Swindon to Tromso 2016 my W12 Jurney

[daviesbike]

Well ... in February 2016 my partner and I are embarking on a Jurney of epic proportion...

And request the help and advice of fellow A8ers

A tad on the background is that I used to live in a small town called Sjovegan "south of Tromso " so we have a family owned log cabin there that we will be staying in.

We are going to drive there in the W12 taking on Austria near Vienna en rout as we will stay with friends one night to break it up.

Main concerns are I'm struggling to map out the rout with frequent LPG filling stations .. " current range 200 miles to a tank" Only a 65L tank sadly.

Second questions are .. when we lived in Norway it got to -30c in winter... we used to have an old ford sierra that had to be plugged in over night to avoid freezing .now I have Auxiliary heating with engine Pre heating but will that be enugh to protect it in cold start environments ?

I have 18" winter wheels with a 55 profile tyre. They are studless ice tyres. "Bridgestone blizak LM25 " brand new. With tpms to keep an eye on things.

You may have seen my suspension mod to lift it and give more clearance this will also be implemented Pre departure

Roof box will be going with 1-2 spair wheels. " I have 6 of the above wheel set ups" .... slowly built up the collection of them now have 8 of the rs4 wheels. And 8 blizak lm25 s.

Any Norwegian A8 owners living in Norway able to help out with this incase I've missed anything out ?

[Dezzy]

I reckon your aux heater will be ok Guy, it should push up to 60degs? regardless of outside temp. The other thing you can do is make a small fire in a can and place it under your sump!!

[audifin]

Hi Guy, assuming you have the circulation pump etc. on your Aux heater it is fine, that's what people use these days as a modern alternative to the plug-in electric engine heaters in Scandinavia. Things have moved on in 30 years Just bear in mind that it will drain the battery, in case you do short trips while in Tromso.

Also make sure your coolant and windscreen washer mixture can handle the sub-zero temperatures.

What an epic trip, your trip to Vienna "en-route" is only 800 extra miles, so it will be a cool 3000 miles one-way (assuming shortest route)

[mattylondon]

Sounds like a great road trip!

You've tried the route planner on mylpg.eu? I just did a search and seems helpful. You can change the route if you prefer, I just did a simple A to B.

[Delboy]

If I were going all that way I'd be tempted to squeeze in an extra 500 km and go the last bit to Nordkapp which is the most northerly point of Europe.

I've been as far as Hammerfest and it's pretty wild up there, it's ok in summertime when it's daylight all the time but it's opposite in the winter.

[tintin]

I have a similar trip planned, but not in the S8

[Adrian E]

I'll check with my neighbour ref routes - her brother comes over from Finland fairly regularly by car. He's got an old Avensis that he had winterised when he moved there, so it has the plug in heater stuff plumbed via the bumper. He runs around on non-studded winter tyres all year round, but not sure how far North they travel from.

Might be more relevant for the return leg but from memory he allows a couple of days to get here.

[snapdragon]

Wow, I'm jealous - one day.

[Goran]

Amazing trip Guy, should be fantastic.
As others have said the Audi block heater should be the best thing for pre-warming the engine. Do a search on block heater vs oil pan heater, I think the consensus it that block heater, especially recirculating one, is more important (for protecting the engine) than oil pan heater.
There are some discussions about it on Bobistheoilguy, those guys from Northern America have to deal with some low temperatures.

[daviesbike]

Yep its a factory Wabacco heater with option for engine pre-heat or cabin heating or both,

I actually use it every day and rarely get into a cold car in the mornings

Matty that's interesting that there is an LPG rout planner ! il have to have a play with that and hope its up to date when en Rout

So if i run Evans water less coolant id assume that will be ok .. and 100% concentrate windscreen wash i should be ok ?

I do have a heated windscreen so hopefully should keep the frost at Bay,

Luggage wise we will be hiring a roof box i think for the trip, mainly for extra luggage, tools and spare wheel ect... was going to take the fridge out for the trip to make room but i think il leave as is and just turn it into an arctic explorer haha