zxd9
Well-Known Member
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- #1
My company is considered "essential" since we provide equipment/support to the beverage / pharmaceutical industry. We are currently working on a very large piece of equipment for a pharma company. Corporate office is in WI and I’m in GA. Boss says "We need you up here." I go.
I chose not too fly just to avoid large crowds and because I thought I had a much better alternative, the Mustang! I’ve made the trip from N GA to N Indiana many, many times over the years. It takes us as a family anywhere from 13-15 hours depending on kids ages, number of people and how much we drink during the day.
The trip to WI would be 134 miles or about 2 hours further for a total of 846 miles. Farthest I’ve ever done in one day by myself. I had just changed over to my summer tires, Indy 500’s, from my all season DWS06’s a week before as GA weather had turned warmer. I watched the weather carefully and Thursday looked like the day to go. Friday showed AM snow in Northern Indiana and I didn’t want to get caught in that with summer tires. Temperatures should stay above freezing and in the 40’s to 50’s for the whole trip.
I informed my sister who lives in Northern Indiana that I’d be heading to WI on Thursday. She said, “You know there’s a winter weather advisor out for Thursday, right?” Crap, that’s not what I saw. I checked the hourly forecast and sure enough at 11pm Thursday snow was rolling into Indiana and Illinois in a narrow band. Now what? Do I change back to the DWS06’s which don’t have a lot of tread left? Do I gamble on missing the snow? Hmmm. Hmmm. Ok, gamble it is.
I left at 7a EST and headed north. Cool morning in GA. Temp in the high 30’s. Traffic is light as I head thru Atlanta during rush hour. Up 75 to Chattanooga, TN. Usually takes 3 hours but did it in 2.5. Not bad. Good start to the day.
Head thru Kentucky non-stop. Making great time. Highway has lots of trucks but very little car traffic. Left lane generally wide-open. Indiana is boring and the longest state to get thru on this trip. I make a stop in South Holland, Illinois (happens to be where I was born) and got an Illinois Tollway transponder. Get back on the road and it’s now rush hour in Chicago. Where is everybody? Flew thru the city without slowing down once. I’ve driven thru here many times when I lived up here and NEVER have I gotten thru the city without a slow down. Having gotten this far it is around 6p and I beat the snow storm by several hours. That was a good feeling.
Got to my hotel at 7:30p CST.
My driving average speed was 71mph. I made the 846 mile trip in 13.5 hrs. Not bad.
The mustang is a great car for long distance driving. Comfortable seats and the new Indy 500 tires are quieter and more compliant over bumps than the DWS06’s were. Got 23 mpg. I've found that driving around 72 gets the best mileage after that it starts going down. Previous trips where I was going for best MPG I've gotten 25-26 mpg
Can't wait for the trip back home!
I chose not too fly just to avoid large crowds and because I thought I had a much better alternative, the Mustang! I’ve made the trip from N GA to N Indiana many, many times over the years. It takes us as a family anywhere from 13-15 hours depending on kids ages, number of people and how much we drink during the day.
The trip to WI would be 134 miles or about 2 hours further for a total of 846 miles. Farthest I’ve ever done in one day by myself. I had just changed over to my summer tires, Indy 500’s, from my all season DWS06’s a week before as GA weather had turned warmer. I watched the weather carefully and Thursday looked like the day to go. Friday showed AM snow in Northern Indiana and I didn’t want to get caught in that with summer tires. Temperatures should stay above freezing and in the 40’s to 50’s for the whole trip.
I informed my sister who lives in Northern Indiana that I’d be heading to WI on Thursday. She said, “You know there’s a winter weather advisor out for Thursday, right?” Crap, that’s not what I saw. I checked the hourly forecast and sure enough at 11pm Thursday snow was rolling into Indiana and Illinois in a narrow band. Now what? Do I change back to the DWS06’s which don’t have a lot of tread left? Do I gamble on missing the snow? Hmmm. Hmmm. Ok, gamble it is.
I left at 7a EST and headed north. Cool morning in GA. Temp in the high 30’s. Traffic is light as I head thru Atlanta during rush hour. Up 75 to Chattanooga, TN. Usually takes 3 hours but did it in 2.5. Not bad. Good start to the day.
Head thru Kentucky non-stop. Making great time. Highway has lots of trucks but very little car traffic. Left lane generally wide-open. Indiana is boring and the longest state to get thru on this trip. I make a stop in South Holland, Illinois (happens to be where I was born) and got an Illinois Tollway transponder. Get back on the road and it’s now rush hour in Chicago. Where is everybody? Flew thru the city without slowing down once. I’ve driven thru here many times when I lived up here and NEVER have I gotten thru the city without a slow down. Having gotten this far it is around 6p and I beat the snow storm by several hours. That was a good feeling.
Got to my hotel at 7:30p CST.
My driving average speed was 71mph. I made the 846 mile trip in 13.5 hrs. Not bad.
The mustang is a great car for long distance driving. Comfortable seats and the new Indy 500 tires are quieter and more compliant over bumps than the DWS06’s were. Got 23 mpg. I've found that driving around 72 gets the best mileage after that it starts going down. Previous trips where I was going for best MPG I've gotten 25-26 mpg
Can't wait for the trip back home!
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i know it's crazy). I averaged 22-23 mpg doing 75-85 mph.
