Advanced Driving Hub

Worst 'I'm going to Barbados thread ever.

I'm going to Barbados in March with a lot of family. My MIL has just sent me confirmation of the hire car (van) we'll have. All up, we're looking at 1,800kg+ and 91bhp at the fly. It's a Suzuki APV van and it's going to be brilliant....I hope.

I'd like to think, considering they do a tradesman type van as well as the people carrier type, that Suzuki will have fitted brakes that can handle the laden weight. The engine certainly won't be up to much. Quick maths suggests about 50bhp/ton

I'm looking forward to the challenge of producing a progressive, smooth drive that doesn't upset any of my passengers (of which there are 7). This is obviously what we should be looking for on every drive, but doing it in an underpowered, lumbering (assumed; happy to be wrong) bus seems like it might be tricky, but that's the fun.

I'm also interested to see what the local driving is like. For the most part we will be avoiding the touristy bits as half of the people coming are Bajan and know the local things. They tell me the roads are rubbish and I'll have no fun, but I'm trying not to believe them. It's not like there is anything else to do while I'm there.

How sad is it that I'm more excited to be driving a terrible van than laying on a beach.

There is a man who has never driven a Suzuki Super Carry... Ditch the family and go for a drive with it unladen.

50bhp/ton? and you worry about being progressive?
I mean, do you ever worry about being progressive when you walk? No? there you go...

I walk as I drive. Looking ahead, planning my lines and overtaking dawdlers. Works in the supermarket too.

Half the fun will be maintaining momentum and thus, making progress.

Adamxck wrote:I walk as I drive. Looking ahead, planning my lines and overtaking dawdlers. Works in the supermarket too.

Half the fun will be maintaining momentum and thus, making progress.

For a while I used a J4 with a 1500cc Diesel making 40bhp as a daily driver. The above applied to driving that and keeping up with the flow of traffic. If only the leaky heater matrix had been fixed instead of bypassed...

I've just seen this thread but Google'd and found this:

https://barbadosfreepress.wordpress.com ... e-than-uk/

Good luck.

About the only occasion in a quite long already life when I can remember asking a taxi driver to slow down was in Barbados. On the other hand I was quite comfortable driving myself in a hire car.

Well, the journey from the airport to the house was... interesting. I wasnt driving which was a shame as the chap that was was very reactive and not at all subtle about it.

The locals don't indicate much but you can make a strong assumption about their intent from the body language. Buses apear to just pull out and on one occasion, through obvious lack of concentration, caused the car next to us to swerve into our lane to avoid a collision. I saw it coming, but unfortunately the chap driving did not so that was a bit of a moment.

The road surface is generally terrible but the island is largely flat so you can see a good way into the distance and navigate the worst of the holes without too much trouble.

The cars are awsome. I found myself commentng on the awsomeness of some vehicle or other at least once every couple of minutes. Mostly old busted up stuff that has been 'repaired' but I saw an Elise too which I didnt expect.

Having not driven the van yet I cant comment, but we have been given an 'upgrade' to something that talks to you in Japanese every now and again. Sadly its got a 2.0l which seems fairly capable. I was looking forward to the asthmatic thing but i guess this will do.

Clearly then, advanced observation and planning, along with solid 'emergency contingencies in case of suddenly swerving vehicles' are the order of the day. Perhaps the ride i had amplified what might have been minor issues, and gave a false impression of the roads, but Ill certainly err on the side of caution to begin with.

Also, the buses have rear spoliers...

Adamxck wrote:Also, the buses have rear spoliers...

"Downforce, innit?"