06-04-2019, 12:07 AM
First proper road trip with the GTI - down to OR for a rafting trip and back - https://goo.gl/maps/4YbsZbd9eKMgAVfq7
The car really traveled better then my expectations. It was two adult humans and some light camping/rafting gear; tons of space leftover. This part of WA is mostly long, flat stretches, and rolling hills/curves. The speed limit out there 65 or 75 and it's not uncommon for whatever marginal traffic you encounter to move faster than that. I had cruise control set *high enough* and did get see where the horse could take me when passing a few cars in passing zones. I thought I got popped once, but he was actually pulling over a buddy a few cars behind. He was doing 84 in a 65 and got off with a warning.
Anyway, the car was great. The seats held up really well and the thing is fun to drive at highway speeds. You can put it pretty much anywhere and it's more stable over rough road than the BMW. I tried the whole downshift manual thing... it wasn't any more rewarding than mashing the peddle and waiting for the downshift. Maybe I should practice or something. All in, it was about nine hours of driving and I never felt the desire to switch places. Fuel economy was good - even with those healthy speeds in Sport mode the entire time, I saw about 30 mpg.
Oh, and I hit 5,000 on the way but missed taking a picture.
![[Image: WTeQe59.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/WTeQe59.jpg)
![[Image: EjFXUA1.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/EjFXUA1.jpg)
![[Image: 3MQz2xP.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/3MQz2xP.jpg)
![[Image: yIeDPM3.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/yIeDPM3.jpg)
The car really traveled better then my expectations. It was two adult humans and some light camping/rafting gear; tons of space leftover. This part of WA is mostly long, flat stretches, and rolling hills/curves. The speed limit out there 65 or 75 and it's not uncommon for whatever marginal traffic you encounter to move faster than that. I had cruise control set *high enough* and did get see where the horse could take me when passing a few cars in passing zones. I thought I got popped once, but he was actually pulling over a buddy a few cars behind. He was doing 84 in a 65 and got off with a warning.
Anyway, the car was great. The seats held up really well and the thing is fun to drive at highway speeds. You can put it pretty much anywhere and it's more stable over rough road than the BMW. I tried the whole downshift manual thing... it wasn't any more rewarding than mashing the peddle and waiting for the downshift. Maybe I should practice or something. All in, it was about nine hours of driving and I never felt the desire to switch places. Fuel economy was good - even with those healthy speeds in Sport mode the entire time, I saw about 30 mpg.
Oh, and I hit 5,000 on the way but missed taking a picture.
'76 911S | '14 328xi | '17 GTI | In memoriam: '08 848, '85 944
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth