Articles
Airline travel being what it is these days I decided to drive to Scottsdale last month for the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction. Besides, it's more fun!
Seeing as it's winter, I decide to take my Saturn 'beater'. Back when this was my wife's car, we used to drive it to Florida during March breaks, I used to consider this the worlds fastest long distance car because it can cruise at 85 mph, and sips gas doing so. It was rated at 5.9 l/100km hwy, and gets close to that. This car has 100hp, which is all you need for this type of drive. Sadly, since then, even economy cars have gone the performance route, rather than economy. This car with direct injection, dual plugs, and 12 to 1 compression would have 120 horse, and get 4.9 l/100. A missed opportunity for Saturn, perhaps that is why it is now a 'dumpster' brand. If I were to buy a long distance cruiser today, it might be a Golf Turbo Diesel. Diesel fuel does command a price premium in the US of about 10-15%. Regular is $2.45-2.85 a US gallon.
In deference to the age of my car ( might also be handy for DE ) I purchased a CAA membership. Instead of my GPS I took one of their 'Trip Tics'. Very useful, especially when bypassing major cities, and knowing where construction is.
In the double-nickel days, on the Highways of America, there were a lot of police. Flashing blue lights were visible over every hill. These days, with the higher limits, only Texas has a large police presence. Even though Texas has an 80mph limit in many places, I saw lots of tickets being written. Due to the age of my car, I kept it pretty close to the limit. Laws across North America are pretty uniform. For example, every state has the 'move over for emergency vehicles' law. Now if Ontario could only adopt a 75mph (120k) speed limit like most states!
America is the land of the 0.1 mph differential speed pass. This can be most annoying at night. I have my mirrors set for blind spot elimination, and most Americans drive pickups or SUVs which have high mounted headlights, causing much glare. Do any cars have auto-dimming side mirrors? Often, I would just slow down to let them pass. Otherwise, Americans these days are very courteous, and move over at on ramps, and give you space when you signal.
Every cross-continent road trip seems to come with windshield damage. The only exception is the time I did it in my 911. This time I picked up a bulls-eye in the top right corner. I've read in Australia they have windshield mesh. I'd like to find a more aesthetic solution for this problem. Every road trip also seems to come this some minor car trouble, again the 911 being the only exception. This time the car developed a sudden brake pulsing that threatened to make the car undriveable. When this occurred, I checked the front end, and found the right front wheel lug nuts slightly loose. I went to a Pep Boys where they did a free brake inspection. They wanted to replace everything on the vehicle except what I thought the problem was, so I told them to just replace the right front disc. This did this, and, problem solved !
When you are driving in winter cross-country, you never know what to expect. I had 60F sunny days, travel advisory fog, and tractor-trailer-in-the-ditch blizzards. I never really considered how dangerous driving a night really is. If you have a breakdown on the Interstate, you can be dozens of miles from anyplace with noplace to go but a narrow shoulder with traffic wizzing by at high speeds. Even if you have a working cell phone, I suspect you might be out there for a long time.
I used to sleep exclusively at Motel 6's. I once bought a Westfalia in LA and drove it home using the map in the back of the Motel 6 Directory. Now, other motels are offering free WIFI and breakfast. The free breakfast saves a lot of time, and allows allows you to pack a small lunch, which saves more time. Motel 6 even wants 2.99 for internet. Days Inn and Motel 8 have a $3-10 price premium, but it is well worth it. Motel 6 stays start at about $US 30.
I did just slight less than 9000 km on about $US 400 on fuel. My best day was 946 google miles in 14.25 hours including all stops. I sometimes consider myself a 'human driving machine'. I don't get tired as long as I don't go past my regular bed-time hours. I don't use any caffinated beverages because they just mean more bathroom stops. Just plain water. One time consuming problem that now exists is that most US gas stations want a 5-digit zip code when paying at the pump. This means that you have to go in, wait in line, give them your card, put in gas, stand in line again, and hopefully they have not given your card to anyone else in the meantime. To much security is making the world a worse place.
Would I do it again? Of course !