The Black Spur

(Imported from rocketcat-v2)

Went for a drive with Nadia, Duncan and Maxi yesterday, out through Healsville to Marysville - over the Black Spur. It was a fantastic day for a drive, unfortunately we didn't leave until 3-ish, so didn't get to go up Lake Mountain and back, but the Spur was great on it's own.

We had in the convoy, a 2002 Mini 1.6 (Maxi), a 2000 WRX Wagon (Duncs) and a 2001 Bora 4Motion (Nadia and myself).

On the way over to Marysville, we took it easy and the Mini was in the lead. Who's idea was that? No, it wasn’t too bad having Maxi leading - it made for a good drive at a decent pace. Didn't push it (OK, so the WRX and the Bora didn't push it, the Mini was going for it's life!) and had a nice drive over there. Took the time to take in the fantastic scenery with the tall, straight, grey eucalypts with lush, green treeferns around their base.

On the way back, well, that was a different story. We reversed the driving order. WRX, Bora, Mini. The Bora seemed to be much better at handling the steep climbs - often cruising up at 110 in 6th with no worries, whereas the WRX had to drop back a gear and keep on boost. By this stage the Mini had vanished off our rear-view mirrors and we weren't even in the twisties. See ya in Healsville, Maxi!

I had a heap of fun in the corners, while Duncs wasn't going at 10/10ths, he was having some fun and I had to push the Bora a bit to keep up, but pretty much managed to without any serious hassles. The WRX seemed to be a lot more neutral through the corners, whereas the 4Motion had the Bora understeering until you got on the loud pedal where it brought the rear around nicely. Had me seriously thinking about the Haldex upgrade!

The Bora would also benefit vastly from a suspension upgrade - however even though the suspension is quite "comfortable" there wasn't too much roll through the corners.

Anyway, for anyone who wants a good drive where you can drive as fast as the conditions allow, without risking your license, the Black Spur is a great little stretch of road. Fantastic scenery, tight, well signposted twisty road, and it's all marked at 100km/h - yet is tight enough that you rarely max it out anyway - I did most of it in 3rd and had great fun.

You just gotta time it right though, as the last thing you want to do is get stuck behind a 4WD, or someone towing a boat as there's _nowhere_ to overtake. We managed to ace it on the way back and the entire road was clear right through to Healsville.