Driving in Barbados.

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Adamxck
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Driving in Barbados.

Postby Adamxck » Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:03 pm

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.
Last edited by Adamxck on Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Adam.

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StressedDave
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Re: Driving in Barbados.

Postby StressedDave » Mon Feb 01, 2016 12:29 pm

There is a man who has never driven a Suzuki Super Carry... Ditch the family and go for a drive with it unladen.
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ChristianAB
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Re: Driving in Barbados.

Postby ChristianAB » Sat Feb 27, 2016 1:24 pm

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

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Adamxck
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Re: Driving in Barbados.

Postby Adamxck » Sat Feb 27, 2016 9:03 pm

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.
Adam.

Jonquirk
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Re: Driving in Barbados.

Postby Jonquirk » Sat Feb 27, 2016 9:25 pm

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...

sussex2
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Re: Driving in Barbados.

Postby sussex2 » Fri Mar 18, 2016 2:33 pm

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

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

Good luck.

waremark
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Re: Driving in Barbados.

Postby waremark » Fri Mar 18, 2016 7:04 pm

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.

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Adamxck
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Re: Driving in Barbados.

Postby Adamxck » Fri Mar 25, 2016 11:54 am

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.
Last edited by Adamxck on Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Adam.

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Adamxck
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Re: Driving in Barbados.

Postby Adamxck » Fri Mar 25, 2016 11:58 am

Also, the buses have rear spoliers...
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TheInsanity1234
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Re: Driving in Barbados.

Postby TheInsanity1234 » Sat Mar 26, 2016 11:55 pm

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

"Downforce, innit?"


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