Arash AF10

Got some picture of Arash Farboud's latest adventure at the motorshow.

Looks a bit lego from some angles but  850 horsepower @ 8000Rpm 530 lb.-ft. of torque @ 8000Rpm and £320k

 

Top Gear Live in the RS200

Sitting in the Manchester museum with the kids when my dad calls, “hi do you want to come down to the NEC and help out with Nigel and his RS200 tomorrow?”….. “he is doing something with Top Gear live”

Fast forward 24hr hours and I find out what helping out is…it is turning off the Anti-Lag once we are launched and into the run. I also help out with filling the thing with fuel and trying not to be too smug about hanging out with Sabine and the stig in the paddock. But disclaimers have been signed about that bit so on to the RS200, I can talk about that right?

Waiting to do our lap it sounds like an absolute bag of nails, Nigel has to keep it going with the throttle, things I don’t understand are toggled on and off, and I occasionally have to push a button he cannot reach. Open face helmets and the intercom is on – this is the real group b deal. Nigel is an old friend of my Dad by the way, he has three RS200s and has been invited because he is one of the few prepared to use his.

Then we are at the start line, a flag is draped on the bonnet, and some guy is giving us the count down. “3,2,1, GO” ….and I experience the full Group B delivery for the first time. I have driven his other one but it doesn’t go like this. 600bhp. Wooooaahh – we are rocket launched into the 1pm Top Gear Live show and straight into the lap. Quite surreal really, being fired into an amphitheatre of so many people in something that is so biblically fast. And the track has very little grip and the car is sliding everywhere, but the way it generates pull down the track is staggering, just completely magic.

The prolonged drift under power around the long bottom corner is mental then I think he has overcooked a right hander – the Elise would have been too far rotated there – but we power out and line up for the drift onto the final straight. I am now mind-driving and Nigel’s is clearly in sync, as the power goes on hard and we hammer through the final corner exactly how I thought and hoped it would be done i.e. sideways and at insane velocity.

Lap over and our time is ruined by a hairpin the car doesn’t have the steering lock or handbrake to get round but it doesn’t matter, group b is as magic and mental as you dream it would be, it’s a hero you can meet and as absurd as it sounds the RS (you can call it Sir) didn’t look that undrivable. You could never get bored riding a RS200. Never. And we hardly got out of first gear, imagine driving it through the woods at night at full speed… the ultimate.

Sebine from the ring taxi.

The Dalveen and Mennock Passes.

Coming home from Glasgow had a quick run over the Mennock and Dalveen passes. Dalveen one of the best three or four roads in the country.

The Leon in all its glory.

Road   A702 Dalveen Pass   

Start:               Elvanfoot      

Finish:            Carronbridge           

Road Width:   Wide  

Distance:         18 Miles         

Road Info:     

This road, that forms the Dalveen Pass, is simply one of the best roads in the country. The run out of Elvanfoot consists of endless wide sweeping corners, full of camber, visibility and a decent enough surface. Crossing the summit, the road then changes scenery, clinging to the side of Well Hill as it descends into the valley. Despite the lack of hairpins, the decent is almost alpine, and is certainly nice and quick. The Dalveen pass is an absolutely awesome road, and in my eyes, the best in the region.

Road   B797 The Mennock Pass     

Start:               Mennock       

Finish:            Abington       

Road Width:   Medium (centre lines)          

Distance:         15 Miles         

Road Info:     

One of three chances to cross the Lowther Hills, (the others being The Dalveen Pass and the B740) the Mennock Pass is a great road. The climb between Stood Hill and Thirstaine Hill follows a great valley with a real feeling of wilderness. Beyond the summit the road is never straight, following a small stream and cutting through the rugged rocky scenery. The surface is mostly good; however there are a couple of dodgy sections with broken surfaces.

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