bigheadnyc

Hello board members! Anyone ever took their car for a road trip? I am thinking about doing this trip to sf from nyc. Its 3000 miles each way, i figured i can stop at different states. What are your opinions? I mapquested it and there is like a stretch of 800 miles and 1500 miles. I wonder if there are plenty of gas stations along the way? loL!

IF you had done a roadtrip, how long was it? distance? tires? engine oil? gas? details would be nice THANKS!

Sheep

I almost did it with mine when I was debating whether to ship or drive mine from CA to PA last summer. You are going to need stop over, and I highly recommend make the The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of The National Air and Space Museum near Washington Dulles International Airport one of your stop.

http://www.nasm.si.edu/museum/udvarhazy/?hp=m

Just plan your fuel stop for every 250 miles and you will be fine.

Sheep

_AMG_

Haven't done a road trip but I would recommend getting a valentine one radar just in case.

DuaneC63

Better start out with new rear tires so you can make it in both directions. Parking in SF is as bad as Manhattan and almost as expensive.

derek

I drove from Atlanta to Sacramento in 2005 after having purchased (one week after being released to USA) an e60 M5. Went with a buddy who is a chiropractor (excellent decision on my part), stopped in Vegas and had a blast there. It, unfortunately, wasn't a leisurely trip, but every guy on the planet with a fast car should do at least one cross country trip. Went through Colorado, which is just beautiful. No matter what route you go you can't go wrong. And absolutely 100% get a detector. If you don't want to wait for valentine passport 9500ix at bestbuy, it works great.

bhamg

How much time you have will determine the nature of your trip. Once I drove 1.1k miles on the first day of a cross-country trip...that took sixteen hours including stops for gas and food IIRC. But I also took the time to visit Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, Wall Drug and such in South Dakota because I figured I would never be passing through there again. Crossing SD itself took an entire day. Staying in Jackson, exploring Yellowstone and just enjoying being around the Tetons was another two full days.

One important thing to consider is the time of year and the range of weather conditions you might encounter. I have driven one day with the a/c on all day and the next day in a whiteout blizzard while crossing the Continental Divide on summer tires..I didn't think I would make it down the backside w/o ending up in a ditch. And that was on an August 6th. I have driven right by a tornado that came out of nowhere and been unable later to eat a bowl of soup because my hand was shaking so badly the soup spilled out of the spoon before I could bring it to my mouth. So first you need to answer the question of what you want your trip to be.

F355C5

Good idea -since Mercedes is the number one ticketed auto.

C63newdude

I have done a few round trips of 1800 miles. You will be refueling between 300 and 330ish miles(350 miles at most), we are talking about HWY speeds though(75-80mph). There are places in Texas that gas stations are far apart but you shouldn't have any issues. Gas mileage will be in the low 20's but could get to mid 20's if you keep it below 70mph.

I recommend you put blue painters tape. I always do.

Good luck!!

I am Jeff

Painters tape for?

Roswell

To prevent rock chips.

I would just rent a economy car... save some gas & the "wear & tear" from long distance road trip.

I am Jeff

I haven't seen this done before, but do you guys tape up your whole hood and bumper? If he's worried of chips, he should just 3M his whole hood and bumper. It would look quite silly to be driving around with a hook full of painters tape. lolz

Yuille36

I've seen guys tape up their cars with blue painters tape.

venchka

For the geographically challenged:

1. I only know of one stretch of Interstate highway across southern Utah where there are no services, REPEAT: NOTHING!, for about 125 miles. There are ample warning signs indicating this. Otherwise, life as usual with fuel/food/lodging stops no more than 20-50 miles apart. This is the U.S.A., not the dark side of the moon.
2. Explain what this means: "I mapquested it and there is like a stretch of 800 miles and 1500 miles."
3. This time of year a straight line route like MapQuest gives you may be impassible in places. As I type, large portions of Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico are closed. Same could happen on the Salt Lake City-Reno-San Francisco route. Interstate 10 from Florida to California should be passable regardless of what is happening further north along I-20, I-40 & I-70. The distance increases.
4. Pay close attention to the weather ahead. Plan your route accordingly. The unconcious don't always survive. Carry food, water, warm clothes, blankets, etc. in case you get stranded in a snow drift. Do Not Leave Your Vehicle. Somebody will be along to offer assistance.
5. My longest road trips to date:
Lafayette, LA-Yellowstone N.P.-Lafayette, La Twice. 1961 VW Beetle.
Lafayette, LA-Albuquerque, NM-Lafayette, LA. Same VW Beetle. Several times including winter when I-40 was closed across Texas.
Dallas, TX-Sierra Vista, AZ in an MG Midget.
Tucson, AZ-New Orleans in the same Midget.
New Orleans-Glacier N.P.-New Orleans pulling a travel trailer.
SLC-West Yellowstone-SLC by bicycle.
Day after tomorrow: Tyler, TX-Boone, NC-Tyler, TX.
Have fun.

Wayne

mei35inted

I've actually have road tripped from LA to NY back to LA and I honestly think everyone should do it once in their life. You see so much and its awesome. On the way to NY I took the 80 and for the way home the 40 so I could travel through some Southern States. It only took three days to get home because I was in a hurry to get back, but we took over a week to get out there cause we stopped in five different major cities. I did it with my best friend last summer, and I would definitely do it again. Overall I traveled through 20 different states and big capitals and I was fortunate to stay in NY for a week and enjoy everything on the East coast.

It's definitely worth it!!

mei35inted

You really don't need to the tape either. I didn't get any rock chips really, just about a million bugs. and you'll never run out of gas there are so many places to stop on the way. It's actually a lot of fun and you should do it. You'll see all types of weather. snow, hail, rain, wind, sleet; all the craziness and meet some great people

venchka

Try to work in some remnants of Route 66. Like the Rock Cafe in Oklahoma. GOOGLE can show you how. There are several Route 66 preservation societies around.

http://www.historic66.com/

http://byways.org/explore/byways/2489

http://www.oklahomaroute66.com/prese.../rockcafe.html

Mapquest don't know Jack about cool road trips.

Wayne

EDIT: Weather & time permitting, stay off the friggin Interstate highways when possible.

venchka

Today's news:
A.S.U. coed rescued after 9 (or 10) days in her car.
Texas couple and 5 y.o. child rescued after 2 days in their SUV. These folks are lucky to be alive. They were completely buried under several feet of snow.
Leave the painter's tape at home. Bring a snow shovel.

Be careful. Merry Christmas.

Wayne