Essex to Glasgow, would the AYGO manage?

[JayShepherd399]

Hi everyone, jack here, new member and not yet owner of AYGO. I intend on getting the new shape AYGO as a first car, reading the reviews and stuff I am turned towards the AYGO because of its looks, low cost and its practical for me. I live in Essex and the car would mainly be used on a 20 mile round trip to work on mostly a busy A road, but here's the question, my partner lives in Glasgow and after a few months driving I intend on driving to see my partner instead of the train, now I know the car is out of its comfort zone with long road trips, but I just want to know whether the car would be safe on motorways and I wouldn't be killing the car driving so hard for so long, would the car cope? thanks

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello - welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

Although I've only done journeys of up to 40 miles in mine so far (new in August), it seems OK to me cruising at 65-70. So, if you keep to a sensible speed, don't see why the car shouldn't be OK. The current Aygo is supposed to be better than the first generation on motorways. Make sure you have sufficient breaks.

Extract from the Honest John review:

This is helped by the light weight of the Aygo - it's just 900kg at its heaviest - so while a 0-62mph time of 14.2 seconds isn't much to write home about, the Aygo does feel nippy away from a standstill and rarely struggles for pace. Where it pleasantly surprises is on the motorway; at 70mph the engine is only revving at 3000rpm and is barely noticeable. There's also little wind noise. It has enough poke to keep with fast flowing traffic and you can happily cover long distances in relatively serene comfort.

 

[petesellit]

I think that even My old one would have no trouble cruising ar 70mph all day, just check the fluids & tyre pressures before you set out, should be a nice run.

[mickburkesnr]

Took mine from Birmingham to Budapest and it was fine. Obviously it might be a bit noisey if chugging along at 70mph, but stick a good CD in and you'll forget all about it.

It is surprisingly comfortable on long journeys, and I'm a big 6ft 3 rugby player type of guy.

[Plob]

I think the most limiting factor for a drive from Essex to Glasgow will be human endurance!!!

[kamilb1998]

I have also driven my Aygo to Budapest, and all over Europe for that matter. My car has accumulated 44500 miles in just under 16 months. 

 

If this is anything to go by, I should imagine the Aygo will be more than sufficient for your journey from Essex to Glasgow. 

[Cyker]

That car should be fine, it's more you that I'd be worried about!! 

The longest journey I've done was 4 hours London to Exeter on the A303 and while it was fun my back was not happy with me and my shoulders were aching like heck. I don't know how people like lorry drivers and sales reps do these long distance runs day in day out! 

Make sure you adjust your seat properly before you set off and plan your rest breaks!!!

If you have a Dashcam, might be fun to record the journey too! :)

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Compared to the late 80's, when most 1.0 litre superminis produced around 40-50bhp, had four speed gearboxes, a top speed in the low 80's, and a comfortable cruise of 60-65, the latest Aygo should be a doddle.

[JayShepherd399]

Thank you for the advice guys, I do like the car and cant wait to hopefully get one, cheers

[mickburkesnr]

9 hours ago, Cyker said:

That car should be fine, it's more you that I'd be worried about!! 

The longest journey I've done was 4 hours London to Exeter on the A303 and while it was fun my back was not happy with me and my shoulders were aching like heck. I don't know how people like lorry drivers and sales reps do these long distance runs day in day out! 

Make sure you adjust your seat properly before you set off and plan your rest breaks!!!

If you have a dashcam, might be fun to record the journey too! :)

 

I think the longest I drove mine was about 5 hours from Bruges to Salzburg, and I was fine. The car is comfortable as long as the roads aren't bumpy. In this country you can more or less expect a bumpy ride.

The best I did though was from Cardiff to Glasgow in about 7-8 hours in one go, and then Glasgow to Birmingham later that evening. But that was in a Honda CR-V automatic which drove itself really. 

[lingnoi]

I have driven my Aygo from Southern Germany to Venice, Italy and to Slovenia.

Car does just fine.

L

[Justhandguns]

I had plenty of trips with the 998cc car between Surrey and Cambridge (roughly 100miles one way), not problem at all. And yes, my car was MMT!

P.S. I did have a set of wider 15" wheels, it certainly helped in terms of motorway stability of the car. 

[benchan]

Not sure how you got this info: " out of its comfort zone with long road trips " ?

You definitely won't be killing the car cruising on the motorway at 70mph but if you care about the environment / mpg then go at 60mph - one thing I noticed (in my 10+ years ownership) is the fuel consumption on the Aygo goes up drastically above 56mph!

 

[Pytheas]

I will have to agree with the guys that posted earlier: Based on my experience from trips of about 250 miles and back I can confirm that the Aygo will deal with such trips just fine, even if it packed with luggage and passengers. The only thing you should take care of is the driver's seat position as you will have to make yourself as comfortable as possible. Some breaks during the trip will also allow you to stretch your feet and arms, but apart from that everything will be fine. :-)

[giraffeonastick]

I've done the 400 miles from Buckinghamshire to Glasgow in my mk1 Aygo a couple of times (I live in Glasgow now but come from the south). Apart from having to find cheaper petrol stations than ripoff service stations, you'll be absolutely fine. To be honest the biggest pain was the stretch after the M6 ends, into the A74(M) - it's so dull once you're past the hills. Hardest thing was staying awake!