Cross country road trip

[brikis98]

I'm moving from Boston, MA to Palo Alto, CA this summer and it looks like driving cross country may be the best way (out of a bunch of crappy options) for me to get my car & belongings from coast to coast. As I try to plan this out, I had some questions for the car-savvy folks on this forum:

1. How much can I safely load into my car?
I have a 1999 Toyota Corolla VE and will be traveling with one other person. I am not brining any furniture, but will probably have lots of clothes, kitchen items, a 37" LCD TV, computer, some sports equipment, etc. How much weight can this tiny car safely fit?

2. What maintenance should I do?
My car has 85,000 miles and no serious mechanical issues except that it tends to burn up oil so I manually add some in between regular oil changes. Before the trip, I plan on getting an oil change, having the brakes checked, and getting new tires. During the trip, I plan to add oil as usual. Is there anything else I should do before/during/after?

3. How will the gas mileage be affected?
As I estimate the expenses for this trip, I'm trying to estimate what gas mileage I'll get. From my daily mix of highway/city driving, I usually get 29-30 mpg. Anyone know what mileage to expect during a trip like this, taking into consideration (a) mostly highway driving at 65-75mph, (b) one other passenger, (c) the trunk and back seat fully loaded with my belongings?

 

[Zenmervolt]

1) There will be a GVWR sticker on the driver's doorjamb. That will tell you the car's loading limits.

2) No special maintenance requirements.

3) Weight affects mileage during acceleration but not really at sustained cruise. You can safely assume normal highway mileage, but I would budget based on what you normally average in mixed driving to be conservative. When I moved to Seattle from Ohio, I loaded up my things in a Lincoln Mark VIII and drove. I averaged just about 28 mpg in that car over the course of the trip. The new revised EPA numbers are 16 city and 23 highway (original were 18/25). For perspective, I averaged 21mpg in mixed driving with that car. Your experience may differ, but you should be safe if you budget based on your normal mixed mileage.

ZV

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
1) There will be a GVWR sticker on the driver's doorjamb. That will tell you the car's loading limits.

2) No special maintenance requirements.

3) Weight affects mileage during acceleration but not really at sustained cruise. You can safely assume normal highway mileage, but I would budget based on what you normally average in mixed driving to be conservative.

ZV

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll take a look at that sticker next time I get a chance.

One thing I just realized though: if I can't fit all my stuff in the car, I might attach a roof bag (similar to this one) to my car. Any clue how much these kinds of things affect gas mileage?

 

[Zenmervolt]

No experience with roof carriers, but something like you linked to will definitely hurt your mileage (and handling).

ZV

 

[Throwmeabone]

Look in the manual to see how much weight you can carry and also look at the maintenance schedule and make sure you are caught up with everything.

 

[Black88GTA]

Check radiator hoses / belts. If belts show cracking in the grooved areas, replace them (or at least carry spares). If the radiator hoses bulge / swell when the car is fully warmed up, replace them. The additional stress induced by a long cross-country trip can be enough to cause "borderline" parts like these to fail, and you don't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere if / when they decide to go out.

Also make sure your coolant levels are good. Make sure your air filter is fresh and clean as well for optimum mileage.

EDIT: Oh, and make sure you check the air in your spare tire. It's been sitting in your trunk for 10 years, it's probably semi-flat. It's no good getting a flat tire and finding out your spare is dead as well.

 

[Bignate603]

On any of these long trips I'd highly recommend getting AAA. You may never need it but if you do it will save you a huge amount of cash and headache. I had my catalytic converter bust a weld in Alabama when driving cross country. I had no clue who to call for a tow truck or where to fix my car. AAA sorted it all out, had me towed to a good shop and had me back on the road in 2 hours. Also, almost every singly motel and campground will give you at least a 10% discount if you show them your card. It's really cheap piece of mind for long trips.

Roof top carriers do affect your mileage, but in my experience I've still gotten better than the EPA's highway rating when I was using a roof rack.

One thing to be aware of is driving through mountainous areas with your car loaded down. Watch your temperature gauge. You'll be working that car's little engine hard and you may start to build up heat faster than you can get rid of it. Turning off the AC and slowing down a little will help. Don't wait for the gauge to get into the red before you stop.

 

[StageLeft]

Unless you're carrying gold bars or something else obscenely heavy, you rarely need to worry about weight capacity in a car; what fits inside is ok. I have seen cars overweighted but it seemed generally they were full of fat people in the back and then probably endless amounts of coke and junk food in the trunk.

I bet that packlight bag will hurt mileage quite a bit. It looks like a sail. The best ones are the egg-shaped ones that go on the roof, though even those will hurt mileage.

On any of these long trips I'd highly recommend getting AAA.

I have my tow service via Geico, but yes I'd agree nobody should be without it these days. If you have a cell and nobody to call it won't serve much purpose.

Turning off the AC and slowing down a little will help.

You can also crank on the heat. Fun in the summer, I know, but it helps cool the engine a little.

 

[brikis98]

Black88GTA - thanks for the advice. I'll check all those things out before the trip.

Bignate603 - I've got AAA and it's saved my butt before, so it's definitely worthwhile.

Skoorb - I checked and the weight limit is 850lbs, which should be plenty.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Turning off the AC and slowing down a little will help.

You can also crank on the heat. Fun in the summer, I know, but it helps cool the engine a little.

I did that for a week while waiting for a replacement radiator. The one in my Cherokee ended up partially plugged. It's a huge amount of fun in Phoenix during the summer. I had to wear a hiking boot on my right foot because a vent blew right on it and it was roasting my foot.

Without the heat on the temperature would climb up towards the red without the heat on, but with it on it would go right back down to normal.

 

[SunSamurai]

You'd think the engineers would of had an option to rout air to an outside vent that went along the side of the car infront of the two front doors.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: aeternitas
You'd think the engineers would of had an option to rout air to an outside vent that went along the side of the car infront of the two front doors.

Why?

To support a non-critical failure that fewer than 1 in 10,000 cars will ever experience? Doesn't make financial sense.

ZV

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: aeternitas
You'd think the engineers would of had an option to rout air to an outside vent that went along the side of the car infront of the two front doors.

So you want them to flow coolant through a water/air heat exchanger and then vent that air to the outside? That sounds a whole lot like a radiator.

The engineers figure that when your radiator breaks you'll fix it. I was a poor college student that was trying to save money by getting a cheaper radiator off the internet so I was being ghetto about it and I admit that not driving it without fixing it was the 'right' way to deal with it.

You don't engineer cars to be driven when they're broken and except for a system like your brakes they don't make redundant systems due to cost. They could put a second alternator in their so you have a backup when yours breaks, or put in a second air conditioner in case that stops working. You'd end up with an 8,000 lb car that costs $50,000.