Touring Europe

I am thinking of doing a European tour in late june early july.heading for Italy (Aosta) few days there and then heading back via Germany (romantic road) anyone interested in going, accomadation would be in hotels /B andB

Hi Solas,

I'm driving to italy in late July, but was planning to use campsites (saving money for the petrol for the thirsty beast).
Even if we arent going at the same time would be interesting to see your plans and i can show you mine ;-)

I was planning on spending just over a week to get down to where my family are (in Puglia) stopping off at various cities along the way and then visting some places on the way back.

So far i definately want to go to:
Stelvio Pass
Verona / or Florence
Rome
Pompei
Amalfi Coast

Aosta is in the north so i guess for you its more about seeing france germany and switzerland?

i plan to get through France as quickly as possible so i can spend more time in Italy.

What route are you going to take?

Hi CW-Coupe,we are going via the following
Calais- Saint Quentin
St Quentin- Besancon
Besancon- Aosta, 5 days in Aosta
Aosta-ST Moritz
St Moritz- Bregenz
Bregenz-Strasbourg
Strasbourg- Calais
looking forward to the grand St Bernard pass plus all the other passes in the area,also hoping to get up a couple of the lesser mountains,(walking)as i havnt time to aclimatise to the 4000m ones,i see on the internet that the hotel prices are very reasonable ie 250eu for 5 days inc breakfast.one night are 40 to 50 eu not inc breakfast, also i like visiting castles so Aosta is a good place to be based,its also cheaper in july as its classed as low season.

Hi Solas,

I've pretty much finalised my tour now -have a look:

link I am going to be knackered by the end!!!

I'm not planning on stopping in all these places. When are you off?

I'm leaving the 25th July, wouldnt be doing the tour if i didnt have aircon.... Which reminds me i should get the aircon checked......!

Good luck

Paolo

Looks like a fantastic tour Paolo!!

I just worked out it would cost me about £700 in fuel for your trip Would love to do a smililar trip but the petrol cost really puts me off

Yeah im taking a mate with me to share the cost and staying in campsites / with friends and family. What mpg did you use to calculate that cost? i figure if i am mostly on motorways it "might" not cost that much (naive i know ) I'd reckoned about £600, but then again with the aircon on regularly your figure might be more accurate.....

Mine does about 270 miles to a tank so basing it on that. I'm hoping it might do more after the new chip, full service and other bits are fitted. Don't have aircon.

Really 270 miles?

You drive like Mr Schumacher then? Is your car modded?

Mine makes 400 to the tank perhpas 350 if the beans have been on.

270 is quite low.

On a good run I can get close to 400 from a tank, perhaps even 330 on a week of town driving etc.

All in the gear changes and timing within your style of driving I spose

I dont think I ever got over 300miles to a tank on my modded coupe...

Shocker!

Really if I get less than 350 I am not impressed. 400 makes me happy. 500 is really motorway or granny cruising...

I'll be able to provide some good data after my trip :-) It will be mostly motorways for me. It will be interesting to compare the estimate to the actuals after.

If we work on the following assumption:

63 litres in a tank or 13.86 gallons (not an assumption)
400 miles per tank (should be higher according to Sedici, but lets stay conservative)

gives us approx 29 mpg......

I'll overestimate the miles required (google says 3200 miles):
3600 miles in total for the trip
divided by 29 =
124 gallons required for the trip

Lets assume that the price of petrol is pretty much the same everywhere in europe and say £1 a litre or £4.50 a gallon

That means...... we will have to spend £558

I should probably allow for petrol costing a little bit more - lets say £1.10 a litre or £5 a gallon that comes out as £620.....


Of course all of this bean counting wont count for fccuk all if i end up having to repair the Coupe on the journey, but this wont happen...... <touches nearest piece of wood>

@CW_Coupe: instead of driving to Zürich I'd suggest you go to Bern or Interlaken. From thereon you have the opportunity to choose between the heavenly roads of the Sustenpas, or take the Grimselpas plus Furkapas to go to Italy in the direction of Milan (Lake Como).
Drove the coop myself over the Sustenpas two weeks ago
Don't know how these compare to the Stelvio as I haven't been there.
Here's what the Grimsel/Furka looks like

Thanks for the tip Alesi, i may well go that way on the way back!

Don't really hammer it. Only mods are drilled air box and Peco Boxer exhaust. Off road at the mo for new thermostat, starter motor and loads of other stuff (see here http://worsleysturbocoupe.blogspot.com/ )

I don't get 400 miles out of my Volvo 1.8 V40 (60 litre tank, averages about 28mpg).

270 I just worked out that's only 20mpg!! Why would it be so low? Would it be running rich as thermo shot?

Phil

Thermostat shouldn't make much difference. Most 16vt's seem to work like the thermostat's gone!
Must be something wrong though, mines done over 100k, slightly modded and averages at least 300 miles to a tank.
On a decent run, Essex to Devon, crusing on the motorway between 80-1** it'll do more like 400+ miles

Sorry guys for being a little off topic, but mine does 270 miles on a full tank too (430 km). Its real empty after that!

This is town driving tho, with a sporty style. I think that when id drive a little slower and dont use the turbo much in 2nd and 3rd i might get 325.

About the europe trip: looks very good! please calculate that you are doing a lot of uphill driving, which doesnt make it run more economic

Shame about the 16v i get minimum 420 miles per tank!!!

The cheapest I saw 95/98 Ron Petrol in France, Italy and Switzerland was about 1.25 Eur (107p) with the highest being about 1.50 Euro (129p). Funny thing is, there may be one petrol station selling at the lower price, and 100 metres down the road they'll be selling at the higher price! Some places will sell 95 Ron @ 1.25 and 98 @ 1.45, other places it will be the same price. Also, diesel is only 1 Euro/litre!

Went to Le Mans and back last month with the car fully loaded with camping stuff and averaged well over 30 mpg with aircon on full blast all the way. Was chasing 911's most of the time with an engine that's looked after but done well over 100k miles. Easyjet is cheaper but so is staying at home !

the most i ever squeezed out of my standard 20VT was 366 miles and that was once!! average commuting is c25mpg, with a couple of longish trips might get 28mpg

Just come back from doing 'Top Gears world greatest driving roads'- Swiss mountains passes and a few extra ones too! Ended up in Frejus, south of France via Lake Garda and then back into Switzerland. 3200 miles in 12 days averaging 34MPG and that wasn't driving that steady either. New front tyres, brake discs & pads needed ASAP! Those passes in Switzerland are simply brilliant, I want to go again next year. Photos to follow if anyone is interested..

nice one.

looking forward to seeing those pics!

Me too. Your sig pic link doesn't work Max

No it doesn't
But this one does: clicky

Looks like you done it for me! I'll add a link too as it the first time I've tried to add one..Swiss passes
And it works!

Cheers

Max

well i know what im doing next year! those pictures of the lake look amazing, what route did you take mate? love some detailed write up, what route, problems with car ect ect. im definitely going to start planning my trip... all best....clive