Epic Alpine Saga

[Cymro]

Hi All.
So I'm finally back from my 2000 mile saga from Anglesey to La Rosiere in the alps and back. The only charges available were before leaving, and a couple of 20min rapids on the journey down (in the UK only). See below all the fuel details giving mpg cumulative and sectional. Bear in mind we had a very fully loaded car including 4 adults (well 3 adults and a 14yr old 90kg rugby player) Temperature throughout the trip was cold. -14 on the climb up to resort but easily +3 to -3 in most of the drive across UK & France. We used heaters and fast at 75mph on the AAC for as long as we could when the roads allowed.

The journey down through the UK (boxing day) was interesting as we had plenty of snow on the M6 Toll. We arrived in folkestone and stayed overnight. Early train on the Saturday morning into France and then as the day progressed the traffic issues in the alps ahead got worse and worse. I'm sure you heard the news http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30613481. To cut a long story short we took 27hrs to drive (I use the term loosely) from Calais to La Rosiere.

Once we'd cleared the numpties who caused most of the delays The final 50miles was in either deep or packed snow and we did the whole lot with no chains or socks. The car was unfazed by the conditions and drove really well in company with discos and range rovers.

The overriding feeling after doing the trip is the tank is small !! as you can see we were stopping every couple of hundred miles. Because of the nature of the conditions and the journey we did not want to be searching for fuel so filled up when we saw 50miles range. We were travelling with another family in a Discovery 3 and they were getting 500miles + range.

Oh and we were on standard wheels and tyres as my winter wheels arrived to late to have TPMS fitted.

So the bottom line is, if you fill the car with people and stuff and flog across Europe in the winter with no opportunity to charge you get approx 30mpg.

 

[Cymro]

view from chalet. parking is in this building.

 

[BeeJay]

Excellent post - thanks for going through the time to post this!

Still a damn sight better than the 16.4mpg I got in my Range Rover, and more reliable than a Discovery !!!

 

[greendwarf]

I'm encouraged by your report - should be easier at half-terms to Les Deux Alpes - although I'll have two 14 year old girls in the car - lighter but more troublesome overall :lol:

 

[maddogsetc]

Where did you stay in La Ros? I drove there about 4-5 years ago at Easter, stayed at Les Cimes Blanches, and we had 25degC at Bourg! Ironically we DID have winters on

Not much snow to speak of then and nothing at all in the village. Think your timing (journey aside) was spot on

 

[ufo]

In those conditions (winter, no charging, mountains) and with that load, 30 mpg is a very good figure

 

[Cymro]

We stayed in Les Cimes Blanches in Les Eucherts. very nice too

 

[maddogsetc]

We stayed in Les Cimes Blanches in Les Eucherts. very nice too

Thought I recognised that view! Although we were in one of the buildings at the back and no snow to be seen. had an unfortunate (but lucky in some ways) incident there on the bus back from the main La Rosiere centre - wife was hit on the head by some skis which fell as the bus turned at the half way point. Very unpleasant and had to hike up to the village to get medical attention, luckily no major injuries.

 

[gobiman]

Thanks for sharing.
Funnily enough I was just route planning my half-term drive to Austria which I do every year although decided to stick with my old V8 X5 which has the full winter kit (tyres, chains, shovel etc). I haven't winterised the Outlander yet.
The fuel tank is a bit of a pain - I suspect I would take a jerry can (which is what we all used to do when I was in the army in Germany with access to cheap fuel). It would remove an element of range anxiety/ increase flexibility.
Your fuel consumption is pretty much identical to the testing I've done at continental cruise speeds.
I also use a roofbox for skiing which is fantastic albeit drops my mpg by 2-3. However would expect high 20s as opposed to the very low 20s in the X5.
I have to say I'm also a bit nervous about the batteries in really low temperatures - they do have -30 overnight every now and again. Two years ago my X5 started first time unlike a couple of diesel discos which really struggled.

 

[woolaco]

Really encouraged by your post, as we are travelling to Meribel at half term....

My brother was caught up on the fun on the Saturday trying to leave the French Alps, and said that all cars without chains were being stopped. It sounds as though you were allowed through without chains?

Secondly, with regard to climbing the mountains, I have read elsewhere that you should do so with a reasonable amount of charge left, and in charging mode. Is this what you did?....and if so, did you use up all the charge and then use the charging mode to recharge the battery prior to the climb....or did you save charge as you motored accross France?

 

[maby]

I now automatically drive on Save till I'm about 30 miles away from my next charge - the car is so much more happy and responsive.

 

[BeeJay]

I now automatically drive on Save till I'm about 30 miles away from my next charge - the car is so much more happy and responsive.

Do you not then miss out on regen benefits if the battery is full?

I also drive on save occasionally, especially If my journey is 40 miles or so with some motorway in it, I turn it on when I hit the motorway, then off again when the amount I have left matches the amount of miles I have left to drive...

 

[maby]

I now automatically drive on Save till I'm about 30 miles away from my next charge - the car is so much more happy and responsive.

Do you not then miss out on regen benefits if the battery is full?

I also drive on save occasionally, especially If my journey is 40 miles or so with some motorway in it, I turn it on when I hit the motorway, then off again when the amount I have left matches the amount of miles I have left to drive...

in practice, Save will not maintain the charge at 100% - it seems to drop to around 80% which is the upper limit that the generator can achieve on Charge.