Coast to Coast

[Rexedgar]

Any cross country trippers here?

I drove a 1956 TR-3 from San Jose to Philadelphia ,while in the US Army in 1973. In 2006 I rode a motorcycle from Wilmington, DE to San Diego following mostly I 80. I returned a few weeks later on mostly I 20. It’s a big country!

The TR-3 was a while back, but I seem to remember the northern route, I 80, but I don’t think it was all finished then. Ran low on funds; one of the last meals was a 50 cent bowl of decent chili near Chicago. I had to beg my way through some tolls ion the PA Turnpike.

 

[Exquisitor]

Any cross country trippers here?

I drove a 1956 TR-3 from San Jose to Philadelphia ,while in the US Army in 1973. In 2006 I rode a motorcycle from Wilmington, DE to San Diego following mostly I 80. I returned a few weeks later on mostly I 20. It’s a big country!

The TR-3 was a while back, but I seem to remember the northern route, I 80, but I don’t think it was all finished then. Ran low on funds; one of the last meals was a 50 cent bowl of decent chili near Chicago. I had to beg my way through some tolls ion the PA Turnpike.

I hitch hiked up California and caught a bus to Lansing from Mt. Shasta.

Another time I hoped in with a guy from Berkeley to Mt. Hood to Boulder and Las Vegas.

Another time I flew to Las Vegas and caught a flight back from LA.

Another time I took a bus from LA to Duluth.

Last time (2003) I flew into Rhinelander.

 

[PirateMk1]

Any cross country trippers here?

I drove a 1956 TR-3 from San Jose to Philadelphia ,while in the US Army in 1973. In 2006 I rode a motorcycle from Wilmington, DE to San Diego following mostly I 80. I returned a few weeks later on mostly I 20. It’s a big country!

The TR-3 was a while back, but I seem to remember the northern route, I 80, but I don’t think it was all finished then. Ran low on funds; one of the last meals was a 50 cent bowl of decent chili near Chicago. I had to beg my way through some tolls ion the PA Turnpike.

The Triumph TR-3's were nice little roadsters. I own Spitfires myself. I have 1973 MkIV and a 1979 1500.

Been there did that, been to all lower 48 professionally. I want to do it eventually on my own time frame in a RV. I also want to get Alaska and Hawaii in, and then do the Great Loop which is a circumnavigation of the eastern part of the United States via the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean. Very few people ever do it, more people play in the NFL than do that trip. They last part of my bucket list is to do a circumnavigation of the globe via boat.

 

[Rexedgar]

The Triumph TR-3's were nice little roadsters. I own Spitfires myself. I have 1973 MkIV and a 1979 1500.

Been there did that, been to all lower 48 professionally. I want to do it eventually on my own time frame in a RV. I also want to get Alaska and Hawaii in, and then do the Great Loop which is a circumnavigation of the eastern part of the United States via the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean. Very few people ever do it, more people play in the NFL than do that trip. They last part of my bucket list is to do a circumnavigation of the globe via boat.

The Selective Service was breathing down my neck in fall of 1972. I was in DC and my brother lived in San Jose. I was going to visit before being drafted. I loaded up my 1959 Bugeye Sprite.
I didn’t make it twenty mile before one of the axles broke. I sold it and all of my worldly possessions and bought a train ticket westbound. I bought the TR in San Jose and joined the Army a month or so later, (got the Greetings letter two weeks into Basic.) I was eventually stationed at Ft. Bragg and I caught military hops to go west and get my car that i drove back. The military standby was a story unto itself......

 

[Gaius46]

I’ve always wanted to ride cross country. A buddy did it back in the 80s just before he got married. Now that the kids are out maybe. I had planned to ride to Tennessee and ride Dragon’s Tail this past spring but Covid delayed those plans.

Also working on wife to drive to Las Vegas. We have a relatively new Challenger and unlike the muscle cars of my youth I could easily see making the trip in it.

 

[Rexedgar]

I’ve always wanted to ride cross country. A buddy did it back in the 80s just before he got married. Now that the kids are out maybe. I had planned to ride to Tennessee and ride Dragon’s Tail this past spring but Covid delayed those plans.

Also working on wife to drive to Las Vegas. We have a relatively new Challenger and unlike the muscle cars of my youth I could easily see making the trip in it.

Sounds like you ride two wheels as well. The X-country ride was fun and done at about the last possible age to be done relatively safely. Mid-fifties; the weather sucked for the first few days; when I crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa, the sun came out and the weather was perfect from that point forward. Nebraska is a long state, but not as long as Texas, from El Paso to Texarkana.

