Faster and the point: when traveling, a car is faster than a train
- August 31, 2022
- 0
How many beautiful and romantic stories are connected with trains and cars. In 1930, Wolfe Barnato, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, challenged the Blue Express
How many beautiful and romantic stories are connected with trains and cars. In 1930, Wolfe Barnato, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, challenged the Blue Express from Cannes to Calais in his Bentley Speed Six, arriving before the train at its destination. In 1966, Claude Lelouch created one of the masterpieces of world cinema – the film “A Man and a Woman”, in which the main character overtakes a train in his Ford Mustang to meet his beloved at the station. We can remember a dozen or so stories about how car enthusiasts tried to stay ahead of the trains. In addition, throughout the twentieth century, speeds continued to increase, technology improved and roads improved.
In 2022, Andrey Leontiev, a journalist, traveler and racing driver, decided to put an end to this dispute and race in a train that runs along the longest Moscow-Vladivostok railway in Russia.
He set off on a standard Suzuki Vitara without any modifications and travel blogger Yulia Kostyushkina set off in the same direction by train. Who of them would reach Vladivostok first would become clear within a week.
Everything went like in a movie: goodbye at the station, departure, sleepless night on the road. On the first day, Andrey covered 1800 km from Moscow to Yekaterinburg. Although the car was the most ordinary, the TV journalist still prepared it by pouring Takayama oil into the engine, specially designed for “oriental”, mainly Japanese cars. The low viscosity oil allowed the engine to run efficiently in the heat of summer with very high daily mileage averaging 1000km. New Continental UltraContact tires with increased wear resistance were also installed on the Vitara.
The tires, designed for urban use, proved very useful even on long distances: their lightness allowed them to save fuel and their strength meant they never had to go to a tire shop.
Tires, in combination with oil, allowed us to save at least one refueling en route, meaning valuable time. By the way, the manufacturers used this project as a good test in real Russian conditions. The result is this: the oil fully retained its performance characteristics after an intensive drive of almost 10,000 km, and the wear of the front tires did not exceed 0.7 mm. But that is also the merit of the roads, which are getting better every year.
And if the equipment and engine oil did not fail, no one canceled the human factor. On the morning of the fifth day, as the train had just left Ulan-Ude station, Yulia saw Andrey’s car.
It seemed incredible! After a serious separation from the train, the car passenger overslept due to fatigue! The train came up to speed confidently, the car lagged far behind. But many years of experience with long car journeys and an incredible desire to win helped Leontiev to do the almost impossible and again get off the train. When Yulia was getting ready for bed on the evening of the sixth day, Andrey’s car was already approaching Vladivostok. And early in the morning, more than six hours before the train, Andrey met Yulia at the station with a bouquet of flowers and a winner’s smile .
However, the main task of the train and car competition was still a test of the infrastructure on the route. Andrey and Yulia answered the question: what to choose for traveling through Russia – a train or a car? See the video for more on this.
Get rid of stereotypes: today’s trains are real hotels on wheels, with good soundproofing, dry closets, showers and a menu with a wide choice of dishes. And motorists who decide to take a ride along federal and regional highways no longer have to fear poor fuel, lack of service and overnight accommodation.
But what is really missing for both train and car travelers is a stable mobile connection! There is something to strive for in this direction.
Photo: LAV Racing
Photo: LAV Racing
Photo: LAV Racing
Photo: LAV Racing
In 2022, Andrey Leontiev, a journalist, traveler and racing driver, decided to put an end to this dispute and race in a train that runs along the longest Moscow-Vladivostok railway in Russia.
He set off on a standard Suzuki Vitara without any modifications and travel blogger Yulia Kostyushkina set off in the same direction by train. Who of them would reach Vladivostok first would become clear within a week.
Everything went like in a movie: goodbye at the station, departure, sleepless night on the road. On the first day, Andrey covered 1800 km from Moscow to Yekaterinburg. Although the car was the most ordinary, the TV journalist still prepared it by pouring Takayama oil into the engine, specially designed for “oriental”, mainly Japanese cars. The low viscosity oil allowed the engine to run efficiently in the heat of summer with very high daily mileage averaging 1000km. New Continental UltraContact tires with increased wear resistance were also installed on the Vitara.
The tires, designed for urban use, proved very useful even on long distances: their lightness allowed them to save fuel and their strength meant they never had to go to a tire shop.
Tires, in combination with oil, allowed us to save at least one refueling en route, meaning valuable time. By the way, the manufacturers used this project as a good test in real Russian conditions. The result is this: the oil fully retained its performance characteristics after an intensive drive of almost 10,000 km, and the wear of the front tires did not exceed 0.7 mm. But that is also the merit of the roads, which are getting better every year.
And if the equipment and engine oil did not fail, no one canceled the human factor. On the morning of the fifth day, as the train had just left Ulan-Ude station, Yulia saw Andrey’s car.
It seemed incredible! After a serious separation from the train, the car passenger overslept due to fatigue! The train came up to speed confidently, the car lagged far behind. But many years of experience with long car journeys and an incredible desire to win helped Leontiev to do the almost impossible and again get off the train. When Yulia was getting ready for bed on the evening of the sixth day, Andrey’s car was already approaching Vladivostok. And early in the morning, more than six hours before the train, Andrey met Yulia at the station with a bouquet of flowers and a winner’s smile .
However, the main task of the train and car competition was still a test of the infrastructure on the route. Andrey and Yulia answered the question: what to choose for traveling through Russia – a train or a car? See the video for more on this.
Get rid of stereotypes: today’s trains are real hotels on wheels, with good soundproofing, dry closets, showers and a menu with a wide choice of dishes. And motorists who decide to take a ride along federal and regional highways no longer have to fear poor fuel, lack of service and overnight accommodation.
But what is really missing for both train and car travelers is a stable mobile connection! There is something to strive for in this direction.
Source: Avto Vzglyad
I’m Sandra Torres, a passionate journalist and content creator. My specialty lies in covering the latest gadgets, trends and tech news for Div Bracket. With over 5 years of experience as a professional writer, I have built up an impressive portfolio of published works that showcase my expertise in this field.
