Contemplating 160 mile daily commute - crazy? Advice needed.

[ColonelKurtz]

Hi All.

I thought I would update you after c. 4 weeks commuting 148 miles daily from Berkshire to Warwickshire and back. Well, it isn't as bad as I was fearing! It's taking me c. 1hr 10mins to travel the distance, starting out between 0630-0700 each morning. I have 11 miles on fast A roads and 63 miles on the M40. Besides a 2 3/4 hour time to travel 2 miles yesterday due to an accident, I think this might just be doable. I am relieved.

Currently, I am driving more like an old man to keep the fuel cost down in the Evoque but, now with cheap fuel, I think the lead foot will return...

I have the Evoque since 21 Dec and an now just over 3k miles! As I have to change the car at 6k miles I will be choosing the next car. So, I'd appreciate your thoughts. Here's the choice; XE 2.0d R-Sport, XF 2.d R-Sport or an XE S with the 3.0d v6. Also, what colour do you think look best?

Looking forward to reading your views.

[daemon]

ColonelKurtz said:

Hi All.

I thought I would update you after c. 4 weeks commuting 148 miles daily from Berkshire to Warwickshire and back. Well, it isn't as bad as I was fearing! It's taking me c. 1hr 10mins to travel the distance, starting out between 0630-0700 each morning. I have 11 miles on fast A roads and 63 miles on the M40. Besides a 2 3/4 hour time to travel 2 miles yesterday due to an accident, I think this might just be doable. I am relieved.

Currently, I am driving more like an old man to keep the fuel cost down in the Evoque but, now with cheap fuel, I think the lead foot will return...

I have the Evoque since 21 Dec and an now just over 3k miles! As I have to change the car at 6k miles I will be choosing the next car. So, I'd appreciate your thoughts. Here's the choice; XE 2.0d R-Sport, XF 2.d R-Sport or an XE S with the 3.0d v6. Also, what colour do you think look best?

Looking forward to reading your views.

6K limit? Does this mean they'll be changing your car every two months?

If thats the case i'd say after a few changes colour wont bother you so much. I'd probably just do the car types in order and see which one you like, in a colour i happened to like on the day. Its not like its a long term decision!

Edited by daemon on Friday 15th January 19:40

[mikees]

I did Maidenhead to Solihull for two years and it was fine. Haven't read entire thread but assume you work for JLR? Glad it's working out ok.

Mike

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd pick the XF as it's the nicer place to be anyway you could work your way through that entire list with your 6k limit.

[ColonelKurtz]

Mikees, yes you're right :-). Glad to also hear you dd Maidenhead to Solihull for two years without going mad.

Daemon, I did a round trip to Ireland over Christmas and that accounts for about 1k miles of the total but I guess you're right; probably get to change cars between 2 & 3 times a year with the build times factored in unless they balk at that; but I've heard other people have done it. I've never had a new car before and said to my wife that I would treat myself at some point in the future; I didn't expect the treat to be this big...

Zx10R, I was leaning towards the XF myself but hear from people at the office that the XE is a better drivers car. But I guess on the motorway it doesn't matter.

Well thanks for the thoughts guys; appreciate it. Have a good weekend!

[ColonelKurtz]

mikees said:

I did Maidenhead to Solihull for two years and it was fine. Haven't read entire thread but assume you work for JLR? Glad it's working out ok.

Mike

I forgot to ask, did you work at JLR too then? How did you find it?

[jjr1]

This may be slightly off topic in so far as I commute far more miles every day but 'work' far less than atypical.

The one thing that does grate with my job though is the miles I drive or the time wasted. I love cars and bikes but as much as i do, I am starting to resent the hours of my life flittered away in a car.

Podcasts or Spotify can only while away so much time but ultimately I am dying sitting in a car for up to 6 hours a day !

[sealtt]

What do you mean by saying that you work less than atypical hours? 6 hours per day in a car is very high unless you are a sales rep, driver, etc in which case driving is kind of part of the job - as opposed to 'commuting' to a regular place of work.

I would be no good doing 6 hours per day, too much for me I'd find it very tedious. Plus England is quite small and the motorways / motorway scenery are all pretty homogenous (98%+ of the time), so not the most exciting country to drive around.

[crazy about cars]

1 hours 10 mins for your 160 miles commute? That's good!

I commute 18 miles each way and that can take from 30 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes each way if traffic is really bad. My average is around 50 minutes of commuting each way.

[jjr1]

sealtt said:

What do you mean by saying that you work less than atypical hours? 6 hours per day in a car is very high unless you are a sales rep, driver, etc in which case driving is kind of part of the job - as opposed to 'commuting' to a regular place of work.

I would be no good doing 6 hours per day, too much for me I'd find it very tedious. Plus England is quite small and the motorways / motorway scenery are all pretty homogenous (98%+ of the time), so not the most exciting country to drive around.

I travel to the Horse race meetings every day, so this week from Nottingham, I have been to Ludlow, Taunton, Catterick and Huntingdon. The weekend was Punchestown and Fairyhouse but that was in a hire car.

My commutes consist of a lot of hours driving for maybe 21 minutes of work per day.

You could say my commute to work ratio is a little bit skewed !

[shielsy]

It sounds like a pretty decent journey if you are managing each 75ish mile trip in 1hr 10m. If you are doing that at this time of year then you're laughing... come spring and summer life gets much better (not to mention when the school holidays arrive).

