Great write up, have just purchased XJ TDVi pick up June 2nd, can`t wait to see how she does fuel wise if I get close to those figures will be well pleased.
Another quick european road run
Just completed another of my european marathon road runs. got a call a week ago that we are having problems with some new trucks that we purchased 5 weeks ago and the dealer not being the best at solving problems. so thought i would take a suprise visit to 3 of my european offices to gauge reaction from the mechanics/drivers/operations staff before turning up at said dealers 
.
day 1. Very easy run. Ipswich to Harwich 44 miles. then get the saturday night ferry to the hook of holland. got there early so made sure when the mass scrum and the german que jumpers dont get in front of me lol. check in booths open im first
06.00 sunday sees an ontime arrival/early in the hook. first off straight through passport control and away we go.
first port of call is the Q8 garage outside the dock. as i have a company fuel card i can dis regard the pump price as we have a lower fixed price. full to the brim i re set the miles per gallon and away we go.nice easy run and nothing to report through the netherlands. decided to go my usual route as in the A3 all the way. once in Germany cruise control set at 140kmh. this is the first european run i have done since i had the car remapped at martin rowe's and i bought the car back after selling it. i deliberatly did not look at the mpg till i stopped at cochem for the best bockwurst in germany (local sourced and gorgeous) i succumbed to looking at the fuel. now i had been consantly on cruise at 130-140 kmh-80-90mph and she was showing 47.6 ???. so onward we go. i decided to take advantage and fuel up in ingolstadt neck to neck. computer showing 48.9 calculater says 48.6.
munich was a pain dont know why but stop start all round so fuel down to 42.7 after munich a clear run to rosenheim where i purchase my Austrian road tax proudly stick it in the window and away we go to kufestein for the night arriving at 4pm local time. total miles for the day 648. meeting that night at 7pm. and after some fine german beer hit the hay.
day 3. kufestein to Székesfehérvár Hungary.
sat nav says 394 miles but 7 hours. now i know a few short cuts and know i will make it in 5 hours
away at 6am local time sees me into wien (vienna) just bang on rush hour but the traffic moves well a few stop starts but nothing too drastic. cross into Hungary at Nickelsdorf and buy tax for Hungary. which is now electronic. just go to any of the sellers fill in a simple form reg number and country of origin. they put it into the computer give you a reciept and away you go. stopped for a cuppa and bite to eat then fuel up.43.9 according to computer 43.5 calculator. then onward to Székesfehérvár arriving at 11am local time. spent 4 hours there and then decide to make a mad dash to banska bystrica in slovakia. 160 miles so easily done. topped up with fuel in the yard as its free.
The M1 motorway in Hungary is fantastic its like a snooker table. as im not having my meeting till 7pm and hotel is all booked i decide to run at 100km per hour on cruise and see what happens. all going well till a slovak registered s type 3.0 overtakes me nearly wiping me out whilst trying to get a look at my 2.7 we both pulled into the services at Zvolen and he is lterally so excited he tells me that the s type is so very rare in slovakia he has only ever seen about 5 others mainly in bratislava area. we have a chinwag and i point him in the direction of this site as he speaks very good english so i get wifi and log in for him to see
Arriving in banksa i check the fuel 58.6 ??????????? which going by previous calculations the computer is about .3 behind still fantastic though 62 mph/100kmph is boring as hell. check into my hotel grab some dinner ready to burn the midnight oil.
day 4. Now on paper this should be the easiest day of the lot. banska to tegoborze in poland sat nav says 146 miles but having done this road many times that can take 6 hours plus. off we go and no problems till all of a sudden the motorway just ends. the remainder of the motorway is above your head and not completed and has been like this for 6 years to my knowledge. stop start through all little towns and villages till i get to the polsh border 3.5 hrs later. just a short journey now to my yard and offices and another meeting. pulled into the yard after 5 hours today. get the yard guy to fill me up with diesel while we have a quick meeting. then into the managers mercedes e270 for a meeting with volvo 100kms away. the difference between a merc e270 and the jag is amazing. i can hear the engine (sounds like a tractor) and the ride is hard and in my opinion crap. meeting over at 5pm local so off to a local resturant for dinner then drinks with staff and off to bed.
