Road Trip Endurance in Legacy GT

[outahere]

I will be taking a 1300 mile road trip around November, moving to another state, and am wondering if it is insane to think about doing the trip in one stint. This is a 17-18 hour trip at 75-80mph. From what every one says here, the Legacy is a comfortable long distance tourer, but would you be comfortable in it for that long? I will be buying a GT wagon in October. For various reasons, I would like to make the trip in one stint, but not if it is going to kill me(figuretively or literally).

[Th3Franz]

Uh.. would you be switching off with another driver on the way there?

[outahere]

[quote name='Th3Franz']Uh.. would you be switching off with another driver on the way there?[/quote] No, it would just be me, with a "pit stop" every 2-3 hours. My longest previous stint was only 8 hours, which was comfortable for me.

[SUBE555]

If you're the only driver I highly recommend stopping for some rest for a bit. Otherwise, it's rather boring and we wouldn't want to hear about you in a ditch or something similar as you go east, you also lose daylight. It's a great trip car, but even in the nicest car I wouldn't stick it that long by myself without some additional rest. Just my 2 cents.

[EJ20TMAN]

Yeah man i think the full 1300 miles mite be a bit much for one stint, i have done a 1000 thousand (km) stint in my car in one day and i recomend that u dont have breaks (only for eating and toilet) and do maybe 900 miles on the first day then 400 the second

[Parousia]

I have a 2003 Subaru Impreza 2.5 wagon and I have done several road trips, shorter being 900 km and longer being 1200 km. I have no problem driving for the distances as long as I have a nice Americano from Starbucks on the way (2 max during trips actually). It helps to have a great selection of driving music, it has been shown to increase a drivers attention span and responsiveness dramatically. Oh and don''t eat any crappy food, the better the food you eat the more energy you will have. In my last vehicle a friend and I drove from Vancouver BC Canada to LA California in about 21hrs straight, ok with 2, but very difficult in the dawn hours. [b]If you can at all avoid driving in the dawn toward the end of your drive say 4 am until say 6:30 am then do it, start at 4am so that you are fresh in these hrs so and you can arrive late evening.[/b]

[Max Capacity]

How old are you ? when I was in my mid 20's I drove from AZ to Michigan in 2 and a 1/2 days towing a second car. I slept in the car on two overnites. But at almost 50 now I think I would make it a overnite in a motel.

[Helfrick]

Ack! If you don't have to do it all at once, I would suggest trying to break it up a bit. My wife and I have made several long trips, and no car we have ever been in has been comfortable for any real length of time. I will never force myself into one of those situations again. Good luck with the move.

[Dr. Zevil]

I went on a 17 hour stint from Madison to South Carolina straight through. I was delirious when I got there.

[Throttlejockey]

I drove to Florida from Connecticut stopping only for gas and pit stops. It took me 19hrs and I was beat when I got there.

[scubie02]

Yeah, I'd say it depends on age. I did a 14 hr trip in one stint both ways a few years back by myself, and have done longer trips with more than one person, but the older you get the harder it is I think.

[gtguy]

Because of the speed and comfort of the GT, you should be fine. What makes a car fatiguing to drive a long distance is a lack of refinement, or a need to "drive" it more. The GT should be able to gobble up miles with the best of them. Kevin

[05LegacyGT330Ci]

Well I have now made the roadtrip from NJ down here to NC 5 times and its 10 hours and as long as you stop for food once and gas your fine so I would imagine 18hrs to be fine but maybe its just my love of driving and I hate waiting so I hate stopping cuz then I think I would be there by now and saved this money.

[inthedeck]

I took a trip with my WRX wagon from NY to New Orleans by myself...took me a little over 18 hours in total...by myself. I was not really fatigued...until I got there...and this was through the pouring rain in Alabama at some point at night. Lovely drive, especially at 2-5 a.m. when there is no one around...I think I saw a truck or so every 20 minutes :o Of course, just got my lgt yesterday, so can't say much about the long term drive...but I am sure it would be the same, if not better. Later, i.

