Melb nav Tip Needed Pls?

[amshaw]

G'Day All,

Just found out today the boss is sending me off to Melbourne and then onto Lang Lang to the Holden proveing ground :thumbsup:to test drive the new sports wagon, Diesel Epica and anything else they have sitting around needing a good going over :burnrubber::burnrubber:Ive been told they also have most of the Holden range there ready for us........:angel:

Anyhoo Im after a little advice on how to get to Danderong from say Deer Park:confused:

Would I be better to go;

Deer Park, Maidstone , Parkville, East onto the Eastern Fwy to Ringwood, then Sth down to Danderong? Looks the longer way but fwy all the way....

Or

Deer Park, Sth to Westgate Fwy, Southpark, Burnly Tunnel, Monash Fwy to Nth Danderong, Noble Park to Danderong....

We really dont want to stuff around getting a etag day pass or whatever but also need a less stress free drive to Danderong for a quiet country Lad :angel:, we will be hitting Deer Park around 5-6pm.......

Any tips please?

Regards & Thanks
Andrew

[DeeJay]

Deer Park on to Ring Rd then take West gate Fwy exit then Dandenong Rd (Queens Rd exit)
If you want to avoid tolls ;)

You will have missed most of the traffic if leaving Deer Park by 6pm.

[hiline]

day pass for the toll roads is only about $12

http://www.citylink.com.au/files/CL_Price_Info_Guide_Jul_Sep_08.pdf

[rangieman]

I might see you there before i leave in the morning as i work nightshift :D

[amshaw]

Deer Park on to Ring Rd then take West gate Fwy exit then Dandenong Rd (Queens Rd exit)
If you want to avoid tolls ;)

You will have missed most of the traffic if leaving Deer Park by 6pm.
ok thanks but how do you get onto the western ring road near Deer park? looks like there isnt an on ramp to head Sth towards the Westgate......:confused:

I think I had better get a updated melways.....mine is edition 26 1999 :eek:

[amshaw]

I might see you there before i leave in the morning as i work nightshift :D


Ok, where do you work......Just Look out for a Light Blue VE Berlina with a passenger or driver with his fingernails in the dash.......:wacko:

[amshaw]

day pass for the toll roads is only about $12

http://www.citylink.com.au/files/CL_Price_Info_Guide_Jul_Sep_08.pdf

Thanks Bud for more info......the boss is paying so I might aswell get a two day pass when it doesnt really matter which way we go in the end.....still making up my mind.....:angel:

[rangieman]

Ok, where do you work......Just Look out for a Light Blue VE Berlina with a passenger or driver with his fingernails in the dash.......:wacko:
I work at the proving ground but i leave a 8.10 in the morning:D

[amshaw]

I work at the proving ground but i leave a 8.10 in the morning:D

Arrh I see, I cant wait to get there, feel like a kid again looking forward to playing with some new toys :woot:.

We are leaving motel at 7am then to the Holden zone office (wherever that is??) and then heading out to Lang Lang. So I think we will miss you for sure......

Ive been told there will be 100 other sales people there so its going to be a big day....any inside tips for a "new kid on the block"? ie Ive never done any racing or even Holden test days before as Im just 3 months into my new Life ie no more night shift, so any advice would be great thanks, of course a PM may be a good idea :angel:.

Also Ive tried to sorce some gen info about the place but have come up short, found just the normal local town "Place's to look at" type deal, any idea's? Yes I do relise Holden dont let the average person wonder around the site, but you know what I mean.....;)

Cheers
Andrew "Yes Im a Big Kid" Shaw

[rangieman]

Arrh I see, I cant wait to get there, feel like a kid again looking forward to playing with some new toys :woot:.

We are leaving motel at 7am then to the Holden zone office (wherever that is??) and then heading out to Lang Lang. So I think we will miss you for sure......

Ive been told there will be 100 other sales people there so its going to be a big day....any inside tips for a "new kid on the block"? ie Ive never done any racing or even Holden test days before as Im just 3 months into my new Life ie no more night shift, so any advice would be great thanks, of course a PM may be a good idea :angel:.

