Vienna, Austria and Riva del Garda, Italy... and a review of the Skoda Roomster

Stunning Alpine Scenery

On the road in Bavaria

Not all of the trip was about sobering 20th century history. We did spend a pleasant couple of days in Salzburg in the beautiful Salzkammergut area of Austria. I almost consider this part of Europe to be a second home (in addition to the Netherlands) as each time I return I grow more fond of the area. The culture and natural beauty is simply spectacular. After the all too brief stay in Salzburg it was on to Vienna for my biannual law school international reunion. An event I always look forward to, this year's reunion was quite simply the best yet. Good friends and accomplished professionals in their home countries, it is always a pleasure to meet and network and enjoy an interesting European city. We had a great time enjoying the Viennese nightlife. Two of the hip clubs we went to: Bar Italia and The White Line. Bar Italia had a nice lounge feel and the White Line had pretty people and great dance vibes. Check out Bar Italia and click on the video link to get an impression of this fashionable lounge.

Welcoming new Austrian graduates into the extended law school family at the opening dinner at the Vienna Radisson Hotel

Bar Italia, central Vienna after the reception/graduation dinner. The middle point of a very long night!

The party continues back at the hotel as the sun rises... almost time for breakfast!

Reception later in the day (after very little sleep!) at a Viennese law firm overlooking the Danube River and the city of Vienna

At the law firm reception

Entrance of a Viennese Heurigen (vineyard), site of the second evening's dinner and wine tasting. Turned out to be the first stop and then it was on to the nightclubs of Vienna... and another morning watching the sun rise before calling it quits! Don't believe anyone who says that attorneys don't know how to party!

From Vienna it was time to head across Austria to the Dolomites of Northern Italy and Riva del Garda for a business conference. Instead of driving the quicker route back west to Salzburg and over the Brenner Pass into Italy, I decided to travel south on the A2 via Graz (my home state of California Governor Schwarzenegger's hometown), Klagenfurt, Villach, and over the border to Udine, Verona and on to Riva del Garda. The drive was beautiful, especially near Villach and the Slovenian border. Northeast Italy is very industrial especially the region surrounding Venice and the traffic on the roads reflected this. Lots of freight on the move! After the hard weekend of VERY late nights in Vienna I needed to take a couple of breaks to get some seriously needed rest on the approximately 8 hour drive.

Beautiful scenery on the way to Italy

On the shores of Lake Garda in Northern Italy. Spectacular location to do business!

Business discussion at Riva del Garda

Several days of serious business talks followed in the supremely beautiful setting of Garda lake in the Trentino area of the Dolomites Mountains. Then it was back up through the Brenner Pass and Innsbruck Austria and then on to Munich for the return home.

Skoda Update:


So how did the Skoda fare over the 10 days of travel? I was pretty unimpressed during my initial encounter with the car. Rubbery shift feeling, long throws and a long reach to the shifter, a lack of steering feel, a top heavy feeling, all of the foregoing did not bode well for the Roomster. However, the 1.9 liter twin turbo diesel proved to be a fairly peppy motor and allowed me to pass a fair amount of traffic with gusto. I adjusted to the steering and though not a precision tool, enough feel exists to give confidence within the car's performance limits. The small tires and top heavy feel made me refrain from making quick maneuvers in favor of smooth inputs, especially at speed. The center armrest was a pain when in the down position since my elbow would always hit when I wanted to shift.

I attained approximately 180 kmh (111 mph) at about 4000 rpms (max approx 4500 rpm) on a derestricted portion of the German autobahn. Pretty good for a fairly high profile vehicle. Sure, I had to move over quickly for the true performance vehicles but torque and decent speed allowed for fairly easy overtaking.

Final verdict: After well over a one-thousand miles behind the wheel I found the Skoda Roomster to be a competent vehicle with decent space for luggage, roomy rear seats given the vehicle's size with good visibility and lots of glass, good fit and finish with quality VW feel, awkward styling, decent power, smoothness, and good fuel economy with highest spec diesel motor. Definitely not an enthusiast car, but it is a competent European travel companion.

