Back from 5500 mile trip

Just drove to Grand Rapids, MI from San Diego and back. Have a Valentine-1 with remote mount, and a Garmin 660. I had the Garmin located on my front center console next to my v1, with a remote antenna sitting on my dash. I've done the trip many times over the years, and can't believe how nice it is to have a GPS unit. I could find the nearest Starbucks or preferred gas station, and always knew exactly where I was and what exit to look for - very convienient. My car now has 109,000+ miles and is still running very strong. I'll update my pics sometime, as I now have row m030, new wheels, and painted bumperettes. I forgot to take a GPS screenshot of my trip to Michigan, but I had several delays on the I40, including a 90mph ticket in New Mexico. The trooper never used his radar, instead he crept up on me and paced behind me for several miles while I sped blissfully along . Between this and traffic jams and such, my average was only ~70mph (inlcuding pit stops) and the moving speed was ~75mph. I decided to take the I70 on the way home and go across Colorado, since I had seen so many police on the I40 route. From past trips, I know that Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah are all easy to speed across with 75mph speed limits and not as heavy of police presence on the interstates (from what I've seen), plus slightly less distance. I left on Saturday, and only got 112 miles before the ice storm stranded me at a motel for the night in Southern Michigan. I thought I could get through it, but holy crap my tires were like driving on ice. There was simply NO grip, and I have lots of experience in driving in the snow. I just couldn't go another mile or I would have ended up in a ditch. That night I decided to wake up at 6:00am and try to make it back for my original goal of Monday. Here's a pic of my GPS trip screen on the way home: I took this as I pulled in to my first stop in Richfield, UT. I gave myself 6hrs for a pitstop, since my goal was to make it back during the day on Monday. Utah is also where I reached my max speed. Utah on the I70 is incredibly empty and desolate. At around midnight, there was maybe one semi every 2 miles or so, and even fewer cars. Here's the GPS screenshot after I finally got home, with big delays in Vegas and Riverside, CA, which slowed my averages quite a bit: I made it on time and was so proud of my car. It had salt and crap all over it. It actually had salt streaming down the side windows from the windshield washers, and dried like that. It looked like my car just went through hell. Now that I made it back, I'm even more convinced of my car's prowess. It never complained and ran strong with no issues at all. This is my second trip to Michigan in it, plus several other very long trips. Oh yeah, btw - My oil level is still completely full. Didn't seem to burn even an ounce the whole trip.

ElTorrente, great story. Thanks for sharing. 109,000 miles and still going strong is fantastic. The max speed is pretty impressive also.

160? geez....ur gonna get some flak for that. Very cool display. Thanks for sharing. J

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Yeah, the scary thing is that I was still accelerating strongly before I let off. My speedometer read 167, which equaled 160. 95mph on the speedo equals 90 actual mph. If anyone gives me flack for the 160mph stint, then they haven't driven on the 170 in eastern Utah in the middle of the night . There was, as usual, nothing on the road for miles. I was the only one in danger doing this, and, in fact, if I had crashed and survived, I would have froze to death because noone would have seen me for probably days afterward. From the eastern border of Utah, there is only 1 single gas station off the I70 all the way to Saline, Ut, and no civilization or services. It's perfect for making great time, but scary if you run out of gas or break-down.

What great fun !

A great read. Thanks.

Nice story about a great trip! That what cars are for (especially P cars) - driving, driving, driving!

109,000 miles. Good to hear the '99 is going strong.

Great story

I made that trip through Utah several years ago and concur with your comments. As an East Coaster all my life, I was amazed that much open space exists in the US! Sounds like a great trip.

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You know what I say? "F" those people that have nothing better to do than complain about the driving of someone they don't even know. I come to Rennlist for all the good information, not a lecture about my driving or to worry about the arbitrary on-road top speed Rennlist is allowing me to drive this week. I truly am waiting for the day that we're not even allowed to TALK about exceeding the speed limit for fear that the web site will get sued for encouraging it. IOW, my opinion is the same of my buddy to the cop on the side of the deserted Interstate after being stopped for a 90 in a 70: "I need a ticket or a lecture, but not both." Guess which one HE got?

