Road trip distance?

FLYTDI00

Active member
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Sturgis, MI
TDI
00 Beetle
I've had my TDI Beetle for 8 years (can't part with her). Just turned over 250,000. My daily commute is 38 miles one way. So I do daily road trips. My favorite road trips with the family were from Michigan to Seattle Wa and back 4600 miles or so in a liitle over 4 days just to look at a VW that was for sale and a trip to Vermont from MI and back to pick up an 83 TD Rabbit that was given to us. My husband drove it back from VT after changing a strut. No Problems. The Beetle averaged 49 MPG on both trips at 75 MPH even in the mountains. LOVE MY TDI.
It also makes road trips with no destinations whenever we get the urge. Randomly drive for 8 hours or so then drive home.
 

vdub21

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2003
Location
Mississauga Ontario Canada
TDI
4 door 96 Blue
Went from Toronto to Florida ( Jacksonville, Daytona beach, west palm beach, miami, the keys, naples, clearwater, st. petersburg, tampa, orlando and back home. 4,700km trip... tanked up 5 times. Left friday and 9 days later came back on sunday. Great trip. Left Toronto at 4 pm friday and 2 red bulls later and sat 8 am was at the welcome center in florida having orange juice :> love it.

Battery died on me from the extreme temp change. -10C to +35C. Died in Key largo... pushed started the car, went to key west. Pushed started the car again and then i looked for a k mart, changed the battery in the parking lot and went back to key largo without push start :>
 

coffeefor2

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Location
Smithfield, VA
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
VA to MT and back

Went from Smithfield, VA to Missoula, MT and back. 15 days and 6800 miles. Great trip, smooth sailing and no bad weather the whole trip. The only stop I didn't do but wanted to was Pikes Peak, my son was getting nose bleads at the higher altitudes along the way so we decided not to risk it, next trip.

My wife INSISTED on full A/C from the time the car started till I shut it down.

Here's the stats:
Total of 6805 miles
Total of 157.4 Gallons (43.23 MPG)
Total of $672.12 ($0.099 per mile)
Gas was High $4.54 / Low $3.94 / Average $4.27

See the full "Debrief" at http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=2258881#post2258881
 

FLYTDI00

Active member
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Sturgis, MI
TDI
00 Beetle
Tom Servo said:
..and aren't those the best? 8 hours of driving can get you a lot of great places from lower Michigan. :cool:
Yes they are. I love being spontaneous and getting an avg. of 45 mpg makes it easier.
 

vdub21

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2003
Location
Mississauga Ontario Canada
TDI
4 door 96 Blue
080829k said:
金沙宾馆隶属于中国煤矿工人北戴河疗养院北戴河坐落在北戴河海滨中海滩景区,与老虎石公园一条马路之隔,位置优越。南戴河 宾馆有标准间90间,套房8间,辖院内2、3、4、7号楼,除12间为地毯外,戴河旅游其余全部为复合地板,全天24小时热水,大部分房间可看海。南戴河旅游院内配有餐厅及会议培训中心,与各区共400余间客房形成
Chinese characters??? cant make anything out..... is everyone else just seeing what i'm seeing... a box with 4 numbers in each corner?
 

coffeefor2

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Location
Smithfield, VA
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Bikeprof => I've got her looking at wagons... She needs room for the dog, an 80lb Lab. She will not go anywhere without him. The Golf is an option I didn't think of. :rolleyes:
 

Tom Servo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2000
Location
LA (Lower Alabama)
TDI
2005 Gol TDI, blue and falling apart
vdub21 said:
Chinese characters??? cant make anything out..... is everyone else just seeing what i'm seeing... a box with 4 numbers in each corner?
Chinese real estate spam. :(
 

naba

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2004
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
2002 Jetta GL TDI Black
I went from Texas to Ohio and back a few weeks ago for a funeral. About a 3000 mile drive round trip. Got 50 mpg or better the whole trip.
 

Tom Servo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2000
Location
LA (Lower Alabama)
TDI
2005 Gol TDI, blue and falling apart
vdub21 said:
Cant the mods delete that and kick them off?
I believe they did, which is why the original post is gone. :)

And on the subject of road trips, I took a short hop to Jackson the other day. Sure, 100 miles isn't that far in TDI-land, but it was during the worst part of Gustav.

The wind and rain wasn't as bad as I thought, but I cannot tell you how many scurring field mice, frogs and snakes I saw on the road. It was kinda surreal in places, with literally hundreds of frogs hopping across the road!
 

lovemybug

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Location
SE Wisconsin
TDI
2002 Red Beetle
Taking a weekend trip out to VA in a week and a half. Curious to see what mileage I get on this trip. Got a little over 41 last fall going down to Birmingham. Of course at that time I had overly worn tires and a pair of growling rear wheel bearings. Changing engine oil and tranny fluid before I go. Gonna make sure my tires are pumped up to where I like them, too. Looking at hitting WV before I need to fill up.
 

naba

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2004
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
2002 Jetta GL TDI Black
I took the 02, I would have like to taken the 06. I would have had more leg room. My wife cannot drive manual so I had to drive the 02.

