1,200 mile drive in the FD. Holy crap, NOTHING went wrong!
I did a similarly long trip once when I first bought the car! It had 37k miles and I drove it nearly 1100 miles from Dallas, TX to Detroit, MI and got 24mpg overall with one tank giving me 27mpg!
Since I've been back from Iraq I had to pick up my car in Durham, NC and drive it back to Fort Campbell, KY. That was two months ago and since then I've made 4 trips back and forth (family isn't back here yet)....one of those trips was with a bad oil pan leak 
. I fixed that while I was on leave and everything has been fine ever since 
I really hate driving this car in DOWNPOUR rain....it's terrible. This past Thursday I drove back to NC and most of the way it was raining cats and dogs! I had to pull over several times and put my hazards on a drive on a few others. What was usually a 9-10hr trip took 14 HOURS!!! 
I'm glad I won't be making anymore long treks in the FD for a while!
. I fixed that while I was on leave and everything has been fine ever since I really hate driving this car in DOWNPOUR rain....it's terrible. This past Thursday I drove back to NC and most of the way it was raining cats and dogs! I had to pull over several times and put my hazards on a drive on a few others. What was usually a 9-10hr trip took 14 HOURS!!! I'm glad I won't be making anymore long treks in the FD for a while!
Thanks for your service BTW.
five months later!
PREPARE FOR THE RETURN TRIP! NY --> FL! 11/24!
decided i would rather keep the car in the south for the winter...
hopefully the drive back is as easy as the drive up...
just picked the car up from IR Performance. i had Ihor replace my clutch line with a new stainless braided line from Japan2LA, after a oem clutch line blowout a week ago. also changed my oil today, and did the coolant about a month ago. still need to look over the car to make sure everything is tight and topped off, but it drove great coming home from the shop today.
driving solo this time (girlfriend is going upstate to visit her family)...
keep your fingers crossed for me.
How do you guys keep the water temp below 90 at all times ? My PFC shows atleast 91-100. While it's 75 out side. At night when it's 60. It stil show 91-95. And tricks of keep the car cool? Running meth ?
it depends on your car and what you have done to it. do you have a power fc? you can set the temp for when the fans come on. do you have an aftermarket radiator? etc.
Yea I have a power fc And a fluydine radiator Im geting the fd tune today by Glenn. So I think it will run alot better. And how's your setup if you don't mind me asking ? Does a aftermaket intercooler makes any differents ? Thanks
Constant threat
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 4,968
Likes: 39
From: near Wichita, Kansas
I remember reading your earlier trip's story and thinking, "MAN! That is a lot of seat time!"
My personal limit is 2.5 hours....period. The seats just kill my *** after that time. Being 6'1" and 225 just doesn't work for long trips.
Anyway, good luck with your trip. Take some more pics of interesting stuff and post it up!
My personal limit is 2.5 hours....period. The seats just kill my *** after that time. Being 6'1" and 225 just doesn't work for long trips.
Anyway, good luck with your trip. Take some more pics of interesting stuff and post it up!
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/finished-my-custom-stock-mount-intercooler-today-write-up-pics-779240/
Ha, you passed right by me, twice!! Exit 173 in NC right before VA (or after VA on your way home) off I-95. Didn't happen to catch a glimpse of the Theatre sitting on the side of the highway did you, $22 million dollar abandoned building, at the tax payers expense.
Great trip, I think the furthest I've been was Indianapolis, way back when for Rotary Revolution. You should take the scenic route back, and make you a big loop through the US. Go all the way out west, and then all the way back. j/k Congrats.
Great trip, I think the furthest I've been was Indianapolis, way back when for Rotary Revolution. You should take the scenic route back, and make you a big loop through the US. Go all the way out west, and then all the way back. j/k Congrats.
wow. i made it. just got "home" in florida. 19 hours of seat time. didn't make more than a few 10-15 minute stops the whole time.
OH AND I GOT PULLED OVER 3 TIMES. AND ONE OF THE TIMES DRUG SNIFFING DOGS SEARCHED MY CAR. WTF?
no tickets. didn't get arrested. i think cops just saw a young looking guy in a silver sports car and couldn't resist. haha
the time they brought the dogs out was really weird. i was on i95 in south carolina, right outside of hilton head island. i had JUST stopped at mcdonalds to get drive-thru, and 2 seconds after i get on the interstate again i find myself going 60mph stuck behind two semi trucks (one in each lane). well the speed limit was 70. as we go past some cops (going 10mph UNDER the speed limit) one of them pulls out and immediately pulls me over. he said i was going 75 but he also said he didn't radar me (???). askes me to get of of the car, pats me down then asks to search my car. i asked for what and he said to see if there is "anything that shouldn't be there". i told him he didn't have permission (WTF i didn't do anythign wrong, this isn't martial law. i'm not going to be bullied for no reason.) so he then calls for the drug dogs. after the dogs come he walks them around my car and the dogs don't do anything (just walked around sniffing...didn't bark, didn't sit down, didn't freeze in place, didn't do anything out of the ordinary...i dunno), but then he claims the dogs "alerted him" that there was something in the passenger side of the car. so then he says he can now search my car without my permission, and he does. well, what do you know, he doesn't find anything but then he tries to tell me that the dirty floor mat "probably had marajuna seeds in it".