Final Note

Before I sign off on this post I have to thank Jennifer for taking most of the photos and video. She joined me on this trip and also reconnected with several of my friends she got to know back in my post-grad study days and also helped with the business conference. Without her camera I'd have a lot less to post about!

Berchtesgaden, Germany

The Skoda Roomster chased by an angry classic Mini on the road from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden

Remains of the driveway leading to Hitler's Berghof

The Berghof seen in a period photo. I stood in the area roughly shown as the driveway to the left.

All that remains above ground of Hitler's alpine mountain retreat

Blasted area of the tunnel complex which ran underneath the Berghof. German writing on the wall stated that this machine gun position was taken out by a "panzerfaust" or better known to us in the USA: a bazooka.

View from inside the bunker complex near the ruins of the Berghof. Here machine gun and observation slits can be clearly seen in the hallway. To the left: a kennel for protection dogs.

At a Berchtesgadener specialty brewery. Much lighter atmosphere after visiting the foreboding ruins of a brutal regime.

I'm spending my final night near Munich's international airport and I thought I'd put up a small update. This trip has been very busy so I haven't had much time to get online but the beginning of the trip was actually quite relaxed. Immediately after touching down in Munich we drove to Salzburg with the plan to visit famous sights from Mozart and the musical "The Sound of Music" but jet lag and feeling a little bit under the weather meant a LOT of rest.

Before departing for Vienna we did manage to get over to Berchtesgaden, Germany while driving in a steady rain. Although always a beautiful place, the alpine setting was obscured by the rainy and overcast weather. History buff that I am I made sure to visit the area of the Berghof (Hitler's mountain home), or what little is left of it, and explored the remaining passageways of the underground complex that protected and connected different sections of a vast complex. I was alone for quite awhile down in the tunnels. It actually felt very eerie to be alone and facing machine gun slits meant to protect the Nazi dictator. It really is hard to imagine that this beautiful and serene mountain setting was the focal point of so many decisions that had a ruinous impact on the modern world.

After the sobering visit to the Berghof it would have been nice to visit the Kehlsteinhaus "Eagle's Nest" at the top of Obersalzberg Mountain for more history and for the spectacular view but I thought it better to get on with the drive to Vienna because of the bad weather.

Before we left Berchtesgaden we made a stop at the Grassl Enzianbrennerei and tasted a few of the locally grown, brewed, and distilled root-based liquor products. Picked up a couple of bottles and hit the road to Vienna. For more visit: Enzianbrennerei Grassl.

More later as time allows!

Back to Europe in the Skoda Roomster

The Skoda "Roomster" at Franz Josef Strauss Airport, Munich, Germany. Roomy for a small car yes, decent turbodiesel power, but darn if I don't miss the power of my MINI from last summer's blasts down the autobahn!

I'm in Europe on business and to attend a class reunion. It's good to be back even if only for a short stay! I arrived in Munich and immediately picked up my Skoda "Roomster" TDI at Hertz and drove over the border via autobahn (I already miss the passing power of my MINI!) into Austria and on to my old stomping ground of historic Salzburg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birthplace and home of the von Trapps of "The Sound of Music". Mozart dominates the town as usual and I am always very happy to be in this wonderfully beautiful place. I hope to take a day out and head over to the magnificent vistas and intriguing WW2 history of nearby Berchtesgaden, Germany before getting back on the "schnellweg" to Vienna for a class reunion. After that it is over the border into Italy for a business conference.

If you are interested in the Czech Skoda (an offshoot of the VW Group) have a look at: Autoblog on the Roomster or on the official Skoda homepage at: Skoda Roomster. For a history of the Skoda car company which goes all the way back to 1894(!) visit Wikipedia at: Skoda Auto.

I hope to post more soon and add some more Roomster driving impressions!

Just before leaving the airport in Munich, Germany we came across this interesting BMW display. Given that Munich is the home of BMW finding this advert was not a huge surprise!

