Driving around the USA

[tranquilized]

I've just returned from 6 weeks in the USA where I did a road trip with some friends across the country. We started in Calgary, Canada, and made our way to New York - 8000km all up.

I took a lot of notice of the cars I saw on the roads over there. Firstly, there seemed to be a lot of Fords. The Fusion, Edge, and current Mustang were everywhere, and fair enough too - they look absolutely fantastic IMO. I only saw a handful of the new Taurus' though. I'm not sure when they were released, too recently to be around in great numbers I guess. Either that or its the horrible rear end scaring people away! The older model, the shape that came here in the late 90's, were EVERYWHERE. Man they must have sold loads of those. Most of them were a later model than what we got, with a squared off rear windscreen and different front and rear ends - they looked surprisingly good. In New York there were millions of Black Lincoln Town Cars, (Crown Victoria), being used as upmarket taxis. I actually came to like the way they look, as dated as they obviously are.

In six weeks I only spotted two Pontiac Commodores (or whatever they're called - G8?), and only a handful more Camaros. Strangely, despite hating all things SUV, the massive trucks over there started to make more sense to me. The Cadillac Escalade's look awesome!

The roads make a difference as well. The Interstate system is sooo massive - there aren't many parts of the country you cant reach on an immaculate divided four lane freeway. (There were some shocking sections, but they were the exception) The old Dodge Caravan we were driving just didn't cut it and I often found myself wishing it was a Ford F150 or something else BIGGER. The quality of roads really made me realise how rubbish they are in Australia. I mean, even Melbourne to Sydney isn't divided all the way. (wasn't last time I drove it anyway)

But to be honest, I think my mental shift towards bigger cars probably had a bit to do with the cost of fuel - AU$0.70 a litre!! I knew it was cheaper there, but damn, thats nearly half!! God bless America... I was disappointed with the distinct lack of older and classic cars. I guess the cash for clunkers progamme worked.

It was a great trip, with the massive car culture of the US providing an extra, fascinating element.

[kypez]

I was in LA a couple of weeks ago and drove from LA to Vegas and back. Had a brand new 2010 Mustang GT Drop top. It was amazing. And filling it for $40 US (when it was 93cents still for us too!!) was great. But I was amazed at the size of all the cars there. The mustang felt so tiny there! Especially in Vegas. That place is Truck paridise.

and how SWEET those V8's sound. Why are ours so muffled! Every traffic light was heaven hearing all those V8/V10's starting off (Not fast, just being gentle even off the lights). Their roads are amazing too! Hence why I see the Mustang has managed to keep its live axel rear. It would've struggled on Sydney roads. My XR would've loved it there.

Though one thing stood out, their Regular fuel is 87, mild premium is 89 and Top of the line stuff was 91. Whats with that?! I always got weird looks when I walked in and asked for pay for petrol!!

[Fordman]

Interesting, I hope someday i have the money to road-trip it around the great states. The Taurus was close too, if not the best selling sedan back then so im not suprised there was heaps. Also agree with you there's still something nice about the crown vics. Shame about the behind of the Taurus now because the front looks brilliant IMO.

Good insight though, thanks for sharing.

[kypez]

Originally Posted by tranquilized

I've just returned from 6 weeks in the USA where I did a road trip with some friends across the country. We started in Calgary, Canada, and made our way to New York - 8000km all up.


In six weeks I only spotted two Pontiac Commodores (or whatever they're called - G8?), and only a handful more Camaros. Strangely, despite hating all things SUV, the massive trucks over there started to make more sense to me. The Cadillac Escalade's look awesome!



It was a great trip, with the massive car culture of the US providing an extra, fascinating element.

Is there an Exported VE in America? I swear I saw a car that looked like it.


tranquilized, how strict were the coppers about speeding on the east coast? The LA/Vegas run was crazy. People never stuck to the 70mph limit. Infact, I was doing a lot more most of the way to keep up with traffic!