Also Ive tried to sorce some gen info about the place but have come up short, found just the normal local town "Place's to look at" type deal, any idea's? Yes I do relise Holden dont let the average person wonder around the site, but you know what I mean.....;)

Cheers
Andrew "Yes Im a Big Kid" Shaw
Ill tell you right now you wont need a racing suit or helmet :cool:

No you guys wont be allowed to cut loose !:burnrubber: ,and if anyone was silly enough to try it you will be taken off site straight away and never to return:eek:

It will be a drive day and a drive day only for sales people not a race day so get the race idea out of your head :angel:
And dont do over the posted speed limit mainly the one near the entrance (20k) guard house :bat:

But enjoy the free refreshments and our enviroment along with the freindly hospitality and also enjoy the drive

Oh the diesel epica goes better than the 2.0 & 2.5 petrol six,s:D
Any other questions feel free to pm me :D

[amshaw]

Ill tell you right now you wont need a racing suit or helmet :cool:

No you guys wont be allowed to cut loose !:burnrubber: ,and if anyone was silly enough to try it you will be taken off site straight away and never to return:eek:

It will be a drive day and a drive day only for sales people not a race day so get the race idea out of your head :angel:
And dont do over the posted speed limit mainly the one near the entrance (20k) guard house :bat:


Yeah ok point taken mate, I was only mucking about :), in truth Im a Bald 38yo that drive's like a grandma becasue I dont like paying speeding fines (I did own a D1a TDi Auto) and as a Firefighter Ive been in the middle of the remains of nice cars and good young blokes too many times , plus I want to go back again and again ;)

But having said that Im still really looking forward to drive as many cars as possible on the day because Im the used car manager from a smallish dealership so dont get to drive most new cars and after 3 months in the job the boss wants me to move into new cars sales more.......So the more I learn the better......:cool:

Thanks for the tips :thumbsup:

**I just reread my last post and relised that you thought I was expecting a full on Race day type deal. What I meant was I havent done any kind of avanced driving training at all, so I wasnt sure what the setup was re if someone takes you through the differant trail's to show the benifits of the braking systems or they just get you into a car and just drive the banked track all day..........Sorry for any misunderstanding

Regards & Thank
Andrew

[amshaw]

Rangieman and moose, do you know the address to the Holden Zone office in Danderong? There is another sales guy from near here who no idea where to go in the morning..........:oops2: and he is to proud to ask one of the other hundred or so sales staff staying in the same motel:bat:

Regards
Andrew

[rangieman]

Id imagine it would be at the old plant which is just a parts distribution centre now
Princes Hwy dandenong next to the freeway , ill find out tonight for sure

[amshaw]

Id imagine it would be at the old plant which is just a parts distribution centre now
Princes Hwy dandenong next to the freeway , ill find out tonight for sure

Thanks mate, he keeps on sending me sms's about the address, he is really starting to stress about it all because there isnt any other sales guys there in the motel to ask and I cant find a thing on the net at all, all I could find on the Holden site that its in Dandenong :wallbash:

Regards
Andrew

[rangieman]

Thanks mate, he keeps on sending me sms's about the address, he is really starting to stress about it all because there isnt any other sales guys there in the motel to ask and I cant find a thing on the net at all, all I could find on the Holden site that its in Dandenong :wallbash:

Regards
Andrew
Yep its at the old Dandenong Plant , Now called HSPO ;) (Holden spare parts operation,s)

Just stay on the Fwy till you see the Dandenong Princes Hwy exit

Turn right on to the Hwy go over the Fwy you just turned off and its the first traffic lights turn left , im pretty sure its the first building on the right look for the holden signs ,if all else fails ask the security gaurds:D

[amshaw]

Yep its at the old Dandenong Plant , Now called HSPO ;) (Holden spare parts operation,s)

Just stay on the Fwy till you see the Dandenong Princes Hwy exit

Turn right on to the Hwy go over the Fwy you just turned off and its the first traffic lights turn left , im pretty sure its the first building on the right look for the holden signs ,if all else fails ask the security gaurds:D

Thanks mate, as it turns out the Zone office or HSPO is only 2.3km Nth west from our Motel, so basicly its "just up the road a bit", we will more than likely pass it when going to he motel on Tuesday, will try and keep an eye out for it.

