Aygo Long Distance Driving

[patbruin]

Hi,

I'm a prospective Aygo owner. I'm looking to downgrade from my trust Audi for something cheaper to run day to day.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried a reasonable long distance drive in their Aygo at freeway speeds. What's it like for a few hours (for a once in a year summer drive) on the freeway? I'm not expecting it to be cushy, just well behaved on the freeway and not as loud as an old MG with the top down. :P

I'm a little concerned running at 120 km/h for a few hours when the maximum speed is 157!

Thanks!

[Unklian]

Hi There.

No problem at all for the Aygo.

Last year we drove from Sheffield to Dover (250 miles)

Caught the ferry to Calais.

Drove up through France to Brugge, called in for a coffee at a friend's B&B

then coninued round the Brussels ring road and South to La Roche-en-Ardennes.

Based there, we drove up to Cologne and back one day to see the Lindt factory & the Dom.

Only the massive hills round (I think) Liege, slowed us down a little.

We never gave it a second thought.

We were driving close to the 130KMH speed limit most of the time.

The Aygo was perfect.

Drove home from Ghent to Sheffield on the last day. (370 miles?)

Ian.

[Zaaro]

On the motorway when there is wind about it tends to blow about a bit what with it being so light.

I found however the seats are surprising comfortable even after a few hours. Wouldnt think it looking at them

[PaulT]

I'm a little concerned running at 120 km/h for a few hours when the maximum speed is 157!

That isn't a problem. The engine is one out of the top drawer. Stability is also fine at motorway speeds.

Unfortunately it is a little noisy and on some concrete surfaces at around 50-60mph it can be a bit bouncy.

Having said that, I go everywhere in mine. Drove 90 minutes to Birmingham yesterday for the NEC show, have driven to Teeside for races so that's 4.5 hours on the road and that was with no back seats or boot carpet

Thing to do is get one on an extended test drive and do a few motorway miles. Will obviously not be as refined as the Audi, but maybe better than you think for a cheap car.

Paul.

[daveyjp]

As long as you remember what's under the bonnet and drive accordingly - i.e. if doing 60 flooring it won't see 90 in the blink of an eye, it's a more than capable motorway car - you just have to plan a bit more to take account of the low power. The seat gets a bit uncomfrotable for me (my car's an Audi) on longer trips.

A colleague did a full circuit of Scotland last year. Glasgow, Oban, Gairloch, Ullapool, north coast to John O Groats, Inverness, Edinburgh - about 1500 miles in just over a week in his wife's Aygo and he really enjoyed the car. It did over 60mpg too.

[Unklian]

Almost forgot Scotland......

Sheffield to Strachur 305 miles.

Look round a house that was for sale.

Strachur to Sheffield 305 miles.

Back in time for buns & tea.

Easy.

Ian.

[sky0000547]

Just done Leicester to London 230 miles return on the M1 at the weekend. I find the Aygo is capable of cruising on the motorway at 70mph comfortably as long as the section of the motorway is flat. Once on the approach to a hill then the Aygo really struggle to keep pace. The needle on the speedo would rapidly drop from 70mph to 60mph and more pressure on the accelerator pedal is needed and still it only very very slowly inching towards 70mph again. On a long run I find driving the Aygo more tiring than driving my other car and if I have a daily long motorway commute I don't think I would consider the Aygo. At the end of the day the Aygo is designed as a city car and not a motorway cruiser.

[Wild west Drifter]

Just done Leicester to London 230 miles return on the M1 at the weekend. I find the Aygo is capable of cruising on the motorway at 70mph comfortably as long as the section of the motorway is flat. Once on the approach to a hill then the Aygo really struggle to keep pace. The needle on the speedo would rapidly drop from 70mph to 60mph and more pressure on the accelerator pedal is needed and still it only very very slowly inching towards 70mph again. On a long run I find driving the Aygo more tiring than driving my other car and if I have a daily long motorway commute I don't think I would consider the Aygo. At the end of the day the Aygo is designed as a city car and not a motorway cruiser.

