Get it out and get it Dirty
Driving from my home in Melbourne to the Queensland Gold Coast for Indy gave me an opportunity to test out my 130i’s touring abilities. The first difference from my previous cars was the departure checklist which involved checking wiper fluid, tyre pressures and pressing systems check using the expansive on board computer. Then it is simply a matter of foot on clutch, starter button, go. Previously, with my premium brand Australian performance car, I would not leave before checking the oil and radiator levels whilst loading up with 5 litres of Mobil’s finest and a spare 1.5 litres of water; just in case.
For me one the joys of driving long distances is the ability to unashamedly assume the diet of Homer Simpson en route. I like to use Homer’s paper bag test. Put the food in a paper bag and if the grease in the food hasn’t made the paper bag transparent in 15 minutes it’s not fit for consumption. In five days on the road I consumed more Mc Breakfasts’ than I had in the previous five years.
Keeping in mind all the signs telling me to stop every two hours I happen upon golden arches in Seymour just about 10 o’clock. The 130i comes standard with the M-Sport pack in Australia which, among other things, includes the excellent BMW sports seats with width adjustment and electric lumbar support. The firm suspension oscillates between kidney jolting on country B roads and a gift from heaven on smooth twisty bits, a compromise I am happy with. The firm suspension is accentuated by the run flat tyres fitted for which I have nothing but contempt. More, much more on run flats in a later blog.
On the 110kph zones in sixth gear the engine is turning over at about 2,700rpm. With the new generation light weight magnesium alloy 6 cylinder engine the on board computer give a reading of about 6.5 litres per 100kms in ‘instant mode’ on flat ground. This equates to a touring range of well over 500kms on the open road and has the potential to severely limit my ability gorge myself on truck stop fare.
Having left home with a full tank my first fuel stop was Narrandera in southern NSW.
Like so much of Australia this is well and truly drought country. City folk like me mightn’t notice the sea of brown, it’s actually blond really, in the height of spring but you can’t help but notice every roadside dam has but a few inches of mud in the bottom if anything at all.
It was onwards to Dubbo for the first overnight stop of the trip. Despite the drought it is a beautiful drive through heart of farming country. The large towns like West Wylong have the same beautiful character of the smaller towns with cool names like Bundaburrah or Daroobalgie. Forbes is a nice place but...
...lots of Bogans. I really wanted to go and see if there was actually a Bogan Gate Shopping Centre because that would be just fantastic (images of Kate & Kim come flooding) but this was the longest day on the road so I pushed on. Heading from Forbes to Parkes the radio telescope from the movie ‘The Dish’ that played such an important roll in the first moon landing was clearly visible from the highway. Facing the road with the elevation slightly down so as to show passers by the whole face of the dish it seemed to have a quite dignity as I drove past at dusk; like it knew it place in history but didn’t want to brag. It was dark well before I made Dubbo which afforded the opportunity to test out the fog lamps and Bi-Xenon headlamps. In the city passengers and people exterior to the car comment on how ‘white’ the Xenon light is. Out in the country the fog lights add quite a bit angle which is good for wildlife spotting and the bi-xenon high beam is something to behold only comparable to a bank of driving lights you might see on trucks out here. It really does light up the world in front of you but in a noticeably concentrated beam where conventional high beam seems to spread out more making it less effective.
Leaving Dubbo about 8am I head off towards another place with a great name, Coonabarabran, through the country music capital Tamworth onto Armidale where I turn off towards the second night stop in Coffs Harbour. Heading east the green starts to come back through a clutch of national parks starting at Woolomombi continuing all the way to the coast.
It’s through some of these roads that m-sport suspension pack, the 18” M alloys, rear wheel drive and the 50/50 weight balance come into their own. To achieve the balance they have gone to the detail of putting the battery where the spare wheel would be pretty much directly over the diff.
