NORTH COAST 500 ROUTE

paul bellas

paul bellas

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2020
Points
14
Location
CHESHIRE
Model of Z
ZM ROADSTER
Hi Everyone,
I was hoping to do the above route during 2020, but then a lot of people were hoping to do a lot of things in 2020!
A couple of questions:
Has anyone done this tour in the past couple of years, &/or perhaps done it more than once?
Whilst summer is the obvious time to go due to longer days, hopefully warmer weather, etc, does the route get clogged-up with infernal camper vans in summer, so perhaps a little earlier or later in the season may be a better, to enjoy a genuine `open road`, open-top experience?
Does anyone have any views on whether a clockwise or anti-clockwise route is more preferable?
Thanks for any tips: Paul
 
Hi Paul,
Jean and I completed the NC 500 in May 2019.
We started at Inverness traveling anti-clockwise to capture the Highlands towards the end of the route. 516 miles over 8 days , good B&B s were easy to find but we booked 6 months ahead. The route is busy but we were early in the season to avoid the camper vans but to be honest they are every where. The w/e is busy with elite sports car and motorcycles, we were lucky with the weather top down every day it rained on our journey home back in England.
Fuel not a problem a number of self-service pumps , taking credit cards on the route .
Be aware that there are a number of speed cameras are now active plus the police are now aware of the popular fast sections.
I checked that my spare/space saver tyre was serviceable, fortunately not needed, we approached the trip as fun roof down steady drive, no racing therefore able to avoid most of the pot holes.
Each day we stocked up our picnic bag and carried a hot drink, Hotels/cafes were scarce on the northern route.
I hope this helps.
Jack
 
Your profile doesn't say what sort of Z you have. If you have an M, you may need octane booster The furthest north last high octane is in Inverness (Shell Nitro+ or Tesco Momentum) or Fort William (Esso Super). Non-M Z3s will be ok with 95 octane.

Fill up when you get the chance. Don't try to get to the next one just because you think it's in range. If it has an issue, you are screwed.

Travelling north of FW/Inverness is good practice for the world of electric cars - and range anxiety.
 
Jack Daw said:
Hi Paul,
Jean and I completed the NC 500 in May 2019.
We started at Inverness traveling anti-clockwise to capture the Highlands towards the end of the route. 516 miles over 8 days , good B&B s were easy to find but we booked 6 months ahead. The route is busy but we were early in the season to avoid the camper vans but to be honest they are every where. The w/e is busy with elite sports car and motorcycles, we were lucky with the weather top down every day it rained on our journey home back in England.
Fuel not a problem a number of self-service pumps , taking credit cards on the route .
Be aware that there are a number of speed cameras are now active plus the police are now aware of the popular fast sections.
I checked that my spare/space saver tyre was serviceable, fortunately not needed, we approached the trip as fun roof down steady drive, no racing therefore able to avoid most of the pot holes.
Each day we stocked up our picnic bag and carried a hot drink, Hotels/cafes were scarce on the northern route.
I hope this helps.
Jack
Click to expand...
Thanks very much indeed Jack; very helpful. I thought there might be a plague of crawling camper vans to endure, esp in high season, as in all the best places in Canada & NZ! Best Regards: Paul
 
Pingu said:
Your profile doesn't say what sort of Z you have. If you have an M, you may need octane booster The furthest north last high octane is in Inverness (Shell Nitro+ or Tesco Momentum) or Fort William (Esso Super). Non-M Z3s will be ok with 95 octane.

Fill up when you get the chance. Don't try to get to the next one just because you think it's in range. If it has an issue, you are screwed.

Travelling north of FW/Inverness is good practice for the world of electric cars - and range anxiety.
Click to expand...
Thanks very much for this. I have one of the very first ZM Roadsters in Estoril Blue, from the start of the Z3 era, so a much appreciated tip re fuel!
 