day 5. long long day. get as far as i can untill i feel knackered on the way home. tegoborze to the hook of holland 902 miles.
full of fuel and a massive breakfast inside me i bid my farewells and away we go. nothing eventfull to report except that in poland if you drive a jag you are considered to be royalty lol. no traffic as such or problems at all all the way to cottbus. then i get stopped by the german police for supposidly doing 165 in a 130 limit. ????.(well i was racing a porsche) i won. i got pulled. after a heated argument and €65 lighter i was on my way. stopped just outside potsdam for fuel and fuel the inner man and wifi and booked myself on the friday 14.30 sailing x the hook. bombed it all the way to vlaardingen where i lived for a few years booked into the ibis and literaly had a few beers some food and crashed out. 856 miles today. hard hard day but worth it.
day 6. quick run to the hook. book on the ship straight on board. arrived in harwich at 20.05 in my house at 21.00 and down the pub for a well earned pint.
total miles for the trip 2152. fuel over the whole trip 48.4 neck to neck computer says 48.7. so the re map was well worth it. over the journey the car used no oil or water and ran like a dream. all tyres set at 31 psi. and i wonder why they say that one thing you get free with a jag is a stupid grin on your face at all times.
number of s types spotted during the whole trip was 5. 1 in slovakia. 2 in the uk. and 2 in germany. but then again not that many xf's either to be honest around the same. x types i saw plenty. hope you enjoyed this little diary anyway.
.day 1. Very easy run. Ipswich to Harwich 44 miles. then get the saturday night ferry to the hook of holland. got there early so made sure when the mass scrum and the german que jumpers dont get in front of me lol. check in booths open im first
06.00 sunday sees an ontime arrival/early in the hook. first off straight through passport control and away we go.
first port of call is the Q8 garage outside the dock. as i have a company fuel card i can dis regard the pump price as we have a lower fixed price. full to the brim i re set the miles per gallon and away we go.nice easy run and nothing to report through the netherlands. decided to go my usual route as in the A3 all the way. once in Germany cruise control set at 140kmh. this is the first european run i have done since i had the car remapped at martin rowe's and i bought the car back after selling it. i deliberatly did not look at the mpg till i stopped at cochem for the best bockwurst in germany (local sourced and gorgeous) i succumbed to looking at the fuel. now i had been consantly on cruise at 130-140 kmh-80-90mph and she was showing 47.6 ???. so onward we go. i decided to take advantage and fuel up in ingolstadt neck to neck. computer showing 48.9 calculater says 48.6.
munich was a pain dont know why but stop start all round so fuel down to 42.7 after munich a clear run to rosenheim where i purchase my Austrian road tax proudly stick it in the window and away we go to kufestein for the night arriving at 4pm local time. total miles for the day 648. meeting that night at 7pm. and after some fine german beer hit the hay.
day 3. kufestein to Székesfehérvár Hungary.
sat nav says 394 miles but 7 hours. now i know a few short cuts and know i will make it in 5 hours
away at 6am local time sees me into wien (vienna) just bang on rush hour but the traffic moves well a few stop starts but nothing too drastic. cross into Hungary at Nickelsdorf and buy tax for Hungary. which is now electronic. just go to any of the sellers fill in a simple form reg number and country of origin. they put it into the computer give you a reciept and away you go. stopped for a cuppa and bite to eat then fuel up.43.9 according to computer 43.5 calculator. then onward to Székesfehérvár arriving at 11am local time. spent 4 hours there and then decide to make a mad dash to banska bystrica in slovakia. 160 miles so easily done. topped up with fuel in the yard as its free
.The M1 motorway in Hungary is fantastic its like a snooker table. as im not having my meeting till 7pm and hotel is all booked i decide to run at 100km per hour on cruise and see what happens. all going well till a slovak registered s type 3.0 overtakes me nearly wiping me out whilst trying to get a look at my 2.7
we both pulled into the services at Zvolen and he is lterally so excited he tells me that the s type is so very rare in slovakia he has only ever seen about 5 others mainly in bratislava area. we have a chinwag and i point him in the direction of this site as he speaks very good english so i get wifi and log in for him to see Arriving in banksa i check the fuel 58.6 ??????????? which going by previous calculations the computer is about .3 behind still fantastic though 62 mph/100kmph is boring as hell. check into my hotel grab some dinner ready to burn the midnight oil.
