Will she make it?

[PocketFighter]

Me and the missus are planning a trip to Italy, only this time we(I) want to drive there lol I learnt to drive a car in Italy many moons ago and drive there (in a hire car) often enough! I've also ridden to Italy on the motorbike, would I do it again? God yes! Would I do it on the bike I have... That's debatable!

I'm getting the Pug a once over next week so I can pre-empt any massive things that need doing chassis/engine wise....

The current plan is sometime between July and August, I have a rough route albeit in my head, train over to Calais, drive down to Switzerland and through into northern Italy and finally down south to Pescara - I did it on the bike last time and didn't touch France, went through Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and then Italy.

Firstly - more than likely and I don't see why not, will she be able to make the nearly 3000mile round trip in 2 weeks?

Secondly - realistically what mileage should I roughly expect from a 1.8 16v on long haulage? At the mo I average around 300mile to a full tank but that's all city driving...

Lastly - anyone done something similar before? Any pointers?

[Toms306]

No reason not to make it... Its a 1.8, they hardly ever break. Take about 4 ICVs and a coil pack and that should cover any breakdowns. But seriously, give it a good service and check over before you go, any dodgy looking bushes (P bushes for example) get replaced etc and make sure you can get your spare wheel out of the cradle, its probably rusted solid lol.

I averaged 400 miles to a tank with very mixed driving, but I doubt you'd see over 450 to a tank even long haul.

Never done it myself, would like to one day in the very distant future lol...one way preferably. Good luck.

[PocketFighter]

Lol I'm currently running the spare at the mo, got a puncture the other week.... Been all or nothing at the moment! Luckily working at ECP parts are cheap and I've got nice customers lol

Bushes.... Yup one of them has definitely or is certainly on its way, nice knocking sound on some bumpy roads which one it is though I just haven't got the time to find out for myself!

At least the mileage isn't as bad as I thought, I did consider selling and buying an Audi A4 TDi... But I love the 306 too much lol

[rocker8742]

A few of us did a euro trip a couple of years back, main thing would be take some tools so if you run into issues you can attempt a temporary repair, make sure tyres are good and you don't have any fuel/water/brake fluid leaks. Take the things you need for driving in other countries breathalysers, warning triangle etc.

[PocketFighter]

Seems like the basics with what I did with the bike then, tools, puncture repair kit and driver essentials

[rocker8742]

Pretty much, enjoy the drive and don't get trouble haha

[PocketFighter]

Pfff trouble... That's what makes the trip fun lol

Where did you guys go??

[Poodle]

Main thing is not falling foul of individual countries' legislation, 3mm tread depth is a legal requirement on most of the continent, for example. The AA site is pretty good for covering all that though. The '6 we took round Europe in May managed about 30mpg across the whole trip, and that was with a whole lot of hooning up and down mountain passes fully loaded lol. I'm pretty sure the S16 achieved similar on our trip out to the nurburgring in October, so i'd expect to see about the same from the 1.8.

If you like trouble you can come on our next trip, you can play distraction tactics for whatever nationality copper is trying to pull me over that day.

[Dum-Dum]

On a drive up to my parents in Scotland that was 80% motorway and 20% A roads all taken very sensibly at 65mph the rallye got 470 miles to a tank of 58L which is about 37mpg

[PocketFighter]

Main thing is not falling foul of individual countries' legislation, 3mm tread depth is a legal requirement on most of the continent, for example. The AA site is pretty good for covering all that though. The '6 we took round Europe in May managed about 30mpg across the whole trip, and that was with a whole lot of hooning up and down mountain passes fully loaded lol. I'm pretty sure the S16 achieved similar on our trip out to the nurburgring in October, so i'd expect to see about the same from the 1.8.

If you like trouble you can come on our next trip, you can play distraction tactics for whatever nationality copper is trying to pull me over that day. [emoji38]

Lol yes, God yes I'm up for playing distraction! Sounds like a bloody laugh! Yup the car will be getting some new tyres in the coming month, I need them so it's not an option.

On a drive up to my parents in Scotland that was 80% motorway and 20% A roads all taken very sensibly at 65mph the rallye got 470 miles to a tank of 58L which is about 37mpg

The fuel isn't as bad as I expected if a rallye is getting that...that's actually pretty decent, especially most of the trip will be m'way, I was budgeting for a 350 mile range, but that extra 70 odd would be beneficial.... I'll still budget 350 just in case, you never know! I'm not quite a lead foot like I used to be lol

[Eeyore]

I did about 1000 miles a week in a 1.8 on management and bodies. With a standard one you should have no issues!

