3k mile road trip in 7 days...

[Scotty C]

Afternoon All,

Having just put the car well and truly through its paces I can honestly say that I love it more than ever.

Last week I began a long, and solo, journey to Sweden, travelling through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany to a town called Lübeck. Stayed there overnight and set off again at first light through Denmark and into Sweden to Stockholm, and from there further north to a small skiing village called Sälen. Aside from a dodgy 'reduce oil' sensor warning light appearing around 1500 miles, the car performed faultlessly there and back and I was happy to sit between 80 - 90mph for most of the journey until I reached the Autobahn of course. The skill of the average driver through all these countries far surpasses the average UK motorist as if it is part of their national school curriculum.

What with the cost of new rubber (Dunlop Winter Sport 4D's), barrels of petrol (including Aral Ultimate 102 - German rocket fuel), over 15 litres of neat windscreen wash and temperatures between +11 to -6 degrees it was far from a cheap trip but to experience what I did was, for me, worth every penny.

The journey home was just as impressive and thankfully the Eurotunnel train was a single deck and one usually reserved for coaches and wider/taller vehicles thus providing a wider track and preserving my alloy wheels.

Despite three annoying stone chips, a heap of European dirt in every possible crevice and numerous tar spots that have taken days to remove, the car is now back to its former beauty and I'm already looking forward to my next trip hopefully sometime again in the spring : )

[Kal]

Sounds like an amazing trip. Can't wait to take mine across Europe next year.

[Heden]

Congrats on the trip! I am from Sweden and have done the trip between London and Stockholm on multiple occasions. This summer I did 4000 miles in 6 days, can only agree that I love the car more for every mile spent behind the wheel

Given the comment about driving skills' between different countries far surpassing the once in UK, I can a agree to a certain point, even though it has become worse in the last couple of years, especially in Germany. Please correct me if I am wrong, but when you do the driving test in UK, it is not a requirement to conduct a test on motorway driving?

On Eurotunnel I always book for vehicles taller than 1.85m, that way you are guaranteed not to scratching the alloys.

[Scotty C]

You are correct - it is not a requirement to undertake any motorway driving as part of the UK driving test. It does seem strange that this is the case but I guess there is an explanation for it somewhere !