day 4. Now on paper this should be the easiest day of the lot. banska to tegoborze in poland sat nav says 146 miles but having done this road many times that can take 6 hours plus. off we go and no problems till all of a sudden the motorway just ends. the remainder of the motorway is above your head and not completed and has been like this for 6 years to my knowledge. stop start through all little towns and villages till i get to the polsh border 3.5 hrs later. just a short journey now to my yard and offices and another meeting. pulled into the yard after 5 hours today. get the yard guy to fill me up with diesel while we have a quick meeting. then into the managers mercedes e270 for a meeting with volvo 100kms away. the difference between a merc e270 and the jag is amazing. i can hear the engine (sounds like a tractor) and the ride is hard and in my opinion crap. meeting over at 5pm local so off to a local resturant for dinner then drinks with staff and off to bed.
day 5. long long day. get as far as i can untill i feel knackered on the way home. tegoborze to the hook of holland 902 miles.
full of fuel and a massive breakfast inside me i bid my farewells and away we go. nothing eventfull to report except that in poland if you drive a jag you are considered to be royalty lol. no traffic as such or problems at all all the way to cottbus. then i get stopped by the german police for supposidly doing 165 in a 130 limit. ????.(well i was racing a porsche) i won. i got pulled. after a heated argument and €65 lighter i was on my way. stopped just outside potsdam for fuel and fuel the inner man and wifi and booked myself on the friday 14.30 sailing x the hook. bombed it all the way to vlaardingen where i lived for a few years booked into the ibis and literaly had a few beers some food and crashed out. 856 miles today. hard hard day but worth it.
day 6. quick run to the hook. book on the ship straight on board. arrived in harwich at 20.05 in my house at 21.00 and down the pub for a well earned pint.
total miles for the trip 2152. fuel over the whole trip 48.4 neck to neck computer says 48.7. so the re map was well worth it. over the journey the car used no oil or water and ran like a dream. all tyres set at 31 psi. and i wonder why they say that one thing you get free with a jag is a stupid grin on your face at all times.
number of s types spotted during the whole trip was 5. 1 in slovakia. 2 in the uk. and 2 in germany. but then again not that many xf's either to be honest around the same. x types i saw plenty. hope you enjoyed this little diary anyway.
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
Cool story enjoyed reading the post, reminds me of my jaunts in Europe.
Was in Italy/Monaco the other week, S type's are very rare on the continent.
I see very few in Switzerland, although annoyingly they seem to be STR's over here.
People seem to be more nosey at service stations here wondering what the car is.
The most surprised look I got was in Rome where I left an Italian M3 driver for dust. (When in Rome!)
Subtle Hint for Germany .... Not all autobahns are unrestricted and NEVER try that speed in Switzerland you'll be remortgaging the house. Munich is a PITA..
Was in Italy/Monaco the other week, S type's are very rare on the continent.
I see very few in Switzerland, although annoyingly they seem to be STR's over here.
People seem to be more nosey at service stations here wondering what the car is.
The most surprised look I got was in Rome where I left an Italian M3 driver for dust.
(When in Rome!)Subtle Hint for Germany .... Not all autobahns are unrestricted and NEVER try that speed in Switzerland you'll be remortgaging the house. Munich is a PITA..
Thanks. i transit swiss alot as i have a office in italy. but i always take vallorbe-brigg road over the simplon. never had any problems in swiss yet. taps a piece of wood eg my head.
Lol. wouldnt be seen dead drving a audi quite interesting that the cameras are set to blur the face of the "passenger" side in Germany though. so right hand drive cars its the passenger that gets photographed.
quite interesting that the cameras are set to blur the face of the "passenger" side in Germany though. so right hand drive cars its the passenger that gets photographed.1 - 16 of 16 Posts