wtf? i don't smoke weed, and i've never let anyone bring weed in my car. i looked at the floor mats, which were a little dirty, but there weren't any "seeds" to be found. just dirt and pine straw.
anyway then asks me if i've ever been arrested (which i haven't) and i tell him no. but then he asks me 3 more times to tell him the truth (wtf?). finally he gives up and says "i'm letting you off with a warning this time" (for what???) and he walks away from me. like one second after he gets in his car he pulls out into the right lane and IMMEDIATELY PULLS SOMEONE ELSE OVER. (double wtf???) i'm sure he couldn't have radar-ed someone that fast. and it seemed like he just pulled over the first person he caught up to.
oh and then after that i saw like 30 people pulled over by cops. cops everywhere.
making quota's i guess.
anyway, i have been awake since 6am monday (it is now 4:30pm tuesday), and i need a serious nap.
glad the car made it here with zero problems. ran great. 18c intake temps, 85c water temp all the way until florida. once i got to florida it was mad hot and humid out (and lots of traffic) but the highest intake temp i saw was 32c on the pfc.
glad to be out of the drivers seat finally. cheers guys.
OH AND I GOT PULLED OVER 3 TIMES. AND ONE OF THE TIMES DRUG SNIFFING DOGS SEARCHED MY CAR. WTF?
no tickets. didn't get arrested. i think cops just saw a young looking guy in a silver sports car and couldn't resist. haha
the time they brought the dogs out was really weird. i was on i95 in south carolina, right outside of hilton head island. i had JUST stopped at mcdonalds to get drive-thru, and 2 seconds after i get on the interstate again i find myself going 60mph stuck behind two semi trucks (one in each lane). well the speed limit was 70. as we go past some cops (going 10mph UNDER the speed limit) one of them pulls out and immediately pulls me over. he said i was going 75 but he also said he didn't radar me (???). askes me to get of of the car, pats me down then asks to search my car. i asked for what and he said to see if there is "anything that shouldn't be there". i told him he didn't have permission (WTF i didn't do anythign wrong, this isn't martial law. i'm not going to be bullied for no reason.) so he then calls for the drug dogs. after the dogs come he walks them around my car and the dogs don't do anything (just walked around sniffing...didn't bark, didn't sit down, didn't freeze in place, didn't do anything out of the ordinary...i dunno), but then he claims the dogs "alerted him" that there was something in the passenger side of the car. so then he says he can now search my car without my permission, and he does. well, what do you know, he doesn't find anything but then he tries to tell me that the dirty floor mat "probably had marajuna seeds in it".
wtf? i don't smoke weed, and i've never let anyone bring weed in my car. i looked at the floor mats, which were a little dirty, but there weren't any "seeds" to be found. just dirt and pine straw.
anyway then asks me if i've ever been arrested (which i haven't) and i tell him no. but then he asks me 3 more times to tell him the truth (wtf?). finally he gives up and says "i'm letting you off with a warning this time" (for what???) and he walks away from me. like one second after he gets in his car he pulls out into the right lane and IMMEDIATELY PULLS SOMEONE ELSE OVER. (double wtf???) i'm sure he couldn't have radar-ed someone that fast. and it seemed like he just pulled over the first person he caught up to.
oh and then after that i saw like 30 people pulled over by cops. cops everywhere.
making quota's i guess.
anyway, i have been awake since 6am monday (it is now 4:30pm tuesday), and i need a serious nap.
glad the car made it here with zero problems. ran great. 18c intake temps, 85c water temp all the way until florida. once i got to florida it was mad hot and humid out (and lots of traffic) but the highest intake temp i saw was 32c on the pfc.
glad to be out of the drivers seat finally. cheers guys.
Full Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 107
Likes: 1
From: Wilmington, NC
glad you made it back in one piece. i used to take trips up and down 95 all the time in my 7. i think it's a great car for road trips as long as you dont have to bring much luggage. i've also had my rx7 sniffed out by drug dogs on 95 before. luckily, they didn't find anything 
nice trip. Recently i took my FD from Richmond, VA to Lumberton, NC for work. then from Richmond, VA to Philadelphia and back a week later for work also. I put like 1100 miles in two weeks. Not bad, I was happy. Water temps stayed around 83-87degC
