Mr Kripling
Active Member
Well, after owning my CL for 9 months I thought it was high time that I should use it the way it was intended and take it on a long journey. I had tried last October but an EIS failure meant that a jaunt up to Scotland had to be done in my Phaeton instead...
This time, though, nothing would stand in my way.
Since I've only ever driven over the Great St Bernard Pass, I thought a quick tour of some of the other Alpine passes with a friend could be fun, followed by a little trip to Affalterbach. Because I'd be nipping into Germany, I asked Olly at PCS to take a look at the brakes and brake lines (which he had previously advised were corroded). It seems winter had not been kind to them and so he advised that they were replaced. All was well until the following day, the message that strikes fear into the hearts of CL owners appeared.
"ABC - Drive Carefully!"
Which I did, straight back to PCS. The pump had given up the ghost four days before I was supposed to leave. However, PCS worked their magic and Graham fitted a new pump the following day. Although the stein fund had taken a knock (£960 for the pump
) it had to be done.
France was dispatched with ease with the péage providing several opportunities for checking that the engine was still working properly in the higher rev ranges
We took the scenic route over the Jura mountains to stop just north of Geneva.
The view over Martigny:
Almost as good as the view 180 degrees away:
From there we headed towards the Grimsel Pass and then north to the Susten Pass. Of all the passes I've done, I'd recommend the Susten Pass the most highly. It was relatively quiet, had stunning views, flowing curves and lots of small tunnels.
The CL55 often gets accused of being too quiet but with all the windows down and the cliff walls reflecting the sound back it sounded like a proper act of God. Only angrier.
Managed to catch the odometer as it ticked over to all the ones!
Nice view:
Nice moo:
This time, though, nothing would stand in my way.
Since I've only ever driven over the Great St Bernard Pass, I thought a quick tour of some of the other Alpine passes with a friend could be fun, followed by a little trip to Affalterbach. Because I'd be nipping into Germany, I asked Olly at PCS to take a look at the brakes and brake lines (which he had previously advised were corroded). It seems winter had not been kind to them and so he advised that they were replaced. All was well until the following day, the message that strikes fear into the hearts of CL owners appeared.
"ABC - Drive Carefully!"
Which I did, straight back to PCS. The pump had given up the ghost four days before I was supposed to leave. However, PCS worked their magic and Graham fitted a new pump the following day. Although the stein fund had taken a knock (£960 for the pump
) it had to be done.
France was dispatched with ease with the péage providing several opportunities for checking that the engine was still working properly in the higher rev ranges
We took the scenic route over the Jura mountains to stop just north of Geneva.
The view over Martigny:
Almost as good as the view 180 degrees away:
From there we headed towards the Grimsel Pass and then north to the Susten Pass. Of all the passes I've done, I'd recommend the Susten Pass the most highly. It was relatively quiet, had stunning views, flowing curves and lots of small tunnels.
The CL55 often gets accused of being too quiet but with all the windows down and the cliff walls reflecting the sound back it sounded like a proper act of God. Only angrier.
Managed to catch the odometer as it ticked over to all the ones!
Nice view:
Nice moo:
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