I drove from travis afb (CA) to Fort Gordon Ga with 2 drivers and we made one stop half way. I changed the oil before we left and after I got there. I just check all my fluids, belts, air pressure those type of things. the evo did great no problems what so ever. I brought some tools and a box of screws, bolts clamps because you just never know. then a few months later I drove the same route back to Ca with no problems again.

 

let me know how this goes for ya! I will be doing something similar. Seattle to Savannah Georgia. But i will have stops at Ft Irwin, CA, Denver, Ft Worth Texas, Nashville, Ft Rucker, and then Hunter Army Airfield!

 

Thanks for all the good tips, I will keep all of this in mind.

 

I will be doing a thread on the drive when I do it. I will take pictures of the Evo in every major city I go through. I will start the trip in Miami and end it in Seattle, showing I went from the furthest southeast major city to the furthest Northwest major city of America. I won't be making the drive until February I just want to make sure I am ready when the time comes.

 

drove mine from san diego to daytona beach fl. to virginia beach va and back down to miami and up to new york again.

As long as you keep the basic tools on you for a just in case situation and your cars upkeep is taken care of you will be fine. but you have any kind of issue you know about now which would "rise" while the trip started dont take the car.

 

Heh, funny you're from Ft. Meyers. I lived there for a few years before I joined the Army.

Back in December while I was on block leave I drove from Ft. Campbell, KY to Ft. Meyers, to Key West, back to Ft. Meyers, back to Ft. Campbell then finally to Minneapolis, MN.

I think it ended up being about 3400 miles total with the random driving around Florida. That was over a 11 day period.

That was with fresh paint, I picked the car up from a body shop in Nashville, then two days later started my trip. Didn't pick up a single rock chip on the front end. Just keep your distance from people in traffic. I suppose some degree of luck helped that too. I did most of my driving at night to avoid there being many people around.

The worst part will be not having cruise. Your(well at least mine did) leg(s) cramped up after a few hours of driving, and it was really hard to manage the inevitable speed creep.

Having only the factory CD player with no Ipod input was kind of a bummer too. But I fixed that problem once I got to MN.

When I get back from A-Stan I plan on flying to MN, driving my car back to Ft. Campbell, then probably drive to FL during leave again.

Edit: Saw you're going to do it in the winter months. If you haven't driven your car in the snow with summer tires on it before, be extremely careful. My last trip I drove into winter about Iowa, then there was a snowstorm the day after I got to MN. Without proper snow/winter tires it will be very, very slick.

It's sort of amusing that most of the people that have done the long trips did so because of the military.

 

You can't get a ticket in another state for not having a front tag. That only applies to your own state if you have the front plate law.

 

Like you said how your car was always stationed in a warm climate. Id like to add that the nothern roads suck in the winter time! There WILL be salt and sand on the roads. Living in CT I know how all the salt and sand will llitterally EAT your underbody away! Make sure you have a nice undercoat on the body and to wash off the salt and sand at the local car wash (yes they're open in the winter) as often as you could! Hopefully its not under 32 degrese!

 

As long as regular maintenance is cared for you should be good. I travel a lot in my personal vehicles. Rule one whatever services you do take care of them several days before traveling not on travel day. Also when I travel I usually give the car a look over 1st 100 miles (AAA max towing limit before accruing extra charges) out before continuing.like the title states, I drove from Lauderdale to Cleveland and back problem free.

 

I will be buying some Continental Extreme Contact DWS ( bad *** all season tires) tires for the trip and to drive around on.

 

The car is a Florida car I bought it when I was home on leave a few months ago. Thanks for the tips on the undercoating. I plan to wash the car at least once a week once I get there. Hopefully I can work magic and and get the f out of Washington fast (No Offence to anyone that lives there). I haven't even got there and I am doing everything I can to get out of there. The cold is just not for me.

 

If you have never seen snow, well, you are going to be changing that if you make this trip in February. Learning to drive on snow is like learning to drive all over again. In other words, you don't know how.

So, I'd suggest that you spend some time planning your route - try to avoid high elevations. Also, pay attention to weather forecasts during the trip. I'd also suggest going on past the all season tires and buying winter tires. They will make up for some of your lack of winter driving ability. Also, remember, the people around you in the northern climes are going to be mostly seasoned winter drivers. So, if you are driving as fast as they are on slick roads, you are going too fast.

 

Wouldn't winter tires suck on the dry though (sorry If I sound dumb I know nothing at all about winter tires or all season tires)? Thanks for all the info I really don't know much about cold weather, it 70-80 most of the year in Florida and Okinawa were I am now. It did hit 17 degree once when I was in North Texas for training, but that the lowest I can ever remember seeing.

 

best of luck for your trip. as long as you do the basics before you leave you should be fine.

been wanting to take mine on a road trip but havnt had the time to yet

 

Id much rather have winter tires on dry pavement than all seasons in snow!

Believe me, if youve never driven in snow its going to be VERY different than what you expect. There is a very steep learning curve and the extra margin of safety you'll get with snow tires is well worth it. Also, dont worry about "high performance" snow tires- they're a joke.

A very good cheaper option is the General Altimax Arctic (it is the same EXACT tire as the Gislaved Nordfrost3 with a different name) The Blizzak line of tires from Bridgestone are very good too, but are more expensive.

PS- the key to driving in snow is to make every movement is the car as smooth as possible and always play it safe. Its going to take you much longer to stop and the car is going to want to understeer like a *****! AWD will help you get moving, but its not going to help you turn, despite what a LOT of people think!