Top Gear MPG challenge: Which car would you choose?

As someone who grew up about five miles from Blackpool, I understand the priorities one needs to have when planning a trip to Blackpool.

Based on this, and based on EPA ratings, the car I would choose is...



Why?

It would be extremely comfortable.

It will give me 11mpg, and it has a 25-gallon tank, so it'll take me about 275 miles. The Top Gear team set off from Basel, so 275 miles would get me as far as Reims, which is a really nice town, and is the centre of the champagne industry. I would be happy there.

You have to consider that if you choose a Jetta Diesel, this is where you're going to end up.



Another black mark for Blackpool's dirty beaches as resort's sands are named among Britain's worst | Mail Online



'Filthy and disgusting' Blackpool hotel voted worst in Europe as UK dominates list of the continent's dirtiest | Mail Online







Britain's hen night Babylon: How riotous hen and stag parties are tarnishing Blackpool's family image | Mail Online




So......

Are you sure you want that Jetta Diesel? A Bentley, or a Hummer, or an F150 would all be much, much better ideas.

It was a diesel Jaguar XJ, a diesel Subaru Legacy (Liberty in the US, I think), and a diesel Polo.

Actually come to think of it, to get from Basel to Blackpool, I'd choose this.



It will run out of fuel after one mile. It will cover that mile very quickly.

One of my best friends from university lives about a mile from the centre of Basel. And I haven't seen her in ages. So this would be a good chance to pop round to her place for a drink.

I say all this, but in September I'm flying 10,500 miles (and driving another 60) to get to Blackpool.

And I'm looking forward to it. I'll see my parents and my sister and some old friends from school. My kids will get to meet their cousin for the first time.

So maybe it isn't that terrible after all.

 

I would get Bob Wilson to drive his Prius , because IIRC he is the only westerner to get over 1000 miles on a tank of gas!

 

My Dad's done Blackpool to Lyon on a tank - that's about the same distance as Blackpool to Basel.

That was in a Passat TDI.

Excellent idea.

 

Blackpool? Oh dear. All that time and effort trying to sell my area as a tourist destination and you bring up S**tsville!

And what's all this interest in how far you can go on a tank? Which goes further a 60 mpg Toyota IQ with a 30 litre tank or a 11 mpg Bentley with a 150 litre tank? It's a nonsense.

Even more of a nonsense when you consider that when you get over to France you'd be better off filling up your diesel car and saving ££££'s.

And OMG, you showed images of Blackpool to the World! Why? Why? All those beautiful views of my area on the Tour De France and you've just ruined it! lol. Shakes head in horror

This is how I remember Blackpool from my childhood;



You're better coming to Whitby on the 'right' side of the Pennines Home to Dracula and more Goths than you can shake a stick at

 

Ahha. But this way, Yorkshire gets to keep all the American tourists to itself. I think the Americans can handle Yorkshire - I think they'd love it. But Blackpool might be a bit much for them.

Part of the reason I've timed my British holiday for September is so that I can take the kids to the Illuminations.

That's much nicer than the Skegness posters.

The original 1930s (?) railway one:



And the Viz follow-up.

 

Someone pulled a joke on the photographer.
Boss: We're sending you on assignment to cover Spring Break.
Photog: Great! Where? Ft. Lauderdale? Daytona?
Boss: Blackpool.

GC, where is The Castle Anthrax? I seek the grail. (Oh, please don't tell me it's in Blackpool.)

 

lol, not in Blackpool I fear. London maybe, for which you shall pay Royally.

Blackpool would be much cruder, quicker and cheaper, or even free if you played your cards right.

 

I saw that episode on Netflix. The Jag had enough fuel to go another 120 miles after reaching Blackpool. I wouldn't chooseG3 Prius because I know for fact it wouldn't have made it. It covers a lot of highway driving. There's no way in hell a Prius can get 75mpg on the freeway. They're in a race against time so it's not like they can afford to average 25mph for the whole 750 mile trip.

 

In my (G2) Prius, without driving particularly carefully, I get about 800-850km from a tank (that's about 500-530 miles), driving at around 120km/h (75mph). I reckon if I dropped to 60mph, took all the crap out of the car (fairy dresses, bottles of juice, empty Diet Coke cans, more fairy dresses, full Diet Coke cans, books (mainly about fairies or science), wet wipes, spare shoes, more fairy dresses, changes of clothes (non-fairy), bottles of water, assorted Hello Kitty-related stuff, and some more fairy dresses), turned off the air-con, and used higher octane fuel (which I find does make a difference) I could maybe, at a push, get that up to 1000km (620 miles). Vacuuming out all the glitter would probably get me another 20 miles. And if I lost another 20 kilos (which I should), that would get me another 30-40 miles. So, yes, I'd be a long way short: 620 miles would get me from Basel to Oxford. Still, Oxford's a nice place, and I have some friends there, so it wouldn't be such a bad thing. 670 miles would get me to Birmingham, which would suck, as it's a dump: its only real positive contributions to the world are the balti and the table naan. So I might not bother losing the weight: Oxford will do nicely.

 

Should I cancel our family trip to Blackpool then? Lol

 

No, you should totally go. If you're there in September, when I'm there, I'll buy you a pint of Thwaites Original. It makes any town look nice.

Are there direct flights from Dublin to Blackpool now? I know the airport has expanded a lot.

 

"Up The 'Pool"

I'm going up the `pool from down the smoke below
to taste my mum's jam sarnies and see our Aunty Flo.
The candyfloss salesman watches ladies in the sand
down for a freaky weekend in the hope that they'll be meeting
Mister Universe.

The iron tower smiles down upon the silver sea
and along the golden mile they'll be swigging mugs of tea.
The politicians there who've come to take the air
while posing for the daily press
will look around and blame the mess
on Edward Bear.

There'll be bucket, spades and bingo, cockles, mussels, rainy days,
seaweed and sand castles, icy waves.
Deck chairs, rubber dinghies, old vests, braces dangling down,
sun-tanned stranded starfish in a daze.

We're going up the `pool from down the smoke below
to taste my mum's jam sarnies and see our Aunty Flo.
The candy floss salesman watches ladies in the sand
down for a freaky weekend in the hope that they'll be meeting
Mister Universe.

There'll be buckets, spades and bingo, cockles, mussels, rainy days,
seaweed and sand castles, icy waves,
Deck chairs, rubber dinghies, old vests, braces dangling down,
sun-tanned stranded starfish in a daze.

Oh Blackpool,
oh Blackpool.

 

I'd never heard this. Thank you.