The Daily Trek

Sparky · 21 Jul 2001, 14:08 (Ref:119962)

Your journey to work...

...Do you dread it, or wake in the morning full of anticipation?
Does the mileage whizz by, or is it a tedious slog?

I'm having to do nearly four hundred miles a week these days, and I find myslef wishing for something a little more entertaining to drive than a ten-year old Carlton.

Does the trip to work dictate your car? Do you chose your vehicle because of it's ability to use as little fuel as possible, or does it have to have entertainment value too?

What would your ideal commuter car be? I can't say "Money no object..." otherwise the fuel issue goes out of the window, but which vehicle would help to offset the daily grind?

I can't wait 'til the Escort is back on the road, but I'm going to regret the 20mpg fuel return after a couple of days!

How does £80.00 a week on fuel sound!!??

marcus · 21 Jul 2001, 15:27 (Ref:119980)

welcome back sparky

I only live 7kms from where I work so the drive isnt a very long one..and part of that is on the national freeway so I can zoom along at 110kph...I dont mind the drive to and from work and i usually use about $20 of fuel a week ..I used to live alot further away from work and used to time myself getting home (at midnight with no cars anywhere) ..record was 13 minutes for quite a slog..decided to stop doing that when I found myself going backwards down the road at about 80kph one night in the rain..so now I take it nice and easy and just relax and dodge the flow of semi's that are coming throught town at midnight.

ultimate car to get to work ...well..i would prefer a nice 250cc motorbike ..cheap on fuel and you can zip around no problems at all

Sharky · 22 Jul 2001, 02:36 (Ref:120118)

My daily route is about 40kms which means I spend about an hour 20 minutes on my car each day. Now.....do I dread it??? Absolutely not!!!. In fact....I love it. It's not that the road it's fast (it's very fast by the way), it's just that it's a lot of fun. It's very twisty and full of climbs and descents.....very tricky to drive of course but fun nonetheless. Besides, the scenery is just beautiful because the road goes trough the mountain that surrounds the city so a lot of vegetation and such. But it's also a blessing thanks to a little "extra" I bought for the car 6 months after I bought it. It's a Pioneer DEH 3150 with a very nice set of 4 speakers. The thing is that you can roll up the windows and place a nice CD at high volumen at there aren't any neighbors or anyone else complaining. In fact......sometimes when I'm listening to a really good CD I pray for all the traffic lights going red or for a traffic jam (and I'm not kidding).

As for the question if the road I take would mandate the car I would buy i'd say sure. If I had to take a straight, flat road every day I would just buy any car with a nice stereo and air con. But because of the road I would really enjoy a car with an excellent handling and a lot of power....climbing power in particular. I wouldn't care much about top speeds or anything like that. Anyway......that's why I'm saving up for a brand new BMW M5......so let's see.....My car's worth U$4.500 and I have about U$100 in my wallet so.....say....does anyone here have U$70.000 they can lend me?? I'll pay in a priod no longer than 80 years

BTW....80 pounds a week.....ouch. I don't spend more than 6 pounds a week! Of course petrol is relatively cheap over here and my car does some 35mpg

elephino · 22 Jul 2001, 10:31 (Ref:120165)

Well I don't exactly enjoy my drive to work. I have to drive on one of the worst roads in Sydney...twice. Luckily it isn't the worst for traffic but even so.

Ideally a motorcycle would be best as I could ride all the way to work and park for free instead of having to go to a train station and ride a train in.

Airhead · 22 Jul 2001, 11:03 (Ref:120171)

Like Marcus I also join the National Highway for the ride to work.

Twenty Kilometres of unadulterated pleasure. Usually taken at 125 klms an hour behind the bars of the Beemer.

I thought of the dream drive so to speak on this trip but would take a bike every time. I wouldn't have a Ducati 996, I'd loose my licence and be unable to get to work.

I'd take a stage three 1450 Harley. But can't afford it.