Did the same trip ,Horsham-Lutterworth and back,M25 and then M1 no problems so long as you plan ahead hills not a problem . Just drop it down to 4th Gear as soon as the speed starts dropping off.

As Paul T said, around 60 on the concrete sections can be a bit bumpy, but then both of us have lowered suspension :P Long journey on twisty roads is however great fun as several people have said, goes back to the old mini style of driving.

[Demonic Angel]

I did Rugby - Hythe in Kent & back and it was glorious

160 miles there, 160 miles back, 61mpg

The mpg you get if anything is the main draw - I find mine very comfortable on any journey and yes, its a bit noisy, just turn the music up and its fine!

[Batfink]

Hello

More positive comments from me....

My daily commute is almost 100 miles round trip, and the Aygo is just fine. A few days when its been extremely windy (i.e. trucks blowing over) I felt a little scared but I suspect most people did - other than that it's perfectly capable. I've even done just over 500 miles in one day in the car - the only thing that stopped me was my bladder, I was surprisingly comfortable otherwise.

It might be billed as a city car but I bought it as the perfect commuting car - leaves me much more money each month to spend on more important things.

I definitely agree with the extended test drive suggestion if you're unsure.

Now I want to do the round Scotland trip, sounds wonderful!

x

[Lister2020]

I've drove mine a cpl hundred miles at a time no problem, drove to derry (over the MOUNTAIN road, not even the bypass) and it coped fine.

Going to scotland for a week at the end of jan and Ive no doubt that it will cope fine

[patbruin]

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback. You guys/gals certainly get around! I'll be going to the Toyota dealer this afternoon. Lets see what happens!

[marklemac]

You shouldn't have a problem getting one for a whole days test drive. I took one out for an hour for my first test drive and was then offered one for a whole day, which was certainly worth it :)

[Smoothound]

I drive 100 miles a day in mine. At least half of that is motorway. The Aygo cruises very well at 70, but you can get over 60MPG is you stick to 60MPG, so that's what I do!

It's a very comfortable ride: good seats, good suspension.

The engine, while small, compliments the light chassic very well. It's actually a very nippy car!

I love my Aygo to bits, I've not driven my sexy 260 horsepower car since I bought the Aygo in October!!!!

In fact, I was so impressed after the test drive, we bought two! His n hers!

[jim shady]

I drive from Glasgow to Ayr daily for work (just over 70 miles round trip), it's about 90% motorway driving

and I cruise along at 70mph without any problems.

There's a bit of an upward hill around Paisley, but I either approach it a bit faster or drop down a gear to

climb it without any loss of speed.

There's been many a confused look on people's faces when my wee car overtakes them on that stretch!

As said before these cars aren't for balls out performance, they're for fun and cheap motoring and they're

damn good at both.

[C_U_Jimi]

I drive from Glasgow to Ayr daily for work (just over 70 miles round trip), it's about 90% motorway driving

and I cruise along at 70mph without any problems.

There's a bit of an upward hill around Paisley, but I either approach it a bit faster or drop down a gear to

climb it without any loss of speed.

There's been many a confused look on people's faces when my wee car overtakes them on that stretch!

As said before these cars aren't for balls out performance, they're for fun and cheap motoring and they're

damn good at both.

Jim.....Want to swap jobs?

I drive from Troon to Glasgow up the M77 every day also in an Aygo. The Aygo has cut my petrol bill dramatically but 65 miles a day is getting pretty boring.

[Guest]

I put just over 10k miles on mine in 8 months, mostly at 80mph+ on the M1, Never had any problems, it got a bit wheezy on long hills requiring a change into 4th, but otherwise a very decent little car for cruising down the motorway.

Several comments from friends about how surprisingly comfy the seats are too (as they don't particularly look it!)

