It has been a long time that I meant to visit France, specifically the famous Mont Ventoux. The Mont Ventoux has been featured frequently in various publications recently. There is also a Harry’s Garage video out there featuring a trip to the Ventoux in a Ferrari 812 Superfast. Definitely worth watching.
Additionally our friend Planète Piston, a.k.a. Nico B. lives nearby and he seems to be dedicating every spare minute to driving up to the Ventoux. He volunteered to be my guide.
You may want to remark: “well isn’t December a particularly bad month to drive into the mountains?” Yes and no. During the summer season, with all the different tours to take care of, I just don’t have the time to make the 850km dash from Bolzano to Carpentras and in December you will not find any traffic or cyclists that you would upset when driving your cars in a slalom around them. Since Nico was available and I had some spare time on my hand I decided to just give it a go.
The Mont Ventoux elevates to 1909 meters and at this time of the year it was clear that we wouldn’t be able to do the round trip, driving over the summit. Something that is very special about the Ventoux is that it has two faces: When you drive from Malaucène and Mont Serein you find a wonderful, winding mountain road lined with trees. We only managed to drive as far as Mont Serein where we found the street leading up to the summit from Chalet Litoard closed. It was a nice, sunny but very cold Tuesday morning. With the sun sitting so low on the horizon at this time of the year, we did not get much good light for photos either. However, the driving experience was well worth it.
The other side of the Ventoux, departing towards the east from the summit, takes you through landscapes that couldn’t contrast the approach from Mont Serein any more. The scenery looks more like the surface of the moon. No vegetation whatsoever. I think this contrast also contributes much to the fascination of the Ventoux.
How did the old Golf put up with this driving?
Especially when you are normally used to driving a Lotus of some sorts. Well, the Golf maybe an old Mk4 GTI only, but we installed a H&R suspension. Then we also upgraded the brakes to the biggest version that was available in factory trim. Additionally, also to clear the brakes, we installed 17″ rims with (summer) Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S and on this occasion with BF Goodrich winter tyres. The front strut towers received a Wiechers strut brace and so did the front lower wishbone mounting points.
All this converted the car more than I expected. The ride is firm, the shocks a bit on the soft side, the springs a bit on the firm side. A typical “German” approach to tuning a suspension. I bet the ST coilovers that we run on Ming -the Audi S3 – would have been even better. But at the time I ordered the parts these were not available at short notice.
Having said all this I must admit that the handling of the Golf surprised me. The front end has the kind of bite I like when turning in. All the stiffening measures can be felt very well and it makes the front axle very predictable and communicative. Much appreciated. The rear end is a bit tail happy, which is not a problem when you are used to normally driving mid-engine cars. In general the handling inspired confidence into the car and everything turned out to be well controllable even when driven in anger. The big brakes have no problem at all with the puny 150PS 1.8t engine and the generally light car. Also the tyres, regardless of them being winter rubber, worked very well. Also in the snow and ice I found upon my return home to Bolzano.
Joerg
