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I may have to drive my '06 R53 2100 miles in two weeks
Edit: planning to leave approximately Sept. 3rd
I've been planning my move all summer, and I've had a wrench thrown in the works. I was planning to put my runflats back on the rear and tow the silly thing with my Sienna Dad van. I have a tow dolly reserved, but the order I placed for my tow hitch a month ago keeps pushing out the ship date, and I'm down to the wire. If they don't actually ship it to me by next week, I'm going to have to drive it from Illinois to Oregon. My Dad will drive my van and we'll take three or four days to do it. It's in good running condition except an annoying exhaust rattle between 2800 and 3k, and I'm doing a new lower engine mount (saw a little tear at the last oil change) and an oil change. I have new tires and I'm getting an alignment next week..... I will drive it on my new comfy 195/60/15 tires and have the runflats for backup in the van. I will document my adventures here, and try to get some video along the way.
Last edited by Aaron Shell; Aug 20, 2020 at 07:44 AM.
Subscribed, primarily for the stunning Nebraska scenery but also any 'adventures in wrenching' that might up come along the way. May you have a decidedly dull, uneventful trip in that regard. You'll miss the conversations with your dad but 2100 miles making the Cooper's blower whine in the passing lane and a few tasty switchbacks along the way, vs 2100 miles riding shotgun in a Karen kombi, presents definite upside potential...
...and too bad it's a 'point A to point B' trip. There are fantastic back roads full of adventure between those two points.
Keep you mind between your ears, your wheels between the ditches and the greasy side down.
Thanks guys, a few more details about the car, it has 107k on it, has all the "normal" maintenance items taken care of for a r53 of this mileage (engine mounts, suspension bushings, SC service, coolant tank, fuel pump 20k ago according to records etc), It is running a 17% reduction pulley but I think the replacement crank pulley on it is OEM size. that work was done before me, but its run very well in the 3 months I've had it, I did an oil change 3 months ago when I got it and will do one more before I leave. It has new B4 bilsteins on it, new 15"Sparco FF-1 wheels with goodyear eagle tires, and I've got the schawben scan tool and my tool set will be in the van.
I would like to take some detours and enjoy the drive a little bit if we can, my van is no slouch in the straights with a naturally aspirated 3.5L V6 putting out 265 HP, but it is poo in the twisties, so I would have to plan little excursions from my dad.... hmmm, and we will have the 2 dogs and a cat in the van... hmmm might have to take the cat in the mini (in a crate) we'll see... oye, I wish I could have towed it, but I'm going to make the best out if this!
Last edited by Aaron Shell; Aug 20, 2020 at 07:41 AM.
Sounds like it will be a fun and adventurous trip. Would be great if you could make some stops or some detours on your way. I once drove across the country visiting about 25 states on the trip - what a blast!
Why not burn the rubber off the runflats and save the new tires for Oregon driving?
good point, I guess that would purely be for the enjoyment of the trip... and fuel economy. I think I will just go for it because they ride SOOOOO much better than the runflats. Its bouncy and jarring and aweful with the runflats, and with the 15" wheel combo it shaved 15 pounds off each corner and it gets noticeably better fuel economy. It seems to just sip on fuel now and get well over 40mpg when cruising at 70mph. The Goodyears are supposed to be 50,000 miles tires or something, I'm not too worried about putting a few miles on them for the sake of my back and I'm willing to bet I will scrub more rubber off them in a few aggressive mountain passes that I will cruising the highway for 2100 miles.
...It's not looking good for the hitch order, they slipped the ship date again, so I'm glad I'm getting the Mini prepared ...
Just curious if that's as measured on the tach's multi-function display or is that as measured geographically and calculated at the pump?
I have to calculate it now with the hard numbers, I haven't done that with the new wheel/tire set. This was just with the tach's display... It definitely seems to getting better mileage, but I suppose it could all be in my head.
Just logged in to say: I have an 2003 R53, and also a 2017 Dad Sienna, and live in Oregon! I'm fairly sure the Sienna (296hp) would beat the Mini off the line, but as you say, it'd roll at the first curve trying to stay ahead of the Mini. Enjoy your drive!
Just logged in to say: I have an 2003 R53, and also a 2017 Dad Sienna, and live in Oregon! I'm fairly sure the Sienna (296hp) would beat the Mini off the line, but as you say, it'd roll at the first curve trying to stay ahead of the Mini. Enjoy your drive!
I will be at my parent's house in West Linn for a few weeks and then settling at my new house at the beach (!!) if all goes well. My Sienna is a 2007 with 180k on it, but its still silly quick for a Dad van. I'm all about the $5-7k price range for vehicles, both of my cars together are worth less than any new car you could buy today, and I'm just fine with that!
