What's the worst car you could drive long distance?

[castros_bro]

JM! I see your Munga and raise you my commuting on the M2 in a Berkeley T60 in da winter.

[Junkman]

Nothing, repeat, nothing, beats an appropriate* WBoD. Those wussies in their heated waftbarges cannot possibly imagine.

Should I ever be in the money again, I swear my Winter beater will be a Ford T.

[Justin Case]

Micra 1.0. I probably don't need to explain why.

You probably do We once took one from Walsall to Amersfoort in the Netherlands (level with Amsterdam) in one day. Pace wasn't too bad on the flat roads of Northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and by the time we got there we could still walk, sit and listen quite comfortably.  Probably more suitable and less tiring than an Audi A4 diesel with rock hard suspension and seats. Don't knock it until you've tried it

[mouseflakes]

I've got this dilemma coming up soon: 600 mile round trip with the choice of a 1.4 Kia Rio, a 1.4 Fiat Punto Evo, a Bini of unknown Bininess and another Bini diseasel.

 

What would you choose?

 

Kia Rio - simply because they're really growing on me just now.

[mouseflakes]

I find find long journeys in the Justy a bit stressful. Not that the car is unpleasant to drive, it just feels cruel to drive it at motorway speeds (70mph@4000RPM). Seems quite happy buzzing along though.

[Uncle Jimmy]

I've only owned one car that was good on the motorway, my Volvo 164, quiet and very comfortable, if not fast and for its age reasonable fuel consumption at speed.

My Toyota has fairly large comfy seats for a small, low car, roller skate suspension as standard and low geared/high rev engine that at anything above 70 begins to growl loudly.

Took my 1.9D to Toulouse last year, comfy seats but otherwise keep under 70 and avoid any kind of hill if loaded...

[D Spares & Tyres]

From the `modern` choices I don`t think much can be worse than on old Land Rover surely? Maybe a Suzuki SJ, the ride on them is worse than the Land Rover but with better steering.

 

However anything from the dawn of motoring wouldn`t be much fun, so I nominate the 1771 Cugnot Fardier a Vapeur if there is no age limit to our choices.

 

I drove a Model T Ford pickup truck that had two gearboxes. That wasn`t what you would call relaxing either

[Rocket88]

73 miles in a De Tomaso Deauville, with none of the electrical windows working............with the heater stuck on "maximum hot"........on the hottest day of the year..............resorted to driving with the door jammed open, secured by a bungee cord.

[Cavcraft]

I'm going to say anything really slow. We went on holiday in the n/a 306 diesel the other year. It's slow as it is, but loaded with 3 people and a weeks worth of stuff it wasn't much fun.

Reliability and economy were ace, but overtaking in motorways etc was almost stressful as you'd have to plan your manouveres far further in advance than normal and keeping to a steady 75-80 was quite taxing. In a fast/er car it's much less stress as you can just welly it when needed.

 

I'd still use it every day if I had to commute long distances to work but I'd prefer something faster.

[406V6]

Worst. Land Rover station wagon. Was a passenger in one for a long journey many moons ago. It was slow, noisy and unbelievably uncomfortable in a bouncy and jolty way.

 

Second worst. Near new Vectra GSi in 1999. The ride was so harsh that it it jarred my back and I didn't previously suffer from back problems back then.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Series Landy unsuitable for anything longer than ten miles.  Stick head in tin bucket.  Hit with hammer.  That is quieter than driving an old Landy on a motorway.

[derskine]

Hillman Imp - temperature gauge shooting up when going up hills, tiny little seats with no back support adjustment.

[forddeliveryboy]

My dad suggested we drive my Ami the 500-odd miles to Le Mans. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

 

 

I'm guessing you struggle to fit inside the car well or there's something wrong with how it goes - anyone who has ever travelled any distance in an Ami knows they're amazingly good at soaking up miles. The engine somehow grows quieter the further you travel, unlike many.

[Bstardchild]

I'd have thought the Ami would be fine too

 

Seeing as the landies have been nominated I'll throw a Fiat 126 into the mix

 

Great little cars - love em to bits but a long journey with me folded up inside one would probably break me!!!

[forddeliveryboy]

Somebody mentioned a Suzy jeep - that's the car I'd least like to go very far in, at least in swb version. The vehicle probably won't go wrong but you will.

[Pillock]

A GTR like the one that went past me today about 4x my speed.

 

 

Yeah. I was walking.

Worst application of GTR badge ever.

[DodgyBastard]

 

This was a chore to drive anywhere, heavy steering, turning circle of a bus and slow as fuck. I've driven some crap cars in my time but this was the worst by far.

 

Last year I drove my 1983 suzuki alto to shitefest, Scotland to Wales and back. It's not a car that would usually be associated with luxury but it was a rolls Royce in comparison to the niva.

 

 

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

[matty879]

tr7 with fooked steering rack,anything over 50 was deadly,6hrs 250 miles,or a lancia montecarlo on a tow pole from norfolk

[chaseracer]

Worst?  Staffs to SW7 in a '92 Sierra Azura that Domestic Management had briefly while waiting for a leased 106 to arrive.  With a lean-burn 1.6 boat-anchor up front it was reluctant to start, had barely enough 'power' to get out of its own way, and ran on like a bastard.  I got back from London, parked up and never drove it again.

 

Not far behind was the Panda 100HP.  Concrete suspension.  Nuff sed.

