GR86 Euro Road Trip Advice

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paulR

Obsessed member
Jun 16, 2023
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Denmead, Hampshire
I’m planning on taking my GR86 down to Slovenia next year, via the Nurburgring, and back across the Dolomites and Alps. I’ve done quite a few Euro road trips in my old Z4 and it’s been great, and I think the mountain roads will be awesome in the GR, but my other half is a bit worried about the comfort side of things. Can anyone who has done a long trip put our minds at rest?
The road surfaces over there are much better than here so I’m hoping the hard ride will be improved, it’s more the drone from the tyres that I’m worried about.
 
My wife and I have completed three big Euro road trips, not your suggested route but - Denmark to Ireland, Denmark to Central Spain and Denmark to South of France. No issues with comfort (although I am in a BRZ vs GR86 so marginally different). The worst roads encountered were in the UK for both noise and potholes (concrete M25 is so bad these days). I really rate the seat comfort and cruising in France and Germany is a relative pleasure.

Maybe think about some of the noise hacks around changing tyres and vbar setups if really worried. However I think you will be just fine as is, presuming you are on a stock setup.
 
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Might want to look at the current thread on 'Reducing Front End Noise'.

Comfort is very subjective, depends what you reference of comfort is in terms of car and your age, build, how long you like to spend behind the wheel between breaks etc.

I personally find the seats and OEM setup very good for touring whilst also been a hoot on the twisty stuff. I would not view the OEM setup a hard ride, but again, depends on your reference.
 
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Thanks for the replies. My Z4 has quite a firm ride but maybe softens the bumps at lower speed more than the GR86. But that always feels better once I’m across the Channel so I’m hoping the GR will be the same. I’m certainly willing to put up with a bit of discomfort on the boring bits as I know the good roads should be great.
 
I did 4500 miles through Belgium, Germany, France and Italy in 2023. What was notable was quite how awful the roads are in the UK compared to everywhere else. If you can live with the car here, Europe will be a dream.
 
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AEG86 said:
I did 4500 miles through Belgium, Germany, France and Italy in 2023. What was notable was quite how awful the roads are in the UK compared to everywhere else. If you can live with the car here, Europe will be a dream.
Click to expand...
Wow, that was quite a trip then!
I agree, I hate it when I drive off the ferry or from the tunnel and get back onto UK roads. The Belgian motorways aren’t that great but everywhere else is much better, and they do a proper resurfacing job, a whole new layer of tarmac rather than the patch up job they do over here.
 
I've had no major issues with the GR86 on longer road trips, where niggles would usually surface, I just get in and drive every day.
On day 7 of a 10 day trip to the Alps things caught up and I was tired, not because of the car, just driving 7 days without a full day off.
No issues with the seats, comfort or tyre noise.

The standard audio/speaker setup would drive me mad over that length of time. That trip was with the forum favourite mod, Focal speakers and sound deadening, listening to half decent audio helps create a more relaxed environment (that was before also fitting a Puzu amp).

We've got another trip to Germany and the Black Forest in October and haven't changed anything on the car for this.
Just do it, and have a great time. (y)
 
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That’s good feedback, thanks for that. I normally schedule in a couple of places where we stop for 2 or 3 nights to get a rest from the driving.
I’ve just tried removing the brace bars from the engine compartment to see if that helps with the droning noise. It’s a definite improvement but I don’t want to compromise the handling on the decent roads down in the Alps. I’m also intending to do a Nurburgring lap so the braces will probably go back on.
 
The Belgian motorways can be as bad as the UK. I tend to go through France and pay the tolls just for less congestion and better roads.

I'd probably rent a car at somewhere like Ring Freaks, rather than risk your GR, as the ring can be too busy sometimes.
 
I did around a 1,000 miles in France last month and enjoyed every minute driving my 86.

The roads are in so much better condition than the UK that stiff suspension really isn't an issue.

The tarmac used on roads is much smoother that the UK so road noise is massively reduced too.

There was hardly an traffic, although I mostly stayed off the autoroutes. I got 38mpg without really trying.

The aircon was very effective even during 36c temparatures.
 
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