Taking the 172 on a 4500mile road trip, do I dare?!?

[SuperJ]

Will be mainly 5 long stretches of driving. Most Ive done before was a trip to the 'ring last year.

This time would mean driving close to 1000miles in a day :/

 

[imprezaworks]

Quick service and check over, job done.

 

[wifey]

dont see why not has long as the car as been looked after and serviced etc just like any car really just make sure you have breakdown cover just in case!

 

[NFox]

Where are you driving?!

 

[Flat Eric]

Go for it. If you have issues, cross that bridge when you get to it. ;-)

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Lap of Europe ?!

Do it.. why not. Worst thing for a car is to be sat not moving !

 

[SuperJ]

Where are you driving?!

Ukraine, from South Wales.

 

[172Ben]

1000 miles per day??

Be a good trip though

 

[SuperJ]

Its not so much a road trip, more of a commute

 

[Matt W]

When I went on a lap of Europe the longest we did in a day was 600 miles and that was hard work!

 

[172Ben]

10 hours driving per day averaging 100mph.

f**k that!!

 

[Don]

10 hours driving per day averaging 100mph.

f**k that!!

Plus food and loo stops!

 

[R-Sport.]

Ukraine, from South Wales.

Ukraine Bride.Com ?

S

 

[SuperJ]

Ukraine Bride.Com ?

S

Sadly not, the Euros.

 

[Fletcher]

Lap of Europe ?!

Do it.. why not. Worst thing for a car is to be sat not moving !

I agree.

 

[Darren S]

Go for it

If I took the Evo on such a trip, it would need a service at the start and one when I got back. Not forgetting a second and third mortgage for the fuel alone.

D.

 

[jenic]

Not considered flying?

I love driving and that but sack 4.5k in the clio in 5 days.

 

[Darren S]

Not considered flying?

I love driving and that but sack 4.5k in the clio in 5 days.

Jenic's got a point. I did just over 3k mileage in a Sprinter the other week over the course of 8 days. Admittedly, there was a break in the middle - but I was driving for 2.5 days at each end of that. And the Sprinter was pretty comfy when compared to the Clio.

That was tiring. Pushing yourself too much is just going to make you get mad with the car - and physically very drained. Plus as 172Ben hinted at, you'd have to be doing some serious MPH in order to make it in five days.

Couldn't you factor in some extra time? Maybe make it a 10 day drive instead?

D.

 

[SuperJ]

Not considered flying?

I love driving and that but sack 4.5k in the clio in 5 days.

Yes, many times, but the flights are a 'mare. A direct flight would take about 4hrs but they arent available and connecting journeys take at least 12hrs each way and cost twice the price of driving. Plus we have to travel pretty much the full length of Ukraine in between games which is also a lot of aggro with the flights.

 

[Jay Payne]

Did 3000 in 2 weeks around Europe. Took a tyre pressure gauge to check them at food/fuel stops and that was it. Car was faultless.

Driven Poland to Tewkesbury (or Tewkesbury to Poland) in one go many times. Just over 1K miles takes 18hrs with ferry. Driving will be easy till u get out of Germany. Roads ain't great in Poland and Ukraine, mostly A roads through villages etc. Not many motorways. Tricky to overtake slower stuff, lorries, tractors, donkeys etc, coz your on the wrong side of the car to see what's coming

 

[mark smith87]

That sort of distance should be fine in a Clio. I've done a 100 mile round trip in mine a couple of times with no problems. Just give the car a thorough check and an oil change maybe before setting off. Take a set of light bulbs and Hi Vis vests or jackets and warning triangle and first aid kit. also take oil to top up just in case you use a little bit but the engine shouldn't burn much on a long run. I'd jump in mine any day and do a long drive. I frequently go to Northumberland and back in a day and across to Yorkshire.

 

[Stefan.]

someone has faith in there car then aslong as its been serviced and maintained then dont see the problem, give it a mini service before you go and good check over and off you go

 

[Edd]

That sort of distance should be fine in a Clio. I've done a 100 mile round trip in mine a couple of times with no problems. Just give the car a thorough check and an oil change maybe before setting off. Take a set of light bulbs and Hi Vis vests or jackets and warning triangle and first aid kit. also take oil to top up just in case you use a little bit but the engine shouldn't burn much on a long run. I'd jump in mine any day and do a long drive. I frequently go to Northumberland and back in a day and across to Yorkshire.