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by kypez

Is there an Exported VE in America? I swear I saw a car that looked like it.


tranquilized, how strict were the coppers about speeding on the east coast? The LA/Vegas run was crazy. People never stuck to the 70mph limit. Infact, I was doing a lot more most of the way to keep up with traffic!

Yes the VE was exported to the States as a Pontiac, which is why your seeing a lot of those different grilles appear on local Commodores now, as Pontiac division was axed.

Speeding, I meant to write about that but completely forgot. Yes! Everyone flies around!! Early in the trip through Montana, where the limit was 75mph, we were constantly sitting on about 85 (140kph) without a cop to be seen. Other states were different. I think it was Pennsylvania where there was a noticable increase in speed enforcement - Police cars hiding everywhere. Coincidently the limit was lower in that state - 60 or 65mph I think. We drove past one a bit fast, maybe about 10mph over. The officer just made a hand motion to us to slow down. I guess they only chase dangerous drivers, which was a strangely foreign concept to me, coming from Victoria and all...

I cant remember where it was, I think between Boston and New York somewhere, where in order to keep up with traffic, we had to do more than 20mph over the speed limit! And when I commented to my friends on how fast everyone drives, they said they considered traffic to be quite slow. Thing is, the friends I was travelling with are all from England. We really do drive slow in Australia and still get fined for it.

[max]

Love those Lincoln Town Cars! During a public transport shutdown I paid only $20 to get from Brooklyn to mid-town Manhattan in one of those. I want one! Did you drive through the Banff National Park in Canada? Driving through the Rockies is truly awesome. In the USA I saw a heck of a lot of Camrys too.
Only old Yank Tanks I saw were in Hawaii oddly enough.

[1LOUDXFUTE]

Originally Posted by kypez

Though one thing stood out, their Regular fuel is 87, mild premium is 89 and Top of the line stuff was 91. Whats with that?! I always got weird looks when I walked in and asked for pay for petrol!!

the US use a different octane rating system than us

their 87 Octane (AKI) is equal to our 91 Octane (RON)

[kypez]

Originally Posted by tranquilized

Yes the VE was exported to the States as a Pontiac, which is why your seeing a lot of those different grilles appear on local Commodores now, as Pontiac division was axed.

Speeding, I meant to write about that but completely forgot. Yes! Everyone flies around!! Early in the trip through Montana, where the limit was 75mph, we were constantly sitting on about 85 (140kph) without a cop to be seen. Other states were different. I think it was Pennsylvania where there was a noticable increase in speed enforcement - Police cars hiding everywhere. Coincidently the limit was lower in that state - 60 or 65mph I think. We drove past one a bit fast, maybe about 10mph over. The officer just made a hand motion to us to slow down. I guess they only chase dangerous drivers, which was a strangely foreign concept to me, coming from Victoria and all...

I cant remember where it was, I think between Boston and New York somewhere, where in order to keep up with traffic, we had to do more than 20mph over the speed limit! And when I commented to my friends on how fast everyone drives, they said they considered traffic to be quite slow. Thing is, the friends I was travelling with are all from England. We really do drive slow in Australia and still get fined for it.

Thats right! Stupid me for forgetting! I saw 1 in Vegas but I couldnt for the life of me remember what branding it was there. (Just saw the tail lights and knew it was VE).

Speeding was crazy. I didnt want to put the numbers up. I think I was doing 110 (not kms/hr) and this guy flew past me like I was standing still. Sheesh! Heck, the coppers were passing me with me doing 75 in a 70 zone (atleast 85-90) with them giving me a strange look like, whats he doing following the limit?!

Originally Posted by 1LOUDXFUTE

the US use a different octane rating system than us

their 87 Octane (AKI) is equal to our 91 Octane (RON)

That would make sense. Just thought that was way too low to be running so many performance cars on.

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by kypez

Speeding was crazy. I didnt want to put the numbers up. I think I was doing 110 (not kms/hr) and this guy flew past me like I was standing still. Sheesh! Heck, the coppers were passing me with me doing 75 in a 70 zone (atleast 85-90) with them giving me a strange look like, whats he doing following the limit?!

