whats your ideal car for a 2 week europe tour?

[vournikas]

2005.

I'd just joined a new company, and the company car policy was, "Choose the colour of your Mondeo". As such, I decided to opt out and take the car allowance. I rather liked the look of the Mk 2 Octavia, so I booked a test drive, very much liked it, and ordered one.

Picked it up in April 2005 with delivery miles.

Of course, the best way to run it in was to do Telford to Verona and back over a week! Comfortable, spacious, and plenty of room in the boot to bring back 6 cases of wine from Cantina di Custoza!

Ironic pic of Skoda parked in front of Ferrari factory



As for an "ideal" car in the spirit of the OP?

This:-



will do very nicely indeed, thanks very much

[irocfan]

Like many on here I've done a few European trips in varying machines

2005 mustang - definitely the best sounding (pulling away from the toll boothes & tunnels were great ), most room, surprisingly good mpgs & good performance
2012 SLK 250D - shockingly good in every facet. A little more planning needed but worth it (so good I ended up buying an '05 SLK55)
2006 Crossfire - enough room, good performance

[s m]

donaircooleone said:

Would fancy doing a Euro trip in my 306 Gti6, seems happy at motorway speeds and more than competent everywhere else.

I think PHer bitwrx has done a few trips in his 306 Rallye ( see his thread in Readers Rides )

At a similar price point, I've done a few in my cheap hatch.
6-speed and cruise makes the motorway stretches fly by, sunroof and air con mean you can enjoy the sun.......and the sheltered chill when it gets that bit too hot.....plus excellent handling to make the mountain roads fun

[twizellb]

nish81 said:

twizellb said:

We have done a few tours in the following cars,
1. TVR Tuscan.
2. Porsche Boxster "s"
3. BMW M3 e36 cab.
4. Mercedes clk 320 cab.
The TVR drew the most attention, unsuprisingly to an embarrasing degree, it was a worry leaving it parked and people driving alongside recording you on there phones was not for the shy and retiring.
The Merc was a comfy thing and performed lovely.
The BMW very similar but a bit stiff and a bit noisier, but the e36 M3 evo's have a very long 6th making cruising at high speed fairly relaxing.
The Boxster was faultless as you would imagine, used no oil or water in over 3000mls of fairly hard running.
The thing they all have in common are open air motoring, its the best way by far to do the tour in my opinion.
Try and buy the car the year before you plan to go and get all the remedial jobs done prior to leaving.
This will also give you a feeling as to the cars reliability.
Good luck and enjoy

that's an impressive list mate. yeah I definitely am aiming for someone open air - a sunroof at least, if not a convertible. as I said in my post above I'm just struggling to find something in-budget (15k) that's both fun and not tiring on long journeys. the new mini for example is good to cruise with but just not fun enough compared to something lighter.

still - one day I dream of making the trip in a TVR Tuscan

The Tuscan at Lake Garda

The Porsche in South of France with the misses lol

[kiethton]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

nish81 said:

kiethton said:

ah, a man can dream

Then a cheaper one ? I did it in my 997, and OP you say 15k ?

You'll get a 996 for that.


Do. It.

Yeah, that Porsche is not mine (can only dream!) but it would be the ideal car for a 2 week tour - good on the motorways, still good fun in the twisties, convertible and with a fair amount of storage space (although still not enough for my GF!)

In reality I did a bit over 2 weeks in this a few years back:



http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=130...

Took it to Croatia via Fussen & Vienna. Beyond bald front tyres, broken AC, a temperamental radio and short gearing it was good for the trip! haha

[Barchettaman]

I've always thought something like a Merc C208 would be good for this, plenty of luggage space, cabrio, reasonably anonymous so you won't fear parking it up too much, good on the 'Bahn and OK on the twisties.

Something like a debadged 430.

[SirSquidalot]

Manual Ferrari 550

[Tuvra]

twizellb said:

Having owned two apparent "minters" that were reasonably new at the time (V8 Cerb & T350c), I don't think I'd ever trust a TVR to take me that far away from home

I used to end up glaring at the dials and listening to every little noise when driving mine, spoilt the enjoyment for me

[twizellb]

Tuvra said:

twizellb said:

Having owned two apparent "minters" that were reasonably new at the time (V8 Cerb & T350c), I don't think I'd ever trust a TVR to take me that far away from home

I used to end up glaring at the dials and listening to every little noise when driving mine, spoilt the enjoyment for me

It was no problem at all, apart from using a bit of oil, but yes I know where your coming from.
Lots of people thought I was being brave.

[paulmnz]

for £15k a boxster S has to be the answer.
- fun to drive - check
- convertible - check
- reliable - check
- aircon - check
- reasonably economical - check
- good brakes - check
- comfortable - check
- luggage space - check

[GrandAndrew]

I'm going to do about 10 days down to the Alpes in June in my 986 Boxster S. Don't have any fixed plans at the moment, just want to drive some great roads and look out over some amazing views. Might take a tent and camp for some of it. Couple of good books and a few beers, should be very relaxing indeed!

[matthias73]

E46 330I vert.

Mine is the sport. Would recommend fitting smaller alloys, both to protect the car and your back.

[Tuvra]

paulmnz said:

for £15k a boxster S has to be the answer.
- fun to drive - check
- convertible - check
- reliable - check
- aircon - check
- reasonably economical - check
- good brakes - check
- comfortable - check
- luggage space - check

Where does it say £15k? I said Zonda

For £15k I think I'd go for more of a high powered cruiser than an out & out sports car, something like this:-


Maybe even this:-

[Fastchas]

For 20-25 years I always imagined a trip and this was the car I dreamt of doing it in.



I have done the Bol D'or twice on a motorbike though. French Alps...mmmm...!

[Johnny 89]

I'm hoping to do do a European trip this summer in this:



I think it fits the OP nicely?

[vsonix]

I lived with my Z3 2.8 for 3 months in Southern France a couple of years ago. OK the boot is pretty small but since the place I stay down there is quite well equipped with stuff, it wasn't really an issue.

[Byker28i]

Practical - Porsche Cayenne? Enough boot space for the wifes luggage and bringing goodies back. High so gets a good view, pick a sporty one for the power...

[RobM77]

I've done it in the Elise on a few occasions and it was great fun, but I reckon an Evora would be miles better on the motorways and still enjoyable on the twisties, so that'd be my ideal choice.

[Johnny 89]

I did drive to Poland 5 years ago in this:

[jatinder]

I took my VX220 Turbo around Europe (plus two laps of the ring) 2600+ miles in total in 2012, probably not the best choice (noisy, cramped, not much luggage space) but it was faultless, say what you will about Lotus/Vauxhall reliability it worked!



I'm going in September with my M3, it will be a much better car for the journey. It has Air con for starters!



My ideal car would probably be a Aston of some sort!

Edited by jatinder on Wednesday 15th March 13:02