In answer to those that think a P38 is unreliable, we got back home about 5:30 this morning after a completely uneventful run.

Opened the bonnet twice in that time, once when I arrived in Latvia and again when I got home. No coolant loss, minimal drop in oil level and nothing else needed any attention. The trip meter is actually 153 miles short as I forgot to reset it until I was getting off the ferry in Calais on my way out. The new set of Vredestein Quatrac 5 tyres fitted before leaving seem pretty damn good. Didn't get the chance to try them in anger on snow but in the wet (of which there was plenty....), they gave a lot more feel to the steering than the Goodyears that were on it before.

Economy was pretty amazing too. I know the LPG sold in the UK is 100% Propane and in Europe it is usually a blend of Propane and Butane which, in theory (due to the stoichiometric ratio for Butane being lower) should mean you use less but I wouldn't have thought it would have made this much difference. Pumps are going to vary so a fill isn't always going to stop at exactly the same amount but by dividing mileage with fill quantity would give me a miles per litre figure. If this was then multiplied by 4.54 would give an mpg figure or by multiplying by 67 litres would give range on a full tank. Every fill was good, and there were quite a lot of them, but would you believe 228.2 miles on 59.29 litres? That's 3.85 miles per litre, or 17.5 mpg, and a theoretical range of 257 miles. That was cruising at anything between 65 and 80 mph (depending on traffic) through Germany, Holland and into Belgium. The gas pump I filled from in Germany had a label on it showing that in summer it gave 40/60 Propane/Butane and in winter 60/40 Propane/Butane but how much of an effect that would have I've no idea. No matter, it still worked out cheaper on fuel than it would have cost the two of us to fly there and back.

Just got to clean it now, it's absolutely filthy!

Top Job Gilbert! I'd love to stalk you out there on a P38 run one time, it sounds like a fun place to visit :)

Went for a run up to Tallinn on Tuesday just to have a look around and to tick Estonia off the countries visited list. Saw the signs for the ferry terminal and realised I'd said that next time we'll take the ferry to Helsinki and come back via Finland, Sweden and Denmark. Should make it interesting. Just outside the village where Dina's parent's live there's a campsite so there's accommodation there should you decide to come along (there's also a couple of very nice hotels too if you don't fancy camping). Set in the sand dunes amongst pine trees next to the beach, it looks to be a nice place (or would be a nice place in the summer, looks pretty bleak this time of year).

What a run! The furthest I ventured in my old P38 before it caught fire was Amsterdam. We took the ferry from Newcastle so there wasn't a massive amount of miles involved.

David.

dhallworth wrote:

We took the ferry from Newcastle

That's cheating :) Dover-Calais, turn left, through Belgium, Holland, Germany and into Poland. Overnight stop in Warsaw (£18 for a room and breakfast for two in an ibis budget a short walk from the old town) then head north out of Poland into Lithuania and then continue on into Latvia. Our destination was Saulkrasti, a smallish seaside town about 30kms north of Riga which is where Dina's parent live. Coming back we did it in one hit but with stops whenever needed, leaving Saulkrasti about 6pm on Friday and arriving at Calais, 1,300 miles later, at 10pm on Saturday. Good job Dina enjoys a road trip as much as I do really.

So... how did you split the driving?

I drive, Dina sleeps. When I feel like a break, I stop and she takes over. If she feels OK to take over, she drives while I sleep but if she doesn't we'll stop so I can sleep for an hour or so then carry on. I end up doing most of the driving but as we need to stop every couple of hours to fill up with LPG take that opportunity to get a coffee, food and have a break for a while.

If you go down in the summer, let me know.

Almost certainly will be going again, probably sometime towards the end of the summer but no definite plans as yet. Then again, I never plan anything more than a few weeks in advance anyway......

End of the summer would interest me as we're off to Sicily in April. We'll see how the machine performs on that trip.