If you can afford the extra outlay however i would recommend a Yaris instead (Sorry Aygo Boys and Girls) as i swapped my 1.0 Aygo for a 1.3 Yaris in October and its substanially better on motorways. Also it gets close to 45MPG at steady 80ish, and the aygo only used to manage just under 50MPG, so not substantially worse.

[Rich2k8]

Well I drove mine 500 hundred odd miles, from the Welsh Borders up to Scotland in terrible weather, lashing rain and on the motorway, and it handled superbly and after a long journey with very few breaks I didn't feel like I'd been folded into a box for 12 hours. Did struggle up hills sometimes but not so much it was unmanagable, it is 1 litre, 3 cylinder and for an engine of that size it does very well for itself. However I would agree with the previous comment if you can afford a Yaris, it's just that bit more substantial for roughly the same economy.

But as this question is about the Aygo, great car, bought mine and never looked back.

[hopper]

i drive to my girlfriend most weekends, she live 200miles from me and i think the car is very good over distance, you soon adapt you driving style to suit the lack of power. i've done 14000miles in my car in the last 6 months and it been great.

[sky0000547]

There's a bit of an upward hill around Paisley, but I either approach it a bit faster or drop down a gear to

climb it without any loss of speed.

The Aygo is definitely very capable of consistently doing 70mph on the motorway but to me it is still too much hard work (so to speak) having to speed up on the approach or drop down a gear to go up a hill on the motorway. As said above for the size of the engine the Aygo really does very well however anything with 60+ horses engine will be fine to climb a hill but just how quickly and how much hard work the engine has to do to climb that hill is the real question. I have actually told friends not to buy an Aygo if their journeys involve alot of motorway driving but for city driving definitely.

There's been many a confused look on people's faces when my wee car overtakes them on that stretch!

Just before xmas an Aygo was driving rapidly on the M1 and overtaking everybody from lane 3 so I slowly followed (not in an Aygo) to see what he can do and he was still pulling away from me. As soon as it reached a long hill in this section of the motorway, as I expected, I can see this Aygo rear lights getting closer and closer and this chap is now gingerly driving up this hill back in lane 1 of the motorway and I overtook it without breaking sweat.

[Aygo NTC]

ive done some miles in mine driveing around alot. motorway is pretty mint tbh.

like one of the other Cmnts said when its windy they bounce about abit but apart from that there pretty gwd. very comfy =]

phill=]

[adilmon]

Hi,

I'm a prospective Aygo owner. I'm looking to downgrade from my trust Audi for something cheaper to run day to day.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried a reasonable long distance drive in their Aygo at freeway speeds. What's it like for a few hours (for a once in a year summer drive) on the freeway? I'm not expecting it to be cushy, just well behaved on the freeway and not as loud as an old MG with the top down. :P

I'm a little concerned running at 120 km/h for a few hours when the maximum speed is 157!

Thanks!

The paperwork for the Aygo actually states the maximum cruise speed as 81 mph in 5th gear (although the top speed is higher). I guess 81 mph is where all the engine a drive train components are well within their limits.

For freeway driving, the (discontinued) diesel Aygo copes better with hills and revs lower, but the price you pay is greater noise at idle.

The suspension is pretty good and I've found that the crosswinds aren't an issue if all the tyres are inflated to 35 psi.

[Cyker]

If it's more long-distance driving Motorways/Highways/Autoroutes/Autobahns etc., I'd say consider a Yaris over the Aygo.

IMHO 1.3 petrol or 1.4 diesel are much better suited for long distance highspeed driving, even the older models.

The petrol one is nippier than the diesel and better if there's lots of twisty town driving involved, but the diesel is nice on highspeed roads, is cheaper to run and eats hills for breakfast :)

[Teemu]

I switched from 1.3 Yaris to Aygo and after the first long distance drive I think Aygos seets are more comfortable. Drove mixed roads including motorways and Aygo is joy to drive!

[SJandMR2]

I have done a lot of long distance in mine, for work holidays random road trips, did lands end to Lincoln once was 9 hours, no problems Comfy sits on motorway nicely