[Formula Autos]

In terms of pure unsuitability I must nominate the SportKa. 'The rides too hard!', they said. 'The gear ratios are all wrong!', they said. 'The wheels are too big!', they said. I thought they were being soft. I have happily driven some right old knackers, but this thing is on another level. Anything but billiard table smooth surfaces feel like this:

 

8627670483_18be5ee2e3_b.jpg

 

It smashes across every pot hole and crack like it is running on it's bump stops, and the engine noise is deafening. Even at 3000rpm it's horrendous. Joined a dual carriage the other day and went to go up to 4th - then realised I was already in 5th. And then there is the tyre noise, and the fuel economy. I don't mind OMGMPG if I'm having fun but I'm not. Because of the horrendous discomfort I drive like an old lady even on the motorway and still get hideous economy. By comparison I would rag the Puma everywhere and it still merely sipped at the fuel.

 

It will probably get you to your destination okay but the journey will be a miserable experience.

There must have been something or things terribly wrong with that one. My wife had one for a few years and it was a pleasant little device to drive and I'd have happily taken it on a long drive.

 

The only possible issue was the slightly boomy exhaust note.

 

Oh, and horrendous rust.

 

You'd already guessed that was coming though, eh?

[Tamworthbay]

Mk1 Astra 1.2, just shit in every way. I know there is a rose tinted nostalgia that is making them appealing to some people but there are truly awful. They are bland beyond belief and underwhelm in every category possible. People slag off BL products but they all had character, the Astra seemed to be designed to be utterly inoffensive to anyone which ended up making it the most offensive car I have ever had the misfortune to own. Then I drove it into an inspection hole where someone had nicked the cover, best thing to happen to it.

[doobietoo]

I used to own a Wedge Princess 6 and as it had a towbar I volunteered to tow a friends Boat from Hampshire to Swansea, the bottom end started knocking around Swindon so we threw a bottle of molyslip into it and carried on at much reduced speed. I have never enjoyed a journey less, apart from towing a boat at 40mph for hour after hour there was the stomach knotting thought of breaking down constantly on my mind especially as the deeper into Wales we got the worse the hills got and the more the bottom end rumbled.

Amazingly the car not only made it there but completed the return journey too...

[Elstro1988]

Pah. Wusses the lot of you. I've driven my 1.0 Nova tfrom Cambridge to Shelsley Walsh twice,  Cambridge to Lichfield (Curborough), Cambridge to Scunthorpe (Blyton Park) and Cambridge to Nottingham (Thoresby), some of these with sports suspension. Really wasn't that bad and you'd think a poverty-spec 80s supermini with 4-speed gearbox, 40 horsepower and a stainless steel exhaust would be nothing short of pure misery and pain beyond measure. And this is excluding the extra travel to hotels before speed events and the hard-driving of hill-climb/sprint competition!

 

In fact my Nova's munched miles all over the place, handled it all with aplomb and so far, no back problems. Either I'm tougher than some, got lucky, or should drive something even more basic........

[Guest Lord Sward]

Ive found Land Rovers (of the Offender variety) to be particularly unpleasant on the motorway.

[billyboy406v6]

A Vauxhall with the ex-wife riding shotgun !

[RayMK]

Rode as a passenger in a work Landrover (leaf sprung) from Aylesbury to Salisbury.  No comfort at all.  Horrible seats, spine jarring suspension and most of the interior was fashioned from sturdy steel with bruising edges.  We used a Commer next time.  No roadholding, loads of noise despite the absence of performance but bliss compared with the Landy.

 

Even a car which I rate very highly for long distance can become murderous and uncomfortable under certain circumstances.  The trip: Preston to Northampton in a Skoda Estelle.  I love rear engined Skodas and would happily set off anywhere in one.  This one required collecting.  It was my son's.  He had tired of Skoda power and got a chap in Preston to undertake an engine swap to a Fiat twincam.  The deal went sour after the chap broke some head studs on the replacement engine, so a rescue was necessary before he decided to sell the Skoda and claim theft.  My son had a nearly brand new MGZR which was only on its 2nd head gasket and 2nd gearbox (warranties are wonderful).  I was the designated driver for the Skoda, fortunately still MOT'd and insured, but with a dead engine, wooden (feeling) brakes and a battery of unknown remaining charge.  Worst of all, I was at the end of a 20ft tow rope and, not allowed on motorways, found that all routes home seemed to plough through Manchester, then Peaky hills.  An otherwise pleasant car resulted in my brake leg feeling dead for a week afterwards and my bloodshot eyes were on stalks.  Surprisingly, the ZR did not require further warranty work after the long haul.

[rml2345]

As much as it pains me to admit, the 954cc AX is very draining on a long journey with motorways being particularly tiresome. It's comfortable enough (I'm weird so fit the driving position well) but the noise becomes unbearable pretty quickly and the lack of performance is stressful when you need to press on as even motorway overtaking requires forward planning.

You could drive it to Budapest tomorrow and expect to arrive with no breakdowns whatsoever but hospital treatment would be required on arrival.

[Negative Creep]

Worst was Plymouth - kent and back in a Datsun 120Y that would barely hit 70, or around New Zealand in a Vanette with no 1st gear or heater

[willswitchengage]

I drove my 2CV 250 miles on Saturday to be stored. It sat well on the motorway behind lorries, but I was absolutely deafened, and being 6'3" it was hardly a comfortable experience either - my back STILL hurts. It was good on fuel though, and I was surprised by the amount of people honking only to give 'wanker' gestures!

[Parky]

I would imagine the Laguna that Captain Slow and Dugong procured was a pretty shit long distance cruiser