DSMs on long trips

[Clinical]

My old talon, which was only a 12 second car I took on a ton of trips. One to chicago and back (10 hours of driving for me), MANY times to cedar rapids and back (4 hours of driving) and like 3 times to des moines and back (6 hours of driving). Lots of other drives here and there, to Quad Cities (4 hours).

I also took it to the track 5 times, each time driving it to the track and back (4 hours of driving).

My laser my longest trip was a 5 hour drive(all on one tank of E85). Then I drove it to the track and back, ran 11.7 and drove back home! It'll see a lot more trips when I get the headgasket fixed. I knew it was going bad but I finally popped it.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Getting pulled for exhaust sounds about right for driving in VA.

Yeah, and it wasn't the first time either. I've been in Texas almost 5 years and never had an issue with the exhaust or the police. So your in Petersburg? I lived in Prince George/Hopewell. I used to work at Circle Auto Recycling which is almost in Petersburg, .

 

[dsmdeliveryboy]

Furthest was from here (middle of CA by the ocean) to Phoenix AZ, that was a little scary. I was paranoid the whole time.. It was 115 degrees, I thought for sure I was gonna over-heat.

Other than that, I drive back and forth from my older sisters house which is 4 hours away no problems, and I drive about 20 miles daily(maybe more). The car was driven from Boston to here in 2003, but it was 100% bone stock until the day I bought it.

 

[dsmrollerz90]

what was everybody's average speed on these trips? because im afraid of holind mine around 80, around 3500-4200rpm.. its really high to hold for hours. im thinking about driving it down to school in AZ 14hours. 900 miles. im thinking of just Uhauling it.

 

[dsmdeliveryboy]

what was everybody's average speed on these trips? because im afraid of holind mine around 80, around 3500-4200rpm.. its really high to hold for hours. im thinking about driving it down to school in AZ 14hours. 900 miles. im thinking of just Uhauling it.

When I was driving through barstow and on I was going 90-100mph Lol you'll be fine cruising at around 75mph.

 

[19Eclipse90]

If I did home to Milwaukee (or vice versa) in 12 hours, I averaged 70-75 mph as I only stopped for gas. I couldn't complain getting 29-32 mpg either.

On the other hand, when that same trip took me 16 hours, I only averaged about 55 mph. That made for an extremely long trip.

A 2005 DSM?

I think he has a 1995.

He made a edit! Just poking fun at his typo.

 

[Chrispy0530]

I haven't gone nearly as far as most people here. But I do take my car to Disney World with me from Miami to Orlando, and get called crazy for it. (only about a 600mile round trip).

Though, I kinda wish we had a 6 gear sometimes when cruising around 70-80 MPH =/

 

[AK Maniak]

Anchorage, Alaska to Phoenix, AZ in 5 days...

Yea... loosing a qt of oil every 500 due to now replaced cracked oil pan.... that was FANTASTIC.. But she made it and still running great!!

How in the hell did your car survive the drive on the ALCAN. I would never drive my DSM on that road unless I wanted to see my bumper get ripped off by the 2 foot deep pot holes

 

[importracr317]

From Denver to Chicago - the clutch fork snapped the day after when I went to went start it in the morning....thank God I got home.

 

[Dark_Horse]

Drove the GVR4 from San Antonio TX to Colorado in 1 day. ~1100 miles. Made it 50 miles from my house and the exhaust broke right behind the catalytic converter and started dragging on the ground...towed it the last 50 miles back home.

 

[hurricanecris24]

I'm thinking bout taking my dsm with me to mexico only thing worried is if it breaks down on me. Do vendors ship to mexico??

 

[Travis96GS-T]

Let's see, the longest road trip was when I bought it in Cali and drove it back to Il. Decided to zigzag and see half the country on the way home. Trip was something like this:

San Fran -> LA via the Pacific coast Highway
LA -> The Grand Canyon -> Vegas (yes that was a long day with lots of back tracking but I didn't really care)
Vegas -> Co Springs to visit family
Co Springs -> Overland Park, KS to visit more family
Overland Park, KS -> Chicago (home)

Trip was over 3k miles in about seven days (with full days spent sightseeing in LA and Vegas and overnight stops in the rest).

Another trip was:
Chicago -> Myrtle Beach (straight through)
Myrtle Beach -> Charleston
Charleston -> Chicago (straight through again)

This trip was cake, only like 700 miles/15ish hours each way. Worst part was Chicago traffic.

Basically my car has been across the entire country and back in the past year and a half. Funny considering I really don't put many miles on it otherwise.

 

[PurpSalad]

before i bought my car the dude drove it from here to new jersey. to penn state to pick up his sister, then drove home.


idk how many miles that is but it seems like alot for me haha.

 

[AlaskanDsm]

How in the hell did your car survive the drive on the ALCAN. I would never drive my DSM on that road unless I wanted to see my bumper get ripped off by the 2 foot deep pot holes

. It wasn't that bad. There sure are some bad spots but Being in a performance car, swerving and braking make all the difference. If you ever get a chance to see my car, I think it is still in amazing condition for making that trip. Not to mention I drove down in my nice rims.

