Hi All:

Headed out for a 325 mile road trip today. Myself and my three sons (12, 9 and 9 years of age). The -8 is gassed up, the tires are pressured to 32 PSI cold, the oil is topped up with fresh 5-20W Castrol GTX, the car is sparkling clean with a fresh coat of Malm's wax, two CD wallets full of music, the boys have their movie player ready and we are OUTTA HERE! WHee!

We're headed from Chicago to just east of Des Moines IA today - if the weather improves we will take two-lane highways all the way there rather than I-80 ... if not, look for a LY RX-8 on I-80 today!

Anyone else taking a road trip this weekend?

Stew

 

I may need to head to Indy. I checked the weather forecast (window) and it's already snowing. Drive safe Stew.

 

My wife and I took her new SY RX-8 down to Joplin MO for a couple days to see some friends. The car is a blast to drive. We took a different route this time and I noticed a ways down the road that I had forgotten my road atlas. Not to worry I had the Navi system, don't need the atlas anymore. It gave us good visual and vocal directions once I figured out how to use it. It will be nice if they get an update on the DVD someday, I think this one is circa 2002.
I don't know what it is about this car but I had several people want to race on the interstate. I might be a little old but I wasn't about to tangle with a twin turbo Dodge Stealth.
Have a good weekend!!!

 

I'm about to head from baltimore to ft lauderdale tomorrow. I dont know how Im going to do with 1086 miles.

 

Yeah - the snow's a bummer, but it's too warm to stick to the roads ... so shouldn't be an issue. If not, we find a restaurant to stop at and hang for a bit ... the snow is supposed to end by late afternoon.

 

Happy 1000 posts, Stew! :D Have fun on that road trip!

 

No snow here but your plan on a drive makes complete sense.....Keep it safe, Later.............................

 

It's baby steps for me. My first "road trip" in the 8 yesterday...Palm Beach to Naples. 150 miles:-) For the first time I really opened it up out on Alligator Alley. My only observation? Damn this thing likes its oil

 

Have fun and drive safe Stew! Watch out for those smokies, too

 

A bit shorter trip for me, wife & the pooch. About 500 miles up to Mystic CT and back, gotta clean the 8 up though as I ran it up to Scranton earlier this week through a lot of wet, salted roads. But I second the Yee HA!

 

So, the road trip report:

The weather improved, so we attempted the "forsake the interstate" drive. We managed to last 250 miles. We fagged out the last 92 miles. Read on ...

1) No tickets. No even "omigod" how did I avoid that??? events. Despite running fairly hard and fairly fast.

2) In every town in IL or IA with a population of less than 1000:

- The ratio of pickup trucks to cars is approximatley 1.8:1
- The ratio of strange looking dogs to people is about 3.2:1
- The ratio of Jews to Christians is 4 (the number in our car) to whatever the population of the town is ...
- The percentage of people who stared at the '8 rolling by: 100% or better

2) Number of cars passed on two-lane highways: about 20 Our typical two-lane cruise speed was about 74 mph indicated (due to under-diameter/over-width tires), which is 71 mph on the GPS.

3) Number of cars passed with a speed differential of about 30 mph: at least 20 (no ****, in Iowa, the farmer all drive like 56 mph. I'm going 70, and all it took was a brief downshift to 5th and about 4 seconds of floored throttle and I'm passing at 80-85 mph.

4) Number of cars passed that shook their fists at that "damned 'furrin' sport car maniac": about 20.

5) Percentage of small towns where we stopped to stretch, pee, snack or fuel where the car, regardless of its profoundly dirty state of being, proceded to draw a crowd of people checking it out: 100% No **** - every stop, at least four or five "townies" stopped and started clustering around it ... it was actually a little nerve-wracking.

Dirt on my car: Worst I've ever seen - the first 250 miles it was drizzling and lightly snowing wet snow that melted on contact. The roads had mud all over them from farmers plowing. I have never seen my RX-8 this dirty. I will post a picture tomorrow. It's amazing. The backend is an even brownish color with the yellow barely visible. Off to the U-wash-it in the morning.

Top speed observed on the speedo: about 115 during one pass where the ******* in the pickup sped up. He chickened out at 95. My three sons thought that was the coolest thing they'd ever experienced.

Top sustained speed: About at Cedar Rapids IA, we were sick of two lanes and were faced with a choice - my portable GPS, programmed with the 2-lane route was showing 88 miles and 2.2 hours left to drive. If I hung a left turn at Cedar Rapids and headed 15 miles down I-380 to I-80 at 80 mph, I could pick up I-80, run a constant 80 mph for the next 76 miles, and be at my mom's house, drinking a Ketel One martini in about an hour and 10 minutes. At that point, esoterica was sacrificed to practicality, and off we went in search of Grandma lovin' and martini o'clock! EXACTLY one hour and 9 minutes later, we were met in my mom's driveway with hugs for my boys and a martini for me. Life was good. My average for that 88 miles? exactly 82 mph.

Fuel Mileage Observations: Speed Kills - we tanked up at 220 miles into the drive, with 10.6 gallons - my first 20 mpg segment ever! Then we ran the remaining 120 miles at better than 80 mph. That burned 6 gallons on it's own - about 16 mpg ... OUCH. And that's with the non-oxygenated Iowa gas, no less - 15% better mileage given equal driving habits.

