Awww Yeah. I made it. Its 10 degrees outside. Lets hope my car starts when I go back out to it lol.

 

So, how did the car perform in all the varying road conditions you faced, and was it as comfortable a car to drive as you thought, or better/worse?

BC.

 

Well, I had a whole set of 18" wheels on the back seats, which did not give me a lot of room. I did not get to lean back.. just kind of normal sitting position. When on cruise control, I would just chill with my feet behind the pedals which was comfy. I think the car was comfy given the conditions. It ran really well. I never cramped up or anything. As far as road conditions go, the snow tires really were the way to go. It did a great job on the slush and snow on the highway, but I also had a lot of extra weight in the car which probably helped. Was really easy to drive. I filled up every 200 miles or so sometimes pushing a little further just to stay safe. I enjoyed the drive.

 

My friend moved to Phoenix last year and paid something around $700 to ship the car plus the one way air ticket.

After gas, food and hotels, would your cost car driving the car be below $500? If yes, then I see why it makes sense to drive financially. But if it goes over $500 I would consider shipping it.

but that's because I'm lazy

 

I got quoted to ship the car at 1000$ my trip cost me somewhere around 500$ using travel points to pay for hotels. find out what shipping company they used. I would like to know.

 

this is a great thread! I'm planning on driving from PA to WA this summer as well ~36 hours. Please keep me updated on any tips/advice! also +1 on finding out the shipping company haha

 

Personally, I thought it was not bad at all... Driving during the day is the worst. you NEED sunglasses. eye fatigue was my number 1 enemy. Even if you are not tired, your eyes will get tired from being strained and you get sleepy.
I kept the car under 70mph pretty much the whole time. 69mph max speed for cruise control. I found 65-69mph gave me the best gas mileage.
I put seafoam into the tank every few fill ups (I dont know if it was needed or even good for the car) maybe about 5oz each time as to counteract any carbon build up as I was not redlining the car. Sometimes I would get it up to 7k rpm when entering the highway but its takes its toll on the gas.
I also premixed most of the way. Every now and then I would not premix the car on a fill up as There would still be 1/4 tank left that was from a premixed tank.
Filled up every time i got just over 200 miles. I was never sure when the next gas station was coming up, so I liked to be safe. You also get to stretch and it gives you a nice "goal" to think about when driving (like "sweet only 80 more miles till I get to ****" etc) very refreshing to get out of the car. really wakes you up.
I think bringing an audio book is the way to go. I didnt have one and really wish I did.
Thats all I can think about right now off the top of my head, but if I think of more stuff I will post it. Also, If you have any more questions just ask. It was really a great experience.

 

+1 to audio books, dad and I had a good trip up to Oregon listening to Bill Bryson's 'A Walk in the Woods', Mr Bryson read it himself, and he's got a really pleasing voice, and its a travel kind of story so its good.

+1 on the pee break too! when we caravaned down to sevenstock in 2001, we took FD's, and those get 24mpg on the freeway AND have giant gas tanks (22gal? it feels like it takes 3 hours to fill it), so it'll go from here to LA on one tank, we actually had to stop to pee, and not for gas!

 

Been driving 40+ years now, and the 8 is the long distance car I like best. Could be a bit quieter on the interstate, but that's my only complaint.

 

Yeaaa, but it was not THAT bad. my old 3000gt was suuuper loud on the highway.

 

i have driven my 8 from Chicago to Dallas, to Florida (november). then Florida to San Diego (feb) with no problem. long distance driving with her is so comfortable. specially cruising at 90mph (sometimes 100) on texas freeway. love it.