J30t Ramblings

[VimyJ]

I returned recently from an intense vacation road trip. Chicagoland via northern Wisconsin, the Black Hills, northern Arizona as far west as St George, Utah.

A Few Quick Notes:

4600 miles in 11 days.

418 miles per day.

7 or so hours per day in the J. Longest strectches were 11 hours.

Averaged ~24.5 mpg

Ambient operating temperatures from 40F to 93F

Elevations from 800 - 11000 feet above sea level

Fuel cost ~$450 (Ran 2 tanks of midgrade early on then exclusivly premium)

Average cruising speed on 75 mph interstate highways at 78. (Hardly ever got passed and those who did pass me were often to be seen parked with a state trooper a little farther up the road.)

60/40 orange coolant w/ "Water Wetter" (Temperature never moved)

Climate control on "Auto" normally.

"Coastal" full synthetic 10/30 (consumption of 3/4 quart)

Mobil One Syn ATF w/ "Lubeguard" red and black.

Valvoline semi syn differential oil

Tire pressure at max 35 psi.

Passenger and baggage weight ~450 lbs

CC started acting up on the last day. Kicking off when encountering rough bumps.

Ran the J at 4000+ rpm in 3rd gear ascending long mountain passes. (Typically, when starting up a steep grade, I would nudge the throttle to the kick off the the TC to increase rpms then wait for the rpms to drop off when I would drop the transmission into 3rd. When in this gear the TC would engage dropping the rpm ~200 rpm. Going back up to 4th would kick the TC off for a tad more power in 3rd and with a light touch on the TPS would not shift into 4th gear. Using this system, the J had plenty of power to maintain speed limits+ while climbing. Only once did the transmission kick down to second and that occured upon reaching the summit of the Eisenhauer Tunnel in CO @ 11000 feet.)

The J performed like a champ.

[elwesso]

Woohoo.. 24mpg is great! Ill hope to get that in my Q someday...!

How many passengers did you have??? If it was more than 3 (inluding yourslef) it had to be cozy...

[VimyJ]

Only my wife (110lbs) and myself (200) plus baggage, food, water, tool box, etc.

[diamondj30]

thats awsome.im a yearnin for a road trip.

[SCOTTDW]

My 94 J30T usually got around 23mpg with just me on board for highway trips. 24 seems very good for your circumstances.

Scott99I30T

[VimyJ]

I still have to crunch the numbers but my guestimate is closer to 24.5 mpg. The J was running beautifully. My wife learned to anticipate the grab handle.

[VimyJ]

While traveling south through Wyoming from Mt. Rushmore, we encountered very strong winds coming from the southwest. This created a persistant, pronounced and annoying low whistle from the area around the top of the driver door.

Lowering the window disrupted the moan but did not stop it. The noise appeared to be coming from where the door frame meets the roof. Lowering the window only affected the air flow pattern over the door. I attribute the whistle to the door beginning to sag over the years creating a gap in the weather stripping. As Js can have door latch issues, this sag problem is most likely a common problem on all Js but looks like it might be remedied by readjusting the door hinges. We'll see.

[VimyJ]

A couple of places in SD had mid grade gas for less than regular. Interesting.

[VimyJ]

Some fantastic twisty roads in Wind Caves National Park and Custer State Park. This part of the trip was before the Memorial Day weekend.

Before the weekend there were few people about. When the weekend came around look out! We did hit a couple of the more famous parks at this time but the crush of people became enormous! While still rewarding visits, I would highly recommend visiting the more popular spots during the low season if you want to get the natural feeling of these beautiful places. Zion started to sound and act like a theme park. Screaming brats and herds of hormone ravaged teenagers frequently destroyed the ambiance.

Come on, people! A little respect, please.

[VimyJ]

I highly recommend Utah as a destination for a road trip if you love driving your car. There are twisty open roads everywhere. Cruise the interstate and challenge the passes or go to secondary roads and drive your Infiniti.

When I was dead tired after hiking or too much scotch the night before, the thought of being behind the wheel again was exciting. Sick, eh?

[maxnix]

Idaho, Utah and western NM were really primo on a recent Memorial Weekend dash from Seattle to Austin. The scenery is spectacular and the sight lines along the highways were often in excess of a couple miles. Vistas often exceeded tens of miles to the horizon.

