[Closed] 1000 miles France in a little car?

I once went from Durham to Circuit Paul Ricard on a Honda 50

Ferry to St Malo, cut the driving distance by half?

Do you trust the car?

I did Durham to Bilbao and back, twice, in a diesel Peugeot 205 with no problems at all. (it had 120 000 km on the clock)

How many passengers will there be?

We used to go from Sheffield to La Rochelle/St. Nazaire in my dad's 1989 VW Golf every year. That was me and my wee sis, mum & dad. Should be no probs.

Having said that, you [i]are[/i] in a Fiat...

I did it last summer. Punto from newcastle to dover, then calais to south(ish) west coast, then to Brittany then back to newcastle.

It was fine, although mine only had about 40k on it. And it wasn't very hot in france, if it had been hotter it could of been a nightmare with no aircon

Car was fine, Just make sure you have europe breakdown cover just in case

Me the missus and one kid.

Did Cornwall to Dover then Calais to the Alps and back in a little Saxo VTR. It was fun!

Go to Caen, overnight ferry, off the boat at 7am, Bordeaux for late lunch.

I did Gloucester to Applecross (in the uber-North of Jockland) in a 100k Golf. That was about 800 miles, no probs.

Should be fine... I drove to Switerland and back via Belgium and Germany a a proper Mini a few years ago, and that was fine so a Punto would be luxury! Okay, so we took three days to do it as we went for a play around the Spa circuit, and then went to get drunk Stutgart, but it was fine..

:o)

back in the day; we went on a family holiday in a punto 55.

roof box up top with all the clothes, trailer tent on the back with 4 bikes on top of that. parents in the front, me, my brother and the fridge in the back.

no problem (although we did struggle to get up the bridge at nantes!)

several yeards later i inherited the car - was like driving an underpowered office chair - still amazed the holidays we had in it.

Done it often enough in our 3-cylinder Seat Ibiza! As long as there's no underlying problem with the car, why not? Motorway miles are easy miles for the car.

Oh, and it also helps to see the journey as part of the adventure, and not just the dull bit before the holiday begins..

:o)

Shouldn't be a problem if the car is mechanically sound. I've had a holiday in Northern France 5-up in a Punto (twas rather cosy though) and I drove from UK to Monaco and back in a 23 year old VW camper once, what it lacked in mechanics, it made up for in space. Plenty of food and drink stops make the trip a little adventure in its own right.

did sheffield to metabief for the world champs on me own in a 1 litre metro of 86 vintage.
yeah no probs just take it steady.

I used to do a yearly migration... two weeks to florida ( from Boston ) 1500miles...three adults... in one of these..
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just make sure you stop often to get out and stretch

so long as you're reasonably comfortable in the driving position then you'll be fine. MTFU!! French roads are generally better (smoother) than over here, so harsh ride issues with a small car on rough roads shouldn't really be an issue once you get into france.

I couldn't do it!
Renault Scenic (hire car) with cruise control was great when we had to drive due to volcano dust.
I reckon 90% of the journey (1200Km) was done with cruise on.

Peace of mind too - if the Punto breaks down..? If a hire car breaks down, just call the company.

If my 16 year old 1.4 Astra with 160k on it can do Yorkshire from Somerset return in a weekend 4 up with bikes then your Punto should be fine

For charity a friend of mine and 2 of his mates bought a 15 year old fiesta for 100 pounds, covered it in green fur, dressed themselves in womble outfits and drove to Le Mans without any sav nav or maps, They had a good time.

Your 50k Punto should be fine

http://www.justgiving.com/wombling3

The car should make it if it's in a good condition but have Europe breakdown cover just in case.

You don't say when you are planning on doing this though. We have driven to France (Zeebrugge to Morzine and on to Provence) in the summer in a Passat Estate and it was very comfy but with the temp outside in the high twenties, low thirties I can imagine it would not have been as pleasant without air conditioning. Especially when you get to the inevitable road works or accidents.

So, do-able yes but comfortable? Possibly not.

It's either go now or September.
Just weighing up ferry prices to Caen or the drive from Calais.
The house is actually in Ribérac.
Plus I've now decided to switch the kms to Miles button on 😳 which makes it nearer 700 or 350 Miles.

just get it serviced beforehand and get RAC/AA etc.

french roads are a different league to ours, way less stressful to drive on IMO,

Shouldn't be a problem. In the 70s we often used to spend August touring round France/ Germany in a Renault 4. Never a problem.
Ribérac should be a nice steady days' drive from Caen, including a nice lunch stop. I like Angouleme - although its not quite as nice as Villenueve sur Lot.

Drove to the Dordogne in a Morris Marina with vinyl seats, didn't do me any harm.

Juan and the juanmobile (old 106) at dieppe harbour at 6h15 on a saturnday morning.

At mom's (between cannes and grasse) at 17h00 (and two point less on the driving licence)...

Perfectly doable.

The girlfriend and I drove 3500 miles around Europe in a G-reg Diesel 205 with 140 000 miles on the clock in 2003 - during the summer heatwave. All the way to Corsica and back. All our camping equipment, and my MTB strapped to the back of it. Happy memories.

As above. Full service beforehand, visit a Punto forum and find out the common things that can go pop then take a couple of spares and familiarise yourself. Check all tyres and check the spare. Take a can of tyre foam in addition (I've always carried this backup as some motorway hardshoulders look ****in scary and a squirt could be a lifesaver IMO).

Ps. Try to stay at lower revs too (not thrash) and...... maybe a coolant change wouldnt go a miss. I wonder how many cars overheated etc are due to coolant changes being skipped...

Drove a 19 year old Talbot horizon to Grenoble, used it there for a year and then drove it back with 2 bikes on the roof. No problems. If it breaks down, get it fixed 🙂

MTFU!

Away with you, you big ponce. Since when is the size of the car the limiting factor in how far you can go?

I took at Peugeot 305 to Provence when it had 100k on the clock, was fine. Just get some decent continental breakdown cover.

And heatwaves used to happen before most cars had A/C too, at least the autoroute will usually display the temp regulalry, that Provence trip topped out at 38 degs near to Dijon. All the windows down, regular stops for fluids and to wring out sweaty T shirts, class studenty holiday.

although not old it was only a 1lt..I took an Aygo from Manchester all the way to southern Germany and back in the middle of winter! 😀

Also drove to SW France in a mk2 GTi that often overheated. So to draw heat out of the engine, it was best to leave the heaters on full blast. In August. We survived.

Surf-mats friends in the backseat
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We had to buy an extra fan to mount on the dashboard like a mini-office fan when we used to road trip in france...

I wouldnt worry. I drove this £600 Citroen XM from Inverness to Perpignan and back twice. It had 160k on the clock

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christ that is a vauxhaul chevette but in yanky mode.. !

I used to travel down to the south coast regularly, marseilles, in v reg 1 litre ford fiesta with 4 people.

Very few hills dpown to Bordeaux, mostly motorway should be no problem.

me, my brother and the fridge in the back.

😯

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Or

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❓

it'll definately work. it might not be pleasant. Personally, I'd take a few days over the journey, stick to the back roads rather than the motorways. Back-country france, like back-country uk, is quite nice

Yeah it'll be right, I remember my uncle driving a £350 Citroen 2CV Dolly from Cornwall to Morroco, 4up no probs, was about 20yrs ago mind.

Easy journey on the motorways. I've done it in loads of different vehicles and way beyond including on a Honda 250N. Try to leave some space to bring back some Medoc.

did lincolnshire to alps in a 1.1 pug
lincolnshire to valencia in a 1.6 pug gti

Take earplugs. The French roads are made of different stuff to ours, and they're a lot noisier.

And it's a Punto - make sure the cooling system's OK, as they seem to like doing their headgaskets.

Are you doing it all in one sitting? And what Punto is it? A modern one will be pretty bearable, but the originals are nasty.

Back in my climbing days we did Yorkshire to Chamonix a couple of times in a minivan. Full of camping, climbing and bivi gear and not much money. Bivi outside the huts & watch the guides break trail. Those were the days before marriage and kids mind - bliss 🙂

Did London to Switzerland in an 03 Micra last year loaded up with a roofbox and two bikes in the back with no problem. The French roads were a dream to drive on even with a small car.

I've driven to the alps in various cars, the worst being an under powered transit that topped out at 80mph downhill. You'll be fine in the fiat!

Do it, I do a run from Roscoff to near Angoleme of 400 miles ( Bordeaux is 415 miles from Roscoff) in a day piece of piss in my Picasso which is fully loaded and riding on the bumpstops at the back end alot of the time.

Do it in 2 days if 8 hrs driving is a issue but the roads in France are nothing like over here because they are superb

In addition to my post my place in France is near Nontron which is not far from Riberac there in 2 weeks time Yah 😀 .

We have done the run from Plymouth / Roscoff, Poole /Cherbourg and the one we hate Dover /Calais

We avoid the Calais run like the plague because it is not a nice drive across france and you go via Paris and there is nothing between them in terms of milage