European road trip?

[muppetlab 0]

I am contemplating a road trip down to spain. The question is do i take the rado or hire a car? Over the last year i have sweated blood and money to keep the ole gal on the road and now consider it reliable, but i just dont know if its up to the trip. My mates reckon i am mad for even considering it but i have been further in an old vw camper and it did not miss a beat. Am i worrying unnecessarily of should i just go for it. I would love to do the trip and would obviously make sure it gets a good service before the trip. Has anyone had any problems on long road trips. Will the ole Vr take hours of fast motorway work, she has 160k under the belt now. I hope to soon get a godspeed radiator to help with the summer cooling which will help on the long trip. Any tips or words of encouragement welcomed :D

[bananawhip 0]

Just get European breakdown cover for the period you're away, probably cost around £50

 

That's what I do when I go to the 'Ring and it definitely makes me feel more confident

[joby 0]

Went on a roadtrip to greece last year in my VW Transporter T4, Which granted is not a corrado but any type of older vehicle can breakdown and its a risk :) I just made sure all the serviceable items were done and got good european breakdown, Luckily in 2700 miles i had no problems whatsoever :D Get it done fella it was the best trip of my life and will deffo do it again sometime 8)

[philie 0]

Deffo do it i went to the ring and the european breakdown cover was a life saver.

[Walesy 0]

I drove to Spain and back in my rado about 6-7 years ago, absolutely loved it and would definitely do it again - even though I actually did the last 600 miles on the back of a breakdown truck! - as people have said, breakdown cover is a must!

[Danny B 0]

You could do it in a hire car but you wont enjoy it as much surely, and remember you are doing this for pleasure :D

 

Road trips are great especially in a VR : just take it easy, get breakdown cover and dont be tempted to race EVERYTHING that gives you a nod !!

[muppetlab 0]

Yep i guessed breakdown cover was a top prority. Will definitely do it as long as the car holds together prior to us leaving. The temptation to race will be a hard on to resist as the roads in france are brilliant. Be interesting to see what mpg i can get out of the vr on such a long trip. Would have thought 35 mpg should be possible. Thanks for all the encouragement. I knew i was going to do it really just needed reminding how brilliant it will be. Will really cement my relationship if it makes it there and back in one piece. Dont think i could ever sell it after a trip like that if it all goes okay. Maybe a test run to the ring is in order and to get value out of breakdown cover or is that only a per trip arrangement or an annual thing?

[dukest 0]

I've done a 1200 mile trip to the ring including laps, and then a 2000 mile trip to scotland and back via laps at castle combe and it didn't skip a beat! As long as you're not driving to a wedding or anything super-important then if anything goes wrong that's just part of the adventure!

[HiAsAKite 0]

My VR has taken my to Le Mans twice, and the south of France (with 2 weeks camping gear) twice - and didn't miss a beat.

Make sure its serviced, get some Euro breakdown cover, high viz vests for each of you, water, oil, copy of and the original docs, and just enjoy the trip, the VR is so suited for just eating up mile after mile of the french autoroute, and then enjoying the mountain passes in the alps/pyrenees etc...

 

Do it...:-)

[ebby 0]

definitely take the rado, took mine to Benicassim last year...was a quality journey,. like someone said get euro breakdown for peace of mind and your away

[Andy665 0]

My G60 did two fairly quick trips down to Le Mans (1000+ miles each time), only had one minor problem that did not require breakdown assistance.

 

Get the car serviced, pack a box of spares / tools, get breakdown cover and go and enjoy the car - no piont in having a great car if you don't use it for great road trips

[The_Dude 0]

definitely take the rado, took mine to Benicassim last year...was a quality journey,. like someone said get euro breakdown for peace of mind and your away

 

off topic - did you enjoy it or did you find it too hot? i went a few years ago and roasted, if we hadn't had booked an air-con chalet with pool i think i may have ended with severe dehydration!

 

 

can only echo what others have said, get it serviced, take a few spares and enjoy yourself!

[dukest 0]

definitely take the rado, took mine to Benicassim last year...was a quality journey,. like someone said get euro breakdown for peace of mind and your away

jealous..

[muppetlab 0]

Thanks, just got to plan the route and we're away then. oh and the ferry, villa and breakdown cover....

