How long can you drive for?

[Sam]

I don't mean in an iron man style testosterone fuelled marathon way (in which case I drove to the moon - twice!) ... I mean sensible distance driving over a few days - which makes a difference from a one day hit.

Just trying to get a realistic grip on trip planning. I haven't driven real distance over many days for, well, many years! - and to be honest I know I'm lying to myself with what I think I and my eyes can really do now days. It's obviously a very personal thing - so just looking to get a balanced view and hope to aim for the middle

Obviously location and terrain makes a difference so I'll keep it simple and set some easy parameters to work on.

Driving alone, good tarmacked roads.. and lets say a few thousand miles on a 50-50 split between tolls and A type roads across Europe.

Any thoughts?

 

[AndyCook]

last summer
I drove with wife as passenger (she didnt drive)
1100-1200km from ZeeBrugge to Pyrenees over 2 days
driving 9-10am to 5-6pm

on motorways - but drove about 60mph

on way back north we split the journey into 3 days, and drove faster!
and usually arrived at destination at 2-3pm
since we found this better than two longer days

 

[Gary Stockton]

Personally would look at 1000km / day on motorways with light traffic if you know where you're going. Less with kids ....

 

[Crispin]

I drove to Switzerland in one go - took 17 hours behind the wheel with one breakfast stop and 1 fuel stop. Was during the snow a few years back and was slow going the France on snow covered roads. Average speed was 30-40mph.

To be honest, it was just plain dangerous for the last 30-60 minutes. Was a horrible fight between redbull and the need to sleep

Drove from Jo'burg to Cape Town in one go (About 1500km?). That is simple easy driving though. Long straight roads where you can, erm, make up for lost time in a rapid way.

Safely and with a family? Steady pace of 80mph and how long your passangers can go before the whine starts...

 

[Rob]

I drove most of the 4080 miles in 5 days from Irkutsk Russia to Olsztyn Poland. Halina my girlfriend drove about 20% of it only when I was tired. All of that with no help from caffeine.

 

[Julian Voelcker]

Really depends on individual - we did Atlas mountains to South of France in 29hrs only stopping for ferry, fuel and collect food. I drove it all bar 2 hrs worth.

 

[Dave Docwra]

Windhoek to Cape Town 1460kms in 17 hours, they looked quite close to each other on the map

 

[Andrew Prince]

Depends if you're doing it for fun (holiday) or doing it because you need to get somewhere asap. I'd say 800-1000km/day on decent roads would be manageable for a few days. If it's 1 day you could push it more but you'd probably want to rest the next day. If you stick to driving during daylight hours, it should be a lot easier on the tiredness stakes.

Obviously you can do marathon drives but they're not fun and you're asking for trouble with an incident/accident when you get tired. Unless you're racing to get somewhere, you've got to ask yourself if it's worth pushing to the limit. BTDT myself but wouldn't take the risks now I have kids

EDIT: As we're using African distances, I used to go from Durban to Cape Town in a day going to and from university each semester. Straight roads, light traffic and the exuberance of youth meant it could be done quite efficiently - 1600+ km during daylight hours.

 

[Crispin]

If you stick to driving during daylight hours, it should be a lot easier on the tiredness stakes.

Much prefer getting up at about 2-3am and heading out. Just seems nicer to drive at that time. Also others in the car sleep which is the best idea

 

[Andrew Prince]

Yes, I'm with you,Crispin - I would usually aim to hit the road around 4am, which as you know, in SA it's getting light then in summer. If you have to drive in the dark, my attitude is better to do it at the start of your drive when you're freshest and arrive while it's light.

 

[BRE Fabrications LTD]

Windhoek to Cape Town 1460kms in 17 hours, they looked quite close to each other on the map

Done this drive myself a fair few times. SWAMBO and I use to leave cape town 3am and usually got to WHK at about 6pm. Then up at 6am again the next day for another 4hrs to swakopmund. Long 'ol drive and those long stretches with not a whole lot of scenery do make you feel like you're on a treadmill...

I'd say try and break your trip down to avoid alot of consequetive long road days as it will take it out of you One big road day every now and again is ok but you don't want to spend you whole holiday driving ten+ hours a day.

 

[Chris]

Thought Sam asked how far can you drive - but not in a testosterone, Red Bull fuelled road race type of way

I don't think that there is a definite answer, but I think that regular meaningful breaks are the thing. If you wait until you are tired - it's too late. Think about setting goals like 'When we hit xyz, we'll stop and have 15 mins with eyes closed.' Don't get to that position and think 'Oh let's keep going, I'm not tired.' Won't be long before you have the radio on full, window down, gulping energy drinks, shouting at things, slapping yourself in the face. Oh yes you do and you know it

Try to do something other than just sit in the same seat. Do something that stimulated the mind a bit, even if it's just a round of cards. But don't rush to get back in. Take the full time. Check around the truck, have a coffee etc

It's different for everyone, but you can't fight fatigue. Once that sets in, like Crispin said, it's really like dodging bullets.

But with nothing more than fuel stops, at a constant 70 mph you can theoretically get about 1600 miles in 24 hours.

Chris

 

[Jimbo4x4]

I'd say try and break your trip down to avoid alot of consequetive long road days as it will take it out of you One big road day every now and again is ok but you don't want to spend you whole holiday driving ten+ hours a day.

100% agree, it makes for a much more enjoyable trip when you do fewer miles each day. Longest trip I've done in the shortest amount of time is probably driving the 1700kms across the Nullabor Desert (Norseman - Port Augusta) in two days, which was okay because I'd split the drive from Perth - Norseman into two days and done lots of other stuff in that time. Similarly, I spent alot of time in the Flinders Ranges just after that drive so I never got too fed up of driving constantly. Remember that traffic conditions and weather will affect you alot too. Driving from Sydney to Byron Bay (800kms) in one day was pure hell compared to the Nullabor - mainly because it rained the whole way and there was alot more traffic (I could count on my fingers the amount of other cars I saw each day in the desert).