Me and my wife did take a trip from Houston to San Antonio a few months back. We did break the 50 mpg mark on that trip.

My wife drives in alot for her job in stop and go traffic. I know she does not get 50 mpg on the regular. I doubts she even cares. She likes that she does not have to fill up so often compared with similar vehicles
 

bikeprof

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Location
Pagosa Springs, Colorado(YEAH!)
TDI
1996 Passat B4 Variant white, 1996 Town & Country 3.8 LXI
Road trips; hmmm, I wonder if the road trips that I take to Boulder and back accumulate more vertical distance than directional distance?

Now, that is a question that someone has to help me out one of these days....(I do not have a GPS or altitude monitor).

My ailing B4 got 41 MPG this trip!
 

Geoduck

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Location
Del-a-where?
TDI
2009 Jetta TDI Sportwagen
OK...this is rough but Boulder CO is about 5,400 ft elevation and Pagosa Springs is about 7,100 ft - so vertically it would be 1,700 ft. But...I see they are about 6 hrs apart so I have no idea what elevations you would travel though - That was no help at all!:p
 

coffeefor2

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Location
Smithfield, VA
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Elevation change trips

bikeprof, Look on a good map and you may be able to find the highest point along your route. If you know your elevation at home, you can guess-timate the rest.

When we did our trip from home in VA (elv. ~65ft at our house) to Montana and back, we crossed the continental devide several times. When I got home, I looked at the elevations at the devides we crossed and determined the highest was just under 11,000ft. Had we done Pikes Peak, that number would be ~14,200ft.

I'm wondering whose road trip has had the most evevation change?:rolleyes: This could be an interesting......

Anybody have any numbers?!?!?!
 

Tom Servo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2000
Location
LA (Lower Alabama)
TDI
2005 Gol TDI, blue and falling apart
coffeefor2 said:
I'm wondering whose road trip has had the most evevation change?:rolleyes: This could be an interesting......

Anybody have any numbers?!?!?!
Death Valley (-282') to Pike's Peak (14,110')? :p
 

bikeprof

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Location
Pagosa Springs, Colorado(YEAH!)
TDI
1996 Passat B4 Variant white, 1996 Town & Country 3.8 LXI
Deciding to buy another toy is sometimes a "MUST", maybe a GPS unit that has the necessary processing included.

Hmmmmm, where is the X-mas gift(is it too early?)

:(
 

coffeefor2

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Location
Smithfield, VA
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Tom Servo said:
Death Valley (-282') to Pike's Peak (14,110')? :p
OK. In give up... You win! :mad: But wait!! Death Valley... Below sea level?!?!?!? That's cheating!!!! LOL :D

No but really, how was the climb up Pike's Peak, I missed out on it last trip but was wondering if it's worth it for the next one.

bikeprof... You must get close to this on your way South of the Boarder trips. Don't you go over any realy high passes? Check your map, you might be able to get in on this one!
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Its becoming routine to me now.

Every fall I drive 4,700 km ( 2,920 miles ) one way to Mexico and then in the spring I do the return trip.

From Ontario via , MI, OH, KY, TN, AR and then Laredo,TX. That's 3,000 km
( 1864 miles ) and another 1,700km ( 1,056 miles ) in Mexico to the Pacific coast.
 

bikeprof

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Location
Pagosa Springs, Colorado(YEAH!)
TDI
1996 Passat B4 Variant white, 1996 Town & Country 3.8 LXI
Pike's Peak is actually a good amount of the way out of the way for me.

If I wanted to go there, I would have to detour and deal with the people that live in Colorado Springs and THAT would NOT be nice for me!

I did live on the skirts of Pikes Peak in early '90's, at the time, it was the LAST house before the TOLL BOOTH ;) .

NICE TRIP, JETTA PILOT!
Is that "kind-of" hibernating ??????
 
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cptmox

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2001
Location
Villa Park, IL.
TDI
01 Jetta GLS, Silver 5-spd
bikeprof said:
Road trips; hmmm, I wonder if the road trips that I take to Boulder and back accumulate more vertical distance than directional distance?
No.

