I just returned from a tour of National Parks throughout TX, NM, AZ, NV, CA, UT and CO. We drove my RX-8 a total of 5294.9 miles over 13 days, with a total driving time of 86:09:26, according to my Garmin 2610. Along the way we saw the following parks, monuments and other sites:

- Lyndon Johnson home and ranch, TX
- Big Bend National Park, TX
- Fort Davis, TX
- McDonald Observatory, TX
- Guadalupe National Park, TX
- Colossal Cave, AZ
- Saguaro National Park, AZ
- Tuzigoot National Monument, AZ
- Sunset Crater, AZ
- Wupatki National Monument, AZ
- Grand Canyon (south rim), AZ
- Death Valley, CA
- Inyo National Forest, CA
- Zion National Park, UT
- Bryce National Park, UT
- Capitol Reef National Park, UT
- Arches National Park, UT
- Canyonlands National Park, UT
- Black Canyon National Park, CO
- Mesa Verde National Park, CO
- El Malpais National Park, NM
- Ice Cave, NM
- El Morro National Monument, NM
- Carlsbad Caverns, NM

To capture our trip, we took over 2000 pictures and 6 hours of video. I have about 1300 pictures available here:

http://www.samos.org/RoadTrip2005/

Each day is labeled, but I haven’t gone through and labeled pictures yet.

The RX-8 performed very well on the trip, and it was especially fun on twisty roads, of course. I miss the big horsepower and torque of my Porsche 928, and the difference between the two cars showed at higher speeds. Another 100hp and 100 lb-ft of torque would do wonders for the RX-8.

Before setting out, I installed Racing Beat oil cooler and AC condenser screens, and I bought a front mask for the car. I think both were good purchases as insurance against potentially damaging objects hitting the car at high speed.

I’m looking forward to my next road trip!

 

I retract my statement about me driving alot.

I need to make a roadtrip.

 

wow.. I feel like an amatuer...

awesome trip coverage.

 

What kind of gas mileage did you get?

(Just kidding)

 

how many speeding tickets? :D

 

Before we left, my car had 9000 miles on it... so I added more than 50% to my odometer on that trip alone!

We really hauled ***. If you do the calculation, you'll notice we *averaged* 61.46mph over the entire trip, which includes driving through towns, slow mountain roads, etc.

We roughly calculated mileage just a few times, and it hovered around 20mpg. I think gas ended up being the single most expensive part of the trip.

-Carl

 

Oh, 0 speeding tickets, and we never got pulled over. And I don't use a radar detector either. We're just smart about where we drive a little more aggressively.

-Carl

 

Sounds like it was fun! Glad to hear the 8 performed so well!

 

dang, you got to see Fort davis, bryce, the big GC, holy crap dude, you sure know how to pick your spots!

 

i once put about 17 feet on my 8 in about 2 months...you got me beat.

 

I think 17 feet is a little high... :p

 

you should have told those people to get the %$#@ off your car!! I've have been pissed! I hope the footprints buffed out ok :D