[Airfix 2.0 16v 0]

Hi I go in my 2.0 16v all the time and have no trouble, south France,Berlin, Denmark, all over just make shaw serviced. And whatch the speed in France as they are cracking down on it now, and there speed traps are not that easy to spot ie they do not wear high viz jackets. have a great time.

[ebby 0]

definitely take the rado, took mine to Benicassim last year...was a quality journey,. like someone said get euro breakdown for peace of mind and your away

 

off topic - did you enjoy it or did you find it too hot? i went a few years ago and roasted, if we hadn't had booked an air-con chalet with pool i think i may have ended with severe dehydration!

 

 

can only echo what others have said, get it serviced, take a few spares and enjoy yourself!

 

sorry for delayed reply...

 

yeah i really enjoyed it but it was absolutely scorching and we were camping...after being the sesh all night then not having anywhere to chill out in the day it was difficult at times...i'd been the year before as well though so knew what to expect...if i went again it would definitely be an air con job

 

the campsite car park was a dust pit, i drove on in my nicely polished and waxed C and withing 10 seconds it was covered in a 1mm layer of orange dust!!! there's still traces of it coming out of the cracks to this day...quite annoying

[muppetlab 0]

Lovely. should be nice and toasty then. Black trim with black leather and a sunroof that half opens and a roasting hot vr next to my feet. Not too worried about dust as mine is a long way from a minter and i think rapidly turning into more of a rat although it does look alright well when its cleaned.

[ziderapple 0]

What sort of condition are your water hoses in? I think that'd be my biggest worry, that and the thermostat housing.

 

Check 'em and make sure you're all G12+ uppped.

 

Have a good un, love a road trip personally. :D

[dukest 0]

Have a good un, love a road trip personally. :D

 

me too, you sure you dont want to make Shaun a counter offer for his car and let me drive that to Dubai for you?! :D

[corrado9a 0]

yes, the hoses advice is very important. You need to check you cooling system as closely as possible, as it is highly stressed here. And in case you need help, there is a bunch of corrado nutters in Spain that can give you a hand with parts and advice.

 

Let me know if there is something we can do for you over here.

[-=Kris=- 0]

See, this is one thing i deffinately want to do!

 

cut across france into sitzerland, down through lovely swiss alps into italy then accross the border back into france along the 8) riviara 8) towards st-tropez, then down to spain all the way down to Tarifa and back up again... that would just be epic!

[ziderapple 0]

Have a good un, love a road trip personally. :D

 

me too, you sure you dont want to make Shaun a counter offer for his car and let me drive that to Dubai for you?! :D

 

Haha, you still thinking about driving here!?! It'd be cool until you got to Turkey, then I think the fun would trial off... I do keep looking at the map and day dreaming about it though, the Euro leg would be awesome! I'd want to take in all of it though, but think Spain would be a bit too much of a detour if heading here.. I really want to visit Poland and Czech Rep and Ukraine too - mostly for the beer and the bitches... I recently found myself talking to some Ukrainian girls in a bar (Yes they were hookers and No I didn't take one home! :nono: ) and they were monumentally hot, so now I've convinced myself that all the women there are mega babes. :lol:

 

I'd love to know how much Shaun has been offered, I'd have it in an instant - no good here though, no a/c IIRC and steering wheel's in the wrong place - its just plain not allowed here. :( I would however entertain putting it in storage until I came back to the UK. So sorry, I'm not gonna fund the road trip for you!

 

Typing this has got me thinking about how to spend my holiday this year, thinking escape the summer heat here and have 3 weeks touring Europe, a good mate has got a VW camper I reckon he'd let me borrow. Hmmm.

 

Muppetlab - sorry about the thread hi-jack. I stand by my advice though, burst waterhose :pale: , splash out on some Samcos and replace the thermostat housing - you'll never need to worry about it then.

[muppetlab 0]

hoses on todo list already pending the thermostat replacement and gruven crack pipe. trying to get a godspeed radiator too hopefully soon. cheers

[Mawrick 0]

Wouldn't worry to much about it not making it - haven't driven my C much, but when I got it I took it from Stockholm, Sweden to Bergen, Norway (roughly 1000 km) and never was a problem (and this was with a car that did not have the chain done, and was unsure of servicing it had received) - turned out later that one of the "guides" or whatever you call it was broken when I replaced the chain - the engine seemed to have been given proper care though as the cylinder walls seemed as good as the day it came from the factory :)