What kind of tires were you using ? Most likely living in San Diego you were on summer tires and we all know they are worthless on ice or snow. You were lucky if you only got stranded one night at this time of year with that kind of a trip.

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I was using just Pilot Sports. Obviously NOT a snow tire, but having lived and driven in Michigan for years, I figured I could get by anyway. I had never owned snow tires in the past, and driven lots of crappy cars with crappy tread in the winter, and I never thought these would be so horrible. The snow was VERY light on the road, and I assumed it wouldn't be an issue for anything but slicks, but wow was I wrong. When I was getting off at an exit, going very slow, I applied brakes way up the ramp and the ABS went crazy all the way down. I wasn't going to be able to stop at the sign, and a mini-van was on a collision course if I had went thru it. I cranked the wheel to the right and pulled the ebrake in the last 10-20feet, then the wheels dug in as I slid sideways, and came to a sliding stop, literally feet from the minivan as it drove by. Scary stuff. Pulling in to McDonalds I had to use the Ebrake again to make the turn because my fronts where just plowing forward. That was enough WRC driving for me, so I grabbed a hotel.

Truly a great story. Nice to know a water cooled Porsche can drive more than a couple of hundred miles without the engine blowing up!

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Yup. It truly is the perfect car for covering long distances at high speed. Even the seats are great. In the past, after 10hours or so in the seat, I would get leg/butt cramps from being in the same position for so long. Some cars were worst than others in this respect, the worst being a toyota pickup that belonged to my ex-gf. With the standard Porsche seats, 10hours was nothing. After 20hours, my left butt cheek and upper thigh started cramping a bit, but I noticed it only after getting out of the car, so it was no big deal. 20hours is pretty extreme, anyway, and not the norm for me on a long drive. Another big benefit is that I can set the cruise control to very fast speeds. I think you can set it up to around 125mph. Most cars don't let you set it at 85mph, so you'd have to keep your foot on the gas the whole time, which could lead to some bad cramps. When I was going along at 90mph, cars that were following me would almost always fall back when we started going uphill, but mine just maintained speed no matter what. I just love this car.

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Livermore CA to KC Mo and back in my '02 Boxster (now with just under 179,000 miles on it) and these cars are great at long distances. I mean, if one has to or wants to drive 2000, 3000, 5000 or miles or more in car, what better car than a late model Porsche! I use a V1 -- swear by it! -- and a hand held CB radio with an external attenna with magnetic base. In the west, channel 19 is commonly used by big rig truck drivers to keep each other abreast of smoky bear traps. You were lucky. Many is the time -- at least once per trip -- I've been out in the middle of nowhere with V1 silent only to hear of a smokey bear report with a bear parked in the middle of the interstate with his lights off probably just waiting to instant on some unspecting driver. Also, a trucker can turn you in if he thinks you're driving irresponsibly. If he does you'll likely hear the chatter over the CB radio and can take a detour and stop for coffee or even overnight. Another trick is bears like to park on on-ramp and shoot you from behind as you blast past underneath overpass. I-5 in CA (where 'bear in the air' is not unknown!), 99, across 58 to I-40, I-40 across to I-44 or I-35, I-20 in Texas, I-70 everywhere (but around KC Mo and all through MO are especially bad), I-25, I-15, etc. all can and will have bear traps at somepoint. Also, be aware on some toll roads your toll ticket can rat you out. Never received a citation but a toll taker commented once on my average speed over a stretch of toll road in KS. Asked me if I received a ticket. No I told him but I got the idea... I've driven from CA to nearly the NM/TX state line with no V1 activity at all only to hit/come up on several bogies all grouped together. On way back I've run into several smokey bear traps in Flagstaff (in the 65mph zone especially where bears are common) but also further out at the west of the grade and before Kingman. Worst time was last Sept. trip coming into Albuquerque in section of highway just east of town, gave up trying to count bears. They can be anywhere. Second worst time probably as I was crossing state line into Michigan on 94. Several of Michigan's finest were there to issue greetings to drivers... Then next day east on 96 spotted smokey on overpass shooting me with laser. This was notable because I saw officer try again fo r a reading and watched him shove his arm forward just as V1 alarmed second time. After the overpass passed several patrol cars with 'customers'.... In Texas, there is no mercy if you violate the night time 65mph limit. In fact, not much if you violate the daytime limit... And you can count on at least one city bear staking out a spot on the interstate -- usually at night when the city is dark and the cop's got nothing else to do -- to catch a speeder blasting through his town late at night. It would be a toss up if I could use only a V1 or a CB radio. Thankfully, I can and do use both. Sincerely, Macster.

