Our fitter in work and myself were having a discussion in work today regarding times and distances driven when in car alone or when towing caravan. Is there a set amount of time you think you can add when towing compared to ordinary journeys, or will it vary with different combinations and different types of journeys
Eg with a car alone journey A - B takes 2hrs, but if you add towing a caravan would you normally add 30 mins, 60 mins, 75 mins or 1 hr.
I thought it would vary depending on car/van combination and the journey being undertaken
I add 15min per hour when towing if the journey is mainly motorway. If using single lane A roads I budget a little bit more.
Google maps assumes that you are driving at the speed limit all the time and does not allow for slowing at junctions, roundabouts etc. All this adds time, so if planning using that, I also add 10min per 50 miles irrespective of towing or not
I set the satnav to truck mode and i can usually beat the time slightly.
Biggest issue is traffic. Whether doing 60mph or 70mph. An accident or just general congestion can make the journey so much longer.
My mate said it took him over 9 hours to goto Cornwall from the Midlands one year.
He thought starting out early would beat the traffic. But it didnt help. He just got held up everywhere. Little stops or reduced speed on the M5 and the A30 was heaving.
If you can average 60mph you travel at 1 mile a minute so a 20mile journey takes 20 minutes. Average 30mph is 60/30x20miles equals 40 minutes.
Its what I use for estimating times
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I work on 45mph average on A-roads and 50mph on motorways or 55 mph for long motorway journeys. The 45mph A-road is particularly accurate for my driving style.
I set the cruise control to 58 mph, sat nav says 54 mph, and average is generally 55 mph. Therefore work on this figures when going anywhere with the van on. always works out pretty well. not accounting for traffic jams though.