SIII on a Euro roadtrip: 35 countries and Nordschleife.
Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 4:43 pm
Hi folks,
I recently took my stock SIII coupe (2.0) on a 10½ month roadtrip around 35 countries in Europe, 31,000 miles (more distance than driving around the world) and visited literally thousands of places, from 3½ months in the hot summery Med, on the ice roads of the frozen Baltic sea and months in freezing midwinter to the Arctic, taking the car to several islands and slipping in a few laps of Nordschleife. I made a little vid with some pictures for coupe fans, followed by a lap of Nordschleife (not intended to be a high speed run as I was still learning the circuit, wasn't covered by insurance so didn't want to bend anyone else's Porsche or 'Vette - and needed the car to keep on traveling! Sometimes I had to quickly take photos in places before security guards came waltzing over, or getting to locations at 5am such as the amphitheatre in Verona before the police cam round as it's normally a pedestrian walkway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1GD8S4BBls
I've proudly owned the coupe from new since Jan 2008 and it's been simply superb, totally dependable in all conditions; I had 3 months where the sunny temperatures were consistently between 30°C to 42°C degrees (whilst googling Blighty's weather showed near relentless grey and rain!) and months where the temps were mostly between -12°C and -24°C, down as low as -26°C in Lithuania (they get Siberian airflow in winter). Even when left standing for days in -24°C degrees on the regular oil, she never failed to start first time. It was my warm refuge in all conditions, my life pod and I had a pillow, duvet and thermals in my fully loaded boot to help keep me wrapped up warm at night whenever I slept on the back seats. I left late in May 2015 and returned last month.
The SIII shape is incredibly rare on mainland Europe and I got used to shouts of "Bella Macchina!" in Italy and comments from people (Greece especially) who wished that model had been sold in their own country. In the Balkan states some locals told me only mafia people drive around in cars that look like that, so they give a wide berth.
And belting down the chaotic cobblestones of Napoli, most people just get well out of your way. I saw just 5 others; two in Latvia, one in Lithuania, one in Serbia and a Luxembourg registered one in Germany. They're called the Coupe FX and usually don't have a rear spoiler, which actually looks quite classy. Some have the older 16" wheels, even though they're 2 litres with twin exhausts. I have the odd pic of those if anyone wants to see. Every previous coupe shape is as common a sight in every European country I've been as it is in the UK. I saw one SIII shape in Sicily in 2009, but on this re-visit I didn't see it, not a single one in the extensive two months I toured in detail around Italy.
On good winter tyres the car was stable and confident on snow for stretches up to 110mph. In the dry she could comfortably pull up to 146mph (top speed is only supposed to be 129mph) and probably more, but I got some resonance both times I kept it below 144mph from then on - autobahn driving btw. It's already over the redline by then anyway. I have a slight crease and gap in my front right wing where an older lady opened her door in Thessaloniki (Greece) in to the side of mine as I was driving past in October and the noise could've just been cross-wind noise. But I wasn't going to risk it - I drove a 300BHP V6 Mustang through California to Mexico 2 years and that's fitted with a seemingly ridiculous speed-limiter at 112mph - ridiculous until you remove it and at 135mph the vibration is shortly followed by the drive shaft shearing and tearing its way through the floor pan in to the cabin (youtube if you're curious!) Ironic that a stock Hyundai coupe with less than half the power can safely go much faster. Since the wing crease I've taken most photos from the passenger side, but some are still from the driver's side and it's not that drastic.
Incredibly the car has (nearly!) just passed its MOT and I didn't have a single service during the 31,000 mile trip, just the odd oil change. Only one thing was a problem and that was a dodgy non-genuine brake caliper fitted just before I left and broke in less than 2 months in to the trip because of a dodgy part, long before I encountered any tough terrain. More on that below. Otherwise the car would have flown through without a single advisory. It's been an amazing car and everywhere I parked it, with the exception of next to a F599, it stood out a mile in a world mostly filled with characterless refridgerators on wheels.