JCW MCS Gets a High Performance Camshaft

I've been having issues with one of my O2 sensors as my "check engine light" has been on for a couple of weeks. I went up to Steve's Auto Clinic in North Hills, Calfornia (in the blazingly hot San Fernando Valley) to have the issue sorted and to take the opportunity to change oil and check all fluids prior to the summer driving season. I also have a Schrick camshaft sitting on my table that is just begging to be installed. Well, today is the day I decided to get all of it done.

The oil change and O2 sensor replacement was completed very quickly. The location of the sensors on the John Cooper Motorsport full exhaust system made access very easy.

The camshaft install was more intense but it was a fascinating experience to watch the engine head being removed and the valvetrain internals laid bare for the cam installation. The Schrick camshaft is tuned to remain smooth at idle and give a good punch from about 2500 rpm and on up to redline. A heavily modified car like mine should easily see between 5-10+ horsepower gain from the new cam install. I'll definitely have to get JCW MCS on a dyno to see just how far I've come from bone stock 168 horsepower to the original JCW 200 kit install back in 2004 to the JCW 210 upgrade to John Cooper Motorsport 225 HPD conversion to Cooper Motorsport sourced limited slip differential and light flywheel upgrades to the Schrick cam. Quite a bit of fettling under the bonnet I'd say!

I've posted some pictures to give you a flavor of the install process:

Faulty oxygen sensor replaced

On the lift surrounded by MINIs new and old and a very yellow '69 Camaro

Inspecting the valvetrain

New and old camshaft and various valvetrain parts

Schrick high-performance camshaft in-place

Steve and Junior completing camshaft installation

I've only had one drive with the new cam installed but I DEFINITELY feel a difference as I'm easily able to power-on chirp the front tires. I think I'm really gonnna like this engine modification...

JCW Clubman and Cooper S On Track

Fun Video of the new generation JCWs on the racetrack. What?!? No supercharger whine??? I still need to get used to the turbocharger era...

2008 MINI Cooper S JCW vs. Renault Clio Cup

Does the turbocharged "base" MINI Cooper S JCW have the speed and handling to take on the not-available-in-the-USA Renault Clio Cup? Tiff Needell and Jason Plato of Fifth Gear along with guest and awesome stunt driver Russ Swift (who performed amazing feats in the MINI at Mini United 2007) put the two cars to the test in the as-usual entertaining manner.



Video content is the property of Fifth Gear.

Berlin's Historic Airport Under Threat

As part of my MINI United adventure in 2007 I traveled to Berlin, Germany. A fascinating city with its huge role during the 20th century, Berlin is home to many landmarks including Tempelhof Airport. I circled the airport in my MINI and drove by the memorial to the Berlin Airlift. The buildings are architecturally interesting and I think it would be a shame if the airport were to disappear. Sounds like this is not completely the case, but there is that possibility. Anyway, Reuters has a video that talks about Tempelhof Airport:

Maserati Day at Ferrari/Maserati Beverly Hills

On Saturday, 12 April I was invited to drive the Maserati Granturismo (and Quattroporte GTS) by my friends at Ferrari/Maserati Beverly Hills. I've been eagerly awaiting this opportunity and the car did not disappoint. The event was elegantly organized and catered with wonderful Italian luxury goods on display when the guests weren't occupied with all the automotive engineering art all around.

Driving the Granturismo was quite easy. I thought the car's dimensions would be a little difficult to get used to but by two blocks I was comfortably rowing through the ZF auto transmission's Sport Paddleshift mode and maneuvering comfortably. Of course the stint behind the driver's wheel inside such an exquisite interior made me want more... and I look forward to the introduction of the Granturismo S with the the true manual paddle shift "Super Fast" gearbox out of the Ferrari 599 and the 440 hp 4.7 liter engine with revised suspension tuning. I can't wait for another drive!

The folks over at Beverly Hills put on a very nice event with some excellent gifts in the goodie bag we received as we left. I'll be sure to dogear the lovely Granturismo brochure and I'll be closely tracking the progress of the Granturismo S!

A MINI Vacation in Vegas (AMVIV) 2008

JCW MCS at rest in Shoshone, California. It's a loooong way from Paris, France!

MINIs at rest in Death Valley, California at about 250 feet below sea level!

