General Driving a 500 1.2 across Europe.

[schmoosmith]

What are peoples thoughts on driving a 1.2 across to Eastern Germany from the UK. I have a TwinAir 105 and my mrs has 1.2 Convertible, we can't decide which to take as we like the thought of having the roof down but my TwinAir would give much better economy. How do you guys think it will cope on a long 530 mile cruise at 130kmh (80mph), my concern is that it will drink fuel and struggle to maintain speed up some of hills. Has anyone do a similar journey?

 

[Goudrons]

Either cars shouldn't have too much of a problem, though you might want to revise your speed a little.

First neither tank is massive at 35 litres, so you need to work out best speed against good economy, otherwise your speed just gets cancelled out by stopping for extra fuel and obviously this will cost you as well.

Next up is it can be quite exhausting trying to "press on" for such a long trip, particularly on busy motorways full of HGV's (I'll reverse comment on eastern European HGV drivers)

Better to judge the speed of the traffic on the road, cruise along with it and enjoy the trip, after all these aren't the most comfortable of long haul cruisers.

Perhaps consider splitting your trip, there's a lot between here and where you are going and it might be a shame to miss all of it, if you are keen to get there quickly, consider a plane or train and hire once you are there, otherwise treat it as an adventure and leave time in the trip to enjoy it.

There's also the thought the turbo on the TA might suffer from excess heat and carbonize the oil in it if you try thrashing it for so long a trip, it shouldn't as they are well cooled, but it's something to consider.

With the top down on the C for large parts of your trip you might find the wind and noise a bit of a pain. I've tried long trips with the roof down on convertibles and to be honest, they soon go back up as anything over about 50 mph and the wind and noise are all consuming, but if the weather is great when you get there, it's probably worth taking it and just keep the roof closed on the motorways.

 

[schmoosmith]

In Germany you need to drive at 130kmh.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I frequently drive across France, with the roof down (not a fiat 500 though)

I would definitely recommend the 500c especially if you know in advance the weather is going to be good. The only draw back i would suggest is storage if you are taking a lot of luggage with you.

If left unattended in some parts of europe, they will happily put your windows through to take your cases and the police won't be overly bothered.

That said, if you can get everything in the boot, I'd take the 500c and at 80mph the economy of both cars would quite a lot less than you'd expect. The turbo my struggle more so as it runs out of puff.

 

[Goudrons]

That's not mandatory, it's a recommendation and that's only on some stretches.

German holds the record for the biggest pile up in history, in 2009 260 cars piled into the back of one another in one go, so common sense is the order of the day!

There's less and less unlimited stretches these days thanks to VCD, the longest is between Berlin and Hamburg, over 100 mile stretch and judging by my last trip down it, it's full of d*cks and kn*bheads.

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

130KM/H ( =about 81 mls) is only the recommended speed on the German highways.
Most Autobahn users drive MUCH faster, and it is still allowed on most parts!
I drive the BAB31 alongside the Dutch border into the Ruhrgebiet often with my Alfa GT, I keep a steady speed of about 100- 110 mls average, but have to give way to a large amount of cars like VW Golf, Vauxhall Astra, BMW 1-3 series etc....not to mention low flying Mercedes, Porsche, BMW 5-7 series etc.

Tip: German ARAL Ultimate is 102 octane fuel...perfect for Turbocharged engines..
When I stop for a break, a make it a habbit to open the bonnet, letting the heat escape more easily...

 

[John202020]

Get the AC recharged if several years old?

 

[Bluetruck]

Drove from Lancashire to the South of France via the Rue Napoleon in a 1.2 500 a few years ago. It was brilliant and never felt lacking in power. Take the C for sure.

 

[306maxi]

In Germany you need to drive at 130kmh.

Nope. Been through germany in my 500 and you don’t need to do 130kph.

Been across Europe in my 1.2 500 twice and it was fine, take some oil though as they like to drink when they’re revving.

 

[306maxi]

130KM/H ( =about 81 mls) is only the recommended speed on the German highways.
Most Autobahn users drive MUCH faster, and it is still allowed on most parts!
I drive the BAB31 alongside the Dutch border into the Ruhrgebiet often with my Alfa GT, I keep a steady speed of about 100- 110 mls average, but have to give way to a large amount of cars like VW Golf, Vauxhall Astra, BMW 1-3 series etc....not to mention low flying Mercedes, Porsche, BMW 5-7 series etc.

Tip: German ARAL Ultimate is 102 octane fuel...perfect for Turbocharged engines..
When I stop for a break, a make it a habbit to open the bonnet, letting the heat escape more easily...

102 would be an absolute waste in something running low boost like a twinair. 102 octane is really only any use on tuned engines. I work for a car company and I can assure you that our engines are running way more boost than a twinair and our cars will run just fine on 95 octane.

