We had contracted with Lotus to build us a Vectra with custom engine management system so that we could manipulate the torque output. I had already spent several weeks in Arvidsjaur before heading to Hethel to help finish the preparations of the Vectra. We took a Ferry from Felixstowe, England to Brugge in Belgium and then raced across through the Netherlands and Germany to catch another ferry from Keil to Gottenborg. 

From the home of Volvo we trekked east to Uppsala but unfortunately our schedule didn't allow for a side-trip to Stockholm like +Jonny Lieberman and Justin Bell. After a night in Uppsala we followed the coast up to Lulea before turning back inland to our destination in Arvidsjaur about 60 miles south of the Arctic circle. 

Through the entire trip I drove the Saab while Steve commanded the Vectra, and finished calibrating the new engine management system. Like the MT boys, we ate most of our meals on the road at gas stations and canteens. Steve spent about a week in Arvidsjaur fine tuning the Vectra before flying home to England. I stayed there for another 2 months before finally heading south in mid-April. 

That was a pretty surreal winter, having in arrived in Arvidsjaur on January 4 when the daylight lasted about 20 minutes and the sun barely came above the horizon. By the time I left, the sun was coming up about 4:30am and it didn't really get dark until about 10pm.

It was however a very productive winter and we had the beginnings of a workable system. I also learned some important stuff and developed what a rudimentary stability control system using just the wheel speed sensors. Without accelerometers and yaw rate sensors, it was wasn't nearly robust enough to use in production but elements of it would later be incorporated into a turn detection system for our ABS.