I'm not local to the area but have done this route quite a few times recently and found the M5/M6 interchange no problem as you join the M6 just after the road works.

There was very little traffic on the M5 early morning / evening.

M6 toll is another option

If you're going to hit the Birmingham section of M6 after 0630 it will probably be worth stumping up for the M6 Toll.

Try to avoid the A34 from Oxford to M40 at peak afternoon commuter time on the return journey that section can be bad (as it can going South in the morning peak), in fact i'd be inclined if at all possible to not leave Bournemouth until about 6pm if Friday's diary permits a late Thurs night, you shoud have a pleasant fast run back then.

Edited by gordonbennet on 09/04/2013 at 22:54

Welcome to the forum, Skodalan.

That route makes good sense most of the time but I wouldn't want to go near the M6/M5 junction in the rush hour. The toll is well worthwhile at that time of day.

The M42 can get clogged, admittedly, but not quite as often as the M6 south of J12.

Anyway, as I write, Happy Blue is no doubt tucked up in bed ready for an early rise tomorrow.

Edited by Avant on 11/04/2013 at 00:24

OK, so left north Manchester at about 8.25am and arrived at our destination by 1.45pm which included a couple of comfort breaks.

The return journey was longer and harder due to increased traffic and a deliberate detour to visit a property owned by my driving partner. Nevertheless we were not such in heavy traffic.

The car is a Lexus 450h. £55,000 and full of kit of which the blind spot warning system was the most useful. It's a fantastic car for munching miles as we averaged 40mpg over 550 miles, which I think is superb for a limousine type vehicle. I drove home and whilst the car is at home on the motorway and open road, it felt strangely soulless and I think around town would be a pain.

I have not driven a car of this size and specification for a few years, so I wonder if equivalent Mercedes/Audi/BMW/Jaguar would do a better job of the long distance cruise with similar comfort, silence and economy whilst also involving the driver more. For the curious our average speed was over the 60mph which the SatNav was programmed for, but not too much higher.

Edited by Happy Blue! on 11/04/2013 at 23:16

Yes the S-Max would have done the job with the same economy and speed but not quite the comfort or silence but the enjoyment would have been more. The Lexus offers a turbo like level of acceleration which was very handy but I couldn`t warm to it. The cabin was a curious mixture of minimalism and fuzziness which made my S-Max a much easier place to sit and operate.

A lot of it is what one is used to though and I don't deny that an GS450h is an awesome machine. It's perfect for it's owner - a 69 year old captain of local businesses.

Edited by Happy Blue! on 12/04/2013 at 07:24