Nissan 370Z Nismo for a romantic weekend trip

by Sara Norris

I like route planning. For myself maybe more than I do for other people, because I sometimes drive 10-12 hours per day… Easily. With very few stops. That is one of the reasons why travelling alone (or with the dog) is much less complicated – I only have myself to take care of, and no one will complain if it takes 10 hours to get from A to B. For me 10 hours is not a problem if the car is good, although I am trying to learn some “chill planning” – slightly shorter distances to drive, more time to climb up on the mountains and shoot photos…

Colle del Nivolet
The stunning Colle del Nivolet, photo by Saimei Baba on Flickr


Colle del Nivolet, one of the roads on route, the one in the “Italian Job” bus scene

However, next weekend will be spent with a Nissan 370Z Nismo. Four days with the car and route has now been done. If I compare with how I planned road trips 2012 and 2013 it makes more sense now. I pre-book hotels – something I am now really loving. In 2012 I drove down from Grimsel and Furka Pass. I had no hotel ready for the night, and I had no internet either. I called my mother in Finland. “I am here now, please book a hotel somewhere nearby – any – and just send me the address”. She booked one, but I arrived too late for check-in and did not get in… And slept in the car, of course. But to turn something negative into positive, I actually a) drove a pretty fun mountain road late evening and b) woke up with a nice view.

Albero Hospice St Bernard PassGreat St Bernard Pass and the hotel down there… I need to do some climbing maybe…

The point is however that unless you are just “chill driving” without a fixed schedule, knowing where you are going to sleep the next night is pretty nice. Then you plan a route and maybe you drive that exact route, maybe you modify it a little on the go, but at least you know where you will arrive when the drive for the day is over. And I like it. I am sometimes a little too spontaneous, “I will decide later”, and then I ask myself what went wrong in the planning phase. It was most likely the lack of proper planning and then nine in the evening I have surely had a fun day in the car on mountain roads, but then what…? “Where am I actually?”

For the Nissan 370Z Nismo I had a few roads I definitely wanted to include (Great St Bernard Pass, Col de l’Iseran, Colle del Nivolet, Grimsel Pass and Susten Pass) and the hotels I have booked are directly on this route (two of them on top of the mountain passes and the third almost at the top, good hotel finds).

Grimsel HospizGrimsel Hospiz, my hotel on Grimsel Pass

Almost ready to roll! Just the two of us this time, me and the car, not even the dog because she is on holiday in Finland. That feels strange, to not even have the dog there. But first I need to fly to Barcelona for a Mazda MX-5 launch, then it is time for some Nismo romance on alpine roads…

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2 comments

Grigio Chiaro September 1, 2014 - 8:51 pm

Just had a thought on yesterday, what it would be like to own 350z and now you are about make a trip with its big brother.
Ooooh, this gonna be A-class material – GetPalmd -style :)

-gc

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Sara Näse September 1, 2014 - 10:57 pm

You know what the 350Z was something I also have been looking at in past and still in mind for future (when it is time to buy something = next year, now I still use the company MINI JCW as a daily driver), because they seem like real bang for buck cars :) That is why it will be interesting to test the 370Z – never driven the 350Z but I suppose they are a little similar! Would be fun to try the old 350Z also though, maybe I have to walk into a dealership and ask for a test drive :)

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