trevorswaine
Member
It's a very good upgrade - Timmus fitted them to my A2
Travelling abroad in the A2
- Thread starter craigyb
- Start date
longdog
Member
Sorry, I didn't realize you knew Ukraine so well. Have a good trip.
craigyb
A2OC Donor
No worries. My main concerns and I should have probably been clearer is around traffic signals. I see lots of flashing amber on overhead gantries and wonder what should I expect besides a change to red etc
Ducatiric3
A2OC Donor
In France/Italy flashing amber is used at quieter times and means proceed with care.
Flashing red means proceed with care but traffic coming across your path must be given priority.
Incidentally, the RAC have quite a handy section on 'Driving Abroad'.
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/driving-abroad/
Also having just been quoted 5 working days for the local main Audi Dealer (Comporosso) to get a new brake light switch, it might be worth packing one for any long trips.
Enjoy your trip!
Flashing red means proceed with care but traffic coming across your path must be given priority.
Incidentally, the RAC have quite a handy section on 'Driving Abroad'.
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/driving-abroad/
Also having just been quoted 5 working days for the local main Audi Dealer (Comporosso) to get a new brake light switch, it might be worth packing one for any long trips.
Enjoy your trip!
If travelling through Switzerland you need a Swiss Autoroute pass (like a tax disc) buy before you travel.
Driving on “the wrong side” is easy as long as you’re following someone. The time when you make the mistake is just when you think you have got used to it and turn out of a junction into the wrong side without thinking. So never take it for granted and after 4000 miles remember to switch your brain back when you land back here
Driving on “the wrong side” is easy as long as you’re following someone. The time when you make the mistake is just when you think you have got used to it and turn out of a junction into the wrong side without thinking. So never take it for granted and after 4000 miles remember to switch your brain back when you land back here
craigyb
A2OC Donor
Thanks for the advise guys, flashing red would confuse the heck out of me. As for a brake switch, not the sort of thing I would have thought i would need a spare of, but actually I do have one in my spares bin.
Passed the MOT today after replacing the track rod ends and dust covers, but one advisory was front suspension spring loose, so I've ordered two new springs and top mounts and will get both sides swapped before I go I think.
Passed the MOT today after replacing the track rod ends and dust covers, but one advisory was front suspension spring loose, so I've ordered two new springs and top mounts and will get both sides swapped before I go I think.
Ducatiric3
A2OC Donor
Yes, I naively assumed that an Audi Main Dealer would carry things like the brake switch - no sign of "Just In Time" delivery, here in Italy!
For what it’s worth my first trip through Europe had a breakdown. We drove over the Alps into Italy via the Simplon Pass and the Peugeot 405 overheated. We managed to get to Varzo and stopped at a petrol station. The young lad called his uncle in the local Fiat garage, they recovered the car, MADE a new component, fitted it and we were back on our way in 2hrs. Cost £35 all in. I thought at the time “that wouldn’t have happened in England”...
Ducatiric3
A2OC Donor
I think this is typical in Italy and France if you can find a little local garage. I was rescued yesterday by Luigi who is hidden away in a basement of a block of flats in the back of San Remo up a series of one way narrow streets - I turned up 11.30 on Saturday, he drops everything scans the car for errors and then - after the VW garage opposite doesn't have the offending brake light switch - disappears for 15 minutes on a scooter, returns with the right switch and insists on fitting it - all for 20 EUROS! The main Audi dealer would still be processing the order for next Wednesday/Thursday deliver.
Away with the fairys
Member
From memory , the requirement for an alcohol testing kits ,wither in date or not has been dropped , rather quietly as a lot of cash has been made by French service stations , along with ferry operators selling the kits to the brits ..and early this year was still on sale on key ferry crossing to northern France .
Hi -vis vests , was involved in a accident last year , and we , the brits was the only ones with any form of hi vis clothes . This was in rural middle France , and the police turned up , was all Farily informal , and it is 1 hi vi for each passenger from within the car .
As an side ; the France allow convicted drink drivers back on the road in what’s amounts to a small car ...top speed cir 70kph and less than 50bhp , again from memory
Drive well and you don’t have a problem, beware the France level of ksi (killed seriously injured.) is double that of the UK ....
G
Guest 4123
Guest
A consequence of this is that from the beginning of July, the maximum speed limit on all non-dual carriageway roads in France has been reduced from 90kph to 80kph (50mph).
RAB
Ducatiric3
A2OC Donor
I'm pretty certain that only some single carriageways roads have been downgraded to 80kph, for the reasons you say. The signs entering from Italy still say 90kph for single carriageway roads outside built-up areas, but having driven the D1006 and D925 from Italy to Grenoble today [170ish km in France] there are some quite long sections with brand new 80kph signs. Driving some very long straights at 80kph is tedious.
I wonder how much difference a head on collision at a combined speed of 160kph rather than 180kph really makes?