Whilst the traffic was light the closer I got to the coast the thicker the caravans and motor homes became. With 195kw and 290Nm available in a relatively small car means the bowling brigade and their caravans could be easily dispatched without bothering the gearbox if you please. However I remember a journalist writing that every motoring enthusiast should drive through a tunnel in third gear in an M3 with the windows down. I am not fooling myself the 130i is no M3 but with a short exhaust due to the size of the car it does have a nice note especially when DTC has been activated for the sharper throttle response to ensure a big ‘blip’ for the downshift. Generally while coming up behind and ensuring a safe overtaking distance would necessitate a change from 6th to 5th gear. Then it’s just pick your spot; big blip 5th to 3rd, indicate, accelerate and enjoy the sound. Let’s face it that’s why you buy a 130 over a 120 or 118, or at least that’s why I did. Within seconds the sun chasers are well in the distance and you find yourself applying the brakes while slipping it in 4th from a safe 6500 change as you’re hitting 140+. This is certainly where the efficiency of the dual VANOS II variable cams system comes to light. My previous car had 285Kw and 520Nm, numbers very similar to an E46 M5, yet the 130i would be beaten but not be embarrassed by it in 3rd gear roll ons. In a recent comparison between the 130i, RX-8, and 350z the 130i did very well in roll on with the more powerful 350z and the RX-8 was back there somewhere and that’s simply down to engine efficiency and good gearing.
Day 2 wasn’t overly long so a scenic route into Coffs seemed appropriate. Stopping for a break a plague pointed out this is point where the flora turns from bushland to rain forest. It is amazing the little tit bits of information you find at these rest areas and I doubt I would have noticed the changes had I not read the sign. There was about 30kms of solid 25, 35 and 45 corners dropping down in Coffs Harbour which is a great way to end a day on road and any misgivings about the firm ride become implausible.
I was booked in to a place right on the coast about 7kms north of Coffs by about 4.30 in the afternoon. After 2 solid days of driving a combination of the brillo seats, dual climate control, fully adjustable multi function m-sport steering wheel and i-pod connection plus my enthusiasm for well deserved holiday saw me fresh as daisy. I took lovely stroll along the beach and had a nice big stretch to wake up some of the muscles that had been immobile for a while. Returning to the room there were colourful lizards crossing my path, frogs a crocking, birds a tweeting, 22 degrees at 6pm and pretty easy to see why some of the ‘beautiful people’ choose to reside here. It was when I got back to my room I had the realisation that I was in holiday mode. Normally the sound of crickets at night would see me awake and annoyed until I feel asleep dreaming of ways to annihilate every cricket on the planet. Yet here I found the cacophony of wildlife at first tolerable, then even soothing.
Being from the South I wasn’t aware the difference in the sunrise o’er East. An early night and this massive red thing that looked just like the sun just a hell of lot bigger and brighter had me up and out of Coffs by about half 7; Mc Breakfast here we come.
I only had a couple of hundred kays from Coffs to Surfers as I had planned the driving days to get shorter so as to get there chipper. I stopped at Byron Bay
for several hours having a good walk around the beach before taking the long route to Tweed Heads where I stopped to pick up the things you don’t need much in Melbourne; sunblock, lip balm, board shorts etc.
It was here I first realised the difference in pace and attitude. Everyone was happy and no one was in a hurry. I found myself zipping through the traffic to keep up to the speed limit were locals were happy to coast along 10kph below it. I was getting annoyed at someone blocking up a round about locals were adjusting their radio, hair, makeup, and / or nuts. Just out of Tweed Heads I drove through a residential development called Salt. Stunk of money; very nice architecturally designed, large houses built on sand. It was amazing you have this beautiful, unique large home and right next door there is a vacant block that is pure white sand. Would love to know what sort of engineering goes into to seating those homes, after 10 years you could find yourself a block away from where you built with the sifting of the sands. Beautiful though and the amount that had obviously gone to building some of these places I’m sure they have thought how to ensure they don’t float down the road.
I cruised into my home for the next 5 days at Broadbeach and the car was exactly as it had left Melbourne bar bugs and dirt from 3 states.
Oh Yeah; then there was 4 days of this; Yee har.