So the K1100RS will do. It never lets me down and still puts a smile to the dial.

mtpanorama · 22 Jul 2001, 11:20 (Ref:120173)

Quote:

Originally posted by marcus

ultimate car to get to work ...well..i would prefer a nice 250cc motorbike ..cheap on fuel and you can zip around no problems at all

Thats how i get to work . My trusty kawasaki 250. It is only about 4km to work. It takes 10lts of petrol and i get about 220km to the tank, so it is very cheap to run. I forget when the last time was when i filled it up

.

But i must confess at the moment we have two cars so i am driving one to work instead of the bike. Much warmer when it is in the minus degrees most mornings here in Bathurst at the moment

Diabando · 22 Jul 2001, 23:40 (Ref:120341)

Ahhh...this is the major topic of conversation in our house right now!!

We have just purchsed a property (Yaaayyy!!) much further out from work than where we are now (we already travel an hour to get to work). Currently, we use the XF Falcon to commute, as it is on gas, and costs us about $50 a week to run (considering the kms, thats great). BUT, we were thinking that as we will be adding an extra half hour morning and night to our travels, that perhaps we would like a later model car (Commadore VS). So, weighing up the pros and cons of the situation, we decided it would be best, at this stage, to just keep going with the Falcon. Why? Cheap, Comfortable and we can fix most problems ourselves (you need that with a Ford). The new car might have been comfortable, but it would be alot more expensive, and impossible to work on.

Our drive to work consists of Highway, Suburban Roads, going through School areas (pure he11), and then into heavy traffic at the end, so reliability and ease are most important.

**Peter Mallett** · 23 Jul 2001, 11:08 (Ref:120478)

My journey to work consists of getting up at 5.30 am and getting a cab to Heathrow. Checking in at KLM for the 9.55 flight to Schipol. Doing the old Duty Free shopping and catching the 14.05 to Moscow where I get to a hotel by around ten pm. Shower change and off to the bright lights for a few beers and then back to the hotel. Lunch the next day in Red Square then the 18.00 hrs flight from Vnokova to Surgut where I arrive at my hotel at around 12.30 am.

But soon. I start my new job!!! Yaaay (to quote somebody else in this thread). Then I'm going to be getting up at 6.00 am and travelling in my newly aquired Jeep at 20 mpg if I'm lucky for around five hundred miles per week. But only for 2 or three weeks then I'm off to Kazakhstan and the "plane" thing kicks in again.

marcus · 23 Jul 2001, 14:37 (Ref:120566)

just what the heck is you do Peter ?????

KC · 23 Jul 2001, 15:12 (Ref:120582)

My car barely gets warmed up. I go about 8 miles. I get on the highway less than a mile from home and work is only 1/2 mile from the same highway so it takes only minutes.

AndyF · 23 Jul 2001, 19:38 (Ref:120681)

I travel by bus - as boring as hell.

Neil C · 23 Jul 2001, 23:25 (Ref:120777)

My commute consists of the walk from the bedroom, to the WC, to the kitchen for coffee, the to the study, where I work.

I'm thinking of trading my Ford Escape for a Ferrari F50, since they will both get the same fuel economy on the way to work!

Seriously, I enjoy (most) of the time I used to spend on the road (if it's an open road). Driving is therapy for me. Sometimes I just have to get up and go for a drive. Wish I had a motorcycle though.

Peter, as a Northwest Airlines/KLM employee, I thank you for helping me feed my family and my habits.

**Craig** · 24 Jul 2001, 00:02 (Ref:120809)

I don't enjoy getting up for work, or arriving, but the bit in between is quite fun...

Lots of (very) fast back roads and a car which is reasonably nippy equals fun...

**Peter Mallett** · 24 Jul 2001, 07:28 (Ref:120917)

Quote:

Originally posted by Neil C
Peter, as a Northwest Airlines/KLM employee, I thank you for helping me feed my family and my habits.

A pleasure as always. PS. Any decent offers going?

**Peter Mallett** · 24 Jul 2001, 07:31 (Ref:120918)

Quote:

Originally posted by marcus
just what the heck is you do Peter ?????

Hmmm.

**bella** · 24 Jul 2001, 09:04 (Ref:120972)

my journey is approximately 4 minutes, and 3 miles. it's between thriplow, my village, and newton, work. it's a great little road, and i could drive it with my eyes shut (best not test the theory, eh?).

however, for the past few mornings, i have encountered a parade of tractors. and been doing around 10 miles an hour. all the way. argh.

i would love to commute further. it does my head in only being a short prissy drive, because there's no time to relax, chill out, and listen to some music. i sometimes go via cambridge just to de-stress (another 15-20 miles).

MichaelC · 24 Jul 2001, 10:03 (Ref:121019)

I'm in the same boat as Neil C. I work from home, having recently become self-employed. I'd reached a state whereby I was driving 22 miles to work each day, and it took 20 minutes for the first 20 miles, then 20 minutes for the last two, which was ridiculous. I had the Pug 306 in Diesel Turbo form, which meant the 250 miles each week I spent commuting could be done on half a tank of fuel, which was kinda good. Now I don't have to commute, I'm changing - see my thread on the Audi A4.
Not having to waste so much time stuck in traffic was a major factor in leaving my job too!!

Truckosaurus · 24 Jul 2001, 13:14 (Ref:121113)

I've got a bit of a trek to work, about 25miles/40mins. Luckily it's
all on fairly clear roads and there isn't any real jams even through the urban bits (the beauty of working in a New Town).

I felt I would rather live in the sticks and 'commute' rather than live in said New Town.

And it now turns out (quelle petite monde) that on Bella's tiny commute that she passes within 100yds of my house...

**bella** · 24 Jul 2001, 15:20 (Ref:121139)

ooer, really? where do you live?

massifheed · 24 Jul 2001, 15:52 (Ref:121145)

Ahh the daily commute! Mine's 120 mile round trip. I start in Newbury and have to make my way to London. So it's motorway all the way, usually very slow moving motorway, although this weeks been pretty good so far. I imagine tomorrow will be **** now.
Anyway, if I could have any car, then it would have to be a Moller SkyCar. Instead of 2 hours to get in I could do it in about 15 mins max. Check it out:

www.moller.com

**Stephen Green** · 25 Jul 2001, 10:21 (Ref:121484)

Fortunately I can take the train to work and back, a round trip of 80 miles or so. With the traffic in the UK so heavy these days, it's quicker and possibly cheaper to use public transport.

Hey, I can read the paper, take a nap, sip a coffee, look at the young lady opposite (ooops, did I really say that?), thats on the way to work. On the way home it's sleep, sleep, sleep....Drive? No thanks!

Stephen.

RickP:Clio51 · 30 Jul 2001, 07:58 (Ref:123655)

This all makes me very envious.
I commute 14 miles each way and it takes between 35 and 45 minutes...
Despite travelling in pretty much my dream car, Porsche 911, it is a pain, the sports suspension bumps in and out of every pothole and the speed humps try to knock off the RSR front spoiler at every opportunity.
Giving serious consideration to a Brabus Smart...
RickP

**Stephen Green** · 30 Jul 2001, 08:00 (Ref:123657)

Come on now Rick, you wouldn't give the old 911 up for anything now would you?

Stephen

RickP:Clio51 · 30 Jul 2001, 08:08 (Ref:123662)

No... but was thinking of leaving it and its teen fuel consumption figures at home some days...
Power sliding onto Penge High Street on a damp and rainy London night is just like too much hard work some days...
RickP

**Stephen Green** · 30 Jul 2001, 08:45 (Ref:123675)

Penge! I was born in Beckenham and used to live in Penge until I was about 8 years old...What a coincidence.

Stephen

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