Recharge your battery

HOLIDAY Inn Vana Nava Hua Hin, Thailand, Asia’s first integrated Holiday Inn hotel and water park, has demonstrated its commitment to innovation and sustainability by installing Hua Hin’s first electric car charging station. Launched in partnership with leading renewable energy company Energy Mahanakhon, the new ‘EA Anywhere’ charging station is a state-of-the-art facility that meets IEC international standards and can support all types of electric vehicle, including hybrid plug-ins (PHEVs) and battery-operated vehicles (BEVs).

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Gold Coast 600

THE Gold Coast roars into action each October when the Virgin #Australia Supercars race into town for the Gold Coast 600. 

On track, the highlight will be the PIRTEK Enduro Cup final in which supercar drivers battle it out on one of the world's toughest street circuits to claim the ultimate endure racing title. 

The world-renowned Super Stadium Trucks will also ramp up the on-track action with the international spectacle joining Porsche Carrera Cup, V8 Utes and Formula 4, supporting all the Supercar action. The Super Stadium Trucks, dubbed 'the monsters on wheels' generate speeds of up to 220km/h, jump man-made ramps, and fly 100 metres through the air, two storeys off the ground. 

Off track, events are just as explosive with a huge concert line-up, which in 2016 included including Aussie electro sensation Peking Duk, Birds of Tokyo, The Rubens and The Living End.

On this year October 20-22.

www.supercars.com

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Last Minute Mother's Day Treats

FOR mothers not much in to pampering or afternoon tea scrap the traditional Mother’s Day routine and head to Haynes International Motor Museum for the perfect alternative experience (26 March). 

Give your mum the opportunity to feel the wind in her hair as she jumps behind the wheel of a Bentley or goes for a spin in a Ferrari off the track and out on the open road.

The pre-planned route takes you off track onto main roads and lasts 15-20 minutes with a briefing beforehand and time for photographs afterwards.

Prices start at £79.

www.haynesmotormuseum.com/events/mothers-day-dream-car-drives

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Scottish Legends in an Aston Martin

BRITISH luxury brand, Aston Martin, and luxury travel company, Elegant Resorts, will be collaborating this autumn on a bespoke collection of exclusive, self-drive tour experiences through the Elegant Journeys series, available in September and October 2016. 

Scottish Legends 25th to 30th October - Majestic Scottish scenery, fairytale castles, warm hospitality, superlative service, fine cuisine and traditional outdoor activities are just a selection of the tempting features available to driving enthusiasts on the Scottish Legends journey. In the refined elegance of an Aston Martin, privileged clients will travel through the beguiling scenery of the Highlands and Isle of Skye on an unforgettably thrilling journey, staying in a handpicked collection of Scotland’s finest luxury accommodation, including centuries-old castles and remote ancestral homes.

All for only £8,950 per person but this does include hire of the car!

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Picture Credit: byb64 50879678@N03/15370497719 Inveraray Castle, (1746-1758), Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Ecosse, Grande-Bretagne, Royaume-Uni. via photopin.com

Majorca tops car hire survey of UK holidaymakers

THE MOST popular holiday #carhire hotspots in #Europe have been revealed, with #Majorca topping the charts as the location where most British holidaymakers choose to rent a car once they’ve reached their destination.

According to data from car hire booking agent autoeurope.co.uk, the top holiday destinations based on hiring a vehicle are: 

• Majorca 
• Milan 
• Rome 
• Barcelona 
• Pisa 
• Porto 
• Marseille 
• Gran Canaria 
• Lisbon 
• Faro 

Luckily for those heading to Majorca, Barcelona, or Gran Canaria this year, filling up the tank is cheaper here than any other top holiday spots with the average cost of fuel at €1.08 a litre.

If Milan, Rome, or Pisa is top of your list for a holiday, you’ll end up spending a bit more to get around given the cost of fuel stands at €1.37 per litre on average. Porto, Lisbon, and Faro come close with the cost of fuel at €1.33 per litre, while Marseille is slightly cheaper at €1.21.

A spokesperson for Auto Europe said: ‘Pre-purchased fuel and return empty can be useful if you’re planning a long journey and in especially when British holidaymakers find it difficult to find a petrol station abroad before returning their hire car to the supplier. However, if you don’t use all of the fuel then the supplier is unlikely to offer a refund for what is remaining.

The most popular fuel policy option among British holidaymakers tends to be ‘pick up full and return full’, which is usually the most cost effective. It’s therefore the driver’s responsibility to return the vehicle with a full tank of fuel at the end of their holiday, or the car rental supplier could charge for having to refuel the vehicle themselves.

‘British holidaymakers should carefully read the terms and conditions of the agreement with their car rental supplier to avoid any confusion around the fuel policy, such as incurring additional costs once they’ve returned the vehicle.’


