Driving Evo From NYC to LA in my EVO ix .....
Ear Plugs to stop the drone from the exhaust. Contrary to what others may say, you can still hear quite a bit thru ear plugs, buy the cheap foam kind and not the fancy cupped ones that sit in your inner ear cause they actually work a little too well and you don't want to give up on your SA completely. Bottle of Lucas octane booster for high altitude gas stations with crappy gas. Paper Map, call me old fashioned, but if your phone dies or you have no data coverage you're still property of the hsit creek paddle co.
Check the tire press on your spare, make sure you're jack accessories are all present. Throw a MRE or two in your trunk along with a poncho liner which you can find at any surplus store while you're at it. I also carry a tire reamer and a couple plugs and a 12v compressor as I actually prefer to make my own repairs on a high speed tire vs. driving on the donut assuming it's just a nail or similar puncture.
At least a gallon of potable drinking water at all times. I'm an old Army guy, and I always have way too much water in all my vehicles. I also check my fluids, but I don't carry spare fluids with me. My car has no leaks so I don't feel the need to carry along extra fluids that I can get at any gas station or auto parts store. If I hit a rock and bust the oil pan I don't try to limp it, use common sense.
Flashlight (headlamp in my case), basic tool set (already mentioned), flares and chem lights. You'd be amazed how many vehicles you can bring to a stop with 1 well placed chem light in the middle of a lane. Much better than being *** ended if your vehicle comes to a halt in a traffic lane.
As mentioned earlier, definitely sat radio - no music for long trips, keep the brain engaged. I also carry rock hard jerky with me (pref unsalted) and sunflower seeds (also pref unsalted, but they are rather bland) as they keep the mind occupied and busy instead of falling asleep or drifting off.
Stop at every rest stop you can - normally every 70-80 miles or so. Even if you don't have to ****, get out and do some jumping jacks or jog a little, then get back in the car. Keeping the blood flowing is key to staying awake.
If in the winter time, check the state DOT website for road conditions and weather forecasts. I routinely drive over mountain passes that take several hours to get close to the summit. If you wait until you're 4 miles from the summit only to find a flashing road closed barrier and have to back track several hours to another pass, you'll not make that mistake again. Also in the winter, never let gas tank drop below 1/2 tank, which means a lot of stops in an evo.
Travel during daylight hours, esp out west where there are lots of deer, pronghorns, elk, coyotes, etc. Plan your stops the night before and call to check on hotel availability. Nothing like driving to your destination only to find all the hotels booked up for a rodeo or 4h convention and the next biggest town with hotels being another hour or two down the road.
And lastly, if you're not in a hurry, don't take the damn interstates. Try to hit as many scenic byways and driving roads as you can. You drive an evo for the curves, not interstate travels. Evo's are one of the worst road trip cars I can think of, they ride rough, have no cruise, are loud and if you sneeze you end up changing 3 lanes. So take the twisty roads instead, it's more fun, stop at any place you find interesting, take photos, greet the locals, be more european in your travel style. Download the tripadvisor app, and challenge yourself not to eat at any national chain restaurant, they also mostly suck. When in Rome...eat McDonalds? Check event calendars for big cities and try to make it into town to catch a football/baseball/hockey/etc game.
Check the tire press on your spare, make sure you're jack accessories are all present. Throw a MRE or two in your trunk along with a poncho liner which you can find at any surplus store while you're at it. I also carry a tire reamer and a couple plugs and a 12v compressor as I actually prefer to make my own repairs on a high speed tire vs. driving on the donut assuming it's just a nail or similar puncture.
At least a gallon of potable drinking water at all times. I'm an old Army guy, and I always have way too much water in all my vehicles. I also check my fluids, but I don't carry spare fluids with me. My car has no leaks so I don't feel the need to carry along extra fluids that I can get at any gas station or auto parts store. If I hit a rock and bust the oil pan I don't try to limp it, use common sense.
Flashlight (headlamp in my case), basic tool set (already mentioned), flares and chem lights. You'd be amazed how many vehicles you can bring to a stop with 1 well placed chem light in the middle of a lane. Much better than being *** ended if your vehicle comes to a halt in a traffic lane.
