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2018 C4GP Roadtrip
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Author Post
stoic   
Sun Jul 29 2018, 07:56am
Member No: #49774
Joined: Oct 31 2017
Location: Leicester
 In January I took delivery of a Mk2 C4GP Flair. Until recently the furthest that I travelled was 120 miles return. With the schools out two weeks ago, myself, my wife and three kids went on a trip camping around Europe.

The car, 2L HDi was fully laden including a roof box. In total we drove just under 1800 miles through England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Luxemburg, and Belgium.

  • Shockingly good mpg considering the load. Average Consumption = 42mpg for a 1997cc diesel.

  • Very good breaks. When fully laden, my old 61 plate G4GP needed you to break pretty early. In the new C4GP you hardly noticed there was much of a load up at all.

  • Very good acceleration. The 1997cc engine coped very well with the full load. The car was slower to respond but not drastically different to unladen.

  • The one time you did notice the load was bumps! The return to sprung suspension means that potholes and speed bumps caused noticable thumps.

  • Adaptive cruise control aka radar cruise control is an absolute god send and made for a wonderful ride on long distance autoroute / autobahn trips.

  • I miss the opening tail gate window on the old C4GP. When filling the car to the roof you used to be able to close the tail gate and continue filling via the tail gate window. With the advent of the automatic tail gate this is not longer an option. Sometimes the automatic tailgate refuses to close, so you have to open fully, adjust, and try to close again. What a faff! If the tailgate refuses to close, I now cheat and manually give the tail gate shove to close it.

  • Loading the boot. The tail gate kept closing on my head when I loaded the car. Ahhh! By standing close to the bumper, I kept triggering the auto opening/closing sensor and the tailgate kept closing when I was still loading the car.

  • Speed sign recognition system. In France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Belgium this was fantastic and helped a lot when driving in a foreign country. In France the slip roads/lorry/caravans have alternative speed signs. These signs did not fool the speed sign recogition system. The system was however close to useless on German roads. It kept reporting the wrong speed on local and autobahns.

  • TomTom Maps and Traffic. Worked very well across all countries visited. Only the larger shops seem to be listed on the POI database so I did have to resort to AndroidAuto for a few specialist/small shop locations.
AndrewM   
Sun Jul 29 2018, 10:55am
Member No: #34563
Joined: Mar 04 2014
Location: Swansea UK
 Hi Stoic

I have also just completed a 5,000 mile adventure in the GP. Went down through Brussels, Luxembourg, Zurich, Milan and down to Monfalcone in Italy to a Eurocamp.
Came back through Croatia (just north of Dubrovnik) to Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna, Frankfurt and finally Antwerp before coming home.

Full car (6 people) plus a roofbag and she managed 48mpg and didn't miss a beat. Very impressed.

Some of those motorways, which are only 2 lane, are a nightmare with the volume of trucks on them and the quality of them varied greatly. I'll not moan about the M4 ever again.

If anyone needs any tips about navigating the above routes feel free to ask. Some countries we needed to buy a vignette (windscreen sticker) before entering the country, others were by motorway tolls. Either way, visitors using UK motorways are very fortunate.

Also, we found that if we didn't have local currency (many are not Euros) the toilets are not free in the motorway services so you either have to cross your legs or find a suitable bush out of sight.
BigJohnD   
Sun Jul 29 2018, 11:44am

Member No: #82
Joined: Jan 22 2007
Location: Hoylake
 Interesting!

On our last trip to southern Portugal we tried to avoid tolled autoroutes in France by using the Route Nationales. Surprise surprise - they were full of convoys of transcontinental trucks also avoiding tolls. Overtaking meant passing a dozen trucks at a time.
stoic   
Sun Jul 29 2018, 12:31pm
Member No: #49774
Joined: Oct 31 2017
Location: Leicester
 When on a route nationale, we have learnt to have another driver in the passenger seat. If the passenger says "overtake!", you trust them, and overtake!
BigJohnD   
Sun Jul 29 2018, 03:45pm

Member No: #82
Joined: Jan 22 2007
Location: Hoylake
stoic wrote ...

When on a route nationale, we have learnt to have another driver in the passenger seat. If the passenger says "overtake!", you trust them, and overtake!

Or have oversize L/H mirrors when solo!
FrankBullitt   
Sun Jul 29 2018, 04:46pm

Member No: #19238
Joined: Apr 12 2011
Location: Cambridgeshire
 I’ll always take the toll when putting on the miles but take the RN when driving around where we’ve got to.

As for overtaking, I’m towing a caravan so it won’t happen and when we are local
Mrs FB drives and won’t overtake!
 

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