+2

 

I turned the AC on for the first time 2 years after I bought the car. Hot day, rainstorm out of nowhere and the windshield fogged up. Other than that it's never been on.

 

Thanks for the tips!

The front of my car is already pock marked from living in the city and road debris. I'm just going to respray when I get back.

heresnowhy:

Great thread Thanks! You are a brave brave man for taking that trip on a known bad axle. You mention that you had 90 octane in the tank, why was that? No premium out west? Should I take a bottle of octane booster?

 

Hi There

I'm actually from Wisconsin and living in LA. I made the trip with my car (not an S2k) four years ago, and my only suggestion in addition to what everyone else already said is to minimize daytime driving time in the middle of the day in the desert. It gets very very hot and it's not so comfortable.

I'm actually moving back to northwest Indiana to start law school next month, so i will be yet again making the long drive back with my car! Once you make the trip let me know if you have any suggestions

 

Utah elevation doesn't require higher octanes.... And after the second tank of fuel I had to drain, and some further investigating, the gas in some of the highway stations in Utah don't get used frequently. I fueled at a Shell and a Sinclair, both nice service stations, but the premium they had was bad (old?). My engine would not climb a hill to save its life and would ultimately shut off. I had to reset the ecu, then try to get farther up the hill. Took hours to get out of MOAB. Needless to say, I drove around Utah the next trip. There simply isn't anywhere to go in an emergency in MOAB, no cell service, etc.... And very few cars passed by while I was having trouble.....

 

A pillow for your bum and a lot of red bull.( if your a balla and like to fit in, then some nose candy is a quick fix, everybody's doin it ) I drove 24 hours straight through to Miami a couple weeks ago and my only complications included droopy eyes and numb butt.

 

I did a trip from chicago to san diego. A great halfway point for scenary and such was denver. DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT speed while going there. I got pulled over by a corvette for doing 69 in a 70. He actually wrote me a ticket for 71 in a 70. Even though i locked my criuse control one mile under. But outta state plates and a s, is a prime target. I also ran out of gas. Not intentionally. I was about half tank and wen i decided to fill up a huge sign said next gas station 200 miles. ... Also when i was out there i could only find 91 octane. I only saw shell. But bp may be there. Oh yea try the restaurant "IN AND OUT" MMMMMM. Good luck and good fun .. My brakes got eaten alive in the rockies. Rode the clutch through 9-16 Degree declines... Great roads out west. My trip was 32 hours .. 15 to denver.. 8 to vegas 6 to san diego..

 

Did this trip twice. I moved to SoCal (Ontario Airport area) from Chicago and then when I moved back to chicago I drove it back from So cal. Both ways on the trip I did it non stop (other than gas, food and bathroom breaks. The trip there took me approximately 30 hours, and the trip back took me 36 hours because I had to be re-routed due to Denver having snow storms at the end of May!

Tips....
GPS is key, I recommend Garmin for the gas stations. Because of the relative size of the S2k gas tank you'll want to keep a close eye on the fuel, when you get into the countryside/mountains, gas stations can be few and far between it also applies for food, shopping, attractions, etc.

If you have the means to take a gas container with you, I'd recommend having some as a spare for two reasons, 1. if you run out of gas then you'll have some with you, and 2. once you go west of Iowa the octane ratings tend to fall, greatly... They consider that 85 octane is considered premium in some of the states that you'll be going through. I saw octane rating as low as 81. Just plan on replacing your fuel filter soon after your trip.

Make sure you have your spare tire, jack, key for wheel locks (if you have them) and it is in good shape. This aslo goes for emergency kit, as well.

I had my hardtop on the whole time but I can't even imagine driving top down and my assumption is that you'll kill some of your fuel economy by going topdown.

Lots of music, good munchie food, a few 5 hour energies just in case and you should be good to go.

 

On the tape suggestion, if you're going to take the time to tape up your car before the trip, then make sure that the tape is applied completely and secured. I taped mine and there were some ends that didn't stick completely and it became a magnet for rocks, dirt, bugs, then it started slapping against my hood and left scratches. That tape will breakdown very quickly if it is raining so I'd recommend a car bra just for the trip. I hate the way that car bras look but if it saved my paint job I would have been all over it. A more permamnent solution is to go with the 3m clear bra if you have the time and the means.