For as long as I’ve been into cars, I’ve always wanted to drive to Tasmania to experience Australia’s driving nirvana. It’s home to the exciting and treacherous Targa Tasmania, a tarmac-rally stitched together from some of the best mountain roads in the country. Tasmania is also home to some of the world’s most beautiful natural landscapes and exotic wildlife. I’ve always loved the outdoors, so the idea of linking Tasmania’s best scenic spots via its best driving roads was always on my bucket list. The plan was simple: Chase great roads during the day, admire the natural beauty, then unwind in the evenings with a beer (or two) and some great food. Rather than ramble on, I’ll give you some quick thoughts on the car and location before getting into the photos.
For details on the car please see my thread here:
https://g87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh….php?t=2204686
Thoughts on the G87:
– I can’t believe how capable this car is. It really can do it all. I had the boot (trunk) at capacity the whole time. I fell in love with it’s ability to do so many things so well.
– This car has SO much grip in both the dry and wet that I have no real desire for the x-drive version that’s coming.
– Ohlins R&T coilovers are probably my favourite mod on this car. The roads are well maintained but still have undulations, dips, roadkill and the odd pothole. I wouldn’t come here with a hardcore track suspension setup, you really need the road compliance.
– Extremely grateful for Active Cruise Control on the long highway drives, it should not be underestimated how anti-fatiguing a feature like this can be.
– I really don’t think I could have done this trip in something like a Cayman or 911, there’s simply not enough storage. It’s hard to think of a better car to do this type of journey in.
– Best fuel consumption was 7.9L per 100km (29.8 MPG)
– Total odometer reading was 3966km (2464mi) for the full journey from Sydney and return.
Thoughts on Tasmania:
– The roads paired with the landscape is absolutely breathtaking. I was in awe as some of these roads came into view, I know this is a familiar feeling for other drivers, but it happens multiple times an hour in Tassie.
– People are really friendly in Tas. Locals will give you tips on roads, sights and attractions. I really recommend having a chat even when you’ve already planned your journey, you’ll get awesome tips.
– Generally great road etiquette from other drivers, they’ll pull over for faster cars (always thank them with a blink of your hazard lights). The worst driving I witnessed was from other tourists, no surprises there.
– Australia is a gigantic continent but only 26 million people live here. For this reason when you leave the city centres you can find yourself without access to comforts you might usually enjoy, but rarely did I find myself in the absence of necessities. This will be a theme of the next few bullet points.
– 98RON was difficult to find in some of the remote areas and I had to do a half tank of 95RON at one point just to get through the drive. Ethanol? Forget about it, unless you are bringing a support car with your own fuel.
– I got a puncture at one point and had a repair performed in Launceston. There is little to no chance of getting a tyre like a PS4S in the sizes we run within Tas, they have to come from the mainland. Considering these cars run staggered setups, I’m not even sure it’s worth bringing a spare unless you could bring 2. They will sell you a cheap alternative so you won’t be stranded but you will be running an odd tyre on one corner.
– It’s an amazing place even without a fast car, you will not regret the visit.
Route overview
I live in Sydney so a trip to Tasmania entails the following:
– 10 hour journey from Sydney to Geelong (south west of Melbourne)
– A 10 hour overnight ferry (Spirit of Tasmania) to get the car from Geelong to Devonport in the north of Tasmania
– And the same process in reverse to get home to Sydney
– I did a couple of extra drive days either side of Tas.
– Places I missed but I
– All roads south of Hobart
– Port Arthur
– Strathgordon
– Tarraleah
– Queenstown to Tullah
Day 1:
Sydney to Lorne
New South Wales to Victoria
No pics. It’s a mostly monotonous albeit necessary leg of the trip.
Day 2:
Lorne to Apollo Bay
The Great Ocean Road, one of Victoria’s most famous roads.
Lorne to Geelong
Board the ferry for an overnight journey to Devonport
Tasmania journey begins:
Day 3:
Devonport to Cradle Mountain
Arrive in Devonport from the Ferry
Some decent driving but the highlight is the natural beauty of the mountain.
Day 4:
Cradle Mountain to Strahan
Via Tullah, Rosebery, Zeehan
Probably the best driving road of the whole trip. I chased a chain of other drivers for 30km or so: 296 GTB, McLaren Arturia, 992 GT3, M3CS and some others.
Day 5:
Strahan to Launceston
Via Queenstown, Lake St Clair, Great Lake
Experienced 30km of unsealed road here, no problems!
Day 6:
Launceston to Low Head and back
Sight seeing and photo taking
Day 7:
Launceston to St Helens
Via Scottsdale, Derby
More amazing roads and scenery
Day 8:
St Helens to Freycinet
Amazing vistas down the east coast, fast non technical roads.
Day 9:
Freycinet to Hobart
Slow driving, trucks entering Hobart from the regions and nothing too exciting.
Day 11, 12, 13:
Stay in Hobart
Spent most of my time here with friends, exploring the art galleries and enjoying the holiday. But I did drive up Mount Wellington and managed to catch snow falling. Hard to be Alpine White in the snow.
Day 14:
Hobart to Devonport
Via Bothwell, Poatina, Cressy, Deloraine
Board the ferry for an overnight journey back to Geelong.
Spotted some extremely rare metal and spoke to a few of the owners, they were from Sydney too and were on their way home after doing a similar road trip around Tas. Legends.
Day 15:
Melbourne to Lake Mountain
Jumped out of the G87 and into this extremely clean AE86 owned by a great friend. Such a great experience to go from a big heavy luxury car like the M2 and jump into something purely analog like the cars from my youth.
Day 16:
Melbourne to Sydney
Fin!
A special thanks to the shops and people who helped me put this car together:
Roadbloc
Max Euro
Chicane Australia
BSPK Forged
Heasmans
Thanks for reading! Please feel free to ask any questions about the trip!