I did a smaller road trip from San Francisco through Death Valley to Vegas to the Grand Canyon back to LA in October 2008. From what I remember, there was more speeding in those parts than where I've been recently. I was sitting on 100mph all day on the way to Vegas. Couldn't see any reason why not - check out the roads!

[kypez]

Originally Posted by tranquilized

I did a smaller road trip from San Francisco through Death Valley to Vegas to the Grand Canyon back to LA in October 2008. From what I remember, there was more speeding in those parts than where I've been recently. I was sitting on 100mph all day on the way to Vegas. Couldn't see any reason why not - check out the roads!

that road was amazing going through Death Valley. I dont think a single road in NSW/Vic could compare. So well maintained, so well made! It was just so tempting to put the foot down. And the amount of room you had in each lane was nuts! Probably to accomodate all the supersized vehicles.

[CFOUR]

I was Talking to a yank mate of mine while he was driving and he started skitzing out over somebody tailgating him while he was doing 100mph in a 75mph zone.

[Franco Cozzo]

Whats it like driving on the wrong side of the road? I'd see that as a big problem for me.

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Whats it like driving on the wrong side of the road? I'd see that as a big problem for me.

Takes about 15 minutes to get used to. The biggest problem is round-a-bouts, but there are so few of them in America, it's really a treat to see one, so don't worry about them.
Drove a Ford F350 when I worked over there (work ute), that's a big car! That and the dump truck they got me to drive too! Try hill starting that thing!

[barra265t]

With those awesome roads and lax attitude to speeding out on the open roads, USA really seems more of a home to a Falcon. Really makes me wonder if Australia is really the 'lucky country'.. at all more like nanny, overpoliced country. Can a RHD car be brought over to the USA on permit or something?

[rancidpunx]

Ive jsut got back from doing San Fran to LA via Yosemite and then out to Vegas and back to LA. We also had a brand spanking new mustang, although only a premium V6. Still an awesome car.
I actually preferred driving there compared to here. Heaps more cars about but it just seemed to work better. The freeways are good, although its worse than here for slow drivers in the fast lane. As for the speeds on our way to Vegas we clocked a max of 180 as a cruising speed in free flowing traffic with everyone doing the same in the fast lane. Mostly you can easily sit on 150 all day long. Even my missus who will only do 100 here and hates going fast nearly wet her self when she was cruising at 150. She also said it actually felt right. There were cops about but they didnt seem to care as long as your not being a tw@. Just got into the mind frame to do as they did. Although im still an indicator nazi and no one there uses them, you just drive a little more defensively to allow for the unexpected.

Edit: As to being on the wrong side of the road i think the hardest part is not knowing where to put my right arm as there is no armrest. Only take as said above 15mins to get used to. Although my missus nearly crashed in about 2. She took an inersection and continued on the Aussis side into the path of an oncoming BMW, she then swerved, not back into the correct lane, but towards the curb on the wrong side of the road.

[Bad Bird]

Originally Posted by barra265t

With those awesome roads and lax attitude to speeding out on the open roads, USA really seems more of a home to a Falcon. Really makes me wonder if Australia is really the 'lucky country'.. at all more like nanny, overpoliced country.

I recently had a trip to North America... I don't care what people say about "bloody yanks", most were laid back, polite and most of all fun-loving! The US and Canada rock.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Bad Bird

I recently had a trip to North America... I don't care what people say about "bloody yanks", most were laid back, polite and most of all fun-loving! The US and Canada rock.

My experience was similar, so long as you drove with the traffic things work just fine.

I was over there last September and put 5,000 klms on a Duratec 35 V6 FWD Edge,
I came away mighty impressed with the power delivery, torque curve, 6-speed auto
and great fuel economy.

That engine was heaps better than GM Alloytec 3.6 V6 and would have worked in the Falcon..