When you are making decent progress the journey is so much more pleasant. I've been doing a 124 mile round trip for the last 18 months into central London from south Northants, on a motorbike. Friday mornings and Monday evenings are absolutely fine, however the rest of the week is torture (even on a bike). A good day is 1hr 10mins, a bad day can be 1hr 50mins. It's been grinding me down for the last 6 months and I've knocked it on the head. Start my new job in 6 weeks time, all of 6 miles from my house.

[truck71]

shielsy said:

It sounds like a pretty decent journey if you are managing each 75ish mile trip in 1hr 10m. If you are doing that at this time of year then you're laughing... come spring and summer life gets much better (not to mention when the school holidays arrive).

When you are making decent progress the journey is so much more pleasant. I've been doing a 124 mile round trip for the last 18 months into central London from south Northants, on a motorbike. Friday mornings and Monday evenings are absolutely fine, however the rest of the week is torture (even on a bike). A good day is 1hr 10mins, a bad day can be 1hr 50mins. It's been grinding me down for the last 6 months and I've knocked it on the head. Start my new job in 6 weeks time, all of 6 miles from my house.

This. An extended commute can seem doable to begin with but it can take a toll over time. For nine years I did a hundred mile daily round trip with additional business travel on top. I now live a double life with a flat near my office returning "home" on a Friday night. Much less stressful although there are likely to be downsides to this aswell, not found them yet.

[Hackney]

crazy about cars said:

1 hours 10 mins for your 160 miles commute? That's good!

I commute 18 miles each way and that can take from 30 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes each way if traffic is really bad. My average is around 50 minutes of commuting each way.

I think it's one hour ten each way, which is 80miles.
He said 160 mile commute per day.

I lived in N London and commuted to Peterborough every day. 80 miles, an hour and fifteen regular as clockwork no matter what time I left.

I now commute Harrow to Enfield, 17 miles as the crow flies. An hour and 10 but can be more. 45 minutes when the schools are off.

I know which commute I preferred.

[silent ninja]

Time is more of a factor than distance. I go through a congested part if the country so the 60 mile commute one way takes 1hr45...if there are incidents like this Monday - it took 2hr40 there then 2hrs bsck- then it can get pretty frustrating.

Impact on personal life is great. Sometimes I feel like a taxi/hgv driver. There's no time for gym after work and no quality time with family - can't even find time to help kids with homework on weekdays.

I'm now doing 1 day from home and commute either super early (5.30am set off) or late (8.30am) because I've found traffic in the middle just too heavy. If I leave late its a mere 1hr10 journey which is not hard at all.

I say if the experience and role is worth it's value, aim to do it 6-12 months. Long drives really wear you down...

[vikingaero]

I used to travel Maidstone to Slough years ago. 70 miles and a lot of it on the M25. 1hr10m if absolutely clear. Normally 1hr30m minimum on a good run to 4h+. I had an overnight bag permanently in the car for shacking up in a B&B if the M25 went tits up which was about once every 3 weeks. I thought I had it bad until a colleague joined who lived in Folkestone. Expensed C-Class Automatic helped. In the end after a couple of years graft/reputation I felt confident to announce I was working from home a couple of times a week.

[HenrysDad]

I used to commute Bournemouth to Maple Cross - 200 mile round trip.
Did it for 2 years. Leaving home about 6.00am getting home at 7.30pm.

[dci]

I would be happy with 1 hour 10 for that distance..

Most days it takes me an hour 10 to do 26 miles from Aberdare to Cardiff due to the A470 being a nightmare!

Leaving the house at 7:00 most other people commuting at this time are eating breakfast, shaving, applying makeup or replying to emails all while behind the wheel. This means that 4 out of 5 days there's a nasty rear end shunt to contend with which sends the A470 and any connecting roads into meltdown.

I've been doing this commute for over a year now and the hour spend sitting almost still in a sea of overly bright brake lights really takes the shine from a job I enjoy.

Wherever your doing your commute just be glad it isn't in South Wales, the land of the moron motorist..

[daemon]

dci said:

I would be happy with 1 hour 10 for that distance..

+1

I did a 45 mile each way commute for a couple of years there, an it was taking me an easy hour to get there (providing i left at 07:00) and 1hr 15 home.

[Dan_1981]

I do the same distance from the North to the same location.

Again usually around 1 hr 15.

Been doing it now for 2 & half years.

It really isn't that bad.

And it is far easier than the commutes of some people that you hear telling you they live 25 miles away yet it takes them the same time to do that journey as it does mine. Now that would drive me insane.

[Craikeybaby]

ColonelKurtz said:

Hi All.

I thought I would update you after c. 4 weeks commuting 148 miles daily from Berkshire to Warwickshire and back. Well, it isn't as bad as I was fearing! It's taking me c. 1hr 10mins to travel the distance, starting out between 0630-0700 each morning. I have 11 miles on fast A roads and 63 miles on the M40. Besides a 2 3/4 hour time to travel 2 miles yesterday due to an accident, I think this might just be doable. I am relieved.

Currently, I am driving more like an old man to keep the fuel cost down in the Evoque but, now with cheap fuel, I think the lead foot will return...

I have the Evoque since 21 Dec and an now just over 3k miles! As I have to change the car at 6k miles I will be choosing the next car. So, I'd appreciate your thoughts. Here's the choice; XE 2.0d R-Sport, XF 2.d R-Sport or an XE S with the 3.0d v6. Also, what colour do you think look best?

Looking forward to reading your views.

That is bloody good going! I'm guessing by the car choices you're at JLR? It usually takes me 45 minutes to get to Gaydon from Coventry when I'm there for meetings first thing.