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Picture Credit: 86829008@N03/25936737674 he Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma and Parc del Mar  Majorca, Spain via photopin.com

Don’t let breakdowns break the bank

AIRPORT PARKING AND HOTELS (APH) has created a guide comparing car breakdown cover and assistance policies. 

It looks at 61 breakdown cover and assistance policies offered by 20 vehicle insurance providers including the AA, Direct Line, and RAC and compares the annual breakdown cover cost for one named-driver vehicle, the level of assistance provided, the radius of recovery location, call-out charges and any additional add-ons available. The cost varies from £16.45 a year for One Star Cover from Startrescue.co.uk, which includes standard UK roadside assistance, to £134 a year for European breakdown cover from ASDA Money, which covers roadside assistance and recovery at any location in the UK and mainland Europe.

If a vehicle cannot be fixed at the roadside, all 61 of the insurance policies researched will tow a vehicle to a nearby garage. Thirteen policies extend this to any location within a 10-25 mile radius of the breakdown location, and 30, including Finest cover with Tesco Bank and UK Recovery with LV, will tow the vehicle to any UK location of the driver's choice. Drivers with Green Flag should note that the towing distance is limited to 10 miles for vehicles with a flat tyre. 

For those looking for extra security in breakdown situations, 29 policies, including all policies from The Co-operative Travel and UK Cover from Drive 24-7, offer onward travel as standard to policyholders in the form of overnight accommodation or car rental.

Ten policies, including Recovery EXTRA from GEM Motoring and Rescue & Recovery from Aviva, will provide an alternative driver should the main driver become unfit to drive.

www.aph.com 


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New Zealand group wants foreign drivers to display ‘T’ plates

TOURISTS driving in 
#NewZealand would be required to take a driving test and display “T Plates” in their car windows if it were up to a group that says the visitors are causing too many automobile wrecks in the country. 

The ‘T Plates for Tourist’ group says that people visiting New Zealand are unprepared for the country’s rough roads and should be tested to make sure they know how to drive on them. If they pass the test, they should display a “T plate” in the window of their cars to warn local drivers.

‘People who come to this country are given the right to drive despite many of them not knowing our driving rules or regulations -- hence the number of crashes that occur on our roads,’ says the group’s spokesman.

The worst month for crashes in the country is February, according to the New Zealand Transport Agency. In an average February between 2006 and 2013, the agency said foreign drivers were involved in 7 percent of accidents that ended in injury or death.

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Vintage Eastbourne

#EASTBOURNE’S vintage motoring festival, #MagnificentMotors, returns to the coastal town’s Victorian seafront from April 30 to May 1.

Exhibits will include a 1968 Ford Mustang, a 1928 Rover Open Tourer, and a 1902 Manley steam carriage, the oldest exhibit confirmed at the festival so far. The well-established festival on Eastbourne’s coast at the Western Lawns, typically draws in more than over 500 motors.

There will be vintage chauffeur-driven tours of the South Downs, and a four-day vintage market (April 29-May 2).

Later in the year, from July 23 to September 5, the Redoubt’s free Eastbourne Seaside Holiday exhibition takes visitors on a nostalgic journey exploring Eastbourne’s transition from Victorian seaside ‘tennis town’ to a thriving 1970’s seaside resort.

www.VisitEastbourne.com/magnificent-motors
www.VisitEastbourne.com

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Picture Credit: 1968 Ford Mustang GT-CS (California Special) JO+EDCS' 3</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin

Car hire in Spain? Beware those hidden extra €s

HOLIDAYMAKERS renting cars in #Spain this summer need to be most on their guard for ‘sneaky tactics’ used by suppliers, says car hire broker Economy Car Hire, which has identified six ways in which consumers could be caught out.

They are:

• Admin fees: Some suppliers offer what's known as a ‘full-full' policy, but slap on an admin charge. This means you when you collect the car it has a full tank and you must return it with a full tank. When you return the car, you get a refund for the tank, minus the admin charge which is typically €25-€40 (£18.40-£29.50). 

• Credit card charges: You're told to pay for extras such as a satnav or child car seat in sterling at a very poor exchange rate.

• Pre-existing damage: You're made liable for damage which was already on the car when you collected it.

• Diesel surcharge: You're hit with a €10-€15 (£7.35-£11) surcharge when you're given a diesel car, even though you didn't ask for one.

• Sealed agreements: You sign your rental agreement digitally and the printed copy is handed over in a sealed envelope, so you only spot any nasty surprises when it's too late.

• Insurance hard sell: You're pressured take out local cover, even though you bought it before travelling.

The firm also highlights tactics used in other countries, such as the UK, US, France, Turkey, Italy, and South Africa which range from charging for damage that was already on the car through to ‘out of hours’ vehicle collection fees.

