Driving From Irlend to Germany and back.

craichoe

Mailman wrote: »

Which? having the fastest(rental) car on the road or travelling on motorway at motorway speeds for a thousand kilometers most of which is across France which is speed restricted to 130kmph anyway.
There is some nice hardware for rent at the airports like upmarket Audis, Mercs and Alfa Romeo coupes.

Yes, but car rental here is quite pricey, for anything high end and decent with full CDW insurance your paying 200 - 300 per day excluding the amount of juice the thing will drink. The basic price looks fine, but its limited mileage clause that will crucify you.

Nobody with a foreign reg drives the 130 kp/h speed limit in France. Even the french know where the cameras are and tend to only slow down at these points. Belgians have some sort of a system but the french rarely bother, same with the Dutch. You can't get a ticket on French motorways on an Irish registration, they have nowhere to send the ticket to, unless you get stopped, in this case they will take cash from you at the roadside.

Diesel on French pumps is called Gasoil ... Total sell this stuff called Excellium, its just a fancy more expensive Diesel.

Toll roads are expensive ! Diesel is much cheaper than petrol here though, it was around 1.17 a litre for Diesel and 1.45 for Petrol when i drove up 2 months ago. Germany is alot more expensive than France, Belgium or Holland

Doing a run to Munich from Ireland, i'd recommend something like a 2 Litre TDI or a 2.4Litre petrol at least, cruising speed is around 180 - 200kph on the Autobahn. You'll be wrecked from driving in a small car.

Spare bulbs are a definite must, if you get stopped and can't change it on the roadside they'll instruct you the car isn't fit for the road and you'll have to get it towed to the nearest garage.

SATNAV is essential ! ... doing it with maps is a royal pain in the ass as some of the one ways systems around france and germany are pretty complex.

Another thing to remember is that when your turning right on a green in Germany, it can be green for pedestrians crossing the road too, they have right of way so just watch this.

skodacbradio

well its good to know now about what we would need for it, eg spare lightbulbs, fuses that sort of thing. Someone metioned about satnav we did discuss this and we all said NO to it, as if we do get lost it'll be part of the fun on the trip.We are allowing for 12 tank full's of petrol each which should be plenty if get about 300mile on the tank.

craichoe

skodacbradio wrote: »

well its good to know now about what we would need for it, eg spare lightbulbs, fuses that sort of thing. Someone metioned about satnav we did discuss this and we all said NO to it, as if we do get lost it'll be part of the fun on the trip.We are allowing for 12 tank full's of petrol each which should be plenty if get about 300mile on the tank.

We said the same about the satnav, missing 2 or 3 exits on Autoroute/Autobahn can add a good 7 - 8 hours to your journey.

Remember, on the Autobahn your fuel econemy goes down by more than half.

I get 55MPG normally on my 1.9 TDI
On the Autobahn i averaged 22 MPG.

mick.fr

craichoe wrote: »

Belgians have some sort of a system but the french rarely bother, same with the Dutch. You can't get a ticket on French motorways on an Irish registration, they have nowhere to send the ticket to, unless you get stopped, in this case they will take cash from you at the roadside.

Sorry but this is wrong. Cops don't handle ticket payments in France, even on spot. And don't worry you will get your ticket at home from the French authorities. Especially now there is a new law in Europe for collaboration between police forces regarding speed tickets. And in France, this is enforced by the tax office, they have an incredible intelligence system.

craichoe

craichoe wrote: »

We said the same about the satnav, missing 2 or 3 exits on Autoroute/Autobahn can add a good 7 - 8 hours to your journey.

Yes I had a similar experience in the days before satnav, most junctions are the cloverleaf type - you only get one chance at it, I wanted to go left but ended up in the lane going right, fortunately is was 5AM so was able to stop on the slip and reverse a few metres back :eek: NOT TO BE RECOMMENDED!

Hagar

mick.fr wrote: »

Sorry but this is wrong. Cops don't handle ticket payments in France, even on spot.

