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Earlier this month I needed to head down to Reading for 48 hours, I have the luxury of having a few different vehicles to choose from. The correct answer is the Range Rover, it’s comfortable, sits at motorway speeds easily and has cruise control. So I obviously took my Stagea, no cruise and much noisier.
This would be the Stageas first long trip in 18 months, the last one being a long weekend going to Spa Francohamps for the World Endurance Championship race last year, part of me was looking forward to getting some miles under the belt, the more rational part of me knew that this was a largely untested car since its upgrade. I have done maybe 100 miles in it since getting it back.
For those who are unaware, the trip from King’s Lynn to Reading is 153 miles, one way, 306 round trip. So taking a 25 year old car that’s had major work that is fundamentally untested is not smart.
I headed out after putting my son to bed and it was probably the best car I could have taken. At 7pm the roads are pretty clear near King’s Lynn, unobstructed driving with childish turbo sounds are some of the best therapy that anyone can have. As the sun set I was racking the miles up, even the Blackcat roundabout was clear and that never happens. It felt like I was out for a night cruise, just me, the road, boost and music. Perfection.
When I normally do this drive it’s a 4 hour trip, this time I made the whole trip in 2 hours 40, arriving at my AirBnB before 10pm. All of this was with a smile on my face. Over the next couple of days I had some work to do and the Stagea proved it’s more than a car with a stupid turbo.
Like anyone of automotive obsession, especially of the Japanese affliction Tokyo Drift is one of my favourite movies of all time and I have been making my way through the series. I’ll save my reviews for later. As many of you would agree, the scenes in the car park in Tokyo are iconic, and something I hope I can experience at some point in my life.
Well, on the second day of my flying visit I needed to head into the centre of Reading, for those who are familiar with Reading (I am sorry if you are) will know there are several large multistory carparks.I had a car with a blow off valve, a multistory carpark and a right foot. I can confirm that hitting boost in carparks may be better than going for a night cruise. I giggled like a small child. That made the 6:30 start much better, I ended up parking several floors higher than I needed to but that was worth it.
At this point we are probably about 200 miles into our trip and it’s time to fill up. That fill up was £82.65, 18.11mpg, and most of that was motorway driving. It’s probably safe to say it’s not winning any hypermiling awards any time soon however that’s not the point. After finishing up for the day it’s time to head back.
I left early to try and avoid as much traffic as possible but about 2 hours in of an estimated 3 and a half hour drive I notice the check engine light come on briefly, but before I can find somewhere safe to pull off it goes off. For the next 20 minutes it goes through this sequence of illumination and not. As I head into the last hour it stays off. I haven’t had a chance to diagnose yet but hopefully it’s something trivial and not something that needs major work. We’ll have to see I guess…
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