Road Trip Season - Am I Nuts?

[shogun32]

Starting small with a "mini" round trip of ~1800 miles over Memorial Day weekend

go west to Idaho and strafe apexes on 2 lane.

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[bullitt5566]

go west to Idaho and strafe apexes on 2 lane

This. Avoid Interstates. With a road trip it's all about the drive not the destination. Take the opportunity to take the two lane and stop at as many places as you can. We found the musical highway in New Mexico (lame), Cadillac Ranch in Texas, and a bunch of other stuff along the way. We even drove from Bolder to Telluride through Rocky mountain back roads. Interstates suck.

 

[ZaChickster]

Perspective is a mother @#$%er isn't it? You're dreading not hitting 25 and I'm over in sheer amazement and complete joy that I can even remotely hit 22 on occasion...LOL;)

Lol. Haven't really had it out for long highway jaunts yet. Best I've seen for a tank is 22 as well. Expecting about 22 and hoping for 25. Get around 18 as a daily driver.

 

[Postal Bob]

Keep a breaker bar or hollow steel tube in your trunk as well, in case you ever need to use that spare. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to break the lugnuts free (or re-tighten them sufficiently) using just the stamped-steel lug wrench that comes with the kit.

I keep a 25" breaker bar, 250 lb torque wrench, and a non-marring, thin wall, extended lug nut socket. Even if you have a service station service your tires, you don't want them using their general sockets on your wheels. Came in very handy when I had to have a tire plugged. I handed the service guy the socket just before he was about to use his standard socket. Then used the torque wrench to make sure they were torqued properly when reinstalled. And it was a goos thing I did. They weren't even close.

Lol. Haven't really had it out for long highway jaunts yet. Best I've seen for a tank is 22 as well. Expecting about 22 and hoping for 25. Get around 18 as a daily driver.

Best I've done is 21 on highway. There always seems to be traffic on any highway in NY/LI. Around town, I'm lucky I get 10. But I love to keep it in 3rd and let the engine rev out with the exhaust wide open. It's the price you pay.

 

[feeny1701]

I took mine from Omaha to Boise and back last summer, 2800miles total trip, and I averaged right around 21. Granted, I was running interstate the entire way, and was running 10-15 over the majority of the drive. Speed limit was 75 for half the trip and 80 for half. I was pleased with the fuel economy. 300ish miles between fuel stops was about right for the amount of liquids I drink while driving.

 

[Epiphany]

The GT350 was great on a few 14hr drives I did (NY to GA). The GT500 I have now...10 to 12 mpg at speed with a tank range of about 200 miles. On a 16hr drive from MO to NY I had to look at the gas gauge constantly. I think I stopped 7 times for gas...

 

[Enduro Man]

I recently took a 1900km road trip from Toronto up to Kapuskasing. I can't say exactly when this took place, because there is a stay-at-home order currently in effect for all of Ontario! Inter-province travel is restricted, and the border with the US remains closed, so my options are limited. I would not recommend Kapuskasing as a destination (there's really nothing there, and I chose it almost randomly on a map), but sweeping through the lakes and forests around Temagami and Temiskaming Shores make the highway grind out of Toronto worthwhile.

Average gas mileage was a pitiful 11.5 L / 100 km, or 20.5 MPG! And that's mainly for the long 6th-gear stretches. By contrast, I used to get 8.9L / 100 km on my 2015 GT PP (~26 MPG). If I were ever to try the trip again, I would probably bring at least one 20L jerry can of gas. It's one thing to worry about fill-ups on the interstates, and something else entirely when you're in the middle of Nowhere, Ontario.

One last thing: Police coverage is sparse once you hit the two-lane highways. On the first day, I encountered just one OPP Explorer in 900km of driving. But be warned that these guys have laser now, so don't expect the 1-2 km warnings that a good detector would give you off K/Ka-band.

 

[ZaChickster]

The GT350 was great on a few 14hr drives I did (NY to GA). The GT500 I have now...10 to 12 mpg at speed with a tank range of about 200 miles. On a 16hr drive from MO to NY I had to look at the gas gauge constantly. I think I stopped 7 times for gas...

Wow. The supercharger kills highway mileage that much huh? Crazy they didn't make that 7th gear in the auto a super granny gear that can make highway cruising as efficient as a 700+hp car can expect to be. I understand none of us bought these things for the mileage but stopping every two hours on a road trip is a pain.

 

[ZaChickster]

I recently took a 1900km road trip from Toronto up to Kapuskasing. I can't say exactly when this took place, because there is a stay-at-home order currently in effect for all of Ontario! Inter-province travel is restricted, and the border with the US remains closed, so my options are limited. I would not recommend Kapuskasing as a destination (there's really nothing there, and I chose it almost randomly on a map), but sweeping through the lakes and forests around Temagami and Temiskaming Shores make the highway grind out of Toronto worthwhile.

Average gas mileage was a pitiful 11.5 L / 100 km, or 20.5 MPG! And that's mainly for the long 6th-gear stretches. By contrast, I used to get 8.9L / 100 km on my 2015 GT PP (~26 MPG). If I were ever to try the trip again, I would probably bring at least one 20L jerry can of gas. It's one thing to worry about fill-ups on the interstates, and something else entirely when you're in the middle of Nowhere, Ontario.

One last thing: Police coverage is sparse once you hit the two-lane highways. On the first day, I encountered just one OPP Explorer in 900km of driving. But be warned that these guys have laser now, so don't expect the 1-2 km warnings that a good detector would give you off K/Ka-band.

I have a sneaking suspicion my trip will be similar (minus the gas scarcity part). The tall 6th gear in this car doesn't deliver the same mileage as the 6th gear in my '12 GT. A minor complaint in the grand scheme of things as I enjoy having the GT350 far more than I did that GT.

Still doing stay at home huh? That sucks. While we screwed up much during with COVID, here south of the border the vaccine rollout has been good enough that a trip like this is possible.

 

[Epiphany]

Wow. The supercharger kills highway mileage that much huh? Crazy they didn't make that 7th gear in the auto a super granny gear that can make highway cruising as efficient as a 700+hp car can expect to be. I understand none of us bought these things for the mileage but stopping every two hours on a road trip is a pain.

I'd say "power" kills mileage - when you are using it (a lot). On the bright side, stopping every 200 miles allows for a good stretch and a quick break. That actually makes the trip easier on your body over the long haul as well as when you arrive at your destination. I did get a couple stares though while leaning on the pump to stretch my legs and back in a few different states.

 

[Nelsond003]

I averaged 29MPG on my last roadtrip. 1200 miles.

 

[galaxy]

I forgot who mentioned it earlier, but yeah, it is amazing how comfortable the Recaro's are on a long trip. That one caught me off guard.

 

[Ras Thavas]

I bought my GT350 on Long Island and drove it home to VA. Was a fantastic drive, especially on smooth interstate roads.

It had 980 miles on it when I bought it and I got about 14mpg during that trip. I have 2500 now and my around town mileage is right around 17, with lots of spirited driving.

Thanks for posting about the spare tire. As an old fart driving a car without a spare just does not feel right.

 

[Biker911]

Wondering about the need to carry extra oil! Should not use enough between changes to need to add some. Extra weight is less mileage!

 

[DaveB]

Keep a breaker bar or hollow steel tube in your trunk as well, in case you ever need to use that spare. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to break the lugnuts free (or re-tighten them sufficiently) using just the stamped-steel lug wrench that comes with the kit.

Good point! The tq for the lugnuts on these cars is 150 lbs ft!

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