Economy Car Hire managing director, Rory Sexton, said: ‘Dirty tricks are more prevalent in certain countries than others, with customers reporting fewer issues in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Switzerland. 

If you are going somewhere where sneaky tactics are often used, make sure you scrutinize the terms of their booking in advance, and read the rental contract carefully when collecting the car. It's always a good idea to book through a broker in the UK which will provide the protection of UK consumer law.’

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8329215@N04/5192918769">YSSY IMG_0455</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

Rules of the road … across Europe

AIRPORT PARKING & HOTELS (APH) has produced a guide for UK holidaymakers highlighting the different driving rules and regulations – including maximum speed limits and fines, and equipment and paperwork that drivers must carry – in 20 European countries.

Speed limits on European motorways was found to vary significantly, ranging from 62mph in Cyprus and Latvia to 80mph in Austria, France, and Greece.

Germany imposes no maximum speed limit on motorways, although an 80mph top speed is ‘recommended’ on some autobahns.

Denmark, Finland, and Sweden inflict varying speed limits on all roads, so drivers are urged to pay particular attention to road signs.

All 20 countries surveyed have on-the-spot fines, with countries such as Belgium, Italy, and Poland, requiring drivers to make an immediate cash deposit towards fines. 

Countries such as Cyprus, Greece, and Sweden are not allowed to collect any money from on-the-spot fines and instead ask drivers to pay their fines at a later date. It is advised that drivers carry both cash and/or a payment card when driving abroad, as some countries such as Portugal have portable ATM machines in traffic police vehicles for immediate payment of any driving infraction.

UK and American drivers should also be aware that compulsory car equipment varies according to country. Nine out of the 20 countries researched require drivers to carry a reflective jacket in the car at all times, but France is the only country in Europe that requires drivers to carry a breathalyzer kit inside their vehicle.


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Picture Credit: "Fareskilt 45" by Statens Vegvesen via Wikimedia Commons.

UK and Ireland’s best road trips revealed

CONTINENTAL TYRES has published a guide to what it says are 12 of the best road trips in the UK and Ireland.
They include …

· Bealach Na Ba (pictured at top) – Wester Ross.

· The Wild Atlantic Way (at right) – Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, Kerry, and Cork.

· Buttertubs Pass – Yorkshire.

· The Evo Triangle (at left) – Denbighshire, Conwy, and Gwynedd.

· A686 from Penrith to Haydon Bridge – Cumbria and Northumberland.

· The Snake Pass – Cheshire and Yorkshire.

· The Wicklow Mountains (at right) – Wicklow, Carlow, Wexford, and Dublin.

· Abergwesyn Pass – Powys. 

· Black Mountain Pass – Powys and Monmouthshire.

www.ContientalRoadTrip.com

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Picture Credit: "Bealach na Ba Pano" by Stefan Krause, Germany - Own work via Wikimedia Commons; "Wild Atlantic, Co. Mayo" by Robert Bone via Wikimedia Commons; Courtesy GoHoliday

Take a drive through history

THE Lakeland Motor Museum in the Leven Valley, close to the southern tip of Lake Windermere, has 30,000 exhibits assembled over half a century.

In addition to tracing over 100 years of motoring history, the museum pays tribute to Sir Malcolm and Donald Campbell who between them captured 21 world land and water speed records in the Bluebird series of cars and boats. Highlights include full-size replicas of the Campbells’ vehicles: a 1935 Bluebird car, the 1939 boat, Bluebird K4, and the 1967 jet hydroplane, Bluebird K7.

There’s also a recreation of a typical 1950’s ‘Greasy Spoon’ café, seen on the sides of Britain’s main trunk roads such as the A1 and the A6. They served (and a good many still do) mainly fried or grilled food, and were not known for the availability of healthy options.

The museum is open daily, year-round.

www.lakelandmotormuseum.co.uk


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The city in your pocket

THE AA has updated its range of CityPack pocket guides to the world’s top holiday destinations.

Each guide recommends the Top 25 must-see sights, and a Further Afield section highlights places outside the city that shouldn’t be missed. 

The Need to Know section helps with holiday planning, covering arriving, getting around, and useful words and phrases.

Cities in the range are:

• Amsterdam 
• Barcelona 
• Boston 
• Budapest 
• Dublin 
• Florence 
• Istanbul 
• Las Vegas 
• London 
• Madrid 
• New York 
• Orlando 
• Paris 
• Rome 
• San Francisco 
• Singapore 
• Venice

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Picture Credit: AA

More growth for UK ferries

BRITAIN'S ferry industry continued its revival in 2014 on more than 75 routes, posting increases across the board for passengers, cars, and coaches carried during last year.

