90 mile commute - Experience? & what to do it in?
Discussion
I may be about to start commuting 90 miles each way.
All motorway, M1, M42. – Sheffield – Solihull.
Work flexible on start & finish time to an extent but will likely still be around normal office hours.
The uplift in pay makes it worth while, and in the past I’ve done 60-70 mile commutes on a daily basis.
Anyone familiar with the route on a daily basis?
And the important question – What car to do it in?
I’m thinking something up to a max of about £5k / 6k
So far my thought are revolving around something comfortable, economical (at least 45mpg?), but happy enough to sit at 80 – 90 mph with out being too strained and reliability will also be very very important.
General thoughts have covered thing like the following:
E46 330D
Volvo – would probably prefer an estate of some type V50 in budget?
Passat – boring? I would like to retain some sort of niceness?
Octavia – Would a VRS diesel be economical enough?
A4 – Again an Avant would be nice 2tdi sline?
Any other suggestions or comments on any of the above? Likelihood to achieve the MPG I want? Likelihood of leaving me stranded at the side of the road?
I’d like cruise, maybe heated leather too but I’m not overly fussy.
Over to you!
All motorway, M1, M42. – Sheffield – Solihull.
Work flexible on start & finish time to an extent but will likely still be around normal office hours.
The uplift in pay makes it worth while, and in the past I’ve done 60-70 mile commutes on a daily basis.
Anyone familiar with the route on a daily basis?
And the important question – What car to do it in?
I’m thinking something up to a max of about £5k / 6k
So far my thought are revolving around something comfortable, economical (at least 45mpg?), but happy enough to sit at 80 – 90 mph with out being too strained and reliability will also be very very important.
General thoughts have covered thing like the following:
E46 330D
Volvo – would probably prefer an estate of some type V50 in budget?
Passat – boring? I would like to retain some sort of niceness?
Octavia – Would a VRS diesel be economical enough?
A4 – Again an Avant would be nice 2tdi sline?
Any other suggestions or comments on any of the above? Likelihood to achieve the MPG I want? Likelihood of leaving me stranded at the side of the road?
I’d like cruise, maybe heated leather too but I’m not overly fussy.
Over to you!
A work colleague does a north of Nottingham village to Birmingham city centre, 3 days a week. From what he says the it's extremely busy as he approaches the M42 and gets worse once inside it. Time wise, he allows 90 minutes if all goes to plan.
He often parks at Coleshill Parkway and gets the train to New Street, and currently sometimes parks up outside the M42 and rides his mountain bike along the canal to the office (around a 40 minute ride).
Your 90 minutes make be an under estimate
He often parks at Coleshill Parkway and gets the train to New Street, and currently sometimes parks up outside the M42 and rides his mountain bike along the canal to the office (around a 40 minute ride).
Your 90 minutes make be an under estimate
shoestring7 said:
Three to four hours a day commuting in addition to the 7 - 8 hours slaving?
Have you thought about looking for a room to rent near work for the week?
SS7
This... very much this. That is alot of commuting time. If you hit traffic/accidents you can double that. I would look for a room Have you thought about looking for a room to rent near work for the week?
SS7
My standard answer to the what car commute question - is get a bike. It does not save a lot of money, but saves precious time, and stress of the commute. Weirdly as well - commuting on a bike, you feel so much fresher when you arrive at work, and arrive home. Not sure if just the fresh air, I think more likely the extra concentration and planning keep your brain more alert than just rolling along in the car. Especially if you have a car for the crap weather days.
However even I would not do 90 miles every day each way on a bike - I think it would be too much.
If I was in your situation, I would be trying to do the following.
Travel Monday morning and stay over.
Travel back Tuesday night
WFH on Wednesday
Travel Thursday morning and stay over
Travel back Friday night
Only away two nights a week, get a regular room somewhere and negotiate the discount, and still keep a work/home balance.
Also with only 360 miles a week, is easily doable on a bike rather than the car !!
However even I would not do 90 miles every day each way on a bike - I think it would be too much.
If I was in your situation, I would be trying to do the following.
Travel Monday morning and stay over.
Travel back Tuesday night
WFH on Wednesday
Travel Thursday morning and stay over
Travel back Friday night
Only away two nights a week, get a regular room somewhere and negotiate the discount, and still keep a work/home balance.
Also with only 360 miles a week, is easily doable on a bike rather than the car !!
Volvo S60 D5 will do that with ease. Nice 13 speaker stereo and a pleasant place to sit, get an auto though to take some stress out of it. Will sit at 90 very happily.
A cheaper option could be a Rover 75 diesel, I find the seats more comfortable than the Volvo but it's not quite as composed above 80. Still an excellent commuting car, though.
You're going to be spending the best part of £550 a month on fuel, a weeknight room will be a lot less than that and might keep you sane. Any chance of compressing your 37.5hrs into four days so you only have to be away three nights?
A cheaper option could be a Rover 75 diesel, I find the seats more comfortable than the Volvo but it's not quite as composed above 80. Still an excellent commuting car, though.
You're going to be spending the best part of £550 a month on fuel, a weeknight room will be a lot less than that and might keep you sane. Any chance of compressing your 37.5hrs into four days so you only have to be away three nights?
My sensible head would be looking at something along these lines, or a 120d.
Smallish, but not too small, reasonably light to keep the costs down.
Automatic, cruise control, leather and low miles would be a must.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
Smallish, but not too small, reasonably light to keep the costs down.
Automatic, cruise control, leather and low miles would be a must.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
g3org3y said:
Dare I ask, how much is that costing you in terms of fuel per month?
A lot 
It's Australia, so fuel is a bit cheaper, but not that much.
I do it 3 to 4 days a week. 2 tanks of petrol once you take into account running around for work during the week. 50l fill each time. 98 Ron. It's not cheap.
My business is based in a crap area I don't want to live in. So I commute instead.
I'm looking at buying some small office space within walking distance though. Have a second office.
Colonial said:
g3org3y said:
Dare I ask, how much is that costing you in terms of fuel per month?
A lot It's Australia, so fuel is a bit cheaper, but not that much.
I do it 3 to 4 days a week. 2 tanks of petrol once you take into account running around for work during the week. 50l fill each time. 98 Ron. It's not cheap.
My business is based in a crap area I don't want to live in. So I commute instead.
I'm looking at buying some small office space within walking distance though. Have a second office.
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