Driving onto the Eurotunnel train in a bigger car

[Howard-]

I'm going to France later this and I'm being a bit of a big girl's blouse in regards to driving my car, which is a mk4 Mondeo - pretty chunky - onto the carriages. I've booked onto the normal car section but now I'm thinking that I should book onto the one for taller vehicles in order to save potential wheel damage. I'm dreading having to drive onto the upper deck if they tell me to.

Anyone else got any insight driving larger saloon/estates onto the trains and/or to just tell me to man up?

Ta!

[bobtail4x4]

Mumsnet is over there>>>

the last time I went on the chunnel was in a range rover, plenty of room.

[donutsina911]

Howard- said:

I'm going to France later this and I'm being a bit of a big girl's blouse in regards to driving my car, which is a mk4 Mondeo - pretty chunky - onto the carriages. I've booked onto the normal car section but now I'm thinking that I should book onto the one for taller vehicles in order to save potential wheel damage. I'm dreading having to drive onto the upper deck if they tell me to.

Anyone else got any insight driving larger saloon/estates onto the trains and/or to just tell me to man up?

Ta!

You'll be fine - did it in an SQ5 last year and an XC90 over Christmas and no probs at all, even with MrsD driving..would hazard a guess they're both a good bit wider than a Mondeo.

[cayman-black]

no matter what car i,m in i always book for a tall vehicle , that way you have no worries.

[Howard-]

donutsina911 said:

You'll be fine - did it in an SQ5 last year and an XC90 over Christmas and no probs at all, even with MrsD driving..would hazard a guess they're both a good bit wider than a Mondeo.

In the normal 'low' carriage?

[MorganP104]

A mate of mine does this trip regularly in a full-fat Range Rover, without a problem.

Range Rovers are considerably bigger than Mondeos, so you'll be fine.

[Alucidnation]

op has a point as i'm not convinced anyone would be brave enough to take a Mondeo too far from home.

[Major Fallout]

Widest for me has been the X6 or maybe the Cayenne, it fitted, but the toilets get close to the mirrors.

[donutsina911]

Howard- said:

donutsina911 said:

You'll be fine - did it in an SQ5 last year and an XC90 over Christmas and no probs at all, even with MrsD driving..would hazard a guess they're both a good bit wider than a Mondeo.

In the normal 'low' carriage?

Yep, both times we were on the lower level - no issues at all.

[Shakermaker]

Man up. You will be fine.

[Sycamore]

From reading the title I expected OP to be driving a Hummer H2 - Nope just a Mondeo

[Howard-]

I feel better now thanks guys

[krisdelta]

cayman-black said:

no matter what car i,m in i always book for a tall vehicle , that way you have no worries.

Same here, much easier to navigate in the tall vehicle carriages. I do have a habit of buying silly cars however.

[BOBTEE]

Our Kuga went on no bother!

[A900ss]

BOBTEE said:

Our Kuga went on no bother!

I'm not the OP but I don't understand the behind your comment.

A Kuga surely has a smaller footprint than a Mondeo...

[lufbramatt]

Only time I've ever been on there was in a mk4 Mondeo. Didn't even realise I was supposed to be worrying about the size of the thing. It's not an issue.

[braddo]

Howard- said:

Anyone else got any insight driving larger saloon/estates onto the trains and/or to just tell me to man up?

Ta!

It will be a piece of cake. To make it a little easier you can dip your exterior mirrors to keep an eye on how close each side of the car is to the gutters.

[chasingracecars]

If sent up, (you can ask to be on the lower) you just have to watch the point at which you reach the top, Those are the wheel getters, Get is straight and the bottom and go straight up.

Laguna
Passat,
Range Rover
Jaguar XF
Audi A6

No problems.

[MrBarry123]

When we went on the Eurotunnel last year, we had a new Bentley Continental GT in front of us.

He clearly didn't know or care about how wide his car was because he managed to continuously curb his alloys as he moved along the carriages.

He then proceeded to keep his engine on throughout all but the last 5 minutes of the journey, even after repeatedly being told by the steward to turn his engine off.

Dick.

[DapperDanMan]

Just remember that a large SUV may well have higher profile tyres than your Mondeo. It is the profile of the tyres that is key here added to the cars width. So on a wider car with low profile tyres puts you right in line to get a kerbing on the rather crap edging strip. Also the lower deck is more forgiving than the upper deck.

Edited by DapperDanMan on Monday 27th February 15:40