Fuel economy in the UK was usually around 280-300 miles per tank (Bridgestone RE050, very grippy but not economical). In Norway I was getting over 500 miles per tank on winter tyres (Goodyear Ultragrip Performance 8) which I bought in Slovenia; in Austria the fine is €5000 if you don't have winter tyres and they're mandatory in Bosnia, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden and Finland (surprisingly not Norway). They're quite inefficient winter tyres too, slated for their economy, but the slow narrow roads and limited overtaking possibilities means long stretches of 50-80kmph yield extraordinary economy. You can see-saw the wheel on snow at speed on good winter tyres without the car getting much out of shape - like driving on loose gravel. Sheer ice is a very different story of course.
On the autobahns I was only getting 240 miles per tank; often doing between 120-135mph without realizing it because I just got used to it. Economy is wasted having to slow as people overtake in front of you or hitting occasional speed limits (which means suddenly dropping from 230kph to 130kph as quick as you can!) I was often cruising on autobahns at 135mph without thinking; you just get used to it day after day.
My brake pads pretty much survived the entire trip of 31,000 miles which is pretty amazing. I warped my front disks (non-Hyundai) halfway the last lap of Nordschleife and perhaps I should've let them cool between laps ... or just driven faster and braked less. :p The front-right pads caught so much on the warped disk that the heat of brake dust has burned through the top layer in one place on the allow wheel; there's some flaking one sometimes sees on older allow wheels. I had an engine emission light come up early on in the trip and heard the exhaust getting noiser over the next few days; it was just the netting around the flexible front exhaust pipe between the engine and main exhaust which must've got caught on something and torn. For the first few days the exhaust sounded uninspiring, like an old mini. But a week later it howled like a '67 F312 through the tunnels of Italy and I had a big smile on my face instead, dropping to low gears at every tunnel just to feel all giddy again. :D I got the piece replaced in Corfu for €50 and it's been brilliant the rest of the trip; emissions light went off a few days later so I assume the sensor just took time to clean up.
I've driven on the longest ice road in Europe, the Baltic sea completely freezes off the Estonian coast and you can drive on it for 26km. And some hellish pot-holes, especially one road in Romania which honestly looked like it had been cluster mined! And yet the car's survived unaffected by it all. Having to blindly reverse around 90 degree corners with both wing mirrors in on Italian and Greek islands because the Satnav has lured you to a point that only a trike can fit through is not for the faint of heart! I did drive off the far north Finnish roads twice in to snowy ditches - purely through stupidity - looking down at the passenger seat to look at something and not sensing any movement through the steering wheel until you've one wheel was on the pile of snow on the side of the road. You need 100% eyes on the road as it's the most deceptive environment I've ever driven. From then on you're a passenger as you get dragged right off in to waist-deep snow, but the soft deep snow is very forgiving on the car as it compresses and slows the chassis without damaging anything. I'd then climb out of the passenger side and spend a long time digging in -18°C. People are so friendly that when one eventually passes they'll always stop and ask if you want help and if you don't see a snow plough, lorry or tractor come past, you'll get countless offers from people who'll call one for you, free of charge. Most people know some English, some very well. The extreme cold and ice build up cracked some of the plastic shielding under the right wheel arch so I'm getting that replaced. But it's an inexpensive and non-essential replacement.
I drove her for 31,000 miles (50,000km) without a service, just the odd oil change. There were 71,000 miles on the clock when I left the UK and I came back with over 102,000.
Here's an overall history of my car and the things that needed changing over the years.
1. Pre-registered in Sep 2007 and bought by me in Jan 2008. Apart from getting mini mudguards and rear parking sensors from new, it's completely original.
2. Someone drove in to driver's door (but left no message) within 2 days of me buying it - unbelievable(!) so I had to have it re-skinned and the entire right side was resprayed with a beautiful glass like quality.