Overall: This is a wonderful road trip car - we had the trunk crammed with:

- a large duffel with my stuff - about 1.5 ft x 3 ft x 1 ft
- my dopp kit - 1 ft by .5 ft x .5 ft
- Six (yes, six) pairs of athletic shoes - running and basketball shoes for most of us
- a PS2 system with a large plastic grocery bag filled with the controllers and cables
- My laptop backpack
- Three mid-size kids rollaboard duffels filled with their clothes.
- Five winter/spring jackets
- Several assorted bags and ****
- Two 1.75 liter bottles of Ketel One (liquor prices in IL about 40% less than Iowa)
- 2 quarts of Castrol GTX 5W-20

and inside the car, all manner of ****.

And we traveled well - it was really fun and the boys loved it. And I really loved driving the car that distance and the reaction of rolling through little bitty towns where it was as if you landed a UFO in the town!

So the next test:

Rolling through the town square in my hometown tomorrow night with it freshly washed and watching to see the reaction. There isn't an import performance car within 100 miles of here ...

 

Enjoy the trip and the attention your toy will receive in your Hometown.

Sounds like your boys enjoy your 8 too.

 

... not to mention a bright yellow one! :D

Sounds like a fun time... enjoy

 

I'll be going to work and back EVERYDAY!!! :-D

 

i'm taking a nice little day trip from northern VA down to VIR at the VA/NC border, first road trip for the 8!

 

My 8 is still in the body shop, Stew. Sounds like you had a fine trip, though, and used that downshift to 5th gear well.

 

funny how I usually don't look forward to long drives. Going across town is considered a road trip to me, now unless these are windy roads you're talking about now thats fun.

 

I just returned from my first long road trip in my 8. I went to New Orleans from North Alabama. Gas mileage was pretty good. Not a prius but better than my GMC Sierra. I got from 21.5 to 23.8 mpg. So I guess the EPA numbers do have a little validity.

 

So, it's been an interesting week - my mom lives in a smaller Iowa town (about 15000 people) that's a big factory town with a huge plant that is unionized by the UAW (it's a Maytag plant). So, the town is all about American cars.

Let's just say that if I drove down the main drag in a C6 convertible with Pamela Anderson and Heidi Klum riding topless on the tonneau, I still wouldn't have attracted as much attention as my Lightning Yellow RX-8 has this weekend and for the last two days.

Literally, everywhere I've gone, people stop to ask - as I drive through town, people stop and stare. I had three kids in two "riced" Civics chase me down to ask me questions (and then invited me to street race, which of course I said "no" to), when I was at the local u-spray-it car wash giving it a bath on Saturday morning, drivers of four other cars there came up to me when I was drying it to comment on it. People in this town have generally never heard of a rotary engine so when I was explaining to one of my friends from out here (he's a neighbor of my mom's ...) we had to go to "howstuffworks.com" to show him how it works. He was totally amazed and facinated.

So, it's been fun. And it's time to go home today - got it refueled with what passes for premium gas out here (91 octane), rechecked the tires, topped up the oil again, and we're ready. Today it is 75 and sunny (as opposed to 38 and rainy when we drove out), with a stiff breeze out of the southwest - so we should get good gas mileage all the way home!

And, one story from the ride out - we got lost in NE Illinois on the way out - I've learned there's nothing better than a good map. The GPS had us on this highway that abruptly ended (numerically) but the pavement continued on - the GPS showed it went another 5 miles before "t-boning" to our next turn - IL 72 onto US 52 west of Savannna IL. But, 72 ended, and this skinny little county blacktop continued - up an over insanely huge hills, tight curves, etc. Had I not been afraid it would abruptly turn or end, it would have been really fun ... and my worst fears were realized - suddenly the pavement ended and the road continued as gravel - just 2 more miles. But, it was rainy, and there was no way I was taking my -8 down a muddy gravel road. Had it been dry, I'd have inched along at 20 mph until we got to where we could be on pavement again. So, we turned around and found a better way. Moral: Always have a map to back up your GPS.

Post your road trip adventures!

Stew

 

Nice write-up. Have a good trip back. It's 70 and sunny here in Chicago so you have a perfect day ahead of you.

 

Excellent adventure!

Where is the pic of the car all dirty?

 

I was a dope! Sat AM when I went to wash it, I meant to bring the camera along to shoot "before and after" shots ... then forgot to bring the camera.

But, you've never seen a dirtier -8 - the taillights were barely visible, the license plate also, and on the sides from the front wheels back it was dirt brown. Took 6 bucks worth of quarters and 20 minutes to get it clean.

 

Sounds like a cool trip. I need to get my kids on a day trip with car sometime. I did my first road trip in the 8 last week going up to DC to meet my Dad who was there on a school trip. I went up the Eastern shore of VA/MD and the yellow 8 did get a lot of looks. Nothing like rural Iowa, though (I grew up in Nebraska). I got 22.7mpg up (60-65mph w/ traffic lights), and 20.6 coming back on the interstate (70-75mph). The car was comfortable as could be for the 5 hr drive up. I love these seats!

BTW, when I first read your posts, I thought you were doing martinis in the car with your 3 kids!

 

Great write-up!

 

Geez Stew, normally agree with most you write and sounds like a fun road trip. But, 115 with your three sons in the car?? Do that crap by yourself! I know, the 8 is fun as hell, but just think about it for a moment