All I did was a yellow pages search for Holden, then worked out which one are dealers in the area and the was only one of 5 left and it was on the hwy........Bingo, still shocked I coudnt find a address of any kind anywhere for the place...:confused:

I havent heard if tony found it or not after I was sending him sms's well after midinght trying to help him out.

Still have no idea which way we are going to head in yet, cant be stuffed doing the whole etag thing.:angel:

Regards & Thanks
Andrew

[amshaw]

Oh and its at 77-125 Princess Hwy but the Sales's office (Zone office bit I guess??) is listed as being 99 Princess Hwy..........:Thump:

[WildOne]

Mate, do the e-tag thing and go the freeway the whole way, if you're not familiar with the roads then this is definately the least stressfull way:cool: and you wont have to deal with as many dumb ass boy racers.

From Deer Park head towards the city on Ballarat Road(Western Hwy). Turn Right onto the western ring road, head for Princess freeway (City Bound), and don't speed:angel:. Over Westgate and through the tunnell, head for dandenong, after you pass exit for stud road, take exit for south gippsland hwy, then take first exit for dandenong, turn right onto dandenong road heading for dandenong and holden is on your left at the first set of lights. Cant miss it, heaps of really old warehouses..........good luck and enjoy.

[amshaw]

Thanks to all that helped out. We got to the motel without much of an issue....well exept for the GPS not working , it wanted to take us in the wrong direction , but I didnt program it , just turned it on and away it went but I didnt program it the night before or anything:confused:, maybe the bluetooth had something to do with it :confused:

Anyway we missed the first Dandy exit but took the second and went back a bit, and just in time the GPS cleared itself after I rebooted it 5 times........:mad: anyway go there in great time, only took 4 hours, I thought it would be about 5-6 at that hour of the day :D Had a great meal at the motel and off to bed.....to watch some doco's :angel:

Early start got to the Proving ground about 08:15 and saw a Blue 110 driving past, was that you Rangieman or moose????

I wont bore you with the full day of playing and what else I saw driving around, but I will say "It was Bloody Fantasic" :banana::banana::banana:

First for us was to drive the sportwagon around the handling track, it was a great intro to the Proving ground. First I drove the Berlina, I was very suprised how well it handled, but of course I wasnt giving it a hard time :angel:, but 180KW from a 3.6 V6 was fun. I thought it would wallow around the sharper bits but it was very sharp even dipping it in quick.

Then a little later I had my turn of the SS-V 6-Speed.......lets just say I really really had a great time doing that, and even at the posted 120KPH ;), didnt take much notice of the marketing BS but its a very very good thing........well worth the wait Im thinking ;).

Then had a turn of the new Colorado around the off road track, I was told to go the right, as it was much harder, but I was used to something with a little more ground clearance & muddies etc, so was "Asked" by the instuctor not to go so hard :bat::wasntme::whistling::coplight: but I was just trying to get around fairly quick so others could have a drive, but it was fun anyway :D. Also I had two city sales people in the back seat, they havent been off road before and they had a ball, the guy in the back said "so this is what 4x4ing is all about, this is great" so another 2 people converted :)

Also drove the Diesel Epica, its ok would be happy to put my parents into one but after the Sportwagon it was a let down :o

Oh oh we also did the ESP demo, every impressive even better when I was in the back seat right in the middle of it :cool:

Also had a look around and in a H3 Hummer that was there for any recoverys that might be needed, that was good too :angel:

I had a huge smile on my face for the rest of the week......cant wait to get back ;)

Regards
Andrew

[moose]

Early start got to the Proving ground about 08:15 and saw a Blue 110 driving past, was that you Rangieman or moose????


That would be rangieman.
Good to hear you had a good time.:)

[rangieman]

That would be rangieman.
Good to hear you had a good time.:)
Ok it was me:angel: , Im busted;)
Glad you enjoyed your play:D