[PocketFighter]

Yup she's all standard mate, quite lucky when I bought her really! Other than the hesitation/slight misfire, she's sweet as

Lots of planning to do now!

[powerandtorque]

With a well prepared car you shouldn't really have any issues, although it's wise to take a few tools and spares as a precaution - especially RHD specific bits that WILL be a headache to obtain quickly in Europe (e.g. clutch cable)

I'd strongly suggest fixing any known issues now though, rather than ignore them and risk them becoming a show stopping problem hundreds of miles from home. Hesitation/misfire would certainly want sorting out, as that would put somewhat of a downer on your trip if it is a coil starting to break down and it failed completely.

18 months back I did a 3000 mile 10 day holiday around Europe in my 205 and it didn't miss a beat the whole trip, including several days in the Swiss/Austrian/Italian Alps on the wonderful mountain passes there.

Economy will vary massively depending on the roads and driving style, but broadly speaking, you should see good economy on a long motorway cruise and rather worse economy on mountain roads if you take the scenic route (which I'd highly recommend btw). I think the best I managed from a tank on my 205 1.9 GTi was 42mpg - not bad for a 30 year old design engine/injection system!

Do check the requirements for other countries before leaving, as some (like Austria and Switzerland) you need a Vignette (sp?) - like road tax - and others have things that you need to keep in the car like hi-viz and spare bulbs. If you're planning on heading down through France, check the costs of the motorways as much of the network is tolled and it does quickly add up cost-wise.

[PocketFighter]

With a well prepared car you shouldn't really have any issues, although it's wise to take a few tools and spares as a precaution - especially RHD specific bits that WILL be a headache to obtain quickly in Europe (e.g. clutch cable)

I'd strongly suggest fixing any known issues now though, rather than ignore them and risk them becoming a show stopping problem hundreds of miles from home. Hesitation/misfire would certainly want sorting out, as that would put somewhat of a downer on your trip if it is a coil starting to break down and it failed completely.

18 months back I did a 3000 mile 10 day holiday around Europe in my 205 and it didn't miss a beat the whole trip, including several days in the Swiss/Austrian/Italian Alps on the wonderful mountain passes there.

Economy will vary massively depending on the roads and driving style, but broadly speaking, you should see good economy on a long motorway cruise and rather worse economy on mountain roads if you take the scenic route (which I'd highly recommend btw). I think the best I managed from a tank on my 205 1.9 GTi was 42mpg - not bad for a 30 year old design engine/injection system!

Do check the requirements for other countries before leaving, as some (like Austria and Switzerland) you need a Vignette (sp?) - like road tax - and others have things that you need to keep in the car like hi-viz and spare bulbs. If you're planning on heading down through France, check the costs of the motorways as much of the network is tolled and it does quickly add up cost-wise.

Quality info, thanks mate, yup I've got a few bits bought already, some bits are already on there way or only have a few thousand left in them, again working at EPC I get some nice prices lol

Is there a workshop manual for the 306? Is the Haynes one any good?

Yup Vignette and a few other bits I'm aware of, especially with regards on legal requirements, that said... What's the quickest way through France?!

[powerandtorque]

The quickest way is undoubted on the motorways and incurring the toll costs.

It's also, unsurprisingly, the most dull and costly route.

If you're heading to Italy, I'd say the quickest route is to head straight down from Calais, past Reims, Dijon and Lyon, to Grenoble, and then head across into Turin. That can be done in a (long) day, although it would be a shame not to take your time and do some of the scenic route in at least one direction.

306 Haynes manual is reasonable for what it is. Careful if buying 2nd hand as some versions don't cover later cars, most notable in terms of wiring diagrams and engine specific stuff on later 16v and HDi engines. GTi-6 / Rallye specific stuff isn't covered, but that's not applicable to you if you've a 1.8

[PocketFighter]

Wicked, yeah I really want to get through France as quick as possible, the current plan is to get the last train out of folkstone and drive France in the middle of the night, aim for Switzerland for the early hours and get the decent views in the sun!

I can only imagine that it's pretty easy to work on these, but I'm not a car mechanic, I wouldn't know where to start when taking off chassis parts lol stick a bike in front of me and I'll strip and rebuild it no problem lol

[powerandtorque]

Yeah, they're easy enough to work on for the most part - if you can strip and rebuild a bike you shouldn't have much difficulty I wouldn't have said. There's the odd gotcha and example of questionable French engineering, but that's par for the course really.

