Just back from Tuscany. It's not just the beautiful landscape but the roads are absolutely great. Not the best quality but in the best taste i could imagine. Little roads are just laced with curves and the highways are just, well, like driving in Spa!
Alas, loads of traffic (including clueless tourists) and the villages that don't stop coming and the road conditions that require TLC make it a challenge to keep a nice pace...
The pavement can be billiard quality at some time, or can range from great to treacherous with so many bumps, camber drops or dimple rises due to the scorching heat. Not taking it seriously could send your atom flying off the road. Not to mention how the width of some curves can be slimmed down by rocks and passing trucks...
And you have to watch for the constant flow of bikes coming from behind, or in front of you passing oncoming traffic; the way italians cross the line anytime for no reason or pedestrians who think they can have that imaginary sense of priority. The funniest was this lady on a bike (with high heels) and happily talking on the phone with one hand while driving in the middle of the road totally oblivious to the traffic! It's amazing to see how this system works while in France or England they have to go to such extreme measures to keep road kill down!
The other problem you might encounter is the gain in weight due to the excellent Tuscan food!
Cop situation was pretty good, hardly any speed controls - but you do see a lot of warnings via panels. Watch it when you go on the beach strips in the evening where the hot boys show off their Ferraris...
We also drove to Porto Fino (in Liguria) and it's drop dead gorgeous but the road is so loaded with traffic and so narrow, it's not exactly fun to drive - but a must see! I'll post a link of the drive later in the week...
We drove the family bimmer 530 break and it was fun but in an Atom, it should be an absolute atomic blast - the lack of AC might make it a challenge to keep that helmet on though!!! Can't wait to drive down there again with the Atom!
Just back from Tuscany. It's not just the beautiful landscape but the roads are absolutely great. Not the best quality but in the best taste i could imagine. Little roads are just laced with curves and the highways are just, well, like driving in Spa!
Alas, loads of traffic (including clueless tourists) and the villages that don't stop coming and the road conditions that require TLC make it a challenge to keep a nice pace... ;)
The pavement can be billiard quality at some time, or can range from great to treacherous with so many bumps, camber drops or dimple rises due to the scorching heat. Not taking it seriously could send your atom flying off the road. Not to mention how the width of some curves can be slimmed down by rocks and passing trucks...
And you have to watch for the constant flow of bikes coming from behind, or in front of you passing oncoming traffic; the way italians cross the line anytime for no reason or pedestrians who think they can have that imaginary sense of priority. The funniest was this lady on a bike (with high heels) and happily talking on the phone with one hand while driving in the middle of the road totally oblivious to the traffic! It's amazing to see how this system works while in France or England they have to go to such extreme measures to keep road kill down! :roflp:
The other problem you might encounter is the gain in weight due to the excellent Tuscan food! :)
Cop situation was pretty good, hardly any speed controls - but you do see a lot of warnings via panels. Watch it when you go on the beach strips in the evening where the hot boys show off their Ferraris...
We also drove to Porto Fino (in Liguria) and it's drop dead gorgeous but the road is so loaded with traffic and so narrow, it's not exactly fun to drive - but a must see! I'll post a link of the drive later in the week...
We drove the family bimmer 530 break and it was fun but in an Atom, it should be an absolute atomic blast - the lack of AC might make it a challenge to keep that helmet on though!!! Can't wait to drive down there again with the Atom! :tu: