General Long distance

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General Long distance

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Sep 7, 2007
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Sudbury
Anyone use their cars for long hauls? I have the old model which is fine and comfortable for all day driving, a friend says the seats on the new one are uncomfortable? any thoughts (was secretly thinking about the Trekking!) Cheers
JB
 
Anyone use their cars for long hauls? I have the old model which is fine and comfortable for all day driving, a friend says the seats on the new one are uncomfortable? any thoughts (was secretly thinking about the Trekking!) Cheers
JB

Look for my threads 4x4 to Umbria - cover two trips between Devon and Umbria (and back) in 4x4 TA. We set off tomorrow again.
 
Did a journey from Leeds to N. Uist (Outer Hebrides) earlier this year and found the car pretty comfy. But I guess it all depends on how well your shape fits the car and seats!
 
I drive a 500 mile round trip from Plymouth to Kent fairly regularly in my 1.2 lounge and it's absolutely fine. The seating position is high up and therefore you aren't cramped. It is certainly much better than my old shape 1.2, it feels like a bigger car than it is.
 
Anyone use their cars for long hauls? I have the old model which is fine and comfortable for all day driving, a friend says the seats on the new one are uncomfortable? any thoughts (was secretly thinking about the Trekking!) Cheers
JB

I regularly drive 120 mile (each way) trips to visit elderly parents, and
find my Trekking's seats adequately comfortable, though not as good
as those in my former Alfa Mito. One slight annoyance is the width of
the centre console, which impinges on my left leg space, though this
is alleviated by the (standard) footrest.

Of course, as others have said, one's build will affect perceived comfort-
I'm of average height (and found the height-adjustable seat essential in
order not to be too high) but well below average weight at under 65kg :)

The Twinair engine is an absolute hoot, always entertaining :D and
capable of decent economy when driven carefully (67MPG average
yesterday on a 48 mile journey)



Chris
 
I drove 850km from the dealer to home when i bought the car. It is very comfortable for long journeys and as others have said it feels like a bigger car than it is. Crosswinds are more obvious than in a bigger/heavier car, and reflected road noise is quite obvious on coarse-chip bitumen we have on some roads here, but that's it.
 
I regularly drive 120 mile (each way) trips to visit elderly parents, and
find my Trekking's seats adequately comfortable, though not as good
as those in my former Alfa Mito. One slight annoyance is the width of
the centre console, which impinges on my left leg space, though this
is alleviated by the (standard) footrest.

Of course, as others have said, one's build will affect perceived comfort-
I'm of average height (and found the height-adjustable seat essential in
order not to be too high) but well below average weight at under 65kg :)

The Twinair engine is an absolute hoot, always entertaining :D and
capable of decent economy when driven carefully (67MPG average
yesterday on a 48 mile journey)

Chris

I agree regarding the centre console, although my main issue was when I was travelling as the front passenger with limited room to have the seat back (due to our little girl's group 0 car seat).

Often found my right knee was banging against the console which was annoying!

And I agree with the height adjuster on the driver's seat. Wouldn't have wanted to be without it when we had the Panda. Still no idea why Fiat feel it's acceptable to omit this as standard spec, it's hardly a luxury optional extra!:eek:

Generally though, we always found the Panda to be perfectly fine on long journeys. You prob wouldn't want to be using it as a regular 100+ mile commuter's car every day of the week, but even if you had to I don't think it would be the end of the world.
 
Hi there

We've had our Trekking since January 2014. We always fight over it now because it IS so comfy. I drove it back from the dealer over 180 miles away. It was a hoot. It was a long way, but I was in no rush because it was so nice to drive. I kept at a modest speed most of the way, but I did have fun pressing the ECO button on/off and over-taking etc. In fact, it was so comfortable that I did a 50 mile detour to show my dad. Since then, we've done 8000 miles including a 490 mile trip to ferry and then into France each way. I felt equally refreshed, even the 2 kids in the back. Ample room for luggage by the way too! (That answers another question on storage as well)

Whilst I'm on I'll take this opportunity to answer another post on fuel economy:-

We have not reset the 'Trip A' setting since Day One, so it shows a complete average of our mpg since purchase. We live on the top of a hill, and unfortunately in a particularly hilly and undulating part of the Cotswolds. This means that every journey involves a mile or two each way of up steep hills, achieving around 16 mpg (according to the Instant View). My wife usually just does short trips up and down these hills 3 or 4 times a day on school runs and I do the evening Dad's taxi's duties.

Despite this it is showing 49.7mpg

It's a Twin-Air, not Diesel

Hope that helps?
 
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