so it looks like its come to this.... i went to the base today and got my move set-up. the government will move everything.... except my car. that will have to come out of my pocket

right now i dont have the money to ship it myself and ive done some figurin and it looks like driving it might be cheaper.... especially if i have some help. its not exactly my preferred option, but im going to need my car to get to and from my new job once i get back to VA.

so my question is this.... whats the furthest anyone's driven in their FD at one time? what issues came up?

my car is in great shape *knock on wood*... cooling system is good... got manual control of my fans... new clutch... etc...
only cause for some concern is my 5th gear syncro (typical FD issue anyway) and some funky chirping sound that i have yet to ID.

total distance is about 2800 miles or so... i make about 380 miles a tank.
so has anyone done this before? will i be the first? need input from the experts on this one.

 

geez...I would try and find people who caravaned the distance to Sevenstock from places like Florida and the Carolinas.

 

hey dude did u check u haul??

they have car carriers and u can just rent their truck to pull it

sux tho Gl man

where u heading too?? mileS??

i drove to SF from socal but thats just 400 miles, lol

 

those are some of the people that i hope post in this thread... id like to know how they did it. the distance is about the same too.

 

holy **** how do you get such good millage per tank of gas? in anycase, its a regular car and i would think it would be fine as you said your car is in good condition. just watch out for road debrie and other cars.

 

sup aaron...so ur off huh man..hey good luck...sorry i didnt get to come up there man..well
i just went to texas from base (lemoore). and it was like 995.65 mi 1 way.. so total i put down almost 3000. (including the driving i did while i was home). uhh...no problems for me as of yet..havent seen any adverse affects ie. funny starts or weird gas milage numbers. only i too have develped a squeek ...sounds like its commin from the #1 turbo..eh..will trouble shoot later. just watch your oil and vitals and u should be fine. lol..
take care..

 

Shouldn't be a problem if you change your oil twice during the trip

Sorry... couldn't resist. I wouldn't ride that far in my FD no-way.
I like it, but its far from comfortable. Hell... I dont think I ever flown that far, yet drive

 

I can't believe it. That is soooooo good almost 24 mpg. I have heard of a couple of 3rd gens that do that but geezzz. I assume you are bone stock..

I have put more than a couple of thousand miles on in one weekend on my heavily modified 7 with no ill effects on the road.

Here are my suggestions before taking such a trip.

1. Resist all temptations to drive spiritedly along the way. Most failures can be attributed to acceleratoritis. Since you get such great mileage I must assume you run extremely lean at cruise (14.7 or leaner). You can get yourself in a world of hurt by hot boosting from cruise. The reason for this is that during throttle tip in you can go way lean for a few 10ths of a second, if you are boosting heavy during that time you can detonate.

2. Never let the gas tank get below a 1/4 tank.

3. Change Oil before leaving and check at every gas stop.

4. Change your sparkplugs and check wires before leaving

5. Check your coolant and make sure it is topped up and check the overflow at every gas stop. DO NOT CHANGE THE COOLANT PRIOR TO THE TRIP. Burping is a PITA and the last thing you want to do on a trip.

6. If your belts haven't been changed in a year or more, change them or at the very least carry replacements. Sometimes they can be hard to find..

7. Make sure you change the brake/clutch fluid and check the pads for wear.

8. Bring tools (sockets, wrenches etc), extra vacuum hose and zip ties (make sure you have a long set of needle nose pliers). The most common trip problem occurs when a vacuum line pops. Most often the offending line is the MAP sensor and, just to be ornery, it pops from the throttle body. If you cannot get to the connection on the TB. Take your spare vacuum hose and attach one end to the MAP sensor and the other to an open nipple on the UIM, you will be golden for the rest of the trip.

Otherwise, be smart and drive the car conservatively. In the mountains make sure you kill the automatic foot (cruise control) because sometimes it will cause you to go from vacuum to +5 or +7 lbs of boost too quickly putting the engine at risk. (see rule 1 above).


Good luck and have fun. I envy you a cross country trip in the best sports car made.

 

I can swear it is just a car, I have taken mine on couple hundred mile trips all the time with absolutely no ill affects. I drove mine back from NC when i bought it which is a 750 mile or so trip. It will be fine, just make sure you check everything before you leave. Bring extra oil and coolant. Just take precautions.

Adam

 

drove from CA to NJ in the summertime havin only to stop for breaks and quick naps..
only thing that concerned me was the lack of anythin above 92 octane from LA to TX..

 

Huh? You do realize that FD's have a 20gal tank, right? So even assuming that you leave a couple of gallons in there as a saftey measure, 380miles is still only about 21mpg.

I drove my FD from Colorado Springs to Detroit (1400miles) in 2 days. I stopped for gas every 350-375miles, and I had plenty left in the tank that I could have gone for much longer (I easily could have stretched it to 400). My car was not even close to bone stock. The trip was tiring, and my back ached for a few days after I got to Detroit, but all-in-all it wasn't that bad. 2800 miles is a heck of a lot more, but assuming that you pace yourself well enough, you should be fine.

-Rob

 

Hey Rob

I just checked the specs and damn you are correct, I however have never been able to get more than 16 gals in any of my FDs so I assumed they have 16 gal tanks.

BTW 21 mpg is a good number for a 14.0-14.7 cruise a/f ratio so my advice still stands.

Thanks for the info, I guess I am going to figure out what is going on with my car.

Jeff

Jeff

 

I have made several trips in the 1200 - 1500 mile range all with no problems. Those kinds of trips are really good for the car. Milage was 20 - 24 mpg mostly driving from 60 - 80 mph (with maybe a fewpushes around 100 - 110)

 

I used to drive from Jacksonville to Miami and back, sometimes on one day, which is about 4-5 hours one way depending on traffic. I never had any issues, and thats roughly about 750 miles. Sometimes i'd go one day, then again in the middle of the week. As long as your FD is in great shape, I see no problems with it. I've also driven my FD from Jacksonville to Crossville, TN, and back to Jacksonville during vacation. While there I hit up picket state park, fall creek falls state park, as well as a ton of curvy roads. Put about 1200 miles on her on one week while up there because the roads are something else compared to flat Florida.

You should have no issues at all. Good luck, and thank you for serving our country!