1085 miles with wife and dog in two days!

SpyderMike · 07-09-09, 11:39 PM

I just finished the two day drive from Oregon to Southern California. It was a memorable trip to say the least. I was going to do the drive by myself, but then my wife Sara said she wanted to join and our dog Gromit, therefore, had no choice.

I was relocating the car to Superformance HQ so that it could be transported to Road America. I had only one event that made the drive scary - see my next post "Porsche=1 - GT40=0".

I joined I-5 around Medford, Oregon and took it to Sacramento, CA then the 580 and 680 to the 101 to Morgan Hill to some see some friends (just south of San Francisco) the first day. It was some 90 degrees in the SJ valley. The next day we drove the 101 to Santa Barbara and drove around town a bit trying to find another friend's house. We visited there for a while and then continued on the 101 to the I-405 arriving in South Orange County at night.

In summary, my SPF MKII performed flawlessly. The ZF and the Roush 427SR with Holley carb purred for some 15 hours with no hiccups.

The gearing that Dennis Olthoff spec'd is great - 65mph was about 2000 rpm and 80 was about 2500 or so. It has a sweet spot at 80mph. The engine just purrs.

I wasn't sure of the accuracy of the gas gauge, so I didn't let it go too far below 1/2 tank for the first couple of fills. The gauge reads full for 120 miles or so after a fillup before it starts to drop. At about 1/2 tank reading on the gauge it was taking 12 - 13 gallons. Here is the great news - the car averaged about 25 MPG at 70-80MPH. Unbelievable.

Here is what I learned from the drive:

1. The car has long legs at 25MPG; longer than my bladder.
2. Your luggage needs to be, um, minimal to say the least. We had one duffle stuffed in the copilot's footwell and one under the drivers knees, and the door pockets were full.
3. Not really a car for dogs. We used Mutt Muffs to protect his hearing, but he was having problems napping and finding a comfortable way to sleep the first day. The second day was much better after he stopped looking for the back seat to stretch out on.
4. Santa Barbara is not the place for a car like this - too many dips in teh road that can take it to the nose.
5. Ear plugs or noise cancelling headsets are recommended. I still have a slight buzz in my head - to match the big grin on my face.
6. I get a little belt slippage when first starting the engine. I delayed the A/C until a minute or so to minimize the squeel.
7. The A/C worked good - never let us down in 90 degree heat. I would like a bit more fan and may look into that.
8. I got some good wind noise at speeds over 70MPH on the RHS door and none really on the LHS. I need to look at teh seal.
9. I had a thumping on the left side over potholes and transitions on the crappy roads of California that I diagnosed as the rear clamshell being loose. I have thicker version of the foam they used and put that on the existing foam the that looks like it might cure that.
10. For the most part, the 101 was nice from Morgan Hill to Santa Barbara. The I-405 was bad and the I-5 was bad. If you don't mind the extra distance, driving the 101 is a treat - much better than the I-5.
11. My amber turn signal light is too dim during the day and just right at night.
12. My red fan light is bright during the day and real bright at night.
13. The car headlights were adequate at night.
14. California has some seriously bad drivers, but we knew that.
15. Porsche drivers are the biggest gawkers.
16. The two internal convex mirror and the center rear view are adequate. I had no blind spots. A quick press of the throttle and everything shifts from beside to behind you.
17. You really need to watch the nose on dips and ramps.

What a great car! I gained a few rock chips - which is fine - actually, I like to think I earned them. My wife is already looking forward to driving the car back up to Oregon!

My thanks go to HiTech, Superformance, Roush, RBT and Olthoff Racing for making one outstanding car.

Mike

NSXER · 07-09-09, 11:45 PM

Fantastic!
Nothing quite like a good long road trip in the GT40....with a dog as well.
Please post more pics if you have them.

Brian

Chuck · 07-10-09, 12:13 AM

Mike

Would like to see a picture of the three of you emerging from the cockpit after a few hours of road time . . . . . sounds like a memorable road trip.

Look forward to seeing you at Road America . . . . the Webers are behaving at the moment . . . .

Chuck

SpyderMike · 07-10-09, 12:43 AM

Brian,
Not too many pictures as we forgot to unload our camera from the last trip. Not too many picture that are worthy. I have apicture Sara took of the steering wheel that reminds me - the engine ran perfect - oil pressure 50+-1psi, water temp 80+-5 degrees C, oil temp 80 +-5 degrees C the whole way.

Chuck,
One thing I forgot to mention was the ritual of getting in and out. It takes a while to master. By the way, 15 hours in the saddle over two days and I was never sore nor tired. It is a very comfortable ride. The second picture is so that you can recognize me at RA (and run the other way if you choose to). I had too much fun and wine before this picture was taken, feeling a bit rough.

My wife's cousin will be running a Benneton F1 car for a Mr French (I think it used to belong to Mr Dayton) and a Formula Atlantic for his son. This should be fun.

See you all in Wisco!

Steve C · 07-10-09, 12:51 AM

Mike,

Great story!

Glad to see others putting miles on the cars.

I have about 3,000 miles on P2125 (FE powered with ZF) now.

My gearing is like yours and even with the FE I'm getting about 20 MPG at 70-75MPH constant highway miles (I too was really surprised)

Many 200 and 300 mile drives with my wife and never a breakdown or issue on the road.

I toned down the red fan light by covering the bulb with a red rubber cover specifically made to color white bulbs...sold in auto stores.

If you haven't installed pop out vents in the windows you might want to consider them...great when A/C not needed and you want fresh air.

Wish I was joining you and the others at Road America. Make sure you give us a full report!

How about having Gromit give us his trip report.

Steve C

SpyderMike · 07-10-09, 01:03 AM

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