 

[ModerationNow!]

Any cross country trippers here?

I drove a 1956 TR-3 from San Jose to Philadelphia ,while in the US Army in 1973. In 2006 I rode a motorcycle from Wilmington, DE to San Diego following mostly I 80. I returned a few weeks later on mostly I 20. It’s a big country!

The TR-3 was a while back, but I seem to remember the northern route, I 80, but I don’t think it was all finished then. Ran low on funds; one of the last meals was a 50 cent bowl of decent chili near Chicago. I had to beg my way through some tolls ion the PA Turnpike.

I live near Wilmington Delaware. That being the case, it's impossible to grasp the concept of "wanting to leave Wilmington De to go somewhere else"! It's just that it's such a WONDERFUL place, that no one should have a desire to leave it, even temporarily! Lol. (just kidding{obviously})!

But no, I've actually NEVER taken a truly ambitious, long distance road trip of more than a few hundred miles tops! I've driven up and down the east coast, usually for vacationing in FL, NY, NJ, VT, NC, SC, etc. But they were pre-planned vacations, not spur of the moment trips! I've only been out west once, way back in the 80s when I was about 14-15, but it was a business trip of my father's, and we flew there(LA) out of Philly. We visited typical tourist traps like the "Spruce Goose and Queen Mary" attraction.

BUT...... While there, we DID take a REALLY COOL road trip from our motel in Santa Ana to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area of AZ through the desert, via rt10. We went there to visit an aunt and uncle who'd moved out there from High Point NC.

Route 10 was a VERY memorable drive, because it was my first time ever seeing the desert. It was especially beautiful once we'd crossed over into Az, into the Saguaro cactus-strewn Sonoran desert!

 

[Gaius46]

Sounds like you ride two wheels as well. The X-country ride was fun and done at about the last possible age to be done relatively safely. Mid-fifties; the weather sucked for the first few days; when I crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa, the sun came out and the weather was perfect from that point forward. Nebraska is a long state, but not as long as Texas, from El Paso to Texarkana.

Don’t say that. I’ll be 60 next year!

Yes I ride though in the last few years not as much as I’d like. I never really took a long trip by bike - longest is probably not much more than a couple hundred miles. The Tennessee trip I had planned is about 650 or so miles each way (I live on Long Island) and would easily have been the longest bike ride I’ve done. Next year.

When she was in school in Indiana we drove to see our daughter several times a year. PA is a long assed state.

A few years back my wife and I rented a Harley in Las Vegas. First stop was one of those drive up marriage places to get married again - it was our 30th anniversary. We then celebrated by riding up into the Red Rocks Canyon. If you’re ever out that way it’s a great ride.

 

[PirateMk1]

I’ve always wanted to ride cross country. A buddy did it back in the 80s just before he got married. Now that the kids are out maybe. I had planned to ride to Tennessee and ride Dragon’s Tail this past spring but Covid delayed those plans.

Also working on wife to drive to Las Vegas. We have a relatively new Challenger and unlike the muscle cars of my youth I could easily see making the trip in it.

I always play a little Elvis when going to Vegas. "Viva Las Vegas". ZZ Top does a very nice cover of that by the by. I don't know were you would be coming from exactly but take the back roads to get there. There are some very nice ones. I recommend Hwy 93 and 50 in Nevada. Just make sure your vehicle is in tiptop shape and you have a cell booster in your car. Early spring before it gets too hot is great. Drive during the day as that country is free range which means the cattle is not fenced in. Its beautiful drive and there are usually not many people on the road.

 

[ModerationNow!]

I’ve always wanted to ride cross country. A buddy did it back in the 80s just before he got married. Now that the kids are out maybe. I had planned to ride to Tennessee and ride Dragon’s Tail this past spring but Covid delayed those plans.

Also working on wife to drive to Las Vegas. We have a relatively new Challenger and unlike the muscle cars of my youth I could easily see making the trip in it.

What year Challenger, what engine, and if it's a hemi, which one? The day I bought my new truck in 2005, i test drove a Charger. It was the first or 2nd year of the return of the hemi, but it was the smallest version, which was 5.7L I think. It had roughly 340hp in 2005.

But within a few years, they'd increased it to 5.9L then 6.1L, and I lost track after that. In 06, they began offering the "variable displacement" version of the 5.7L, which actually just shut off spark and fuel to 1/2 the cylinders. It would obviously be impossible to truly "vary the displacement", unless you could somehow reduce the piston stroke on the fly(and/or cause the cylinder walls(bore) to close in on themselves, like a room with walls that close in on James Bond or Indiana Jones. Lol), while also simultaneously shrinking the pistons' diameter..