Jim.

 

[Scott]

.........sensible distance driving over a few days - which makes a difference from a one day hit.

Just trying to get a realistic grip on trip planning.

Obviously location and terrain makes a difference so I'll keep it simple and set some easy parameters to work on.

Driving alone, good tarmacked roads.. and lets say a few thousand miles on a 50-50 split between tolls and A type roads across Europe.

Any thoughts?

Sam, by driving alone, do you mean alone in the vehicle, or lone vehicle? It makes a big difference if you have a family on board. The other factors are food and accommodation, if your living out of the vehicle, cooking and camping, then it's much more pleasent to arrive, set up camp and eat in daylight and then relax, rather than do it all in the dark. If your fast fooding it, and staying in formula 1 hotels along the way, then you can afford to drive further and stop as the light fades, but with that the time of year then becomes a factor

I would say that a target of 400miles per day is an achievable target. Have a 15min tea break every 2hrs, stretch the legs, quick comfort visit and perhaps an apple. Have a 45min lunch break with a nice light lunch. At the last afternoon stop, of shortly before arriving at your days destination fuel up, as a lot of fuel stations are closed on Sundays (except for the services on the toll roads). With this schedule you should arrive at your destination between 17:00 - 18:00, plenty of time to unwind and get a good nights sleep, before doing it all again.

It's also good not to thrash the car unessecarily, lots of people load their car to the gunnels and then thrash it along the autoroutes for 4hr stints all day, at 85mph. This means you consume loads of extra fuel, finds any weakness in the car and often leads to break downs, (tyre blow outs, or overheated engines). Plus if you've set yourself a big target, for example 800miles, then people also feel the need to take risks to maintain a high average speed. I find it's better to sit at 65 - 70mph, not consume so much fuel, go easy on the car and have a more pleasent journey. This tends to result in less fatigue at the end of the day, you don't want to kill the car on the first few days of the holiday.

With most people being tied to a 2 week annual holiday window you don't want to spend a large chunk of that travelling to and from your destination, so making the best use of toll roads, although pricey, provides the best driving conditions to cover the distances easily in the time frame. Note: If your towing, you are required to slow to a lower speed limit for the larger descents on the autoroutes, plus it'll take you longer to get back up the other side! There are some monster hills in southern France.

Speaking of time frames, I personally prefer to use the 'Le Shuttle' to cross the channel as opposed to a ferry. The train only takes 35mins so it ends up having a lot less of an impact on the time available to cover the ground in Europe, instead of being stuck on a ferry.

As a guide you should be able to reach either the Alps or the Pyrenees by mid - late afternoon on the second day.

This site is a good route/time guide: http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/

 

[Graham]

Personally would look at 1000km / day on motorways with light traffic if you know where you're going. Less with kids ....

.
Hi Gary,

I think if you can do that, day after day, then good on you.

I think a realistic days driving, as Sam suggests, 50% tolls, and 50% A roads, than your looking at about 400 miles a day, (600km)

400 miles is going to take a good 7 to 8 hours with todays morons on the road.

I don't thing you can keep an average of more than 60mph up for a full day.

Sure, years ago, I would hit Cape Town to JNB in 13,5 hours, nailing it all the time 1396km,, 13 hours might sound a long time, but there ain't many cars passing you at that speed.
Trouble is, you need a day to recover !

Gra.

 

[Graham]

.........sensible distance driving over a few days - which makes a difference from a one day hit.
Just trying to get a realistic grip on trip planning.
Obviously location and terrain makes a difference so I'll keep it simple and set some easy parameters to work on.
Driving alone, good tarmacked roads.. and lets say a few thousand miles on a 50-50 split between tolls and A type roads across Europe. Any thoughts?

Sam, I would say that a target of 400miles per day is an achievable target. Have a 15min tea break every 2hrs, stretch the legs, quick comfort visit and perhaps an apple.

I agree with Scott, 400 miles a day is a good target.
Some days may be less, some days a little more.

No point trying to kill yourself with Red Bull overdose.

Gra.

 

[Chas]

The longest I've ever done was in 2009, I left Fuzine in Croatia at 11.30am Tuesday and was at home watching the TV at 7.30pm Wednesday evening, 1087 miles in 32hrs, including two 3hr sleep stops, and the ferry crossing, mostly M/Way, average driving speed approx 36mph. It's so convenient in Europe being able to pull in to a motorway service station and put the roof tent up, try doing that in the UK

 

[AndyCook]

400miles max a day is what i would do on holiday, getting to main travelling area. then the daily distances reduce considerably as hopefully most offroad

 

[piers_finlayson]

I did south of France to home in one day last year. Google Maps reckons it's 827 miles. In the wife's car ('10 plate Ford Galaxy 2.0 tdci), using the eurotunnel, going pretty fast. With 3 small children, so lots of stops for food, leg stretches, etc.

I left at 7am French time and we got home at 10pm UK time, so 16 hours door to door. That's the most I'd ever drive in a day, and I wouldn't do it do after day. And I certainly wouldn't try and drive that time or distance in one day in the 80

 

[Chas]

The longest I've ever done was in 2009, I left Fuzine in Croatia at 11.30am Tuesday and was at home watching the TV at 7.30pm Wednesday evening, 1087 miles in 32hrs, including two 3hr sleep stops, and the ferry crossing, mostly M/Way, average driving speed approx 36mph. It's so convenient in Europe being able to pull in to a motorway service station and put the roof tent up, try doing that in the UK

Edit
That also included a few stops for food and drink, so average driving speed would have been a bit higher. I don't think I could do that regularly though.