My girlfriend just made that trip 2 weeks ago. Her car came out much worse than mine did. Not bad but worse. Some good rock chips, good cracks in the windshield, even a rock through the headlight housing and took out the bulb... through a solid glass housing... Overall for making it again within 5 days... seriously long trips. We also have a Buick we made our orginal venture down here in. That time we came down the west coast through Washington, Oregon, California, and over to Phoenix... long trip.

 

[2GbTalonGuy]

My farthest wasn't all that far. Fargo, ND to Chicago, IL. It was about 1300 miles round trip. Good time tho. We went to go to the HIN show there.

 

[Eagle420a]

I drove my 95 GST from poconos PA to Orlando FL round trip. and while in orlando drove to cocoa beach and daytona beach. Not one problem at all except losing my sideskirt on I95 . Once i got back to PA got new sideskirt all is well

 

[ktgurl87]

Central Virginia to far west Texas. Over 1,900 miles. Three day trip and the only problem was getting pulled over for "improper exhaust" before even getting out of Virginia. Otherwise smooth sailing.

pretty much same here. elizabeth city, nc to lake limestone on the eastern side of TX in a 95 eclipse. the hubby had EVERYTHING in the hatch JUST IN CASE the car wanted to break down. i'm talking about 4 wheels and tires, the upper half of his rolling toolbox, and a bunch of misc. other things . and we only stopped for gas and food and that's it. (well potty breaks too) we actually stopped for a couple hours at a rest stop when we got into TX. i woke up because i was BURNING UP! i look up and seriously one parking space over a car is ENGULFED in flames. fire dept. just watching it. i was like "well... i hope they would have woken us up if we were in danger" . we didn't have any real issues with the car then. made it back just fine.

that car is gone, and the truck is pulling Texas road-trip duties definitely a more comfortable ride in case anyone is wondering

 

[psx]

i hate sitting in my car for a long time
back starts to hurt.......

 

[dsm03]

13xx miles.. around 11-13.5 hours...

avg speed.. 77mph.

 

[brownfinger]

From Denver to Chicago - the clutch fork snapped the day after when I went to went start it in the morning....thank God I got home.

That's why I love these cars: They always break when you get home!

I drove my 95 GST from poconos PA to Orlando FL round trip. and while in orlando drove to cocoa beach and daytona beach. Not one problem at all except losing my sideskirt on I95 . Once i got back to PA got new sideskirt all is well

That's my main worry with my 92 GST: Large exterior body-parts may fly-off at high speed. Last Sept. I took it on it's first real "journey" since I've owned it. I did a couple of consecutive laps around Northern Illinois in a week. About 1000 miles. The first lap I took it easy, the second lap I went balls-out. The state police noticed. I haven't touched it since, except to DD it. I replaced a faulty thermostat last week. Got 29 mpg on the first lap, 28 on the second. It's ugly, but it's a sweet ride.

i hate sitting in my car for a long time
back starts to hurt.......

My 94 GS is the replacement for my 93 GS that got totalled last year. 1 year ago I flew to Spokane, WA, picked it up, and drove it home. That's 2000 miles. I felt like a King driving that little ####er home. I wouldn't have wanted to be sitting in any other heap of sheet-metal.

In my 93 I drove to Limestone, ME from Normal, and back, by myself. That was 1997. In 1996 I drove it to up-state NY, and back. In '98, I drove that beast to New Orleans and back. In '99 I drove it to Big Cypress FL, and back. In 2002 I drove it to Birmingham and back, then the radiator blew, in the garage, the night I got it home. When I finally had to drive it to the junk-yard, and trade it for a single $100 bill, the clutch fork finally gave out, at 215,000 miles. Original clutch, head never off, etc...

Never be afraid to drive your DSM, it's what they're for!

 

[TurboATM]

1350 miles from Myrtle Beach to MN. just under 30 hours, and was almost running non stop. Only stopped. turned off to get food at BK and get gas the 4 times it needed it.


i had this car 110% packed with my stuff, enough to where i couldnt see out the back, lean my seat down, or set anything in the pass seat...pretty damn brutal.

 

[SmalltownDSMer]

Northern Cali to West Tx. Never had a prob, even with a shitty tune. Wouldn't have mattered if it did break down, would have left the keys in the ignition and said peace!

Jayson

 

[Dserge]

Went Wyoming to Texas in a Lightly modded 1g TSI AWD in snowy conditions. Was a blast! No issues either.

 

[olmytsi]

6.5 hours when I bought it in New Hampshire and lived in Philly but then again it was BONE STOCK and adult owned and this was in 2003...and yes, its the same 98 tsi awd I still own today

 

[beihl304]

Every 4 weeks I drive mine to my tech school on Sunday and drive it back that Thursday. 4 hrs up and 4 back which is 500 mile round trip. I even manage to get 29.6 miles to a gallon with 3 other people and trunk full of clothes food etc... My cars also lowered which with that much weight causes my rear tires to rub the hole way