According to the 2014 statistics published by the industry body, Discover Ferries, passenger numbers were up by 2.6% to 39.01 million. 

Passenger cars carried by ferries were up by 1.6% at 8.5 million, and more than 163,300 coaches, an increase of 3.1%.

Ferry services to France and the Netherlands led the growth. Domestic mainland ferry routes were up 1.8% overall to 15.83 million passengers, with Scottish routes performing best.

‘It has been another strong year for UK ferry industry, putting on more than a million passengers for the second year in succession, with us now in striking distance of 40 million passengers for 2015,’ said Discover Ferries director Bill Gibbons.

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Picture Credit: "Wake (Kilwater) behind a ferry". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Car rental satisfaction drops

HIGHER costs and longer waiting times have levelled off the upward trend in rental car satisfaction the industry has experienced since 2009, according to the J.D. Power North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study.

The study measures overall customer satisfaction with rental cars at airport locations by examining six factors: cost and fees; pick-up process; return process; rental car; shuttle bus/van; and the reservation process.

The 2014 study finds that the price of a rental car has increased by an average of $5 per day from 2013. Waiting times are longer across all aspects of the rental process, from the shuttle bus or van ride to returning the vehicle, compared with 2013.

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The AA has it mapped out

FOR the very many people who don’t use satnav when driving, the AA has published a range of road atlases for France and continental Europe, updated for 2015.

The series comprises six atlases in a variety of scales and sizes … four for France, and two covering more than 46 European countries. They are available from the AA bookstores.

http://shop.theaa.com/store/uk-1

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Picture Credit: theaa.com

Travel facts.........

KHARDUNG LA in Ladakh, India is regarded as one of the highest driveable roads in world, at 17,582 feet.

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It’s open!

MORE than 500 guests – one of them travelling from Australia – attended the opening of the new Haynes International Motor Museum in Sparkford, Somerset on April 16.

The opening – by Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries – was the climax of a £5 million investment project which showcases for the first time the museum’s full collection of some of the greatest cars from around the world.

Ed Vaisey MP (seated) and John H. Haynes OBE at the opening

This included the official opening of:

Three new exhibition halls – Minis and Micros, Century of Supercars, Motorcycle Mezzanine

Three modernized halls

A new Haynes Motorland Children’s adventure play zone

New events facilities in the ‘Engine Rooms’,

A new entrance foyer with a shop and café

Cutting the ribbon, Mr Vaizey said: ‘I was delighted to be invited to open the new Haynes International Museum which I know has been a stunning success over the last thirty years and I have every confidence will be even more so over the next thirty years.  It has been impressive to see the journey from 30 to over 400 cars and motorcycles in the collection. Although if I can get my hands on the fantastic Mustang I have been eyeing up, that number may reduce by one.

‘As well as bringing a much needed boost to the local Somerset economy and creating jobs, the new museum will in the future continue to attract visitors and investment to the West Country at a key time for the South West following the recent flooding.’

John H. Haynes OBE, Chairman of Haynes International Motor Museum, said: ‘As an educational trust, I am pleased to be able to show the evolution of cars through the ages and geographies of the world so they can be appreciated by all age groups and backgrounds.  I look forward to continuing to grow and share the collection, ensuring this continues to be a top tourist attraction in the UK and beyond.’

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One in five at risk of fines when driving in France

ONE-IN-FIVE DRIVERS are leaving themselves at risk of fines if they drive to France by not knowing they are required to carry a warning triangle in their car, according to an AA survey.  More than a third of respondents were not aware that they needed a reflective jacket if driving in France and more than half did not know that a disposable breathalyser was also needed.

Not having the correct equipment when driving in Europe can leave drivers subject to an on-the-spot fine of between €15 and €135 (£12-£111). 

The AA Euro Travel Kit could keep British drivers out trouble. It includes a set of headlight beam converters, a hazard warning triangle, a reflective emergency jacket, a first aid kit, universal bulb kit, a magnetic GB plate, and the AA’s European Driver’s Handbook  packed with country-by-country travel facts, maps, and toll free routes.

The kit is available from retailers and online with a typical selling price of £39.99.  It also available at www.theaa.com/shop.

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Drive back through time...

A NEW-LOOK Haynes International Motor Museum in Sparkford, Somerset, opens to visitors on April 16.

After ten years of planning, two-and-a-half years of building work and a £5 million investment, the new museum will have three new exhibition halls – Minis and Micros, Century of Supercars, and Motorcycle Mezzanine – plus themed rooms and a children’s adventure play zone.

Established in 1985 by John H. Haynes OBE with 33 cars, the new museum will have more than 400 cars and motorcycles from around the world, including a working replica of the first production car ever made – an 1885 Benz.

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