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Whats it like driving on the wrong side of the road? I'd see that as a big problem for me.

it seemed perfectly natural to me - although i had a local giving directions, which made trying to find streets etc. easier and took that potential hassle off my mind
changing gear with the right arm was as easy as with the left - must have been all of those arcade games years ago

to me crossing the street was more difficult to get used to. while not that hard, it was more natural to look to your right instead of the left, when at the curb




for yourself damo, it would probably be easier to get used to than for someone like me. you have only been used to a right hand drive car for a couple of years. for me it is 23
my wife was in similar situation. she had driven around manila for only a couple of hours, so when she arrived in australia within a couple of drives, she had more experience in a right hand drive car than left. left hand drive would feel foreign to her now even though she spent 85% of her life in a left hand drive country

[tranquilized]

America and Americans have a bad reputation, but I dont buy it. For the most part they're extremely friendly. Some of the personalities we came across in New York were fantastic, people were so eager to help anyone they saw with a map.

As for Australia being a lucky country, hmmmm.... luckier than some, no doubt, but incredibly overrated. I just cant get over how expensive absolutely everything is here.

[HP-0351]

Awesome!

I'm hoping to get across to the USA for the Hot Rod Power Tour in June 2011.

Only with a twist...we plan on taking Sash's Procharged XY for the trip!

Hopefully all will go to plan

[barra265t]

Originally Posted by HP-0351

Awesome!

I'm hoping to get across to the USA for the Hot Rod Power Tour in June 2011.

Only with a twist...we plan on taking Sash's Procharged XY for the trip!

Hopefully all will go to plan

Taking an XY to the states? delicious. Wonder how many heads would turn when that strange lookin old-school Ford thunders down American streets =.

[HP-0351]

That's the plan. Hopefully all will work out and we'll get over there with the same crew from when we drove from from Sydney to Perth and back in the XY.

I'm sure it will raise a few eyebrows in the states...

[FGX335]

So much fun driving over there. It is a lot less restricted, there is more leniency to speeding, just a great place to be. We had a new Camaro, and it was fantastic, had been on the market for 2 weeks and the stares, whistles and words of encouragement were awesome.

[ebxr8240]

Some road hogs there too Lol...

;
This was the traffic in front..

In front of the Corvette was a Nissan SUV which must have been doing 130 mph..

[xboss]

We got back from the states a couple of weeks ago. 4 of us went and we had a Ford Flex as a drive car. Pretty ugly boxy shape, but very practical with all the luggage and surprisingly economical.

Power Tour is certainly on my to-do list, but not until 2012 or 2013. The plan is to take the XB coupe over and do Power Tour along with some shows.

[Elks]

We are off to the US in Dec / Jan.

We will be driving from Chicago to New York, via Detroit (ford museum, here we come ) the Toronto, Boston then NY..

Plan is to hire an SUV of some sort.. Any tips or tricks would be welcome...

[roadrage77]

If I had a dollar for every Prius I saw in Cali I'd be able to buy a Hoey.

[Spanrz]

Get down to Florida next time....... More Mustangs!

And BTW, don't ya just love doing 60-65-70MPH on the freeways and get overtaking by trucks.... LMAO!
Not like our "nanny" state.

[Spanrz]

Originally Posted by Elks

We are off to the US in Dec / Jan.
We will be driving from Chicago to New York, via Detroit (ford museum, here we come ) the Toronto, Boston then NY..

With the NY bit. There is some great rest stops along the way from Rochester to Albany. Takes about 6 hours to get to Albany from Rochester (Vice versa)
It shouldn't be too cold in Dec, but it will be around -5c.
We drove in snow and ice (-10c and below). Just be very careful driving under bridges when it's very cold and icy.
The cars literally dance on the road from the water dripping on the road from the bridge.
Get past Albany and it's basically a different world. Enter "deliverance" territory.

Oh and BTW, allow for snow days up in the Northern States. Some days it can get really bad.
Like this..... We were in Dallas of all places. Who would have thought.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2E2T2RphGA

[janddbone]

Can you just turn up and drive there or do you need to sort out a license???