Hate to disagree Mick but I got nailed for one on the spot fine here, failure to yield, the Gendarme put his grubby little paw out and I had to give him a cheque there and then, €96 down the Swanee. Naturally this being France he gave me a full written receipt on the spot for my cheque. I know of a guy who had to pay with his UK Visa card for a speeding offence at a toll booth as mentioned earlier.

craichoe

mick.fr wrote: »

Sorry but this is wrong. Cops don't handle ticket payments in France, even on spot. And don't worry you will get your ticket at home from the French authorities. Especially now there is a new law in Europe for collaboration between police forces regarding speed tickets. And in France, this is enforced by the tax office, they have an incredible intelligence system.

Nope, your wrong.. i have a ticket to prove it and a receipt for 80 euro. I was made go to an ATM machine to get cash out and pay it on the spot. If you're not registered at an address in the country on a foreign car its money up front.

If however you commit a criminal offence, it goes through the Court in France and they petition the Court in Ireland through foreign affairs. Too much hassle for speeding tickets.

And on the getting fines at home thing .. I have less fingers than expats that would disagree with you. Even after you register your car in France, Belgium or Holland the Tickets don't come. However they do rack up quite fast when you get your new reg ! Especially with the Average speed cameras.

However it is hit and miss, if you do meet a cop that doesn't ask for cash, it means he couldn't be bothered his arse doing the paperwork.

Best one i heard was in Poland, where the cop told the buddy he was getting 14 points on his Irish license ..

Del2005

Don't some countries require you to have a spare pair of glasses if you wear them? Also in Germany, and I think Holland, unless there is a yellow diamond sign on a junction all traffic from the right has right of way. Need to pay attention for this. Also as others have said, driving on the right is usually OK but when driving on quite roads you can sometimes drive on the wrong side.

I found a quick google will tell you the rules of the road for each country you're going through. They have a lot of different laws to us and they also enforce them..

And this article tells where cars are restricted from certain cities depending on their emissions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7166770.stm

lightening

Best of luck! Here is my holiday list. Not really a motoring one, but handy nonetheless...

Torch

Knife with cork screw and bottle opener

Whipping twine (string)

Asprin, arret, Imodium, Anti septic cream/spray, Plasters

Deet

Travel cloths wash

Alarm clock

Mossie net

Sleeping sheet bag

Zinc nose cream

Rehydration packs (boots do good ones)

Camera and Batteries

Binoculars

Compass

Lonely Planet

Shades

Woolly hat

Peak cap

Wide brimmed hat

Light rain coat

Small sewing kit

Electrical tape

“mug me wallet” (false wallet with old cards and 10 Euro, not needed for all trips!)

Snorkel and mask

Glasses repair kit (if you wear glasses)

Padlock

Snaplights (cheapest in Millets)

Novel

Maps

Notebook and pen

Lighter

Small citrus candle

Photocopy of your passport

Victor

Mailman wrote: »

I wouldn't drive to Germany. Flights and car rental are too cheap.

And how do rental cars handle on a race track? And how to rental companies handle it?

Isn't there a saying that the fastest car on the road is a rental car.

Maybe once upon a time, but that time is coming to an end.

When I was getting rental cars in Germany over the last few years I was the first or second renter of the car each time.

Ah! The Guinea Pig.

E92

craichoe wrote: »

I get 55MPG normally on my 1.9 TDI
On the Autobahn i averaged 22 MPG.

how fast were you travelling at?

craichoe

E92 wrote: »

how fast were you travelling at?

170 - 180 kph on the Sat Nav

Around 210 kph on the Speedo ..

Of course its going to drink alot more

unkel

craichoe wrote: »

170 - 180 kph on the Sat Nav

Around 210 kph on the Speedo ..

That's a huge difference between Sat Nav and speedo. What car was that in? 180 real km/h has to show on the speedo as anything between 180km/h and 202km/h*

See 2.3.7

*180km/h + 10% + 4km/h = 202km/h

Mailman

Victor wrote: »

And how do rental cars handle on a race track? And how to rental companies handle it?
Maybe once upon a time, but that time is coming to an end.

I know of two people who rented a high end Audi in Germany within the last few months and took it to the Nurburgring.

Mailman

Victor wrote: »

Ah! The Guinea Pig.

Perfect reliability on all of them.