Saw this article and it made me think...

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/classic-car-owners-taking-detours-075653117.html

My last trip to Turin in the Plus included several "incidents" the last of which was running out of fuel on the M25 (CW) to M3 (S) slip road due to mis-reading the fuel gauge (empty means empty on the Plus whereas on the Porto there's still a good amount left). I had to leave the Coupe on the long left-handed bend, hoping and praying that the 50 mph juggernauts would see the emergency triangle and car in time and move across into the hashed lane.

When the Highways Agency arrived, they moved us to the nearest refuge area, temporarily shutting all lanes of the M3, so we probably weren't very popular

But the article made me think, perhaps I should avoid "smart" motorways in future when driving the Coupes? How do I even plan a route avoiding "smart" motorways? Is there an option in SatNavs, Google Maps or Waze?

What would you do?

I think Dave, that like any car if you’re planning a decent journey, then make sure you’ve checked it over or paid a garage to do it for you.

If you don’t do the above then it’s somewhat silly to even start a long haul journey that for the Turin trip is supposed to be something we hope will give us fond memories.

In the event of a breakdown my mantra would be get out of the car in as safe a manner as the conditions allow, we all have insurance for our cars but it’s no good if you stay in the car and it gets wiped out with you in it.

Whilst we’d all shed a tear if our cars were wrecked, at least we’d be around to tell the tale

Cheers Jamie

Jamie,

Surely this is the condition you would keep a car in anyway? Obviously if you're taking it out of storage then it will need checking (and perhaps an MOT) but why would you expect to use a car otherwise? Certainly with a modern car (e.g. the 2018 'French Thing[tm]' or the 2008 Bravos) I would have absolutely no qualms in doing a long trip simply based on maintaining its condition for a daily commute (and have done it many times, most recently a 5,000km trip in December from Berlin to the Isle of Skye and back).

That said: I plan on exhuming my coupe from storage next year and driving to and around Europe, and it will be getting a going over prior to an MOT... but even with 30 years and 200k miles on it I have no reason to expect it won't make the trip without issue. I'll be doing the same the year after to include Turin 2024... don't forget that part throttle at constant speed on a motorway is probably the best possible condition for an engine to run. The engine's cool, the suspension, steering, and brakes are almost unused, and the tyres are nice and warm.

Dave's problem was an instrumentation interpretation error; and it's fair to assume he's unlikely to make it again. (And incidentally, would be a fineable offence in Germany where it is strictly forbidden to stop on the autobahn, including because you ran out of fuel).

In response to Dave's original question, I don't know of an application that can steer away from them, other than by forbidding all motorways. There is a list of current smart motorways from the RAC here: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driving-advice/smart-motorways/ and a map published by The Sun (sorry) here: https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/17297844/smart-motorways-map-2022/

Neil

Hi Neil,
my comments around long distance travel are why services such as the AA have a business model, because not everyone has the same mantra when considering a journey outside of a normal commute.

In my view people that are in general car enthusiasts having a more proactive approach in planning their journeys, whether that be simply a case of topping up the screenwash or getting a minor service.

Anyway onto the google maps thing, I agree I don't there is a service that allows you to circumvent 'smart' motorways, I think it's only toll roads you can choose to avoid.

Similarly as I now drive an EV car for day to day , I find it annoying that google maps only defines petrol stations and not EV stations. I do use podpoint, ABRP and ZapMap, but they aren't always reliable in their information, whether that be charging points that don't exist, a charger being broken or some chargers have 2 leads but you can only use 1 at a time.

Anyway rant over for EV stuff

Cheers Jamie

I don't have an EV but I subscribe to TomTom Go on my mobile and that has an option to show charging points