As mentioned earlier, definitely sat radio - no music for long trips, keep the brain engaged. I also carry rock hard jerky with me (pref unsalted) and sunflower seeds (also pref unsalted, but they are rather bland) as they keep the mind occupied and busy instead of falling asleep or drifting off.
Stop at every rest stop you can - normally every 70-80 miles or so. Even if you don't have to ****, get out and do some jumping jacks or jog a little, then get back in the car. Keeping the blood flowing is key to staying awake.
If in the winter time, check the state DOT website for road conditions and weather forecasts. I routinely drive over mountain passes that take several hours to get close to the summit. If you wait until you're 4 miles from the summit only to find a flashing road closed barrier and have to back track several hours to another pass, you'll not make that mistake again. Also in the winter, never let gas tank drop below 1/2 tank, which means a lot of stops in an evo.
Travel during daylight hours, esp out west where there are lots of deer, pronghorns, elk, coyotes, etc. Plan your stops the night before and call to check on hotel availability. Nothing like driving to your destination only to find all the hotels booked up for a rodeo or 4h convention and the next biggest town with hotels being another hour or two down the road.
And lastly, if you're not in a hurry, don't take the damn interstates. Try to hit as many scenic byways and driving roads as you can. You drive an evo for the curves, not interstate travels. Evo's are one of the worst road trip cars I can think of, they ride rough, have no cruise, are loud and if you sneeze you end up changing 3 lanes. So take the twisty roads instead, it's more fun, stop at any place you find interesting, take photos, greet the locals, be more european in your travel style. Download the tripadvisor app, and challenge yourself not to eat at any national chain restaurant, they also mostly suck. When in Rome...eat McDonalds? Check event calendars for big cities and try to make it into town to catch a football/baseball/hockey/etc game.
Ear Plugs to stop the drone from the exhaust. Contrary to what others may say, you can still hear quite a bit thru ear plugs, buy the cheap foam kind and not the fancy cupped ones that sit in your inner ear cause they actually work a little too well and you don't want to give up on your SA completely. Bottle of Lucas octane booster for high altitude gas stations with crappy gas. Paper Map, call me old fashioned, but if your phone dies or you have no data coverage you're still property of the hsit creek paddle co.
Check the tire press on your spare, make sure you're jack accessories are all present. Throw a MRE or two in your trunk along with a poncho liner which you can find at any surplus store while you're at it. I also carry a tire reamer and a couple plugs and a 12v compressor as I actually prefer to make my own repairs on a high speed tire vs. driving on the donut assuming it's just a nail or similar puncture.
At least a gallon of potable drinking water at all times. I'm an old Army guy, and I always have way too much water in all my vehicles. I also check my fluids, but I don't carry spare fluids with me. My car has no leaks so I don't feel the need to carry along extra fluids that I can get at any gas station or auto parts store. If I hit a rock and bust the oil pan I don't try to limp it, use common sense.
Flashlight (headlamp in my case), basic tool set (already mentioned), flares and chem lights. You'd be amazed how many vehicles you can bring to a stop with 1 well placed chem light in the middle of a lane. Much better than being *** ended if your vehicle comes to a halt in a traffic lane.
As mentioned earlier, definitely sat radio - no music for long trips, keep the brain engaged. I also carry rock hard jerky with me (pref unsalted) and sunflower seeds (also pref unsalted, but they are rather bland) as they keep the mind occupied and busy instead of falling asleep or drifting off.
Stop at every rest stop you can - normally every 70-80 miles or so. Even if you don't have to ****, get out and do some jumping jacks or jog a little, then get back in the car. Keeping the blood flowing is key to staying awake.
If in the winter time, check the state DOT website for road conditions and weather forecasts. I routinely drive over mountain passes that take several hours to get close to the summit. If you wait until you're 4 miles from the summit only to find a flashing road closed barrier and have to back track several hours to another pass, you'll not make that mistake again. Also in the winter, never let gas tank drop below 1/2 tank, which means a lot of stops in an evo.
