road trip to CALIFORNIA FROM Vancouver

Ok Im planning a trip for the end of this month leaving vancouver and driving down the coast to Sanfran and then to LA.
I have a 97 Passat TDI.
I was wondering what I should do to prepare my car for the heat, fuel.?
How is the fuel down there and where should I get it. How much/?
What about the biodiesel...? Is it safe to use in my car because if anything I dont want to get stranded down there..
What the best place generally to get diesel there that is good quality because someone here was saying the diesel in california is not that good....

Thanks

Pat

If you want to use straight diesel, there are Arco stations all along your way that sell the new low sulfur ECD-1 fuel once you're in CA. See:

http://www.ecdiesel.com/ECD_1_offerlist.pdf

Biodiesel is available, but much harder to find.

HTHs

Cali has some of the best fuel in the lower 48 states....Arco & Shell are IMHO two of the best places in Cali for fuel, Temp is HT as HLL, triple digits through the I-5 corridor, no worries though

[ July 07, 2002, 15:54: Message edited by: zeedaddy ]

You might want to stay along the coast down US 101 along the OR coast and into CA. One of the best coast lines in the world. There are plenty of places to camp along the way and with the range of a Passat you should only have to refuel once or maybe twice each way. There are plenty of places to fuel both in and out of the big metro areas. If you are going to be traveling the major hwys there are plenty of truck stops that have fuel and the tanks are refilled almost daily and low sulphur or not the fuel as regulated by CARB is some of the best. I live in Reno and try to fill up before coming back over the hill and the car always seems to run at least as good if not better on CA fuel. Have seen prices anywhere between 1.35 and 1.60 depending on the location.
Have a good trip should be fun as Zeedaddy said the valley is a baker this time of year hi-90's low-100's are common. Along the coast 60's-80's are generally common.

Pat- sounds like a great trip. Good fuel can be had from Flying J in Fife (near Tacoma), they have your basic truck-stop fuel. Also there is a shell-branded truck stop south of Olympia that I have used before with no problems.

There is a Jubitz truck stop just across the border into Oregon that I wouldn't recommend because they are confusing to get to and their fuel is nothing special. Between portland and Eugene there are several average-quality truck stops spaced out along the highway.

The best fuel in Oregon at this time is probably the B20 (20% biodiesel blend) being sold by Albina oil Co. at their Tesoro station on 32nd and NE Broadway. If you are interested in checking it out I highly recommend it... I filled up there yesterday and have been enjoying quieter, smoother, and overall more "peppy" operation. Not to mention the emissions benifits. They are easy to find from I-5. Bear in mind that BD has a tendency to clean deposits out of your fuel system and those deposits will end up in your fuel filter, so it's a good idea to have a spare on hand just in case your filter clogs (but it's a good idea to carry a spare on road trips anyway). Other than that your car should be fine on BD.

I recently drove to California and filled up with EC1 at the Arco in Red Bluff. That stuff is excellent fuel and was 10-20 cents cheaper than bay area stations, but any fuel in california will be superior to the stuff commonly available outside of California, due to tighter regulations.

Finally, if you are in any sort of a hurry, dont take 101 down the Oregon coast. It's a beautiful but VERY slow drive.