Hopefully you’ll get a better answer from somebody with experience…

Using AAA’s latest Greece, Hungary and Adriatic Coast map and their average of about 70 KM/hour for the most modern roads in Croatia, I’d say a little less than 6 hours. It’s 400 KM on the new road (which wasn’t on the 2003/2004 map and shows as almost completed on the latest map). The train ride is 5 1/2 hours, so 6 by car seems reasonable. AAA’s drive times usually err on the slow side.

The average on the old road is more like 35 mph during tourist season. It took 6-7 hours to get just from Riejka to Rab 3 years ago. I am not even sure that is 200 km.

we hired a car in croatia back in june this year
picked it up from the airport at =zagreb ..no complaints no dramas…but do make sure someone tells u how to work the bloody thing…all the manuals are in croatian !

we headed to split ..turn right when u reach the end of the little airport road and u have to follow the signs to karlovac

we were caught in a huge traffic jam so i cant really even say how long it would take to get to plitvice lakes ( our first stop for the night and a must see, really ,,cos its so different from the coast)
zagreb is 380 km from zagreb ..at least thats what the signs say round the airport
watch for the Ljubliana signs first ,..we missed that on and had a way to go b4 we could turn back ..
the autobahn 1 was very slow and we never did find out what the hold up was
about 10 km from the airport u will turn right to split and rijeka ..watch it cos u can easily miss the turn so be ready
from here Karlovac is only 39 km ..its a big yellow sign with a plivitce lake sign on it too
+
we were in karlovac by 5 15 having left the airport at 3 10…

the road to plitvice is pleasant ..rural landscape
from the karlovac turn off it was 76 km to plitvice- lots of accommodation available in private two storey simple dwellings
we were at plitvice by 630
i think normally without the traffic jam it would only be 2 and half hour drive from zagreb
split is about 217km from plitvice
by 1 25 we were on the A1/*having left plitvice at 12 50pm

there was a toll on the A1 with noone in attendance ..u merely take the ticket and u will pay the money upon exiting..for eg we got off at zadar and paid 24 kundas ( 6 aussie dollars..pretty cheap hey for all that way )

get to zadar if u can .its only 22 km off the road..about 15 mins and the old town is worth a look..u have to find it tho..so ask locals -where the carpark is..not all parking machines work ..so do ask again for help..cos u will be booked..no mercy !
along the way u will go thru zeminik village..that was our first encounter with the bombed houses…u can see all the damage just around the pekarna ( bakery )..it is so bewilderingly confronting and definitely puts a new perspective on ur life here in the west-+
u can go the fast route and follow the a1 all the way to split if ur in a rush but i really recommend going to zadar even if its just for lunch and then stopping to look at the charming town of trogir..thats so close to split that u dont really have an excuse not to pop in ….
we stayed the night in trogir..this town is actually closer to split airport than split itself and definitely nicer place to stay

we travelled the whole time btw 60 and 80 km an hour

the roads are good…u wont be able to overtake much along the coastal road..its is quite dangerous ..lots of white crosses along the way ..where the hapless young decided to take a shortcut to their death

another town that looked gorgeous on the way to split was biograd abd sibenik..we didnt stop

its great scenery along the coastal road and we really were glad we didnt take the highway all the way ..barren austere mountains on ur left with the steel blue water on ur right..islands so close u can swim to them

enjoy ur trip ..do try not to rush it,…so much to see…and the people are the gentlest and most generous souls i have ever encountered
do watch the roadstall sellers tho…. lol..their produce isnt as fresh as u would expect

OOOPPPPPS

that should read zagreb to split is 380 km
NOT zagreb to zagreb!!!

mind u i do travel in circles at time so thats not so unusual in my case!