[SBT]

The longest trip (non-stop) that I've ever made was from Tulsa, OK (eastern side) to Flagstaff, AZ (western side) ~ 1000 miles, ~ 17 hours. This was one-up travel in an 87 Jeep Wagoneer Ltd (Cherokee sized) and was fairly comfortable as long as I stopped every couple of hours and regularly adjusted the seat height, vertical and pedal distances. I left before sunrise and stopped after sunset during October so there was not a whole lot of daylight (in spite of the time zone changes). The speed limits were 55 so the miles seemed to crawl along - travelling at 70mph was dicey (65mph and up and you were getting pulled over) so I stopped every 150 miles or so, and took a break. When I finally got to Flagstaff I was whupped. That was 13 years ago and if I were to do it again today, I'd break it up into two segments - ~450 each day and stop to enjoy the road along the way including a comfortable bed to recalibrate the body from my travels - being the old guy that I am now :x . I think you could do it in the Legacy, from a comfort standpoint but it would have to be for a really good reason. Just curious though if you'll be getting your Legacy and leaving on your trip with it before it's been fully broken in? SBT

[TLS]

Back in my early 20's I made a trip from the N&W Philly burbs to Disney world. While I don't remember the full time of the entire trip, I do remember that I made it from home to the Jacksonville FL area in 12 hrs FLAT. Thats almost 900 miles. By calculator thats averaging 75 mph! Then add in 3 real quick fuel/pit stops (no tire changes!!) and you can see, that the Firebird was flying low! BTW....No tickets. Did have an Escort helping me out though.

[outahere]

Thanks for the input guys. Even though I feel like I was in my twenties just yesterday, I am actually well beyond those years (how time flies!). I will plan on making an overnight motel/hotel stop, for comfort and safety reasons. And yes, my car will be broken in before I make the trip. Hope to have a clear bra on it by that time also, assuming Stongard has one available.

[Nick]

Another thing I have found that helps a lot on road trips is getting a good book on tape or CD...like a John Grisham mystery or something *really* makes the time fly. -Nick

[gtguy]

[quote name='Nick']Another thing I have found that helps a lot on road trips is getting a good book on tape or CD...like a John Grisham mystery or something *really* makes the time fly. -Nick[/quote] Just make sure the reader doesn't have a husky, even-toned voice, or you'll be asleep in no time! :lol: I liked rock music on my longest trip, from Chicago to Boulder, Colorado in 12.5 hours. I had my wife with me, so we were able to talk a lot, which really helped pass the time. We stopped only for food/gas breaks. It was pretty crazy. We took it a lot easier coming back. Kevin

[Alex1]

hey, im getting my liscence tomrrow (wednesday the 25th, 10:30 am estrn time :-D) but me and my friend who has his liscence drive from the cape to my home town and back... We left one time at 11:05 pm, and got to where we were going at like 12:20, its like 80 miles each way, So we spent like 2 hours there and headed back and got back at like 4.... I know its not as long as you guys are talking about but i like driving so far and am planning on taking a road trip to spring break in daytona or somthing with some friends wen i get my legacy :-d or whatever car i get

[powbmps]

Back when I was in college I drove 2100 miles from Portland, ME to Boulder, CO in just under 37 hours. It was a solo trip in my 92 Sentra SE-R. That thing actually had very nice seats and was very comfortable on long drives. It sure beat doing the drive in my 74 MGB, leaking a quart of oil every 1 to 2 hours along the way. These days there is absolutely no way I could do it without plenty of rest along the way. Chris S.

[Helfrick]

[quote name='Nick']Another thing I have found that helps a lot on road trips is getting a good book on tape or CD...like a John Grisham mystery or something *really* makes the time fly. -Nick[/quote] Stay away from Scott Adams on audiobook. I almost hit a gaurdrail because I was laughing so hard. I remember hearing you could download cartalk episodes from the npr site.