Driving from my home in Melbourne to the Queensland Gold Coast for Indy gave me an opportunity to test out my 130i’s touring abilities. The first difference from my previous cars was the departure checklist which involved checking wiper fluid, tyre pressures and pressing systems check using the expansive on board computer. Then it is simply a matter of foot on clutch, starter button, go. Previously, with my premium brand Australian performance car, I would not leave before checking the oil and radiator levels whilst loading up with 5 litres of Mobil’s finest and a spare 1.5 litres of water; just in case.
For me one the joys of driving long distances is the ability to unashamedly assume the diet of Homer Simpson en route. I like to use Homer’s paper bag test. Put the food in a paper bag and if the grease in the food hasn’t made the paper bag transparent in 15 minutes it’s not fit for consumption. In five days on the road I consumed more Mc Breakfasts’ than I had in the previous five years.
Keeping in mind all the signs telling me to stop every two hours I happen upon golden arches in Seymour just about 10 o’clock. The 130i comes standard with the M-Sport pack in Australia which, among other things, includes the excellent BMW sports seats with width adjustment and electric lumbar support. The firm suspension oscillates between kidney jolting on country B roads and a gift from heaven on smooth twisty bits, a compromise I am happy with. The firm suspension is accentuated by the run flat tyres fitted for which I have nothing but contempt. More, much more on run flats in a later blog.
On the 110kph zones in sixth gear the engine is turning over at about 2,700rpm. With the new generation light weight magnesium alloy 6 cylinder engine the on board computer give a reading of about 6.5 litres per 100kms in ‘instant mode’ on flat ground. This equates to a touring range of well over 500kms on the open road and has the potential to severely limit my ability gorge myself on truck stop fare.
Having left home with a full tank my first fuel stop was Narrandera in southern NSW.
Like so much of Australia this is well and truly drought country. City folk like me mightn’t notice the sea of brown, it’s actually blond really, in the height of spring but you can’t help but notice every roadside dam has but a few inches of mud in the bottom if anything at all.
It was onwards to Dubbo for the first overnight stop of the trip. Despite the drought it is a beautiful drive through heart of farming country. The large towns like West Wylong have the same beautiful character of the smaller towns with cool names like Bundaburrah or Daroobalgie. Forbes is a nice place but...
...lots of Bogans. I really wanted to go and see if there was actually a Bogan Gate Shopping Centre because that would be just fantastic (images of Kate & Kim come flooding) but this was the longest day on the road so I pushed on. Heading from Forbes to Parkes the radio telescope from the movie ‘The Dish’ that played such an important roll in the first moon landing was clearly visible from the highway. Facing the road with the elevation slightly down so as to show passers by the whole face of the dish it seemed to have a quite dignity as I drove past at dusk; like it knew it place in history but didn’t want to brag. It was dark well before I made Dubbo which afforded the opportunity to test out the fog lamps and Bi-Xenon headlamps. In the city passengers and people exterior to the car comment on how ‘white’ the Xenon light is. Out in the country the fog lights add quite a bit angle which is good for wildlife spotting and the bi-xenon high beam is something to behold only comparable to a bank of driving lights you might see on trucks out here. It really does light up the world in front of you but in a noticeably concentrated beam where conventional high beam seems to spread out more making it less effective.
Leaving Dubbo about 8am I head off towards another place with a great name, Coonabarabran, through the country music capital Tamworth onto Armidale where I turn off towards the second night stop in Coffs Harbour. Heading east the green starts to come back through a clutch of national parks starting at Woolomombi continuing all the way to the coast.
It’s through some of these roads that m-sport suspension pack, the 18” M alloys, rear wheel drive and the 50/50 weight balance come into their own. To achieve the balance they have gone to the detail of putting the battery where the spare wheel would be pretty much directly over the diff.
