Commuting options

Long story short, there is a possibility that I may end up relocating (quite far) outside of the capital in the near future. I'd still be working from Dublin, so this would mean about a 2 hour commute (each way), but I'd be hopeful this could be supplemented by at least a couple of days a week working from home, which seems a more likely prospect now given the last 6 months we've had with Covid.

Anyway, I had been holding out for some time that my next daily driver would be an M car of some sort, but I assume a commute like this throws that idea out the window.

Realistically would I be right to say that a big frugal diesel is still really the only way to go with a commute like this, or has fuel economy on petrol cars improved in recent years to the point that it could still be feasible with a somewhat performance oriented petrol car? Does anyone have any suggestions for a car that might tick both the economy and performance boxes?

I've worked and lived in Dublin my whole life so never had to really consider this before, so apologies if these are silly questions!

Not a silly question at all. What sort of commute will it be? Lots of traffic or mostly motorway? You should ask ‘Ketron’ on here about his experience with a petrol performance car (M135i) and his commute to and from Kilkenny.
Would your new location have access to the rail network?
I moved down to Kilkenny 4 years ago and bought a 530d for the commutes up to Dublin. A few months in, I ended up using the train instead and got to keep the M3 too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can shed some light on the M135i but Ketron can give better feedback of long motorway journeys.

I've a 35km commute, 70km daily, which consists of 25% Motorway at 120kmph, 25% National Roads at 100kmph and 50% B Roads at 80kmph and at 6am if I'm tipping along, so no real traffic to speak of, Im seeing 35+mpg. Then maybe about 33mpg in the evenings with a bit of traffic. 30+ is easy even with frequent squeezes of the throttle leaving junctions and merging onto motorways. On days off, around a busy town, you'd be down around 22-24mpg.

The only downside to the M135i with long journeys is the tiny tank. Other than that, if you will be leaving it sitting on the driveway a day or two of the work week, then I'd say it could be considered!

Train for the commute and M car for the weekend?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CitizenKane

so this would mean about a 2 hour commute (each way)

---

Totally OT, but there's no job in the world I'd do 4hrs a day commuting for - that's insanity.....:rolleyes: (yes, acutely aware that plenty do).

A couple of days a week working from home would of course take the sting out of it, but 2 hours morning driving (much of it in rush hour traffic) would not have me set up for a productive day in the office at all....

Is it 2hrs each way in normal traffic (eg Kilcock to D1) or 2 hrs in Covid reduced traffic (almost Galway to D1)?

Andy does more driving than anyone I know and has been rocking VWs for the last few years so that might be an idea.

I know another chap who used to drive a lot and in 6/7 years he had about 400k km on his 04 Golf which he bought new.

Not sure what your budget is of course but a 240bhp Bi-Turbo Arteon 4Motion DSG would be a fine motorway cruiser, great in the winter, economical and all the power you're likely to need commuting....:)

https://www.agnewcars.com/volkswagen...9061418262777/

https://cogusedcarimagecdn3.azureedg...oth&quality=80

We just got a 2015 (newer model) Passst GT 2.0 TDI 150bhp into the family and it is a fine car I have to say....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CitizenKane

Long story short, there is a possibility that I may end up relocating (quite far) outside of the capital in the near future. I'd still be working from Dublin, so this would mean about a 2 hour commute (each way), but I'd be hopeful this could be supplemented by at least a couple of days a week working from home, which seems a more likely prospect now given the last 6 months we've had with Covid.

Anyway, I had been holding out for some time that my next daily driver would be an M car of some sort, but I assume a commute like this throws that idea out the window.

Realistically would I be right to say that a big frugal diesel is still really the only way to go with a commute like this, or has fuel economy on petrol cars improved in recent years to the point that it could still be feasible with a somewhat performance oriented petrol car? Does anyone have any suggestions for a car that might tick both the economy and performance boxes?

I've worked and lived in Dublin my whole life so never had to really consider this before, so apologies if these are silly questions!

---

Before the lock down I was commuting from Kilkenny to Dublin three days a week, I've been doing it for about 3 years or so since moving back from Dublin. Train doesnt suit due to times, and as I work in Citywest its far quicker to drive. I would crack up being on a crowded train everyday anyway. Its a lot to take on but as I'm originally from Kilkenny and like the country its a prices worth paying for me.

I left early, around 5:40 or so to be in the office for 7am and left the office at 3.30 to avoid traffic. I did around 70k km in the M135i that Curran now has, initially it was fine in the M135i but I found the way it handled on the motorway was tiring due to its short wheelbase, fuel consumption was really good on it (tiny tank though!). It averaged around 35mpg over 70k km I think.

I purchased a 5 series at the end of last year, just wanted something that was quiet and not as tiring to drive. The 5 is fine on juice although coming from the M135i seriously lacking in power, in saying that you dont need power when munching motorway miles. It does around 40mpg, its comfortable albeit a bit boring come the weekends. Something like a 540i so might suit you depending on budget, they make 100bhp more than the F10 530d with the MPPSK and sound good too.


The irony though, I haven't been in the office in seven months now! Totally WFH now and I cant see that changing. Eyeing up a possible change again!

I pull in 32mpg on backroads on the drive from west Wicklow to clondalkin in the E60 535d.. and it’s great fun aswell, mpg isn’t a care for me but it’s nice not being at the pump every few days... could be an option for you? As that’s with no motorway driving

Thanks for the replies all!

If we were to do the move it would be on the other side of the Shannon, not particularly close to any public transport but the commute would be almost all motorway. It's probably close to 250km each way. I'm under no illusions as to how radical this might seem and I doubt that many people ever do this sort of commute. There's lots of objective reasons why it makes no sense, but for a couple of reasons it might actually make sense for us if we could just figure out the commute.

