Ok here is the scenario. Next Friday I am flying down to pick up my FD and then driving it home. The problem being it’s a 10-hour drive back home. I am wondering what increments I should travel in before letting my car cool down. I was thinking about pulling over every 3 hours and letting the car cool down for 10-15 minutes (on of course). If you guys have some suggestions I would be grateful, thanks.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/search...der=descending

 

I'll be honest, I haven't read any posts regarding this, but I really don't think you need to worry about letting your car cool off unless there's some problem. Cruising down the highway should be extremely easy on the car; good airflow, low loads. I personally think you're butt or neck or whatever will hurt and cause you to stop for a break more than the car will need it. I've personally driven 7 hours straight with just one stop for a gas and didn't have any problems. I checked the oil during that stop just to be safe. HTH.

 

Thanks, from the threads that mightyslash listed and from what you (TailHappy) have said it appears as though my fears have been put aside.

 

Your back and neck will feel it around hour number 5...

 

Yeah I know, I drove the entire distance down there last weekend on Friday night. And then the entire distance back on Saturday, it was quite the weekend.

 

i just bought an fd. drove it home for 10 hours straight. no problems. except my aching back. but then, a week later, my engine blew up.... maybe i did something wrong?

 

i drove from las cruces to san diego and back only stopping for gas, i had no problems like a 10hr drive each way

 

The only thing you shouldn't do is shut the car off immediately after driving at highway speed. Let it idle for a minute or two. The turbos spin at very high rpm's and they take a while to spin down. If you shut off while they're still spinning, they can heat up and coke the bearings.

 

I bought mine stock and drove it home 730 miles in 9.5 hours and had no problems. I plan on driving my modded FD back from PA in August 1200 miles non-stop.
We'll see how that goes.

Ken

 

Oh I am fully aware of that. I am going to let it idle longer than that though just to be completely sure (5-10 minutes).

 

...the only thing about that is, I've found when I let the car have a long idle, sometimes the fans come on, which means the car has gotten hotter than it was when I first pulled into the driveway. I usually find a minute or two is just about right. But I'm sure others have other opinions.

 

thanks again
anyone else?

 

I drove mine from Miami to Seattle... 4200 miles.

As far as driving long distances. Expect your *** & back to hurt at about the 6hr mark.

I would recommend if you are unsure of the previous owners maintainance habits to change the oil & filter, check all fluid levels before embarking.

Also 5oz of Marvels Mystery Oil at each fill up does a FD good

 

I drove mine 2500 miles in 2.5 days. I actually think it is a pretty comfortable car with the stock suspension and near-stock exhaust system. I get tired after 1.5 hours driving it now, with the noisy parts and stiffer suspension I have added.

-Max

 

ive driven the car several times back and forth from dallas to colorado (750 miles) and usually only stopped for gas, but sometimes i take a pit stop for sleep in amarillo.

never had any problems. i always take a quart of oil, gallon of 50/50 mix of water and coolant, cell phone, CB, jumper cables, and any other paranoia equipment since it is a long trip in between cities where gas is available and sometimes they come and go unexpectedly....

 

i start feeling intense back pain after about 45 minutes of driving

wtf is wrong with me

 

Fat wallet? No wait, you're driving an FD, that can't be it!

-Max

 

ROTARYFDTT- Not sure where you're going in Mi. But I'm a mile south of the statline in South Bend, if your driving threw. Always looking to check out another FD.

 

waaaayyy too long. A while back I posted a quote from one of the engineers at Garrett about turbo timers. To paraphrase, he said that idling for a long time doesn't help the turbos at all, and the heat generated by the engine at idle is more harmful than good. Idling the car until the turbos stop and giving them a few seconds to circulate some cooler oil is all that's necessary - especially being that our turbos are water cooled (and therefore need less time to cool down), the oil inside them stays at a reasonable temperature... I wouldn't let my car idle for more than 2 minutes TOPS when stopping for anything. The Garrett guy was saying something like nothing more than a minute or two if that. My turbo timer is set at 30 seconds - I figure that I usually coast for at least that long before parking, so all is well.

10 minutes at idle would cause more heat than all of your highway driving leading up to the stop.

 

The car will be fine, they are a machine, and just driving them, especially on a nice highway, is NO problem to them......it will be YOU that feels the pain!
Personally, I find about 3 hours to be the most I want to drive mine in one 'sitting', and I want several hours of walking about and stretching before I get back in for the return. I really feel that your height/weight plays an important part, as would your overall physical condition. I am 6'1" and 210 pounds, in decent shape, but I faced the reality that my FD is not the "cruiser" I wanted it to be, a car I would be comfortable in on long trips.

 

This topic HAS been posted before, and my comments are the same. Highway driving is the easiest driving on any car that you can do. All that air flow means cool engine temps, especially if you cruise around 3,000 rpm.

I've driven my car to Lousiana and back going 120+ for an hour or so at a time, if you just cruise at 80 or so I'm sure you can run the car for 24 hours sraight with no problems.

You don't have to worry about cooling down the turbos much as long as you are not getting into the boost much. If you have not been in the boost for over 5 minutes before shut down then 15-30 seconds of idle before shut down is plenty, max should be around 2 min like the other guys have said.

For longer idles, like when I autocross and wait in line I lift the hood.

 

Funny you mentioned that. My wallet isnt fat but it still hurts me after an hour of so. If I take my wallet out I can drive the 7 forever!!!!!

Take you wattet out for a big trip

 

I drove mine 12 hours straight from MD to IL. It was actually pretty comfy for a sports car.