That would require a slope of 50% or greater. IOW a 45* angle. IOW a steep a$$ hill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(slope)

I get the impression that you know all this already, and you are simple musing out loud. Either way, it does sound like you have a much more beautiful and picturesque drive than my very flat daily commute down Chicago's Eisenhower expressway. :)
 

AndyUpNorth

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Location
Alberta, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta GLS TDI
One time, a friend and I, drove from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Cancun Mexico. The whole trip was around 6800km (4080 miles). We left in -20C Temperatures, and ended up in +30C. It took around 5 days of driving. The first 21 hours was from Calgary to Colorado Springs, and the second 'Day' was from Colorado springs to Mexico City, which was around 36 hours, through Texas. The rest of the way through mexico was split up into some smaller trips.

Only problem with this whole trip... It was before I owned my TDI. But still, by far, the craziest road trip of my life.
 
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CLN DSL

Active member
Joined
Sep 5, 2008
Location
Alberta
TDI
2009 Sportwagen TDI Highline, blue graphite w/ anthracite leather (ordered)
I drove to Oklahoma City for the weekend, this past weekend, from Edmonton, Ab. 2000 miles each way. 64 hrs of driving for three days in OKC. It was fun but I'm still beat! Also did a 4500 mile road trip in July down through mt, wy, ut, co, az, nm, nv, and id. No better way to spend time than on the open highway :D
 

bikeprof

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Location
Pagosa Springs, Colorado(YEAH!)
TDI
1996 Passat B4 Variant white, 1996 Town & Country 3.8 LXI
cpt mox:

Yes, I do know that what I am asking(vertical/horizontal distance), is not but sure feels like I am getting close to the moon at times!

I have travelled to the Chilean and Argentinian ANDES mountain passes(most are at ~5.000 meters/15.000 feet), from sea level in one day, now THAT is a climb! And I did it with a N/A(naturally aspirated) Citroen C-15 DIESEL 1.9L. That took all day and night...
 

CLN DSL

Active member
Joined
Sep 5, 2008
Location
Alberta
TDI
2009 Sportwagen TDI Highline, blue graphite w/ anthracite leather (ordered)
bikeprof:

I have a confession! That wasn't in a TDI... it is ordered though, and I can't wait. OKC was in a ford expedition (14L/100) and the other trip was in an acura 2.3cl (37mpg) ...imperial mpg.

I think as soon as i get the TDI i will be off to California!
 

Magi'sGolf

Active member
Joined
May 18, 2008
Location
Illinois
TDI
2005 GOLF TDI GLS; 2004 Golf GLS TDI, TOTALLED on her way to western Europe to be parted out.
Me and the GOLF go for a meet and greet each other

1. Does it have to be fun?
I found out that when I turn on my Golf...it returns the favor.

2. What IS the magic number of mileage to call it a trip?
Even when I just sit on the "throne" I feel like I'm on a road trip..is it
true love?

3. Are we driving to "Break in" the new TDI?
I actutally drove from Illinos to Colorado and back...about 3500 miles with all the extra places I went...just to see how she'd handle in the cold(and yes it snowed) on a long multi-tank really hot road trip..it was like the upper 90's in Kansas...Handled beautifully...

4. Do we have to get away from the "significant other" to call it a "road trip", or do they have to come to call it, a "road trip"?
DUH

5. Does overnight mean a "road trip"?
nope, you can drive 1000 miles in 11 hours, straight so that's a road trip

6. Is the making of memories entitle us to the "road trip" label?
Every time I look at that beautiful Blueberry I remember how my my grandson loved her(except the car was a boy then....not sure what that means)

7. NO breakdowns, means a good "road trip"?
NO breakdowns means it's alot more fun

8. Driving a TDI exclusively IS necessary for the label of a "road trip"?
but of course, why would you drive anything else after you fall in love
with a TDI???

9. Navigating in the USA, is it the only geographic area for it to be a
"road trip"?
I don't have plans, but if I thought I could drive Blueberry to Alaska and cross over the Straight via ferry, I might do it!:D

10. Do you have to be a guy to be able to post here? because I'm a Granny.
 

bikeprof

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Location
Pagosa Springs, Colorado(YEAH!)
TDI
1996 Passat B4 Variant white, 1996 Town & Country 3.8 LXI
Maggie..., WELCOME!

Any time I get in my 1996 TDI wagon is enjoyable even though it has 330K miles on the motor and is not too responsive at times any more...

I live in the southwest corner of Colorado on my way to Houston to take care of my mother(90yo next month!) but I am in Denver at my daughters tonight(300 miles from my house).
Tomorrow I leave for Las Vegas to purchase a couple of TDI engines from ALEX(Z&S-"vanamania"), importer of TDI stuff in Pahrump, NV(830 miles from Denver).

Hopefully with a good engines in my wagon by Monday PM, I head to Houston...(1,525 miles from Pahrump).

Is that going out of my way or what?
 
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