We did the trip in the 2K Q45 and travelling at speed was incredibly comfortable, quiet (even more so than the G50) and very restful. Sotto voce conversations were the norm, and the stereo volume never had to be increased beyond its setting for 50 mph, regardless of the actual speed. Truely amazing. Definitiely the ultimate Yakuza RWD Buick.

Even though fully loaded, we surprised a MB 430 4matic (was surprised we passed him), WRX (was surprised we could keep up), and various other performance car poseurs. Leaving Cortez, CO, some idiot in a Jeep Liberty went by at 110 mph and we just flat out lost him for most of an hour, until we saw him pulled over by a Sheriff by the Apache Diamond Casino (it was a tent). The only night driving was from Santa Rosa to Lubbock. The HID low beams and Silverstar Highbeams worked very nicely. Silverstar fogs were not required.

Miileage was up to 24.7 mpg in construction zones. Never fell below 21.5 mpg. For cruising the USA, I would have a difficult time thinking of another car (other than another Q45 or a J30, maybe a G35) that size to cruise that comfortably and that quickly. It was truly an enjoyable experience.

The Escort 8500 X50 was a great companion too, but one has to wonder how well the POP detection works when it is disabled by default from the factory. The blue LED read out reduced tailgaters as it is very difficult to see from a trailing car provided the LED intensity level is set correctly for the ambient light levels. Throttle application distanced us from the others who tried or we let them be the rabbit until they tired or turned. Did get painted twice by laser, once in WA and once in OR.

Did see a group of 4 new fastback Mustangs on I84 in OR with MI manufacturer's plates and CB antennae. Two old male goats and two sweet young things as pilots, each with no passengers (hmm). What cracked me up is one was the old lime green color like my '67 notchback. Saw three other white fastbacks north bound into Moab, obviously on another evaluation run. While I think it is good Ford copied (IMO) its best previous styling efforts, the solid rear axle technology and retro engineering confirmed my belief I was driving the more modern and technologically advanced automobile.

All fluids (except coolant) and fuel filter replaced in Austin, and B&M 70264 transmission cooler added (pictures in Members Rides). Tires rotated and ex-fronts flipped. Hüper Optik Stark 30 Ceramic tint installed, also. The only way to tame a black interior in TX.

Passengers and stuff in back seat and trunk, at least 600 lbs.

245/50-16 SZ50EP at 40 psi. What a great tire! Quiet, yet sure footed.

2250 miles in 2.4 days.

Gas was $2.41 declining to $1.92 per gallon, so probably $225. Arriving rested and relaxed, priceless.

[VimyJ]

Off roading is very popular in Utah. Moab had a cable access channel that was nothing but 4x4 24/7. Entertaining.

However, our plan was to use our technology to blast from locale to locale in order to do at least a 3-4 hour hike and 3-4 hours of site seeing and short walking loops in each park. Made a base camp in Moab for a couple of days.

This method enabled us to explore the "Stairs" enviroments first hand and drive fast. Scenic vista after scenic vista. Panoramas galore. Constant delights for the eye.

[maxnix]

It is beautiful, and the Arches were overrun with tourists. The rock formations and colors were breathtaking. Shiprock was especially neat.

Our goal was to leave Seattle saturday morning (39° F at the pass on I90) and get to Austin early enough on Monday so she could start her new assignment fresh and rested on Tuesday morning. We did it. I'll never drive that trip as fast again, I assure you.

Thanks for starting this thread, Mike. It is difficult to describe the joy these cars bring when they are used for the purpose for which they were designed. Urban commuting just doesn't let them run freely enough to show their thoroughbred qualities. Drag races are just over too quickly. High speed cruising is where they show their true pedigree.

[VimyJ]

It's making the time for a trip that is the hard part. There is never enough time. I would have liked to take whole day hikes in every park but that would have killed my wife.

Angels Landing in Zion was so crowded that there were traffic jams. I thought I was on Everest for bit. That is a formidable climb and if you are in any way afraid of heights, don't do it because you'll just be freaking all the time. A few people tried it but were so scared they were clinging to the rocks and barely moving which contributed somewhat to the traffic snarls. My wife made it up the first steep pitch sat down and said, "Give me the pack. That's all for me." Good choice.

Arches is bizarre! Wonderful place.