You’d be better off just setting fire to your money than running 102 octane fuel in a twinair, even a modified one tbh.

 

[schmoosmith]

Most, if not all Germans drive at 130kmh, usually faster. It’s part of the driving test that you to demonstrate you can drive safely at that speed.

ThNk uou for the feedback everyone, I think we will probably take the convertible as it will be nice to have it whilst we are in Leipzig for the week.

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

Nope. Been through germany in my 500 and you don’t need to do 130kph.

Been across Europe in my 1.2 500 twice and it was fine, take some oil though as they like to drink when they’re revving.

When driving like a snail on German motorways, like you did, you're a danger, not only to others, but to yourself as well.
Ask all the Trabant drivers, that entered the West German motorways 20 years ago.
A lot of them were hit from behind by (very) fast driving cars that couldn't brake in time when a slow driving vehicle appeared before them unexpectedly, mostly at night...
One of the reasons Germans don't like the Dutch, is because Dutch drive during summer with their caravans like slow moving snails on the German motorways to their holiday destonations...very dangerous indeed...

 

[306maxi]

You’re talking absolute rubbish.

If you’ve driven long enough on autobahn you’ll realise that the speed varies rather a lot. When it’s emptying and flowing well, you’ll find people zoom along at a lot more than 130. When the roads are not so empty then they won’t go any quicker than a British motorway.

I drove at speeds below and above 130 on the autobahn in my 500 and there was no grief from any of the German drivers, if someone came up behind you, they indicated and as long as you moved in when it was practical, no one was bothered.

 

[arorat]

In our TA we did 2 trips from London to Chamonix and onwards to Italy and back via Stelvios Pass to Austria and Germany. One was inspired by 306maxi's adventures.

Take the TA, the engine is fantastic and driven higher up in the rev range you can keep up with most cars, even on the Autobahn roads.

If you just want to cruise on French roads, take the 1.2!! But then again people have done Europe in the 1.2.

2 up the TA will be fine for luggage with the seats down, even 3 up on one trip it was fine.

 

[klu01dbt]

I did a 2500 mile road trip in a 1.1 Panda a couple of years ago, including a stretch from Berlin to Amsterdam where I only stopped for fuel.


It managed fine, being driven flat out pretty much all of the time with 3-4 people in it plus luggage although was slow going up hill in the Slovakian mountains. Average MPG was about 45.


If the weather looks good take the convertible, it will be much more memorable.

 

[Goudrons]

A lot of them were hit from behind by (very) fast driving cars that couldn't brake in time when a slow driving vehicle appeared before unexpectedly

So basically these (very) fast driving cars were breaking the law?

As I understand it, it is verboten to travel faster so to extend the stopping distance beyond the drivers line of sight, not just on autobahns, but all German roads.

That's pretty universal everywhere, you should be able to stop in what you can see.

I've driven and ridden many a German motorway, there aren't as many as they once were that are unrestricted, but even these are covered by certain laws.

 

[schmoosmith]

I did a 2500 mile road trip in a 1.1 Panda a couple of years ago, including a stretch from Berlin to Amsterdam where I only stopped for fuel.


It managed fine, being driven flat out pretty much all of the time with 3-4 people in it plus luggage although was slow going up hill in the Slovakian mountains. Average MPG was about 45.


If the weather looks good take the convertible, it will be much more memorable.

You're right it being more memorable in a convertible so on that basis I will take it, your comment has made up my mind so thank you

 

[frupi]

Personally, I absolutely take my hat off to all of you who are prepared to drive long distances in a 500. The longest journeys I ever did in either of our former 500's, was just 250 miles each way to visit my family and I can honestly say that after 4.5 hours non stop of sitting in either one of them, I was absolutely knackered at the end of the journey, an absolute far cry from my rather more comfortable Saab.


Enjoy your road trip!

 

[arorat]

Personally, I absolutely take my hat off to all of you who are prepared to drive long distances in a 500. The longest journeys I ever did in either of our former 500's, was just 250 miles each way to visit my family and I can honestly say that after 4.5 hours non stop of sitting in either one of them, I was absolutely knackered at the end of the journey, an absolute far cry from my rather more comfortable Saab.

Enjoy your road trip!

Frupi, how are you?

The art is to stop overnight and break the journey, actually the 500 seats are quiet comfy and you can keep on driving until your eyes close. Btw I also did couple of London to Barcelona trips on a motorbike via pyrenees, about 1000 miles door to door, amazing - couldn't do that now.

 

[306maxi]

Frupi, how are you?

The art is to stop overnight and break the journey, actually the 500 seats are quiet comfy and you can keep on driving until your eyes close. Btw I also did couple of London to Barcelona trips on a motorbike via pyrenees, about 1000 miles door to door, amazing - couldn't do that now.

Bah! I did Calais to Chamonix in a day!