The hemi is kinda mid sized compared with the smaller Ford new(er) generation V8("modular motor") of 4.6 - 5.0 - 5.4L, and the potentially larger GM LS family of small block V8's, which start at 4.8L and go up, up, UP from there, to 7.0L( 427ci) LS7 being the largest version that Chevy installs into production cars(top level Corvette).

But GMPP(General Motors Performance Parts) produces an iron block LS high performance crate motor called the LSX, which is designed to handle up to 2,000 horsepower(not a typo either)! It comes in at least 2 different deck heights. They produce a 454ci LSX(7.4L) and their tall deck LSX is made to be bored/stroked out to at least 500ci(8.2L). An aftermarket company(RHS) has come up with an aluminum LSX block that's now been built to 527ci, or 8.64L! That's a crazy-large small block V8!



Also, what fuel mileage do you get with your Charger?

 

[Gaius46]

What year Challenger, what engine, and if it's a hemi, which one? The day I bought my new truck in 2005, i test drove a Charger. It was the first or 2nd year of the return of the hemi, but it was the smallest version, which was 5.7L I think. It had roughly 340hp in 2005.

But within a few years, they'd increased it to 5.9L then 6.1L, and I lost track after that. In 06, they began offering the "variable displacement" version of the 5.7L, which actually just shut off spark and fuel to 1/2 the cylinders. It would obviously be impossible to truly "vary the displacement", unless you could somehow reduce the piston stroke on the fly(and/or cause the cylinder walls(bore) to close in on themselves, like a room with walls that close in on James Bond or Indiana Jones. Lol), while also simultaneously shrinking the pistons' diameter..

The hemi is kinda mid sized compared with the smaller Ford new(er) generation V8("modular motor") of 4.6 - 5.0 - 5.4L, and the potentially larger GM LS family of small block V8's, which start at 4.8L and go up, up, UP from there, to 7.0L( 427ci) LS7 being the largest version that Chevy installs into production cars(top level Corvette).

But GMPP(General Motors Performance Parts) produces an iron block LS high performance crate motor called the LSX, which is designed to handle up to 2,000 horsepower(not a typo either)! It comes in at least 2 different deck heights. They produce a 454ci LSX(7.4L) and their tall deck LSX is made to be bored/stroked out to at least 500ci(8.2L). An aftermarket company(RHS) has come up with an aluminum LSX block that's now been built to 527ci, or 8.64L! That's a crazy-large small block V8!



Also, what fuel mileage do you get with your Charger?

Mine’s a 2018 with 5.7L Hemi and a 6sp manual transmission. My day to day driving - I live in the suburbs - is about 14mpg - on the highway it’s about 25. I’ve taken her to 117mph and it was turning around 3100rpm - not really working all that hard.

2000hp. I’ve been thinking on and off of upgrading to a hellcat but keep coming back to the thought that I’d kill myself with it. 2000hp. Forget it.

Here’s a pic.

 

[Rexedgar]

Mine’s a 2018 with 5.7L Hemi and a 6sp manual transmission. My day to day driving - I live in the suburbs - is about 14mpg - on the highway it’s about 25. I’ve taken her to 117mph and it was turning around 3100rpm - not really working all that hard.

2000hp. I’ve been thinking on and off of upgrading to a hellcat but keep coming back to the thought that I’d kill myself with it. 2000hp. Forget it.

Here’s a pic.

Nice stogie!

I have a 2013 RAM and the advertised mileage was 25mpg. I don’t drive like a teenager and I have never gotten the in dash computer to ever get over 17 something, also a 5.7. How do you calculate your highway mileage?

 

[Gaius46]

Nice stogie!

I have a 2013 RAM and the advertised mileage was 25mpg. I don’t drive like a teenager and I have never gotten the in dash computer to ever get over 17 something, also a 5.7. How do you calculate your highway mileage?

Thx. It went well with the bourbon. .

I’m going by what the computer tells me. It seems accurate enough when compared with how far I can get on a full tank of gas on the highway.

I generally don’t push it either. Most of the time. On the highway usually get it in 6th pretty quickly and cruise at anywhere between about 1500 and 2000rpm which is food for 60-75mph.

 

[ModerationNow!]

Nice stogie!

I have a 2013 RAM and the advertised mileage was 25mpg. I don’t drive like a teenager and I have never gotten the in dash computer to ever get over 17 something, also a 5.7. How do you calculate your highway mileage?

I still own the same 2005 Ram I bought new in 05, and it's got the smaller 4.7L V8 non hemi. I've always gotten about 10mpg!