Done north down the west 4 times, personally I wouldn't bother with the east coast part of it. as an alternative start lower at Perth and go onto the old military road and over Glenshee to Braemar to Balmoral, cock bridge, and onto Inverness, great road, From Inverness head for Lairg, Cask (very much a B road but fantastic scenery) and join the NC500 at Tongue and head west, then enjoy the best part of the NC500. Just an option.
 
I did it this summer with my kids since we could not go abroad to visit family. Very nice trip but I was also happy I was in my truck instead of the Z3. Love driving the car but it was much more relaxing getting the truck around the single lanes without worrying about scuffing the wheels or worse.
 
Nodzed said:
Done north down the west 4 times, personally I wouldn't bother with the east coast part of it. as an alternative start lower at Perth and go onto the old military road and over Glenshee to Braemar to Balmoral, cock bridge, and onto Inverness, great road, From Inverness head for Lairg, Cask (very much a B road but fantastic scenery) and join the NC500 at Tongue and head west, then enjoy the best part of the NC500. Just an option.
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Thanks a lot Nod, that does sound like a good option. Your ZM Looks v nice in silver. Best colour to keep looking clean, in my experience with other cars.
 
Delk said:
I did it this summer with my kids since we could not go abroad to visit family. Very nice trip but I was also happy I was in my truck instead of the Z3. Love driving the car but it was much more relaxing getting the truck around the single lanes without worrying about scuffing the wheels or worse.
Click to expand...
Thanks Delk. Is it really that narrow &/or pot-holed in places? Thought it was a very well-maintained & increasingly popular route. Suprised you didn`t see Dominic Cummings driving around there, during our restricted summer.. :)
 
There is a NC500 website which I recently joined that you might find useful. Beware that it’s populated fairly evenly by motorcyclists, car drivers and motorcaravanners and it might aggravate your dislike of them.
 
The road itself wasn't badly paved. Probably better then here in Norfolk. But most of the northern part was narrow single track. This meant I spent alot of time off the road letting people pass or vis versa. Had a great time and really enjoyed the countryside. It would have been a great drive with the top down but it was far more relaxing in the clunky truck. Though having both kids with me ruled out the Z in the first place.

Below was just one of the stops and with the truck we could go where we wanted. It was great until the sun started to go down and the local wildlife woke up. Then it was time to hide until dawn and make a run for it. The number of midge's can not be explained.

Scotland.webp
 
Delk said:
The road itself wasn't badly paved. Probably better then here in Norfolk. But most of the northern part was narrow single track. This meant I spent alot of time off the road letting people pass or vis versa. Had a great time and really enjoyed the countryside. It would have been a great drive with the top down but it was far more relaxing in the clunky truck. Though having both kids with me ruled out the Z in the first place.

Below was just one of the stops and with the truck we could go where we wanted. It was great until the sun started to go down and the local wildlife woke up. Then it was time to hide until dawn and make a run for it. The number of midge's can not be explained.

View attachment 165639
Click to expand...
Yep, those pesky midgies a real pest up in Scotland in midsummer!
 
Lazzzydog said:
There is a NC500 website which I recently joined that you might find useful. Beware that it’s populated fairly evenly by motorcyclists, car drivers and motorcaravanners and it might aggravate your dislike of them.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip re the website Lazzzy: Motorcyclists no problem, but those pesky motorhomes are the scourge of every winding scenic A-road throughout the Commonwealth & Dominions!
 
paul bellas said:
Thanks for the tip re the website Lazzzy: Motorcyclists no problem, but those pesky motorhomes are the scourge of every winding scenic A-road throughout the Commonwealth & Dominions!
Click to expand...

I would agree with that opinion, but they do at least pay road tax ..........................

Tony.
 
I tend to have a very balanced view of others having been in most of the groups most hated by other road users at some point in my driving history. I was a boy racer on four wheels and a tear away on two wheels in my youth, later on a truck driver. I used to pull a caravan with a gas guzzling 4x4 and to top it all off I used to cycle to work. I’ve never had a motor home though, I would have liked one but something else always took the funds.
 
Unfortunately every one has a perfect right to enjoy the scenery, and I thought that was all part of a tour around with the top down.
 
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