[chughes163]

Hi,

Next week I have to do a journey to from Oxford to Newcastle - 280 miles EACH way i believe!

The problem is, I have no other choice but to drive up and dont fancy the prospect of driving for 5-6 hours each way! Im concious of crashing or something.

However, im in a sticky situation - my sister, Emma and my best mate Chris are coming too.
My initial thought was to get one of them insured on it.

Emma is my sister but she isnt a great driver - she crashed her Fiesta a year ago and as a result is very nervous behind the wheel - however, she doesnt realise this and thinks she immortal - also, shes very slow so the journey length could increase to 8 hours quite easily.

Chris has been driving just under a year - hes quite a quick driver and is confident behind the wheel. I would prefer him to be insured on my car tbh but I doubt my parents would agree.

How can I explain to Emma that I have put him on the insurance and not her - she would feel really hurt and I wouldnt want that. OR should i just bite the bullet and drive the entire distance?

Advice URGENTLY needed on this one as i feel like im treading on egg shells!

cheers

[JpMcC]

If it's your MINI your taking, [b]Drive Yourself, much better fun

[chughes163]

Yea your right - maybe i should - and if im really desperate i will get them added halfway through the trip over the phone...hmmm that could work - anyone else have a view?

[ncdave]

Don't know if this helps, but I just finished driving a 1,200 mile round trip in two days. One day up, one day for business, back the third day and was very surprised to find how comfortable my MINI (with sport seats) is. So 280 miles should not be a problem. Trip up took about 7 hours, back was maybe a half hour more. Obviously, traffic was not much of a problem.

[chughes163]

Oh thats good. Mine has the sports seats too and i love the way it drives. If i set off at say 11 - i will be there by at least 5 i would think. hmmmmm yea i will give it a go

[Neeshil]

Who is older, Emma or Chris? If Chris is older you could say it was cheaper to put him on the insurance?

If you do decide to drive yourself make sure you stop frequently (every hour or two?) and refresh yourself. (ie walk around, get the blood flowing, stretch etc...)

Have fun!

[chughes163]

chris is younger - i will attempt the run myself - but i can always add one of them

[Jeep-2-mini]

5-6 hours is easily achievable in the MINI, especially if you have a short break midway. Getting off the motorway is slower, but more interesting, so do some non-motorway miles as well.

Mark

[ButtonIt]

Honestly, don't worry about the distance/time. I used to drive from Reading to Inverness for work every monday morning (12 hour drive) and return every friday evening

As long as you are careful about how many refreshment stops you make it shouldn't be that bad. Don't be tempted to think "I'll be ok for another hour" just get off every two hours, even if it's only to get out of the car and have a stretch.

[chughes163]

yea i guess your right - I am a bit nervous though as I have been driving just under a year and the furthest ive travelled in one go in the car is swindon to banbury and back! - ok, ive done about 7,500 miles since the end of May, however ive only been in the car 2 hours MAX in one go - (apart from a month ago when I had to sleep in the car as I got home late at night and had no door key!)

[bobnobski]

M40, M42, M1 - Outside Lane, dotn look behind & get your foot down & you'll be there in no time!! - whats the problem

[Coopergeezer]

You'll be fine doing that jourmey so don't worry about that.

[SoggyCornFlakes]

5-6 hours each way You're drving a MINI not a Corsa, last time I was in Newcastle I got back to Northampton in 3 hours so add another 30 minutes to Oxford.

[obehave]

280 miles is a piece of cake. Ok I'm kidding a bit. But really 2 good rest stops and 280 miles isn't hard at all.
It's 530 miles to my brothers house and I do that in one day. Very tiring I'll admit. If you have cruise it'll be easier.

A lot also depends on how soon your return trip is.

[Martin L]

5-6 hours :eek
How slow do you intend to drive??????
Should only take about 3.5 hrs.
Easily done in one trip
I've done the journey from London in that time

[StevePSB]

I wouldn't let anyone else drive my MINI, so if it were me then it'd mean I did all the driving.

[MarkL]

Autoroute reckons just under 5 hours from Abingdon to Newcastle (with a 70 MPH average on motorways).

If you take a break every couple of hours the journey should be fine.

The One is a fine mile muncher; I've done Abingdon to Cologne (about 400 miles/ 650 km) in one day in my One! I'm looking forward to doing it next week in the Cooper...

[theminiv]

it might be difficult explaining why you have insured one rather than the other. But what would they say if they crashed your car.

Dont bother doing anything other than driving yourself, the mini drives like a mercedes wannabe!, and i would be shocked if you would wanna miss out on 1 second of that cool little car cruising its way down a motorway.

Enjoy it!

[Minty]

why dont you ask both of them which of them would rather drive?

failing that...buy lots of red bull

[theminiv]

Red bull, (Bad Idea)

if the mini were meant to fly, they would have put wings on it,

same goes for humans!

The truth is, red bull gives you wings, but also shortens your 'awake' time, it uses stored energy quicker, making u tired quicker also.

Nice taste though