3. 8 months later two guys catapulting rocks at passing cars on an industrial estate got my bonnet, rear quarter and boot. So the left side, boot and bonnet were resprayed. I changed the standard spoiler for the Wild Spoiler at the same time. Luckily since then I've had no bad luck, apart from the wing crease in Greece.
4. Had a steering rack changed at the end of the 5 year warranty as there was a small amount of play in it. That was unexpected but covered by warranty.
5. Had the right hand wheel flange replaced as it was badly worn after 6 years and the wheel had play in it, which was also strange, I've had no impacts that would explain this. Changed the front brake disks at the same time as they were wearing.
6. Had the clutch changed at 65,000 miles (7 years) as there was a bit of slip, which is a fairly common mileage on the coupe I think.
7. At 71,000 miles the offside rear caliper had seized so I had it replaced for the MOT with a non-genuine part. 4,000 miles later that had also seized and it got replaced under the part's one year warranty; this was just before my trip. Just 7 weeks later it had also stopped working on my trip and the handbrake wouldn't hold on steep slopes. Turned out a bolt on the replacement part had sheared but I wasn't going to spend £800 driving back home to get it replaced with yet another dodgy one whilst I was down in Italy, so I carried on until I got home many months later. I'm really miffed with my garage, who of course claim that because I carried on driving for so long there's nothing they can do. The parts manager says the bolt is clearly not up to the job and has rusted in the interim. I'll never trust certain non-genuine parts again based on what I've since learned.
8. As mentioned, the exhaust netting, possibly caught on debris somewhere and it loosened. It was easy for an exhaust specialist to replace.
9. As mentioned, an older lady flung her door open in to the side of me as I was driving past in rainy Thessaloniki. It destroyed her tin foil door which wouldn't close afterwards and creased my wing. A real shame only 40% in to my trip, but didn't I repair it right away as I didn't know what else might happen on the trip. As it happens the rest has been OK.
I recently took my stock SIII coupe (2.0) on a 10½ month roadtrip around 35 countries in Europe, 31,000 miles (more distance than driving around the world) and visited literally thousands of places, from 3½ months in the hot summery Med, on the ice roads of the frozen Baltic sea and months in freezing midwinter to the Arctic, taking the car to several islands and slipping in a few laps of Nordschleife. I made a little vid with some pictures for coupe fans, followed by a lap of Nordschleife (not intended to be a high speed run as I was still learning the circuit, wasn't covered by insurance so didn't want to bend anyone else's Porsche or 'Vette - and needed the car to keep on traveling! Sometimes I had to quickly take photos in places before security guards came waltzing over, or getting to locations at 5am such as the amphitheatre in Verona before the police cam round as it's normally a pedestrian walkway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1GD8S4BBls
I've proudly owned the coupe from new since Jan 2008 and it's been simply superb, totally dependable in all conditions; I had 3 months where the sunny temperatures were consistently between 30°C to 42°C degrees (whilst googling Blighty's weather showed near relentless grey and rain!) and months where the temps were mostly between -12°C and -24°C, down as low as -26°C in Lithuania (they get Siberian airflow in winter). Even when left standing for days in -24°C degrees on the regular oil, she never failed to start first time. It was my warm refuge in all conditions, my life pod and I had a pillow, duvet and thermals in my fully loaded boot to help keep me wrapped up warm at night whenever I slept on the back seats. I left late in May 2015 and returned last month.
The SIII shape is incredibly rare on mainland Europe and I got used to shouts of "Bella Macchina!" in Italy and comments from people (Greece especially) who wished that model had been sold in their own country. In the Balkan states some locals told me only mafia people drive around in cars that look like that, so they give a wide berth.
And belting down the chaotic cobblestones of Napoli, most people just get well out of your way. I saw just 5 others; two in Latvia, one in Lithuania, one in Serbia and a Luxembourg registered one in Germany. They're called the Coupe FX and usually don't have a rear spoiler, which actually looks quite classy. Some have the older 16" wheels, even though they're 2 litres with twin exhausts. I have the odd pic of those if anyone wants to see. Every previous coupe shape is as common a sight in every European country I've been as it is in the UK. I saw one SIII shape in Sicily in 2009, but on this re-visit I didn't see it, not a single one in the extensive two months I toured in detail around Italy.On good winter tyres the car was stable and confident on snow for stretches up to 110mph. In the dry she could comfortably pull up to 146mph (top speed is only supposed to be 129mph) and probably more, but I got some resonance both times I kept it below 144mph from then on - autobahn driving btw. It's already over the redline by then anyway. I have a slight crease and gap in my front right wing where an older lady opened her door in Thessaloniki (Greece) in to the side of mine as I was driving past in October and the noise could've just been cross-wind noise. But I wasn't going to risk it - I drove a 300BHP V6 Mustang through California to Mexico 2 years and that's fitted with a seemingly ridiculous speed-limiter at 112mph - ridiculous until you remove it and at 135mph the vibration is shortly followed by the drive shaft shearing and tearing its way through the floor pan in to the cabin (youtube if you're curious!) Ironic that a stock Hyundai coupe with less than half the power can safely go much faster. Since the wing crease I've taken most photos from the passenger side, but some are still from the driver's side and it's not that drastic.
Incredibly the car has (nearly!) just passed its MOT and I didn't have a single service during the 31,000 mile trip, just the odd oil change. Only one thing was a problem and that was a dodgy non-genuine brake caliper fitted just before I left and broke in less than 2 months in to the trip because of a dodgy part, long before I encountered any tough terrain. More on that below. Otherwise the car would have flown through without a single advisory. It's been an amazing car and everywhere I parked it, with the exception of next to a F599, it stood out a mile in a world mostly filled with characterless refridgerators on wheels.
Fuel economy in the UK was usually around 280-300 miles per tank (Bridgestone RE050, very grippy but not economical). In Norway I was getting over 500 miles per tank on winter tyres (Goodyear Ultragrip Performance 8) which I bought in Slovenia; in Austria the fine is €5000 if you don't have winter tyres and they're mandatory in Bosnia, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden and Finland (surprisingly not Norway). They're quite inefficient winter tyres too, slated for their economy, but the slow narrow roads and limited overtaking possibilities means long stretches of 50-80kmph yield extraordinary economy. You can see-saw the wheel on snow at speed on good winter tyres without the car getting much out of shape - like driving on loose gravel. Sheer ice is a very different story of course.
On the autobahns I was only getting 240 miles per tank; often doing between 120-135mph without realizing it because I just got used to it. Economy is wasted having to slow as people overtake in front of you or hitting occasional speed limits (which means suddenly dropping from 230kph to 130kph as quick as you can!) I was often cruising on autobahns at 135mph without thinking; you just get used to it day after day.
My brake pads pretty much survived the entire trip of 31,000 miles which is pretty amazing. I warped my front disks (non-Hyundai) halfway the last lap of Nordschleife and perhaps I should've let them cool between laps ... or just driven faster and braked less. :p The front-right pads caught so much on the warped disk that the heat of brake dust has burned through the top layer in one place on the allow wheel; there's some flaking one sometimes sees on older allow wheels. I had an engine emission light come up early on in the trip and heard the exhaust getting noiser over the next few days; it was just the netting around the flexible front exhaust pipe between the engine and main exhaust which must've got caught on something and torn. For the first few days the exhaust sounded uninspiring, like an old mini. But a week later it howled like a '67 F312 through the tunnels of Italy and I had a big smile on my face instead, dropping to low gears at every tunnel just to feel all giddy again. :D I got the piece replaced in Corfu for €50 and it's been brilliant the rest of the trip; emissions light went off a few days later so I assume the sensor just took time to clean up.
