Euro tunnel

[avocet]

Driving down to Saintes nxt month and I'm concerned about trouble in calais. Got reports about the migrants targeting cars with rocks etc while in the queue.
Has anyone been over on the shuttle lately and what was it like?

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[Centurion07]

Travelled over on Le Mans weekend.

Took me over 4hrs to get off the motorway and onto a train coming back. Didn't see anyone but passengers and staff.

Delay was just sheer weight of traffic.

 

[Twin Turbo]

Stangs on a train!

Our "Mustang Passion" trip to Belgium meant a trip on the train........and we didn't see anyone but fellow travellers and staff, either.

We went on a Thursday (think it was about a 2pm train) and it was a breeze!

Very busy on the way back, but then it was an early evening Sunday crossing, but again, no problems.

 

[Actual]

I used it last year during the busy season on a Sunday evening and was delayed 6 hours. No problems with anyone targeting cars although we did observe a few skirmishes.

The problem for us was the horrendous queuing system as it took as 5 hours to get to the ticket booth so there was no way we could get our shuttle even if it was on time. This recent YouTube to bring back a Focus RS depicts the problem at about 7 minutes onwards. [ame]

The google maps screen grab below picture below shows that you come off the motorway (going south) towards the ticket booths where there is a horrendous multi lane queue all trying to get down to one lane. You are then diverted right through a gap in the fence towards Hotel Ibis Calais (going west), right again at the crosswords (going north), right along Boulevard de Europe (going east), under the dual carriageway where you were queuing, right into the holding area shown where you wait for hours (going south) and finally (going west) released to go to the ticket booths. After the ticket booths you can wait another 2 hours in the terminal.

They also give out confusing information such as a X hour delay to check in, a Y hour delay in the terminal, a Z hour delay to services. Don't take the highest number as your actual delay as you actually need to add them all together !!!

It seems to me that if you come off the motorway a junction early and head for Cite Europe and Hotel Ibis Calais then you can miss out a lot of the queue. If there is no queue then at worst you have wasted a few minutes but the benefit could be considerable.

 

[Centurion07]

Book the wide carriage though! I think it's the 1.85m height option on the booking screen.

Literally there's about 2" to spare either side between your wheels and the stupid little step which is just the right height to catch them and the S550 is just too awkward to hang out the window enough to see.

I ended up holding my phone out the window on camera to check the gap as I drove. Don't think the guy behind appreciated it as I still had to drive slower than walking pace! :lol:

 

[avocet]

I've been on it before when I was carping over there, and the buggers were trying to get in my Amarok.I was stuck in the lorry que but thought the outside lane would miss the turn off.Saw pictures of them stoning cars this week addle

 

[Bumblebee]

Book the wide carriage though! I think it's the 1.85m height option on the booking screen.

Literally there's about 2" to spare either side between your wheels and the stupid little step which is just the right height to catch them and the S550 is just too awkward to hang out the window enough to see.

I ended up holding my phone out the window on camera to check the gap as I drove. Don't think the guy behind appreciated it as I still had to drive slower than walking pace! :lol:

We went across to Disneyland Paris between Xmas and New Year and found if the moment you turned into the carriage and straightened up , you dropped both wing mirrors down you can see see the edge either side as a guide below you

 

[Glenn G]

Take the Ferry, If I bought my tickets ahead of time I never had to wait more than an hour.

 

[Actual]

Eurotunnel FAQ states...

All vehicles categories travelling on our passenger services must not exceed 4.20 metres in height, 2.55 metres in width (including mirrors) and 18 metres in length (including bumpers, tow bars and any overhanging load).

2015 Mustang width inc mirrors is 2080 mm and length is 4784 mm so well within Eurotunnel limits (but it was tight even in a BMW Series 1)

 

[Jimboy2]

I have never had a problem going on the euro tunnel. We have however always gone at stupid times, to miss the peak trains.

 

[Centurion07]

We went across to Disneyland Paris between Xmas and New Year and found if the moment you turned into the carriage and straightened up , you dropped both wing mirrors down you can see see the edge either side as a guide below you

Tried that. Whilst it helped slightly it wasn't enough.

As I said, I'll be booking the wide carriage next time.

 

[deep south]

Book the wide carriage though! I think it's the 1.85m height option on the booking screen.

Literally there's about 2" to spare either side between your wheels and the stupid little step which is just the right height to catch them and the S550 is just too awkward to hang out the window enough to see.

I ended up holding my phone out the window on camera to check the gap as I drove. Don't think the guy behind appreciated it as I still had to drive slower than walking pace! :lol:

Not necessary at all. The mustang is no wider than most "large" family cars. I went through a couple of weeks ago with no problems driving on or off. I did have a 3 hour delay to board due to power problems, and Calais was grid locked when I arrived at around 5:00pm - this was the Monday after Le Mans 24.

Consider booking Flexiplus; it is more expensive but you skip any queues!

 

[Centurion07]

Not necessary at all.

Totally necessary if you don't have a god-like ability to keep your car straying 3" either side down the length of the train AND/OR you happening to be running wider wheels with lower profile tyres.

 

[avocet]

I can't remember if we get ford breakdown cover with the car,if so does that cover abroad?
Also those that took there mustangs abroad did you do the lights? I don't really plan to do any night driving but I don't want to get caught out.

 

[Actual]

I can't remember if we get ford breakdown cover with the car,if so does that cover abroad?
Also those that took there mustangs abroad did you do the lights? I don't really plan to do any night driving but I don't want to get caught out.

The Service Portfolio book supplied with my Mustang (and includes the Mustang model ) p11 states Ford Assistance is valid throughout Europe.

Also Ford Assistance renews for 1 year each time the vehicle is serviced by a Ford Authorised Dealer (p10)

I just got back from blasting through the Pyrenees France/Andorra/Spain (epic). The Mustang Owners Manual doesn't makes a reference to headlamp reflectors and there are no markings on the glass. I asked my dealer about headlamp reflectors and was told that they don't really work with modern bubble type headlamps where the bulb is so far back from the front glass. My plan was to get some generic reflectors and attach so it looked like I had made the effort but in the end I didn't bother and I didn't drive at night so not a problem. I got pulled by customs coming from Andorra into Spain - because it was a nice car.

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