I spent several days last week in Las Vegas, primarily for the annual AMVIV MINI owner's event. Last year my car had problems before it even made it to Las Vegas so I spent a day checking out the vendor displays on the top deck of the Palace Station Hotel parking structure while awaiting the repair of my vehicle. More on that adventure can be read in the archives for March 2007 which can be accessed from the right frame of the main blog webpage or just click this link: March 2007.

This year I got a little more involved: I took the day-long excursion with countless other MINIs out from Las Vegas to Death Valley, California, and back via the small town of Pahrump, Nevada to make a stop at Mountain Motorsports Park, host of the first round of the North American MINI Challenge. A great day on the road.

Video of some of the weekend's events

The run from Las Vegas was a lot of fun. I've never driven with so many MINIs in one caravan and that includes my trip to MINI United 2007! After a rest stop in Shoshone, CA where a photojournalist enthusiastically photographed my car for possible magazine submission, the group made its way into the National Park. Visiting Death Valley for the first time (with a huge gaggle of MINIs!) was a very interesting experience. I have the factory navigation system in my car and to watch the altitude go from 3000+ ft MSL to -260 ft MSL in the span of fifteen minutes was amazing! As the altitude decreased I also watched the NAV screen show a corresponding increase in temperature. Interesting trivia indeed from the nav system!

It's gettin' hot and the altitude is in the negative!

MINIs on the road at Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California

Near Furnace Creek

After Death Valley it was off for the MINIUSA sponsored lunch and action on-track at Mountain Motorsports Park. I took JCW MCS on the track for a few laps and was able to notch up another racetrack that the car has turned a wheel on. Not necessarily as exotic as the Nurburgring in Germany but fun nonetheless!

Parked at the start/finish line of Mountain Motorsports Park in Pahrump, Nevada

I spent part of Saturday on the top floor of the car park at the Palace Station Hotel and spoke briefly with the folks at MC2 Magazine, Todd of White Roof Radio, and with RB at Twistybitz. RB has been on this site quite frequently and it was nice to meet him in-person and hear that his weekend was going well. Check out his website at http://www.twistybitz.com/.

The vendor display area on the top deck of the Palace Station Hotel and Casino

My MINI AMVIV visit was over but before I left Las Vegas I went over to the Wynn Hotel and Casino to drop by the Penske Ferrari/Maserati dealership. I was courteously received and was able to tour the showroom and get behind the velvet ropes to have a closer look at the Maserati Granturismo. The staff was very helpful and I got a heap of information about the car and some nuggets I hadn't known before. I'm serious about putting a deposit on the new S version due at the end of the year but I'm a couple of months away from being able to spec a car.

So, I got to play around for the weekend with cars, I didn't lose my shirt in the casinos, and had a great time. Good trip!

Maserati Granturismo S, Time to get serious!

Well, it's here by the end of 2008, the car I really wanted Maserati to build. Not much more to be said but "Wow!". The GT's introduction at the recent Geneva Auto Show has piled on my desire to get behind the wheel of this drop-dead gorgeous machine. Time to get serious about putting a deposit down...

Overview of the Granturismo S

Edmunds.com impressions from the 2008 Geneva Auto Show

Old School Adrenaline Rush

I just watched an old music video favorite and thought I'd post it here since news has been a bit on the slow side lately. Van Halen's "Dreams" accompanied by the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels (flying the previous generation A4 Skyhawk and not the F/A-18 Hornet) has always been one of my favorites. I've never posted anything related to my aviation interests (many of you know that I am a private pilot) and the combination of Van Halen's music and the Blue Angels' flying prowess has always been an adrenaline rush. I'd listen to Dreams as a motivator before driving the Skip Barber Formula Dodge racecars back when I was on-track frequently. Anyway, here it is:



And here's a modern version of the same video with the Blue Angels flying the F/A-18. I'm always amazed that the pilots don't wear G suits! :


Music copyright: Van Halen. Video footage courtesy of the U.S. Navy.