Plan sounds good, and if you're planning on going through Switzerland you can cut down quite a bit of the toll road mileage in France - indeed, you can avoid it altogether by going through Belgium which doesn't add much onto the journey distance/time wise.... although the roads are poorer and often more congested during the day.

I would say that you're going to be hard pushed to make it to Pescara in a single day though unless you're particularly hardcore or sharing the driving - that's got to be something like 18 hours solid driving! Much better staying somewhere near the Alps I'd say and making it into a two day journey, particularly if you're going across Switzerland. Frankly, it's almost rude not to spend a good few hours enjoying those Alpine roads if you've gone that far...

[cully]

i went out to the nurburgring last year with a group from here with my std GTI6 i did whole trip door to door used
183ltrs i did 1273.6 miles works out to 31.63Mpg

we took loads of spares didnt use any of it except for some cable ties to secure some loose arch trim

oh dont forget to take loose euro change as all the service toilets are 20-50 or 1 euro via turnstyles

[PocketFighter]

Yeah, they're easy enough to work on for the most part - if you can strip and rebuild a bike you shouldn't have much difficulty I wouldn't have said. There's the odd gotcha and example of questionable French engineering, but that's par for the course really.

Plan sounds good, and if you're planning on going through Switzerland you can cut down quite a bit of the toll road mileage in France - indeed, you can avoid it altogether by going through Belgium which doesn't add much onto the journey distance/time wise.... although the roads are poorer and often more congested during the day.

I would say that you're going to be hard pushed to make it to Pescara in a single day though unless you're particularly hardcore or sharing the driving - that's got to be something like 18 hours solid driving! Much better staying somewhere near the Alps I'd say and making it into a two day journey, particularly if you're going across Switzerland. Frankly, it's almost rude not to spend a good few hours enjoying those Alpine roads if you've gone that far...

Yeah that's good if they are easy to work on, give me basic servicing and I'm fine, anything heavy duty and I'm a bit stumped when it comes to cars, same with Italian engineering, can always expect something niche.... Let's add a little pasta sauce to that and hope it works sort of thing or it's looks good but not practical lol

I'd love to take the long way round, go through Spain and just touching France.... Millau viaduct more to the point! But it's those alps, the views and the air... It's a must!

I've managed Croydon to Florence in a day on the bike, that was hard, cross winds and what have it, felt more like a chore towards Florence, my bum hole felt like it healed over in the end, the ride back was a lot more fun as had a bigger bike (ZZR1200) more speed and space, luxury is an understatement lol

i went out to the nurburgring last year with a group from here with my std GTI6 i did whole trip door to door used
183ltrs i did 1273.6 miles works out to 31.63Mpg

we took loads of spares didnt use any of it except for some cable ties to secure some loose arch trim

oh dont forget to take loose euro change as all the service toilets are 20-50 or 1 euro via turnstyles

That's not bad, good to know they are pretty solid then! Even after a battering round the ring.... Lol dirty mind!

[powerandtorque]

I've managed Croydon to Florence in a day on the bike, that was hard, cross winds and what have it, felt more like a chore towards Florence, my bum hole felt like it healed over in the end, the ride back was a lot more fun as had a bigger bike (ZZR1200) more speed and space, luxury is an understatement lol

Sod that! That's a long enough journey in a car, let alone on a bike.

I imagine by comparison the 306 will feel like being chauffeured in a Rolls Royce

[PocketFighter]

That was the last time I rode there lol the bike I took I was selling, horrible ride over, the ride home was worth it!

Yup, the 306 will make a change, and the added company too!

[PocketFighter]

65litre tank!! Thought I'd risk it today, drove the car til she coughed.... Oh boy did she cough! Just filled her up, shy off 65litres.... Blimey lol

[powerandtorque]

Isn't the tank only 60 litres on a 306, plus whatever the filler neck etc will hold?

[PocketFighter]

That may be the case then, either way, 230miles later I still have half a tank, well impressed with the car!

[Toms306]

How long was the red light on for lol? It's a 60 litre by the book but I've never got more than 56 in!

[PocketFighter]

50-60 mile lol she coughed a few times on the way to the petrol station, I think she may have cut out as I went to turn the key off lol

I definitely got more than 60, more than likely I filled up most of the neck too, either way, was a nice surprise, give it a week, I'll do it again and get a pic for you lol