Travel during daylight hours, esp out west where there are lots of deer, pronghorns, elk, coyotes, etc. Plan your stops the night before and call to check on hotel availability. Nothing like driving to your destination only to find all the hotels booked up for a rodeo or 4h convention and the next biggest town with hotels being another hour or two down the road.
And lastly, if you're not in a hurry, don't take the damn interstates. Try to hit as many scenic byways and driving roads as you can. You drive an evo for the curves, not interstate travels. Evo's are one of the worst road trip cars I can think of, they ride rough, have no cruise, are loud and if you sneeze you end up changing 3 lanes. So take the twisty roads instead, it's more fun, stop at any place you find interesting, take photos, greet the locals, be more european in your travel style. Download the tripadvisor app, and challenge yourself not to eat at any national chain restaurant, they also mostly suck. When in Rome...eat McDonalds? Check event calendars for big cities and try to make it into town to catch a football/baseball/hockey/etc game.
Check the tire press on your spare, make sure you're jack accessories are all present. Throw a MRE or two in your trunk along with a poncho liner which you can find at any surplus store while you're at it. I also carry a tire reamer and a couple plugs and a 12v compressor as I actually prefer to make my own repairs on a high speed tire vs. driving on the donut assuming it's just a nail or similar puncture.
At least a gallon of potable drinking water at all times. I'm an old Army guy, and I always have way too much water in all my vehicles. I also check my fluids, but I don't carry spare fluids with me. My car has no leaks so I don't feel the need to carry along extra fluids that I can get at any gas station or auto parts store. If I hit a rock and bust the oil pan I don't try to limp it, use common sense.
Flashlight (headlamp in my case), basic tool set (already mentioned), flares and chem lights. You'd be amazed how many vehicles you can bring to a stop with 1 well placed chem light in the middle of a lane. Much better than being *** ended if your vehicle comes to a halt in a traffic lane.
As mentioned earlier, definitely sat radio - no music for long trips, keep the brain engaged. I also carry rock hard jerky with me (pref unsalted) and sunflower seeds (also pref unsalted, but they are rather bland) as they keep the mind occupied and busy instead of falling asleep or drifting off.
Stop at every rest stop you can - normally every 70-80 miles or so. Even if you don't have to ****, get out and do some jumping jacks or jog a little, then get back in the car. Keeping the blood flowing is key to staying awake.
If in the winter time, check the state DOT website for road conditions and weather forecasts. I routinely drive over mountain passes that take several hours to get close to the summit. If you wait until you're 4 miles from the summit only to find a flashing road closed barrier and have to back track several hours to another pass, you'll not make that mistake again. Also in the winter, never let gas tank drop below 1/2 tank, which means a lot of stops in an evo.
Travel during daylight hours, esp out west where there are lots of deer, pronghorns, elk, coyotes, etc. Plan your stops the night before and call to check on hotel availability. Nothing like driving to your destination only to find all the hotels booked up for a rodeo or 4h convention and the next biggest town with hotels being another hour or two down the road.
And lastly, if you're not in a hurry, don't take the damn interstates. Try to hit as many scenic byways and driving roads as you can. You drive an evo for the curves, not interstate travels. Evo's are one of the worst road trip cars I can think of, they ride rough, have no cruise, are loud and if you sneeze you end up changing 3 lanes. So take the twisty roads instead, it's more fun, stop at any place you find interesting, take photos, greet the locals, be more european in your travel style. Download the tripadvisor app, and challenge yourself not to eat at any national chain restaurant, they also mostly suck. When in Rome...eat McDonalds? Check event calendars for big cities and try to make it into town to catch a football/baseball/hockey/etc game.
