Off to France

[KennyW]

Hi All,

About to drive to the haute Garonne, I'm going to check the fuel figures for the drive.

Will post details on my return.

Kenny

[elma]

Have fun.

[GiveMeABreak]

Have a great time & be safe!

[Paul-R]

Just ahead of you into France. We left on Sunday morning fully loaded with a roof box on top to "help" with the aerodynamics.

We went down the A41 to the M54 and then the M6, M42, M25 and M20. We went at the legal limit wherever possible until we hit the M25. The M25 wasn't too bad and we realised that we were going to be quite early for our crossing so dropped back to 60mph for most of the M25 and the M20. When we filled up in Calais the 306 miles came in at 47.9mpg. The on-board computer reckoned that the trip was 44.7mpg.

We then drove on to Chartres (old N1, A28, back roads round Rouen, A154, N154, N12, N154), where we spent the night, and then yesterday continued on to our destination near Orange. We took the N154, old N20, old N60, D952 to meet up with the N7/A77 all the way past Moulins then N209 to Vichy, then the D906 to Thiers. Back on the D906 to Le Puy en Velay (beautiful roads and scenery).

After that we used a lot of back roads to cross the Auvergne towards Val les Bains except that road works and diversions put us on to even more small roads and hills. Beautiful sights though. Anyway, on through Aubenas on the N102, D107, D86, and D93N to the N7 and down to our destination.

I've just filled up again and for the 671 miles averaged 47.8mpg. Amazingly the on-board computer also reckoned that the consumption was 47.8mpg.

On previous trips without the roof box and without having to rush like hell I've managed over 50mpg.

Apologies to Kenny for taking over the thread a bit but I hope that it's relevant to his figures.

[GiveMeABreak]

Just another thing - you guys legging it to France with speed camera warnings built into your Sat Nav (Navidrive 3D for sure) - probably know this - but they are illegal in France (you're supposed to disable it or upload the Radar version for France) - that basically doesn't tell you where the fixed speed camera locations are!! So Granny in the back and glass of wine on the bonnet mode - and have a great time!

[Paul-R]

No speed camera warnings on my satnav that I know about. Besides, I always keep to the speed limits!

[white exec]

Another reason to stay off the Péage (automatic speeding tickets over toll sections) - as well as the scenery being better!

[Peter.N.]

Have a nice trip.

Peter

[c.morewood]

Have a good trip Kenny. Glad we didn't scrap her.. I'm sure she'll do you proud.

[white exec]

And stay safe.

[bill hughes]

My Garmin tells me when there's "a dangerous stretch of road" which means there is a camera somewhere, you cant watch the speedo all the time on the ring roads around large towns, and that's where the camera's are, have a great trip and watch out for the tailgaters I have to deal with them every day

[Bargeman]

Hi

Living here in the land of the Frog we get to read about law changes.

Now if you enter a village and there is a "Your speed indicator" board, then the police can use a mobile unit with no further notice, and as soon as you hit the village name sign it's a 50 km/ h limit. On the spot fines for speeding, also for crossing a "Stop" sign at a crawl.

Hope you enjoy what we do for most of the year, good empty country roads, and remember to keep room in the boot for some fine wine

Bargeman

[Peter.N.]

I have only been as far as Brittany but the roads there are brilliant, a lot of them were new when we last went, mostly rural ones. The only problem I had was with the traffic lights, their green lights are green which makes it difficult for someone who is red/green blind know what they are saying, although the little ones at the bottom are near enough to see. The 'green' lights here generally look blue to me and I can see that.

Peter

[KennyW]

Hi Guys,

Unfortunately it was the Xantia but the C5 x7 I drove. But I drove most of the journey using the cruise control.
The figures are approximate high 40's to low 50's mpg.
I set 70 mph for Britain and 75 mph for France.

Paul, FYI, I didn't drive the RN route but peage. My route from the house A7, A68, A1-A1M,M11,M25 euro tunnel, A16,N184/N186 to Versaille,A86,N118,A10,A71,A20,A62 Toulouse,A64 to Aurignac. Mileage 1125miles. The A20 is free for about 200 miles which was a pleasant surprise. The traffic was steady but not ridiculous. On my return you could tell Paris was on holiday as it was very busy southbound.
I have been driving in France now for 20 years so I'm quite use to the little French quirks. My favourite bit of fun is the Perferiquic in Paris but the wife doesn't like it.

I was experimenting as we will be doing this trip regularly to the house with dog. I drove from Boulogne Sur Mer to Aurignac in a day.

I will not be doing that with the dog but will add an additional stop.

Kenny

[Paul-R]

Very interesting Kenny.

You say you're looking at different routes. Have you heard of the travel writer the late Richard Binns? He had a route from north to south using the fastest free roads. He published this a the "Fast and Free Fun Run" in 2002. I've just tried to find his web site, which was kept running by his brother, but is doesn't seem to be available any more. Anyway I have a copy of that route which you may be interested in. A lot of the route has been upgraded since then so it's even faster now. I also use a few bits of toll autoroute where they really do offer an advantage.

If you PM me your email address I'll send you a copy.

Paul