My first REAL HHR road trip
 

Hello everybody on June 11th i am taking the hhr for nice long road trip and i would like some feedback from anybody who has done heavy driving on their HHR. Any info would be helpfull from something as simple as "the car gets best milage going XX miles an hour" or "I recommend purchasing XXXX which will make your ride more comfortable", etc.

-Details
I already got the car checked out (oil change, tires, checked spare, tested battery, topped off fluids, etc)
-Car Specs
43000K miles
1Lt 2.2 motor auto

Trip specs
Miami to DC and back (a few stops in between to Orlando, Savannah, Carolinas, etc)

Get a Garmin GPS with Ecoroute software on it. Once you set up the vehicle profile it tells you when you are being the most efficient. For me on highways at around 115km/hr it shows 99% efficient. So I will lock in the cruise control there.

www.garmin.com

This link shows a checklist of features you may want:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134&ra=true
One step further in your monitoring would be the Ecoroute HD :
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=38354

I keep a 4 D-Cell club, um, I mean Maglight on the back drivers side floor.

Also EMS or REI or Wally World sell packaged first aid kits for hiking.
I keep one with stuff I added like extra & different size band-aids, q-tips, Gold Bond powder, etc...

Tupperware tub to water the dog.

I got a small Igloo cooler that fits in my cargo organizer for drinks and bought a buncha bags of beef jerky JIC.

Stop at the Info Center in each state to get free maps.

Took mine Indy to Mass last summer, no problems no special equipment needed, (except patience for the idiots out there...:roll:) just have a safe trip and enjoy the ride...

Hey Z-Man....

Good you see (hear) from you once in a while. How is things going for you? I bet, with all the changes occurring, not many people on this forum know you any more.
Stop by more frequently !!

I drove my '07 1LT from McKinney(Dallas area), TX, to Erie, PA, roundtrip back in March.

Had about 34,000 miles on before I left. It's about 1275 miles each way. I averaged 70 mph and 32 mpg on the DIC going and 73 mph and 33.5 mpg coming back. Hit some construction and heavy rain on the way up, so that may have hurt the mileage some.

This was on 4 brand new tires and 87 gas. Also, I limit my stops when traveling long trips like that - one stop: fill up gas, restroom, and food all in one. I just hate getting on the road and then having to stop 2 hrs later.

New article about stuff we already knew..........

Find an alternate route out of Florida other than dIe-95

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/0...ding&pageNum=2

I-4 in Orlando doesn't rank much better either.

Wow...i know I-95 in Miami was bad but not that bad :( thanks for the advice

Since i am leaving this friday at around 4pm i am taking the turnpike to Orlando to avoid the typical I-95 traffic and will just crash at my brothers place. On Saturday morning i will start heading North on I-95 hopefully the drive is smooth since I will be doing my driving up on the weekend and only while the sun is up.

I have a question for anyone from D.C or who has been there. I will start my drive out of D.C and start heading south on June 16th and will be heading to Luray Virginia, does anyone have any tips on getting out of D.C with it not taking 100 hours, i hear traffic can be brutal and i was told to either leave before 6:30am or wait until after 10am to start driving.

I took mine on a 250mi trip from Wallingford CT to Montpieller VT and had a great time, other then idiotic drivers, it was a fun time. With a full load I did 26ish MPG but driving anywhere between 65-80 mph.