Well the Balkans have been bounced and it is time to add up some of the figures which I have carefully recorded on the trip.
The car covered 7,038 miles in total, most of them on minor roads, although the 600 miles in the UK were all done on the motorway.
581.34 litres of fuel were burnt which works out at approximately 54.48mpg or for those of you who reside in more metric friendly lands 5.2 litres / 100km. I mostly kept cruising speed down to 50 to 55mph, ( 80 to 90 kph ) less on minor roads in places like Bosnia where even that leisurely pace was often unsustainable.
The most expensive fuel was in Piacenza in Italy which cost £1.52 a litre, the cheapest was in Jajce in Bosnia at £1.01p a litre.
The car broke down on three occasions, a blown fuse when the choke cable light feed shorted out. The ignition coil burnt out and finally the carb swallowed some oil from the air filter and temporarily blocked. It also blew a headlamp bulb, a tail light bulb and the hazard warning indicator light bulb. It never failed to start promptly regardless of conditions.
The only other problem was horrendous oil consumption. The pistons and barrels were virtually new at the beginning of the journey as was the breather pipe. In Belgrade a new set of rings were fitted in case the originals were faulty but it made no difference. I will be stripping the engine to find out what the problem is shortly.
Some damage was sustained due the roads, a couple of dents in the front rims and the shocks are all now leaking. The offside steering arm is knocking as is the rack. The rear bumper is sightly dented where a Serbian driver ran in to it and the rear fog lamp was lost to a Macedonian pothole.
I spent 28 nights under canvas, the cheapest was 5 Euro the most expensive 20.
14 nights were passed in hotels, the cheapest 15 Euro, the most expensive 42 in Munich
3 night were spent in a friends flat and a further 5 in a rented rural apartment in Greece.
The car covered 7,038 miles in total, most of them on minor roads, although the 600 miles in the UK were all done on the motorway.
581.34 litres of fuel were burnt which works out at approximately 54.48mpg or for those of you who reside in more metric friendly lands 5.2 litres / 100km. I mostly kept cruising speed down to 50 to 55mph, ( 80 to 90 kph ) less on minor roads in places like Bosnia where even that leisurely pace was often unsustainable.
The most expensive fuel was in Piacenza in Italy which cost £1.52 a litre, the cheapest was in Jajce in Bosnia at £1.01p a litre.
The car broke down on three occasions, a blown fuse when the choke cable light feed shorted out. The ignition coil burnt out and finally the carb swallowed some oil from the air filter and temporarily blocked. It also blew a headlamp bulb, a tail light bulb and the hazard warning indicator light bulb. It never failed to start promptly regardless of conditions.
The only other problem was horrendous oil consumption. The pistons and barrels were virtually new at the beginning of the journey as was the breather pipe. In Belgrade a new set of rings were fitted in case the originals were faulty but it made no difference. I will be stripping the engine to find out what the problem is shortly.
Some damage was sustained due the roads, a couple of dents in the front rims and the shocks are all now leaking. The offside steering arm is knocking as is the rack. The rear bumper is sightly dented where a Serbian driver ran in to it and the rear fog lamp was lost to a Macedonian pothole.
I spent 28 nights under canvas, the cheapest was 5 Euro the most expensive 20.
14 nights were passed in hotels, the cheapest 15 Euro, the most expensive 42 in Munich
3 night were spent in a friends flat and a further 5 in a rented rural apartment in Greece.