Middle Lane Driving Conviction

I am at the polar opposite extreme - 33K miles a year and I drive a 2.2 litre diesel Mondeo which had been my local dealer's demonstrator. But I got my employers to pay for the tyres brake pads etc. (19" wheels - and sometimes the urge to surprise a BMW gets the better of me...)

Im getting 55mpg from my oil burner 25000 a year saving 30% on the previous petrol

I do less that 5000 miles per year - it is not worth getting a diesel model even though diesel is actually cheaper than petrol now.

These days,200 MPH is not even counted as showing off!

Yeah. I do even less than that. About 3500 miles last year, so even at 15mpg average fuel costs aren't really a worry. Tyres and brakes are a different story.

Yeah, that is about the same as me - I have done 5400 miles since February 2014 - makes me wonder if I really need a car! With my wife here soon to help me, I could use a bus pass and save on the leasing costs. But we will probably want to travel a little when she gets here and I cannot walk in icy conditions so I guess we will keep the car.

In the summer, I cheat...



Fuel injection, water cooled, 60mpg at 65 mph.

This old girl, on the other hand, gets about 50 mpg at 50 - despite the smaller engine, because of the old Bing carburettors. But she is fun to go to the shops on or down a country lane, and in two more years she will get her bus pass and be tax free! (you can pretty much insure two bikes for the price of one)

Very nice. I went through a phase of wanting a motorbike a few years ago, but I was always scared by what the other drivers on the road might do. Do you feel safe when you're riding about?

Silly question time Dom, why didn't you fly to Italy and hire a car?

Maybe he tours Europe in a Campervan!

I can see Dom's point. My father used to enjoy driving through Europe ( he actually drove from Baghdad to Colchester, once, but that was before Saddam Hussein!) and he particularly liked driving in Italy (he had cousins who lived in Florence)

I've driven to Siena in Italy a couple of times, from what I remember it took my around 24 hours driving from home, driving through France can be quite pleasant, the roads are nowhere near as congested as they are in the UK.

Driving from Bagdad to the UK must have been an adventure.

I wouldn't mind doing a long road trip to the Philippines, there would be a lot of tales to tell by the time you eventually got there that's for sure

No. I never feel safe on a bike. There are two sorts of idiots whom I encounter on the road; other drivers and me. But I find that motorcycling has the same effect as my other enthusiasm, sailing. You cannot think of anything else whilst you are doing it. As such, it is, in an odd way, very relaxing.

Ive often driven to Portugal and Portugal -Germany a few times love Driving through Europe

Sounds like the two of you had a most enjoyable time, good for you