100 miles is a little different to 4500 miles in 5 days, which is 900 miles a day. So if you drive for 14 hours a day you'll need to average 65mph. If there are 2/3 of you driving then I'd say go for it! Driving 12/14 hours a day on your own, trying to average 65/75 mph would be a nightmare.

 

[MatthewR]

LOL at comparing a 100mile trip to a 900mile a day trip!

as said before, service it and try to factor in extra time. Also would be a good idea to get a few insured so that you can do shifts as i would be more worried about the driver than the car.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Doing 900 miles in a day isn't a biggie....consecutive days is another story. Most I've ever done is 996 (I wanted to drive about in the car park to round it up to 1000 lol!)

Out Euro road trip was just over 2100 miles in 7 days, that wasn't bad either (in a stripped out clio with harnesses etc too!)

Just give the car a good check over and it should be ok. If in doubt, get some EU breakdown cover.

 

[jenic]

Just give the car a good check over and it should be ok. If in doubt, get some EU breakdown cover.

Only if in doubt?

Always get some decent EU cover imo

 

[Sir_Dave]

I did 850 in one go (literally only stopping for petrol) back in 2010 from Lake Garda in Italy, to Pyla sur Mer in France - Trophy was fine with it. Few days before i'd done 1000 miles to get from Basingstoke > Nurburgring > Furka Pass > San Bernadino Pass > Stelvio Pass.

And 3 days before that i'd done a full track day at Snetterton.

Was fine

 

[jimjim150]

100 miles lol!!!! I've done that as part of a daily commute in a couple of 182s for years! long journey, oh CS you funny bunch.

and Lake Garda, lovely place.

 

[SuperJ]

mmm...just been having a proper look and it looks like the second day on the way will be close to 1300 miles, I'm not even sure that is do able tbh :/ Most Ive ever done in one day is just over half that.

 

[jimjim150]

Most Ive ever done in one day is just over half that.

If that's the case mate, I'd have a serious re-think as to the actual distance you're going to be covering. My concern though as mentioned by someone else - would be what the actual road quality, type of traffic etc. is like in eastern Europe...

 

[gwilson]

4500m in a clio you must be mad . you will be if you try it .. 500m in a day is far enough to do a 1000m a day is very difficult . it would be a 20 hour day 1300m in a day no chance......................

 

[SuperJ]

We've had a re-think, would be as cheap to fly to Poland and then get a hire car and drive the rest. Unbelievably we would still have 1500miles to drive to get to Donetsk but it should be fine.

 

[Jay Payne]

Check you are alowed to take the hire car out of Poland. I hired one when i went snowboarding and we wanted to hit some slopes in Slovakia but the car was only insured in Poland.

Aren't the Euros in poland as well?

 

[SuperJ]

Ahhhh will do, been eying up a Suzuki Alto, although a Clio is only £11 more for the week. Im sure the alto will be better on fuel though?

Yeah they are but we're only going to the first two group games, which are Donetsk then Kiev.

 

[Jay Payne]

1500miles in a Suzuki Alto? :dead:

Where you hiring from? City?

 

[SuperJ]

Looking like Krakow atm cos its quite west, not booked any flights yet though.

Well its more like 3000miles in total. 1500 is just the trip to Donetsk haha.

Main thing is MPG.

 

[BIGASH]

As Jay say's check the hire car when moving from country to country I have had to pay the hire car company a fee for the required paperwork to cross borders etc. Last time I had to do it was with europcar and I think they charged an extra €3 a day so it's not the end of the world but they normally have to organise it in advance!

 

[SuperJ]

Yeah will send them an email before booking. Found a KA (or similar) for £135 for a week. Seems a good price.

 

[Jay Payne]

I'll try and find the web address for the company we use in Krakow. Its a local Polish company not a multi national, very good rates. They are in the centre of Krakow but its easy to get to

 

[SuperJ]

erentals seems to be the cheapest I can find, a KA for £118 and I know theyre good on fuel, although not a great place to sit on long journeys.