Commuting options

[Andy]

Covering decent miles on a regular basis necessitates certain things for me. Comfort, reliability, safety and driver aids, space and auto box. Manual and traffic becomes tiresome very quickly especially at the end of a tiring day or week. The same would apply to something highly strung that involves effort to drive. On any given day you could be fatigued from a bad nights sleep, winter v summer driving etc etc. Performance really isn’t a huge concern as the speed traps will take the shine off that quick enough. Most 2 litre diesels will huddle along quite well. Driving. Position plays a part too. Cruiser boy v recommended advanced driving position. This is what a use currently. I was behind the wheel for over 7 hrs and 650km one day last week. No aches or pains.

[wcooba]

I had A7 for few years and C7 A6 before that. Great cars to swallow motorway miles but not super engaging. I would recommend facelift version (2015+) if this is what you consider.
I think some motorway tool + older weekend fun car make a lot of sense in the scenario you describe. Commuting those distances in something like M3 will cost you a lot in maintenance and depreciation.
Also for those boring motorway drives adaptive cruise control is brilliant - it's a shame very few used cars have it here.

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[eddiem74]

Doing a real world scenario trial run over a period of a week is a good idea to gain some perspective.

If you have never done such a commute it will get old pretty quick in my view, especially the days you need to be in office even earlier or get stuck there a bit later.

For example, I live on the Northside of Dublin and periodically had to travel to Athlone, it was 1hr 40mins door to door and I found if I needed to be there 3 days straight it made more sense for me to stay over one night, else I was just wrecked from the commute. Additionally my old boss in his prior company used to do 2 weeks in the US and 2 weeks home whilst on a long project, so a bit of a road warrior you could say. Pre-Covid he used to come from Birr to Dublin and if he needed to be there 5 days a week he ended up staying over 1 if not 2 nights. Now that we are remote working since lockdown, he never wants to go back to that commute.

Plus depending on your stage of life with kids, etc Do you want to be gone in the morning or home in the evening when everyone is in bed or looking to go to bed. Not be able to bring the kids to their activities, or do you own stuff.

Lots to think about in my view.

[Ketron]

Covering decent miles on a regular basis necessitates certain things for me. Comfort, reliability, safety and driver aids, space and auto box. Manual and traffic becomes tiresome very quickly especially at the end of a tiring day or week. The same would apply to something highly strung that involves effort to drive. On any given day you could be fatigued from a bad nights sleep, winter v summer driving etc etc. Performance really isn’t a huge concern as the speed traps will take the shine off that quick enough. Most 2 litre diesels will huddle along quite well. Driving. Position plays a part too. Cruiser boy v recommended advanced driving position. This is what a use currently. I was behind the wheel for over 7 hrs and 650km one day last week. No aches or pains.

Just to reiterate what Andy said and its something that I forgot about, driving position plays a major factor. You want comfortable seats, my lower back ended up quite sore in the M135i due to lack of lumbar support, its not something you notice immediately but its not fun!

I worked in Clontarf and used to commute from Drimnagh and it was an hour each way in horrible traffic. I'd take a longer motorway commute with the cruise on any day of the week. See if your employer will allow some flexitime if you have to go to the office so you can avoid rush hour traffic, start early and finish early or vice versa.

My total driving was 2.5 hours to 3 hours a day, so nearly 40 hours a month stuck in my car so you really have to cost in the wasted time along with missed opportunities with family etc in the evenings. I costed in the time spent in the car along with the cost of commuting before I moved back to the country. I have a house with a nice view that I'd never have been able to afford similar in Dublin so it was totally worth it for me. (Plus its not in Dublin so there is that bonus too )

[eddiem74]

Not to derail this thread but where would one get information on the optimum driving position and how to achieve it. Is there something reputable or just go with Google?

[JohnH]

Not to derail this thread but where would one get information on the optimum driving position and how to achieve it. Is there something reputable or just go with Google?

Years ago an advanced driving instructor showed me how to sit in a seat properly.

Here’s what he said:
- Seat base should be flat and support the whole upper leg, not sloping down and not up at the front like a fake bucket seat.
- the seat back should be in a position so that when your shoulder blades are against the seat back and you stretch out your arm, your wrist should rest on the top of the steering wheel.

This will feel really weird at the start, and you’ll feel way too close to the wheel. I admit now I do recline the seat back a tiny bit more than that but not by much.

I find it very supportive. I have come off an overnight flight, gotten into a car and driven to Galway and back without aches or pains. I’m sure Conor will say my seats are way too far forward for someone who is 6’ 3”.

[alan996]

I was taught the same by a rally driver.

By putting your watch on the top of the wheel when you put your hands at quarter to three, they are slightly bent.

Plus you can turn the wheel through 180 degrees without having to move your hands.

Been driving like that now for years and it made a big difference

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[Curran]

I too have had similar advice and Chris Harris has YouTube video on it too. I set up like that for a spirited drive and a touch further back in distance and recline when regular driving.

[Big H]

As a slight aside on this, I was talking (mumbling through a mask from 2 metres away more like ) to an estate agent friend over the weekend who is working for a firm in Galway, and he says enquiries and viewings have gone through the roof from Dublin based galwegians over the past 2-3 months as more & more people decide to move out of Dublin to work remotely. Many businesses now know it can be done quite successfully so are happy to let people do it now on a permanent basis.

It's totally job dependant of course, but if there was any way you could work remotely for the majority of the week, then it may not be so bad at all.