my jeep cherokee is great over long distances too nice adventure

Macster, I agree with you about traps on every interstate. I've run into many, many of them over the years. The last trip the V1 saved me at least 4 times. This time, the V1 didn't really save me since the alerts it gave me came on troopers who had already pulled someone over. I always check the entrance ramps/overpasses for cops, and never go too fast through cities. I've often been driving through a city and look in my mirror and a city cop is moving in on my tail. A red Porsche with out of state license plates is too juicy a target. I counted 5 state police cars on the I40 across the panhandle of Texas, and just set my speedo at 7mph over. Many years ago I got a ticket in Oklahoma and never paid it... stupid thing to do but I was young and broke. Now when I cross into Oklahoma, I keep it to less than 5 over, because I think there is probably an old bench warrant out on me. Yup - this is a common spot for them. I almost always see Michigan state police right around the border on the 94. Same thing happens on the I15 near the border of CA and Nevada. I think the V1 is excellent to have, and I was thinking about getting a CB for these cross-country dashes. Truckers are the eys and ears of the road and know what is going on. I think a police scanner would be helpful, too. Not as much fun, though.

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Utah rules

Your trip reminds me of my old 1974 911 which I had for 5 years back in the 70's. My parents lived down in Florida and I regularly made the run down there in the 911. Back then CB radios and FuzzBusters were the standard equipment. With the CB you could clear the road in front and manage to average 90-100 mph for long periods provided you had some friendly people in front of you calling out where the cops were. The only problem was if you went too fast there would always be someone who would broadcast your description on the open air hoping the cops would pick it up. Still I made that run many times and never got a ticket, but there plenty of close calls. Back then I was a purist and my car had no air conditioning. The back windows used to open out though and as long as you kept moving it didn't get too hot. Of course a '74 is nowhere near as comfortable as 996.

Love my V1 for trips but have had my azz saved by my K40 Laser Diffuser more times than I care to honestly admit. Great trip stories.

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but my interpretation of the info was no one scanner would suffice for all the areas I would travel. And given the scanners that deliver anything approaching acceptable performance are rather expensive.... I used a CB-radio before I used a V1. Both devices are in my opinion needed to reduce but not eliminate entirely the possibility of getting a bogus speeding ticket. I got pulled over late one night in Boxster in Cisco TX on I-20 even though I knew bear (city police) car up ahead with radar and had slowed around 5mph under limit even before I topped hill and became 'visible' to the radar. Because I had been passing a pair of big rig trucks when I got the first alarm on the V1 and had known about the approx. location of the trap from listening to radio traffic and slowed down wanting to get over into the slow lane and let a small red car tailgaiting me get by. That it might run into the radar trap was not my concern. As I changed lanes from the fast lane to the slow lane the red car shot past at the same instant my V1 lit up again, this time big time. I felt no alarm though and was sort of preparing to see this other car pulled over when the blue overhead lights of the cop car appeared in my Boxster's rear view mirror. At the same time I heard one of the truckers exclaim "He's pulling over the wrong 4-wheeler!". You're telling me I thought... One is not supposed to argue, but I did, politely protesting my innocence and even pointing out I knew he was there from my radar detector and the CB radio traffic and had taken the precaution of slowing from the limit to under the limit. My Perry Mason impersonation worked -- or it was just my lucky day, nigh -- and the officer relented and let me off with a 'warning'. The highway patrol officers are bad enough but those county mounties and especially city kiitties are real go getters, very agressive protecting their turf from bad old speeders, and usually not so circumspect in their assignment of guilt... On long road trips that take me out of CA I take both V1 and CB-radio. Sincerely, Macster.