I've driven on the longest ice road in Europe, the Baltic sea completely freezes off the Estonian coast and you can drive on it for 26km. And some hellish pot-holes, especially one road in Romania which honestly looked like it had been cluster mined! And yet the car's survived unaffected by it all. Having to blindly reverse around 90 degree corners with both wing mirrors in on Italian and Greek islands because the Satnav has lured you to a point that only a trike can fit through is not for the faint of heart! I did drive off the far north Finnish roads twice in to snowy ditches - purely through stupidity - looking down at the passenger seat to look at something and not sensing any movement through the steering wheel until you've one wheel was on the pile of snow on the side of the road. You need 100% eyes on the road as it's the most deceptive environment I've ever driven. From then on you're a passenger as you get dragged right off in to waist-deep snow, but the soft deep snow is very forgiving on the car as it compresses and slows the chassis without damaging anything. I'd then climb out of the passenger side and spend a long time digging in -18°C. People are so friendly that when one eventually passes they'll always stop and ask if you want help and if you don't see a snow plough, lorry or tractor come past, you'll get countless offers from people who'll call one for you, free of charge. Most people know some English, some very well. The extreme cold and ice build up cracked some of the plastic shielding under the right wheel arch so I'm getting that replaced. But it's an inexpensive and non-essential replacement.
I drove her for 31,000 miles (50,000km) without a service, just the odd oil change. There were 71,000 miles on the clock when I left the UK and I came back with over 102,000.
Here's an overall history of my car and the things that needed changing over the years.
1. Pre-registered in Sep 2007 and bought by me in Jan 2008. Apart from getting mini mudguards and rear parking sensors from new, it's completely original.
2. Someone drove in to driver's door (but left no message) within 2 days of me buying it - unbelievable(!) so I had to have it re-skinned and the entire right side was resprayed with a beautiful glass like quality.
3. 8 months later two guys catapulting rocks at passing cars on an industrial estate got my bonnet, rear quarter and boot. So the left side, boot and bonnet were resprayed. I changed the standard spoiler for the Wild Spoiler at the same time. Luckily since then I've had no bad luck, apart from the wing crease in Greece.
4. Had a steering rack changed at the end of the 5 year warranty as there was a small amount of play in it. That was unexpected but covered by warranty.
5. Had the right hand wheel flange replaced as it was badly worn after 6 years and the wheel had play in it, which was also strange, I've had no impacts that would explain this. Changed the front brake disks at the same time as they were wearing.
6. Had the clutch changed at 65,000 miles (7 years) as there was a bit of slip, which is a fairly common mileage on the coupe I think.
7. At 71,000 miles the offside rear caliper had seized so I had it replaced for the MOT with a non-genuine part. 4,000 miles later that had also seized and it got replaced under the part's one year warranty; this was just before my trip. Just 7 weeks later it had also stopped working on my trip and the handbrake wouldn't hold on steep slopes. Turned out a bolt on the replacement part had sheared but I wasn't going to spend £800 driving back home to get it replaced with yet another dodgy one whilst I was down in Italy, so I carried on until I got home many months later. I'm really miffed with my garage, who of course claim that because I carried on driving for so long there's nothing they can do. The parts manager says the bolt is clearly not up to the job and has rusted in the interim. I'll never trust certain non-genuine parts again based on what I've since learned.
8. As mentioned, the exhaust netting, possibly caught on debris somewhere and it loosened. It was easy for an exhaust specialist to replace.
9. As mentioned, an older lady flung her door open in to the side of me as I was driving past in rainy Thessaloniki. It destroyed her tin foil door which wouldn't close afterwards and creased my wing. A real shame only 40% in to my trip, but didn't I repair it right away as I didn't know what else might happen on the trip. As it happens the rest has been OK.
welcome to the club.
I only joined this forum a few weeks ago so wasn't here for the calendar entries. 
I can sympathize with needing more power - especially when up against a 911 or a Corvette! 
The 2-litre coupe could pull beyond 150mph with the right gearing; those 5 gears aren't optimal. I'd loved to have listened to the V6 when travelling, but alas I bought the sensible model instead.