So In about 2 weeks I'm driving from New Jersey to Utah so I can attend college for Aviation (professional pilot). I'm taking the 8 with me. And i'm driving it.. Shipping it would cost too much money + plane ticket. So as long as my car does not break, its the best way to do it.

I started this thread So I could get some advice planning it out.
Im more interested in what the operating limit is on the car..

As in, if I drive it for 15 hours straight at 65mph only stopping for gas, are there any adverse effects?
I do premix with Idemitsu, Should I premix the normal rate, lighter or heavier?

Im thinking its not a bad time to do it, because the weather is cooler, so at least heat wont be AS hard on the car.

Oil has been changed within past 1000 miles.
total miles going to be driven is going to be about 2100 miles.
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

No it is fine to drive the car. It is even better on the open highway than in the city because you get great cooling all the time. I have driven 11 hours straight many times. Just don't try and go the whole way without stopping to rest, it is going to take you about 2 days if you want to rush it but still get some sleep. I would think 3 days would be safer though but it is up to you, you can always sleep in the car at a truck stop or whatever to keep costs down.

 

Bring a qt or 2 of oil. Check all your fluids and if you do have a spare tire check the psi.

 

Don't forget to bring extra oil...

Anyway, have a nice trip.

 

1. Check all fluid levels. Top-up as needed.
2. Check tire condition/inflation/type: adjust as necessary for conditions.
3. Get in car.
4. Drive Car.
5. Check oil level at every other fill-up.
6. Do maintenance per your usual maintenance schedule.
7. Enjoy the drive.
8. Don't forget to smell the roses.
9. Maybe stop off at a few scenic points.
10. Don't get so caught up in the destination that you miss out on the journey.
11. Smile more.
12. Frown less.
13. Mother of God! Why are you still reading this?
14. Seriously, STAHP!
15. 

 

You beat me into it... lol

 

Thats a good idea with the spare. I'm not lucky enough to have a spare for my car but if I was taking a 2100 mile trip I might invest in one even if it was used from the forums or a local.

If you get a flat and get caught in the middle of nowhere, you are going to get bent over several barrels by that tow truck driver. The middle-of-nowhere tow truck companies know what they are doing and will charge you way more than should be legal.

I was moving from colorado to vegas with my last car loaded down with everything I owned. My engine blew in an area with literally one tow truck company that serviced it. I called so many of them and only one was willing to come out. I was towed to vegas(only option with a bad engine, couldn't just repair it in some tiny town) it was a 100 mile tow and cost $800. It was either that or leave the car and all my possessions there to be most likely stolen. Obviously more sever than a flat tire, but it shows you what you will be charged by those people where they know they have you by the *****.

 

ahaha, Yea im bringing 2 snow tires out with me. (can work as spares) If i get a roof rack, i will bring all 4. Throwing em in the back seats :\ I will be bringing at least 2 qts of oil as well as the rest of my case of premix (10qts) Im thinking of getting a scan-gague to help monitor things as I drive. Also I have AAA so Towing is covered for at least 100 miles before I am charged.

 

Will AAA come get you anywhere? I had roadside assistance through my cell phone but this tow truck company refused to work with them. The guy said he doesn't make enough money being a 3rd party driver like that so instead he charges $7+ a mile lol.

I assume AAA uses 3rd party companies to do work for them so I wonder what would happen if you got stuck in the perfect spot like I did. Would they make a truck drive from vegas(the closest place with large companies)?

 

AAA is always good My wife is a member so as long as she rides with me, I can use it as well I think scangauge is a good idea. I own one for a few years know and I love it. You can get more accurate readings about temperature, AFR, CAT temp, etc. and also read CELs. This past July I moved from FL to PA. I drove the 8 straight with a few long breaks for food and stretching. The trip was fun and problem free. Checked my oil and coolant level every two fill-ups. I am surprised how comfortable the 8 is in long trips (I am 6.3).

 

How many miles are on your ignition coils and spark plugs?

 

https://www.rx8club.com/sevenstock-a...-miles-197270/

There's a bunch of good tips there.

 

Just curious: what are your existing tires?
2 snows + 2 summers isn't much better than 4 summers.

2 snows + 2 no-seasons could be better or worse than 4 no-seasons.

 

Well I want to bring all 4 out and will if I have room. I have all seasons on my car right now. The 2 snow tires would be just for the back.

 

It's just a car. Standard precautions apply.

The only caution is that the RX is not forgiving of inattentive driving. It's the only car I've ever owned where I never munch on a chicken sandwich while underway.

225/45 - 18 tires are an unusual size and not stocked by a lot of tire stores. Assuming you still have the OEM inflator kit, the addition of a $10 plugger kit ( Slime/Reamer screwdriver plug kit (21032) | Tire Plugger Kit | AutoZone.com ) and a pair of pliars, will allow you to repair simple tread punctures on the spot.

If the wheels have been overtorqued by air tools in a shop, you won't be able to get the lugs off with the little tire iron in the trunk. It's a good idea to lift, fully loosen, and retorque each wheel to ~85 ft lbs to make avoid encountering a jammed lug nut in the event of a flat. I use a little trailer grease on each stud to prevent corrosion.

 

So should I put my snow tires on for the drive out? I leave monday the 31st. I dont want to put that many miles on em, but it would probably be good in case of bad weather. Which there is a lot of recently.