Whilst the traffic was light the closer I got to the coast the thicker the caravans and motor homes became. With 195kw and 290Nm available in a relatively small car means the bowling brigade and their caravans could be easily dispatched without bothering the gearbox if you please. However I remember a journalist writing that every motoring enthusiast should drive through a tunnel in third gear in an M3 with the windows down. I am not fooling myself the 130i is no M3 but with a short exhaust due to the size of the car it does have a nice note especially when DTC has been activated for the sharper throttle response to ensure a big ‘blip’ for the downshift. Generally while coming up behind and ensuring a safe overtaking distance would necessitate a change from 6th to 5th gear. Then it’s just pick your spot; big blip 5th to 3rd, indicate, accelerate and enjoy the sound. Let’s face it that’s why you buy a 130 over a 120 or 118, or at least that’s why I did. Within seconds the sun chasers are well in the distance and you find yourself applying the brakes while slipping it in 4th from a safe 6500 change as you’re hitting 140+. This is certainly where the efficiency of the dual VANOS II variable cams system comes to light. My previous car had 285Kw and 520Nm, numbers very similar to an E46 M5, yet the 130i would be beaten but not be embarrassed by it in 3rd gear roll ons. In a recent comparison between the 130i, RX-8, and 350z the 130i did very well in roll on with the more powerful 350z and the RX-8 was back there somewhere and that’s simply down to engine efficiency and good gearing.
Day 2 wasn’t overly long so a scenic route into Coffs seemed appropriate. Stopping for a break a plague pointed out this is point where the flora turns from bushland to rain forest. It is amazing the little tit bits of information you find at these rest areas and I doubt I would have noticed the changes had I not read the sign. There was about 30kms of solid 25, 35 and 45 corners dropping down in Coffs Harbour which is a great way to end a day on road and any misgivings about the firm ride become implausible.
I was booked in to a place right on the coast about 7kms north of Coffs by about 4.30 in the afternoon. After 2 solid days of driving a combination of the brillo seats, dual climate control, fully adjustable multi function m-sport steering wheel and i-pod connection plus my enthusiasm for well deserved holiday saw me fresh as daisy. I took lovely stroll along the beach and had a nice big stretch to wake up some of the muscles that had been immobile for a while. Returning to the room there were colourful lizards crossing my path, frogs a crocking, birds a tweeting, 22 degrees at 6pm and pretty easy to see why some of the ‘beautiful people’ choose to reside here. It was when I got back to my room I had the realisation that I was in holiday mode. Normally the sound of crickets at night would see me awake and annoyed until I feel asleep dreaming of ways to annihilate every cricket on the planet. Yet here I found the cacophony of wildlife at first tolerable, then even soothing.
Being from the South I wasn’t aware the difference in the sunrise o’er East. An early night and this massive red thing that looked just like the sun just a hell of lot bigger and brighter had me up and out of Coffs by about half 7; Mc Breakfast here we come.
I only had a couple of hundred kays from Coffs to Surfers as I had planned the driving days to get shorter so as to get there chipper. I stopped at Byron Bay
for several hours having a good walk around the beach before taking the long route to Tweed Heads where I stopped to pick up the things you don’t need much in Melbourne; sunblock, lip balm, board shorts etc.
It was here I first realised the difference in pace and attitude. Everyone was happy and no one was in a hurry. I found myself zipping through the traffic to keep up to the speed limit were locals were happy to coast along 10kph below it. I was getting annoyed at someone blocking up a round about locals were adjusting their radio, hair, makeup, and / or nuts. Just out of Tweed Heads I drove through a residential development called Salt. Stunk of money; very nice architecturally designed, large houses built on sand. It was amazing you have this beautiful, unique large home and right next door there is a vacant block that is pure white sand. Would love to know what sort of engineering goes into to seating those homes, after 10 years you could find yourself a block away from where you built with the sifting of the sands. Beautiful though and the amount that had obviously gone to building some of these places I’m sure they have thought how to ensure they don’t float down the road.
I cruised into my home for the next 5 days at Broadbeach and the car was exactly as it had left Melbourne bar bugs and dirt from 3 states.
Oh Yeah; then there was 4 days of this; Yee har.posted by Dissident Dave | 8:46 pm