One of the problems today was many drivers not using dipped headlights which made it impossible to see then coming in the bright sunlight - especially where there were also Napoleon's trees lining the route. I'm not sure if dipped lights is actually law in Italy but evryone has them on (if their car doesn't have daytime driving lights).
I wonder how much difference a head on collision at a combined speed of 160kph rather than 180kph really makes?
One of the problems today was many drivers not using dipped headlights which made it impossible to see then coming in the bright sunlight - especially where there were also Napoleon's trees lining the route. I'm not sure if dipped lights is actually law in Italy but evryone has them on (if their car doesn't have daytime driving lights).
G
Guest 4123
Guest
From what I have seen, it's all single carriageway roads. Too confusing otherwise.
From Wikipedia:
"It is expected that the French government gives on 9 January 2018 a statement to define 80 km/h (instead of 90) as a standard speed limit on secondary network, due to the many fatalities existing on this network. This occurs after an experimentation which included a speed limit change from 90 to 80 between 2010-2015 and 2015-2017 seemed to show it is possible to reduce fatalities.
The 80 km/h national limit enter into force on first july, this same year."
In my experience, the French only use speed limit signs when the limit is lower than the normal maximum.
RAB
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craigyb
A2OC Donor
Well I'm here. Arrived in Dnipro around 13:00 Sunday from a 16:00 start on Friday afternoon. 6 hours to Dover with the traffic and roadworks. 2 hours on the ferry and the rest of the journey 1700 miles was a breeze.
Driving my own car abroad is easier for me than a hire LHD car. The A2 performed well and was very comfortable and safe over the drive. Virtually motorway to the border with Poland and the Ukraine.
5 hours of queing to cross into the Ukraine which I was not expecting but it allowed me some rest time. And the road from Poland to Kiev was not bad at all compared to the normal roads in the Ukraine. No real potholes, just sort of ski jumps and ramps every now and then which sounded like the car was about to die but it was ok. I had new front springs and top mounts fitted before I left.
From Kiev to dnipro was another story, smooth dual carriageways disappeared into potholed single lanes from hell at times. I drove 50km down a stretch of road that was terrible with slow moving trucks in front of me. Accelerating past them on the other side was more dangerous as the road surfaces were awful.
It's not a journey for one person. I have realized that now. It's a 2 man job to swap drivers etc. So beside the journey home in 3 weeks I won't be doing it again alone.
A few pics from the ferry car park and a services in Poland. I will try and take a few pics in dnipro. I have to say Poland is more beautiful than I imagined. Very lovely indeed.
Driving my own car abroad is easier for me than a hire LHD car. The A2 performed well and was very comfortable and safe over the drive. Virtually motorway to the border with Poland and the Ukraine.
5 hours of queing to cross into the Ukraine which I was not expecting but it allowed me some rest time. And the road from Poland to Kiev was not bad at all compared to the normal roads in the Ukraine. No real potholes, just sort of ski jumps and ramps every now and then which sounded like the car was about to die but it was ok. I had new front springs and top mounts fitted before I left.
From Kiev to dnipro was another story, smooth dual carriageways disappeared into potholed single lanes from hell at times. I drove 50km down a stretch of road that was terrible with slow moving trucks in front of me. Accelerating past them on the other side was more dangerous as the road surfaces were awful.
It's not a journey for one person. I have realized that now. It's a 2 man job to swap drivers etc. So beside the journey home in 3 weeks I won't be doing it again alone.
A few pics from the ferry car park and a services in Poland. I will try and take a few pics in dnipro. I have to say Poland is more beautiful than I imagined. Very lovely indeed.
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sciroccorrado
A2OC Donor
Great to see you got there okay, the 5-hour queue sounds like a bit of a nightmare.
... and Yay for A1 Sport Alloys
... and Yay for A1 Sport Alloys
craigyb
A2OC Donor
Thanks. Just to add the new colour DIS helped as I could switch the cluster to km easily and watch my speed. Thundering past a Ukrainian cop car at 130km/h was a bit worrying but I saw many police road side stops and they never bothered with me.
The neighbors have seen my A2 and want to buy it from me. But it's not for sale. This little pig ugly car is the best thing I own. My S7 languishes on the driveway next to it going nowhere fast.
The neighbors have seen my A2 and want to buy it from me. But it's not for sale. This little pig ugly car is the best thing I own. My S7 languishes on the driveway next to it going nowhere fast.
Well done for making it there all right. It's old cossack country, I hope I can take my kids there one day. My Mum's family are from the region but I last went that far east in the eighties, by train!
On a related - sort of - note, my A2 made it to the south of France and back all right. Thundering along at 130-140kmh most of the way except at Lyon where it's always s-l-o-w. The only casualty - fuel flap switch disintegrated. Sticky tape held it together until we got back, now fixed properly with a tiny screw..
On a related - sort of - note, my A2 made it to the south of France and back all right. Thundering along at 130-140kmh most of the way except at Lyon where it's always s-l-o-w. The only casualty - fuel flap switch disintegrated. Sticky tape held it together until we got back, now fixed properly with a tiny screw..