Take your pick from Audi R8, F430, Gallardo, Nissan GT-R and Porsche 911

TAKE your pick from Audi R8, F430, Gallardo, Nissan GT-R and Porsche 911.

The Nissan GT-R, just one of the cars on the menu.

THE things I do for you! This week I will be out in the field, sleeves rolled up, driving the freeways, byways and any other ways of the US east coast, testing cars for your next holiday.

Oh, did I mention I will be selecting from an Audi R8, F 430, Lambo Gallardo, Merc SLS AMG, Nissan GT-R and the Porker 911?

Unfortunately, I will be paying for the privilege. The F and L cars will cost me about $1360 a day plus $3.50 a mile (no kms in the land of the free) while the Porker is $510 plus 75 cents a mile. Good old Hertz, who brought you the Adrenaline range (Z6 Corvette Stingray, Penske Mustang GT, etc) now have a Dream Car collection.

As you would expect for about $1500 a day, when you arrive at the airport “you will be greeted in person by a Hertz Executive Client Concierge, who will then escort you to your Dream Car for a personal orientation”. No doubt they will show you where the cup-holders, loud pedal and launch control are.

Talking of cars: Holden and Ford are not renowned for their creativity when it comes to the marketing and advertising caper but both deserve an A for effort for their latest social media strategies. Go to YouTube to see the most capped rugby league player in Australia at the moment, Cameron Smith, being taken for a ride by a very heavily disguised Greg Murphy. For Melbourne readers, rugby league is the most physical kind of footy. For non-petrol heads or hybrid drivers, Kiwi Murphy is a four-time Bathurst 1000 winner. Along with Peter Brock, Jason Bright and Todd Kelly he was part of a team that won one of the most exciting races in history.

It was the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour race. Garry Rogers Motorsport had two Monaros running, Peter Brock’s 05 and Garth Tander in car No 427. Towards the end, Kelly and Tander were on the same lap at very close to the same speed. After 527 laps, Kelly crossed the line 0.3 of a second ahead.

Ford has a beautifully shot (courtesy of GoPro) few YouTube minutes of last year’s Bathurst 1000 winner Mark “Frosty” Winterbottom taking what Ford says is a 1967 Mustang convertible around Mount Panorama. In his commentary, Frosty says it is actually a 1968 Mustang but, hey, who is counting? The problem is that it is really nice to watch, Frosty does a good job talking, but it is really, really boring.

Talking of the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour race, Ian Luff was there in a Commodore VX SS. Luffy is the renaissance man of Australian motorsport. A serious race driver, defensive driver instructor, motivational speaker and marketing guru, he’s just the person I needed to ask about driving the US east coast.

“Even experienced drivers believe a lot of myths. The first one is ‘if in doubt power out’. They feel the back slipping out around a corner or roundabout and put the accelerator down. That means they have a faster crash down the road. Braking in a skid in a modern car with stability control reduces the momentum of the car.

“The next one is they have the mirrors adjusted so they can see the sides of their cars. All this means is they have self-created blind spots.”

Ian says your three mirrors should be adjusted so you get three distinct views. This also means you don’t pay a dog and bark yourself. Why turn around to see where the car in the next lane is when your mirror can show you?

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