I am looking forward to hanging out with old friend's and seeing their fun cars! I will have to get a picture of our supercharged cars together, my friend's 91 NSX with a SC that inspired me to get back into a fun car last summer, and his new acquisition, a 2005 Ford GT... not exactly cars in my price range, but good to have friends who like to spend more than me
Last edited by Aaron Shell; Aug 22, 2020 at 07:11 AM.
Look forward to hearing and with luck seeing photos of your drive. I personally love Oregon, one of my favourite places to be. Spent a lot of time on the 101 for holidays.
Look forward to hearing and with luck seeing photos of your drive. I personally love Oregon, one of my favourite places to be. Spent a lot of time on the 101 for holidays.
I'm settling just off the 101 on the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington, I can't wait to have twisty roads again!
I got my alignment done today, no problems, and tomorrow I'm going to take it to an exhaust shop, hopefully if they replace the resonator it won't rattle so badly. I have an Ireland Engineering catback, hopefully it's not a problem for them to fab in a new resonator (is that a glass pack?). It's supposed to be the best custom exhaust shop in town, best chance I've got....
Hope you have a good trip. I did a round trip 4,000 mile trip in my 03 R53 last fall. Baltimore to Colorado Springs, and back to Baltimore. I also did a track day and lots of mountain drives in the 2 months I spent in Colorado. The only problem(s) I had were my motor mounts were original, which I realized after i broke my pre-cat at the weld during my track day (big bump between turns 1 and 2 at pikes peak international raceway) So I had to have the cat re-welded and replaced my motor mounts in my sisters garage, pretty straightforward job.
Hope you have a good trip. I did a round trip 4,000 mile trip in my 03 R53 last fall. Baltimore to Colorado Springs, and back to Baltimore. I also did a track day and lots of mountain drives in the 2 months I spent in Colorado. The only problem(s) I had were my motor mounts were original, which I realized after i broke my pre-cat at the weld during my track day (big bump between turns 1 and 2 at pikes peak international raceway) So I had to have the cat re-welded and replaced my motor mounts in my sisters garage, pretty straightforward job.
That is inspiring to hear! I just got it back from the exhaust shop with a new resonator and it's much better, no more rattle! Still lots of popcorn, but no more rattle, prefect! I feel much more confident about the drive with the exhaust rattle fixed, not to mention I didn't want to show up back home with a rattly announcement.
I have driven my 2006 from PA to Florida and back twice in the last 6 months, once towing a trailer with a motorcycle. Take an OBDII code reader, even an inexpensive Bluetooth one. Take a tire plug kit (I don't run runflats). Assemble a small assortment of tools that you commonly use to work on the car. Metric sockets, hex sockets, Torx sockets, metric combo wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, etc. Do a once over the night before you leave. Check all your fluids, tire pressures, windshield washer fluid levels, etc. I like taking my garage floor jack as well, that's a big piece of mind for me if I have to work on the car on the road.
Have fun on your journey, get some two way radios so you aren't relying on texting to communicate with your Dad while you guys are driving.
Looking west, practicing Mini Yoga in preparation for the trip, lol. It's quickly approaching, I had no problems and burned no oil during my 400 mile test run this weekend to St Louis to pick up my dad from the airport. We are packing and loading the moving van, and we'll be hitting the road before long!
I'll share with you my awesome afterthought about your trip: To make up for all those wonderful back road motoring miles you will miss out on, here's a link dedicated to adventuresome motoring with maps to fabulous post move weekend drives from all over the country. https://www.motorcycleroads.com/
We managed to hit the road yesterday and put in 5 hours before dark. I am halfway across Missouri, one cat in the Mini and 2 dogs in the minivan, so far so good, fingers crossed!!
I wouldn't worry at all about a road trip unless there are known issues that obviously need attention. At the same time, be prepared, just in case. I regularly drive between VA and KS. I did have to replace the radiator in KS once but with over 260,000 miles on the car at the time, I couldn't say I was shocked by it. My roommate called me and said there were blue drops on the garage floor where the MINI was parked. Hope your trip goes well!
Getting ready to roll out from Cheyenne Wyoming... So far so good, knock on wood! I already had to use my octane booster when I couldn't find premium, I'll have to pick up another bottle... It's been interesting learning how to drive it at altitude, it's gutless at low revs and the supercharger can't make as much whine, I'm really trying to baby it and downshifting at every hill and trying not to load it up...
Safe travels! I had planned a similar cross country trip for this summer, but ended up trailering the car, instead, since I wasn't comfortable flying back amid the COVIDs.