It's interesting to hear the views on commuting in the M135i, which does seem to suggest it wouldn't be totally crazy to commute with something like an F80/F82 (I'm sure there are lots of these cars that spend a lot of time on the Autobahn), but nearly 500km a day is no small number..

I had been budgeting for a pre-LCI F80/F82, but I suppose one option I hadn't really considered was splitting my budget to get something like a diesel E60 or F10 for the commute and potentially an E46 or E92 M3 for the weekends..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 318 iS Cosmos

Not a silly question at all. What sort of commute will it be? Lots of traffic or mostly motorway? You should ask ‘Ketron’ on here about his experience with a petrol performance car (M135i) and his commute to and from Kilkenny.
Would your new location have access to the rail network?
I moved down to Kilkenny 4 years ago and bought a 530d for the commutes up to Dublin. A few months in, I ended up using the train instead and got to keep the M3 too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Unfortunately wouldn't be near any public transport, but even if it was I'm not sure it would be a runner because the train would take a fair bit longer than the car. It's almost all motorway miles I believe!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Curran

I can shed some light on the M135i but Ketron can give better feedback of long motorway journeys.

I've a 35km commute, 70km daily, which consists of 25% Motorway at 120kmph, 25% National Roads at 100kmph and 50% B Roads at 80kmph and at 6am if I'm tipping along, so no real traffic to speak of, Im seeing 35+mpg. Then maybe about 33mpg in the evenings with a bit of traffic. 30+ is easy even with frequent squeezes of the throttle leaving junctions and merging onto motorways. On days off, around a busy town, you'd be down around 22-24mpg.

The only downside to the M135i with long journeys is the tiny tank. Other than that, if you will be leaving it sitting on the driveway a day or two of the work week, then I'd say it could be considered!

---

Interesting thanks. The small tank is definitely something I'd need to factor in, given the length of this commute!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kdevitt

Train for the commute and M car for the weekend?

---

This would make sense but as above we wouldn't be near any public transport!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Big H

Totally OT, but there's no job in the world I'd do 4hrs a day commuting for - that's insanity.....:rolleyes: (yes, acutely aware that plenty do).

A couple of days a week working from home would of course take the sting out of it, but 2 hours morning driving (much of it in rush hour traffic) would not have me set up for a productive day in the office at all....

---

100% hear you. It wouldn't be my ideal scenario, but just considering it as a possibility that may work for us at this point in time. There is no real alternative to my job outside of the capital and I'm in it for the long haul. But I hear you, my commute into work now in Dublin doesn't exactly leave me feeling refreshed when I arrive in the office so I can imagine a much longer commute would be challenging. Before we make any decisions on this we are going to do a trial-run of the commute for a week to see how feasible it might be in reality.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Big H

Not sure what your budget is of course but a 240bhp Bi-Turbo Arteon 4Motion DSG would be a fine motorway cruiser, great in the winter, economical and all the power you're likely to need commuting....:)

https://www.agnewcars.com/volkswagen...9061418262777/

https://cogusedcarimagecdn3.azureedg...oth&quality=80

We just got a 2015 (newer model) Passst GT 2.0 TDI 150bhp into the family and it is a fine car I have to say....

---

Interesting. Aside from my old Mk4 GTI I don't know much about VWs. Looks like a nice machine. Although if I was resigned to getting myself a (relatively) economical diesel cruiser I'd be more excited by something like an Audi A7 or a RR Sport!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ketron

Before the lock down I was commuting from Kilkenny to Dublin three days a week, I've been doing it for about 3 years or so since moving back from Dublin. Train doesnt suit due to times, and as I work in Citywest its far quicker to drive. I would crack up being on a crowded train everyday anyway. Its a lot to take on but as I'm originally from Kilkenny and like the country its a prices worth paying for me.

I left early, around 5:40 or so to be in the office for 7am and left the office at 3.30 to avoid traffic. I did around 70k km in the M135i that Curran now has, initially it was fine in the M135i but I found the way it handled on the motorway was tiring due to its short wheelbase, fuel consumption was really good on it (tiny tank though!). It averaged around 35mpg over 70k km I think.

I purchased a 5 series at the end of last year, just wanted something that was quiet and not as tiring to drive. The 5 is fine on juice although coming from the M135i seriously lacking in power, in saying that you dont need power when munching motorway miles. It does around 40mpg, its comfortable albeit a bit boring come the weekends. Something like a 540i so might suit you depending on budget, they make 100bhp more than the F10 530d with the MPPSK and sound good too.


The irony though, I haven't been in the office in seven months now! Totally WFH now and I cant see that changing. Eyeing up a possible change again!

---

Very interesting, thanks for the input. As above I would be looking at mainly motorway miles so this is all very interesting. I hadn't considered a petrol 5 series - will look into it. I wonder how the fuel economy of the 540i would compare to the M135i, or even an F80/82?

Of course I've been the same with working from home the last 6 months save for a handful of trips to the office or client meetings. There's no doubt there is a sea change with WFH and it's entirely possible that I could end up working more days from home than not even beyond Covid, which is really the only reason we are even contemplating this sort of move. If we both expected to go back to the office full time after this I don't think we'd be entertaining it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obriener2054

I pull in 32mpg on backroads on the drive from west Wicklow to clondalkin in the E60 535d.. and it’s great fun aswell, mpg isn’t a care for me but it’s nice not being at the pump every few days... could be an option for you? As that’s with no motorway driving

---

Yeah the E60 certainly seems like a logical option. I do love that car and the 535d seems to tick a lot of boxes.