For more on the Blue Angels please visit: http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/

The Big Easy - Nouvelle Orleans

I was on the road last week attending my industry's biggest North American Trade Show in New Orleans. Jennifer joined me to get an insight into the industry I'm working in and to get a taste (literally!) of New Orleans. I was pretty busy this year so there wasn't a lot of time to enjoy the city but there was time for dinner at Emeril's Restaurant in New Orlean's Warehouse District and Nuvolari's in nearby Mandeville across Lake Pontchartrain. A final morning walk in the Vieux Carre with stops at the Napolean House on St. Louis Street for Muffaletta sandwiches to bring back to L.A., Bourbon Street, the Waterfront, Canal Street, and time for cafe au lait and beignets at the Cafe du Monde at the corner of Jackson Square.

Business discussion

Jackson Square, French Quarter, New Orleans near Cafe du Monde

On Bourbon Street

Rainy February and the MCN Video Review of the Ducati 1098R

Outdoor fun has been fleeting during the month of February... plenty of rain and the flu had me down and out. The Ferrari finally got on the road after basically being in storage for the last three months. Besides a perfect Sunday drive out to Malibu in the F355 on 10 February

Amanda's birthday drive in the F355 on the best Sunday in February

and a motorcycle ride down to Lake Elsinore and over Ortega Highway to the Orange County coastline on the Harley-Davidson V-Rod, I haven't gotten out much. The MINI's oil pressure gauge is acting up again so I might need to head over to Steve's Auto Clinic to have that issue sorted out. We'll see. I still need to get the Nurburgring sticker on the car!

I came across Britain's MCN (Motorcycle News) Magazine's video review about the Ducati 1098R. What a bike! Truly an awesome machine and backs up my conclusions about the beast.

Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Video courtesy of MCN

Finally, today is Academy Awards day a couple of miles from my place. But back in the summer of 2006 I headed to Hollywood Boulevard to see the stars of MotoGP and the awesome Ducati race bike strut its stuff in front of the Kodak Theater. Here is a picture of that day that shows future world champion Nicky Hayden riding his Honda on the boulevard. Down the line (just past the outstretched hands and wearing sunglasses) you might find a familiar face (mine!) enjoying the event. I had returned from Italy and the Italian Grand Prix a month earlier and it was interesting to see the racebikes on the streets of L.A. instead of the rolling hills of Tuscany!

Nicky Hayden (not on his MotoGP bike) on Hollywood Boulevard

Picture from MotoGP.com, the official website of the MotoGP World Championship

Possible New Love?

What am I talking about? Well with me it is usually something mechanical and yes folks, a new motorcycle has caught my eye. The Ducati 1098R is quite a beast. 186 hp with the racing exhaust, traction control (the first for a production motorcycle), MotoGP and World Superbike technology aplenty, this is one serious machine. Expensive...yes. I've heard that it's going to run about $40,000.00 in the US. No small change but nevertheless I keep mulling the possibilities and keep checking the piggy bank. Hey, at least it costs less than the $72,000.00 Desmosedici and I think it is a helluva lot sexier looking too! Beauty, brains, brawn, and exclusivity (hmmm... where can I find a woman like that?): what's not to like? Dealers are taking orders now...

Ducati 1098R

The stock clutch cover would last about 5 seconds on my bike before I put something better looking on!

Image courtesy of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.

Ducati Desmosedici unveiled!

I received an invitation to attend the unveiling of the Ducati Desmosedici on 2 February. This bike is THE closest thing to a race specific machine available for the street. It's like owning a Mclaren F1 car with turn signals. Very expensive and very rare, the bike will surely see more "museum" time than street time. 200+ horsepower, MotoGP tech aplenty, the Desmosedici is like nothing else on the road. About 1500 will be built and they are all spoken for.

Pro Italia Motors in Glendale, California, a longtime and respected Ducati dealer, unveiled the first U.S. customer bike. Rumors have it that Tom Cruise has also taken delivery...

Update 24 February 2008

Here is the official Pro Italia video of the Desmosedici unveiling (you get a glimpse of me in my Ducati MotoGP Race Team shirt ogling the bike):

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Anyway, I got a few grainy pictures and a short video on my phone: