 

[Blink982]

I've been considering fitting a dash cam for some time now. Where and how did you run the wiring? What power source are you using? I'm presently using the USB socket in the glove box for my phone which is in a T-Design phone cradle.

I am not averse to pulling trim off to run cables as I had to do this to install a bluetooth system in a previous car but to be honest, pulling my pride and joy to pieces to run a cable fills me with dread! Why can't car manufacturers simply fit a USB socket in the overhead console?

I'm presently looking at a Viofo 119 V2 or a Garmin 55 or one of the 1ch Blackvue models. I would prefer a compact setup that is hidden behind the rear view mirror.

Has anyone fitted a 2ch unit in a Cayman?

 

[Ray]

I've been considering fitting a dash cam for some time now. Where and how did you run the wiring? What power source are you using? I'm presently using the USB socket in the glove box for my phone which is in a T-Design phone cradle.

I am not averse to pulling trim off to run cables as I had to do this to install a bluetooth system in a previous car but to be honest, pulling my pride and joy to pieces to run a cable fills me with dread! Why can't car manufacturers simply fit a USB socket in the overhead console?

I'm presently looking at a Viofo 119 V2 or a Garmin 55 or one of the 1ch Blackvue models. I would prefer a compact setup that is hidden behind the rear view mirror.

Has anyone fitted a 2ch unit in a Cayman?

I dont suppose they could fit sockets for every conceivable gadget which comes or may come along. Personally I would use an auto electricians or a Porsche main dealership. I was thinking of having cruise control retro fitted and it was not all that much (£400+).

Ray

 

[ralphmusic]

Hard wiring can be an issue with warranty

 

[ScottishSpyder]

I have done the Newcastle ferry which was all good. The only thing I would recommend is get the very best cabin available if it is not too late. I know I am risking life and limb but the Mercedes Museum is well worth a visit in Stuttgart.

 

[turbo jonny]

I will back you up and say that the Mercedes Museum is at least as good as our beloved Porsche one !

 

[Brian_Innes]

I've been considering fitting a dash cam for some time now. Where and how did you run the wiring? What power source are you using? I'm presently using the USB socket in the glove box for my phone which is in a T-Design phone cradle.

I am not averse to pulling trim off to run cables as I had to do this to install a bluetooth system in a previous car but to be honest, pulling my pride and joy to pieces to run a cable fills me with dread! Why can't car manufacturers simply fit a USB socket in the overhead console?

I'm presently looking at a Viofo 119 V2 or a Garmin 55 or one of the 1ch Blackvue models. I would prefer a compact setup that is hidden behind the rear view mirror.

Has anyone fitted a 2ch unit in a Cayman?

Sorry for the slow response, I've been a bit pushed getting prepared for my epic tour. Not helped by my hotel in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart, advising me only two days ago that they had overbooked. They fixed me up with another acceptable alternative.

Back to the chase, regarding the cable and power source, I ran the cable behind the passengers sun visor, anchoring it with cable ties to suitable points, pressed it into the groove at the top of the A pillar trim, then concealed the cable behind the soft rubber door aperture seal all the way down to the sill threshold. I prised off the forward edge of the plastic trim inboard of the sill and threaded the cable underneath as far as the leading edge of the passengers seat runners. The plastic sill trim snapped back into place ok. It was then just a matter of coiling the remaining excess cable, securing with a cable tie, and hiding it down the right hand side of the passengers seat. I'm a non-smoker, but I deliberately specced my car with the Smoker's Pack because it includes a handy lighter socket. The NextBase 512 GW comes with a cigar lighter plug as its power source. As the cigar lighter socket is live all the time, the red led light on the plug confirms this, I always unplug the camera socket when leaving the car.

Lawrence,

regarding your tip about the cabin grade on the Newcastle ferry, I heard from friends about this, and I have selected the second top of the range cabin outward, and the top range cabin on the return. It's an important point regarding comfort on what is a long 15 hour crossing. You are quite correct to mention it. I'm done with roughing it.

I leave for an overnight at Berwick on Sunday. Then the Newcastle ferry terminal on Monday. Due to my far north location, driving to Newcastle on the same day as the ferry sails is ill advised, as road closures on the A9 due to collisions are not uncommon.

I'll report back on my experiences in October.

Brian