Hey man it's no big deal. As others have said assuming your car is in good shape your only worry is weather and road conditions. I bought and use my 9 MR as a GT (grand touring) car. A GT car is a car that can carry passengers long distance at relatively high speed in any condition. In less than 4 years I have put over 65k miles on the car. I drive every other month from Montana to Seattle or Portland, 700 miles each way over 5 mountain passes. I have driven the car cross country to Boston and back and to the Southwest. The evo is brilliant going fast all day long on any road. It is (or should be) nuts reliable. No other car I've owned can compare. With good snow tires (Hakkapalita, etc.) I look forward to driving through hours of snowstorms just over the speedlimit (80 around here) which few cars can safely do. Do an oil change at 3k if you think you need to but your motor and drivetrain are actually far less stressed than when you are in the city because everything is always at operating temperature, not running over rich all the time from cold starts and short trips, less moisture in oil, less clutch and brake wear, etc. etc. I'm at about 80k now on the original clutch and pads. Have fun with your trip, and if time allows do take two lane roads but save the bulk of your time for the Rockies and west because you will have more fun there with your EVO than you thought possible on public roads.
Last year I did LA to Chicago with a friend. We flew out to buy his dream S2000 there and drove back in 3 days. Considerably closer than NYC to LA but also in a considerably smaller car. 
Good advice in this thread. One thing I've learned about myself is that I get very sleepy after a heavy meal, daylight or not. Better to just snack the whole way. In the future I will try to get out of the car and walk around a bit every hour or two. Good tip there.
A few tips:
- Painter's tape saved my buddy a lot of scratches. See pic below.
- Beware the weather out west. We hit snow flurries in New Mexico in May. I kid you not.
- Don't risk running out of gas. We almost did, also in New Mexico. First station we saw in quite a while was closed for the night and didn't accept credit cards
. Another reason to keep your driving to daylight if you can.
- Definitely don't miss Vegas. Even if it's to drive the strip and GTFO right after.
- I needed a small pillow under my lower back by the time we hit Vegas. Evo seats have similar lack of support there.
Otherwise best piece of advice is to give yourself enough time to make the trip enjoyable instead of a chore. Nothing worse than having to rush and not seeing anything cool.
A few pics to inspire you.
And then there's this. Somewhere in New Mexico my girlfriend sent the news that SEALs killed Osama. The next morning we used some more painter's tape. Figured it would get some laughs and couldn't hurt with good old Southern cops. Didn't work with Oklahoma State Police. Apparently they feel the need to make you put your hands behind your head and give you a patdown for a routine speeding violation. Ask me how I know.
Good advice in this thread. One thing I've learned about myself is that I get very sleepy after a heavy meal, daylight or not. Better to just snack the whole way. In the future I will try to get out of the car and walk around a bit every hour or two. Good tip there.
A few tips:
- Painter's tape saved my buddy a lot of scratches. See pic below.
- Beware the weather out west. We hit snow flurries in New Mexico in May. I kid you not.
- Don't risk running out of gas. We almost did, also in New Mexico. First station we saw in quite a while was closed for the night and didn't accept credit cards
. Another reason to keep your driving to daylight if you can.- Definitely don't miss Vegas. Even if it's to drive the strip and GTFO right after.
- I needed a small pillow under my lower back by the time we hit Vegas. Evo seats have similar lack of support there.
Otherwise best piece of advice is to give yourself enough time to make the trip enjoyable instead of a chore. Nothing worse than having to rush and not seeing anything cool.
A few pics to inspire you.
And then there's this. Somewhere in New Mexico my girlfriend sent the news that SEALs killed Osama. The next morning we used some more painter's tape. Figured it would get some laughs and couldn't hurt with good old Southern cops. Didn't work with Oklahoma State Police. Apparently they feel the need to make you put your hands behind your head and give you a patdown for a routine speeding violation. Ask me how I know.
at this time of the year, take the southern most route less salt and much more predictable. i've taken both routes and if your feeling adventureous take north route, but you might want to get some tire chains . and if your going it alone travel in the day, and do the half tank thing when you get west its alot different from the east cost its a good time, i've got more stories than carters got pills. and don't forget to stop at the grand canyon, good luck with the trip and with the car.
. and if your going it alone travel in the day, and do the half tank thing when you get west its alot different from the east cost its a good time, i've got more stories than carters got pills. and don't forget to stop at the grand canyon, good luck with the trip and with the car.