 

Yeah, I'd drive with the snow tires on. Tis the season...

 

Agreed, drive with the snows on.

Here is the immediate forecast on weather.com, I bolded parts are the parts that support the need for driving on the snows:

You will need to drive with the snows on.




Yes, this

It ended up being 8,330 miles round trip, and an absolute fantastic time. Very very good car for road tripping. Yeah, mileage could be better, but then the steady state cruising is something the rotary does very well. My total average across the entire trip was 19.5mpg, though that included lots of really fun twisty roads. The section between northern NV and NJ had 9 of 11 tanks of gas over 20mpg, 4 of those in the 22s, and 3 in the 23s. (https://www.rx8club.com/attachments/...s-ss13trip-jpg)

Bring audio that keeps you awake (audiobooks work for me, as it's "someone talking to me" rather than music that could lull me to sleep or quicken my pulse and prompt more aggressive driving)

Otherwise it's good to go. Steady state is when everything works the best. No extra strain. Stop and go driving, short trips, those are the problem points. Steady state lets the various fluid temps to stabilize well, the fuel trims refine well, you stop heat cycling the parts as much, etc...

 

Good luck on your journey and be safe

 

Oh, a few more things:

If you have a smart phone or tablet, get a weather radar app to check periodically. Comes in very handy to know what kind of conditions you might be driving into. Same with traffic info. A danger is getting lulled into boredom and suddenly coming up on a backup. It's how the dozens-of-cars pileups happen. I don't advocate checking them constantly, but increasing your awareness of what is over the horizon can save you time, money, damage, or even lives. My tablet sits in a mount that anchors to the passenger seat rail, holding the tablet across the lower right side of the center console. I have quick access to it, and can see it from the corner of my eye for whatever I leave it on.


Any snack foods you bring should be healthy. Junk food WILL wear you down faster than you might expect. It is a noticeable difference in how long I can drive safely in a day depending on what I eat (proven time and again over the ~50,000-60,000 miles of long distance trips I have put on my 8 in the last 5 years). Bananas are a great option, as they aren't messy, easy to eat one handed, and the potassium content helps keep you functioning clearly. The food stops you make should also be as healthy as possible. I don't mean just eating rabbit food, but avoid excessive fake sugar, excessive grease, etc... You will still need protein and carbs. Avoid excessive salt, it will make you want to drink more, and that means stopping more. But stay hydrated sufficiently though, your brain functions slow down as you dehydrate. Not good in long sections of featureless plains.


If you start questioning how much farther you can go, or "can I make it another hour", it's time to pull over to rest. Taking a bit longer at each gas stop to stretch and walk around some pays dividends in muscle fatigue as the hours pile up.

Protect your eyes. Eye strain will make you fade energy faster than most other causes. You will be driving into the sun in the afternoons, and will have it in your mirrors in the morning. If it is coming through trees in a 'flicker', shield your face as much as possible. It's more straining than people realize. At night, angle the side mirrors down slightly. Ensure you can still see cars in your blind spots, but the light from their headlights on the road becomes an added source of information that they are there, and if you can avoid having their headlights shining directly into your face it will help dramatically. Don't angle them too far down though, you should be able to make no more than a slight move of your head to see straight back and level through them. If you have a rear OEM spoiler and an autodimming mirror, turn it upside down if you haven't already. Most cars have headlights at the perfect height to have the spoiler's shadow lay right across the mirror's light sensor, preventing the autodimming from detecting, but not saving your eyes from the light. Turning it upside down moves the sensor to the top and solves this problem.

 

Some great advice! This will be some endurance driving lol. Thanks a bunch. I will put the snows on today. I do not have a tablet, but I have a CB radio and a Scanner. They will be monitoring all the weather, trucker chatter, and police activity for me during the drive. I'm pretty excited for the drive. I hope all goes well. I will be sure to post back up here with the results on how I did and any exciting events or sightings.

 

long distance driving is just about the easiest kind of driving on the car, although its hard on the driver.

just make sure you have tires (its snowy!), you might want to have the oil changed before you leave (its a long enough drive), and bringing a couple quarts is a good idea, although every gas station has oil.

i like to look over the car, tire condition, look at the cooling system, especially the hoses and belts.

your premix isn't really needed, a constant 65mph is 3200rpm, with low load, and constant temperature, is pretty ideal. although, if you wanna do it, go ahead

bring a credit card with a high limit, or better, two. small gas tank with so/so mileage means you need to fill up more than once a day, depending on how far you drive it could be three times, in 2002 i did a sevenstock trip with a 3 rotor FC@11mpg, it took 5 stops! 2003 we tuned it better and it did 19.9mpg, and that is 1 stop!

like people say the Rx8 is a good road trip car, i did two this year, one 450mile trip, in a car with a bad engine, and one 650 mile trip in a car with 2 coils (if you're worried about coils, they are easy to change, bring a 10mm ratchet, diagnosing is harder, you need a timing light), both trips were uneventful.

don't forget to have fun!

 

Wow, I didn't realize the mirror would turn upside down. Great advice. That's the one thing that drove me nuts about this car.

 

Some crazy snow in Ohio. Snow tires saved my ***. Car ran really well. gas mileage is doing alright, sometimes better than expected. getting around 18-20mpgs. depending on the terrain.

 

Great to hear the journey is going well. Happy new year!