I'll be making a solo trek cross country on Friday with my MCS and wanted to know if there's anyone with experience. The car is on RFTs, so I'm not that excited. Luckily it's all highway.

The most I've done was about 10 hours driving time, but not 12. If you can chime in with tips to make it through safely, that will be great!

 

I have. I drove from Wilmington Delaware to north side of Chicago by then turned around and came straight back. Total time was 24 hrs. None stop except to pick up parts I bought. I have an 08 s model. 2 dr hardtop. If I kept it around 70-80 MPH I got excellent gas mileage

 

I drove from York, Nebraska to Reno Nevada straight through - my guess it is 1300 miles - it is doable!

 

i have done 25 1000+ mile days on my motorcycles and another 15 in cars

highest single day was 1511 miles on my 1974 bmw r60/6 motorcycle

day = 24 hours

scott

 

my best piece of advice is to stop for 5-10 minutes every hour, starting from the first hour

get out of the car, walk around the car, look at the tires, stretch and go again

a gas stop/oil level check would count as a stop

don't eat at a gas stop, make that a separate stop ... a eating stop is 30 minutes

scott

 

Norman OK to Oak Harbor Wa only stopping for gas (was in my Hummer Alpha so it was way more often!) for me I keep the ac cold and have something light to snack on I sip on an original green monster too and just knock it out. Night time for me sucks but I stay focused and alert if I need to I stop and stretch I do but again don't really need to do that with the hummer due to mpg but if I do it in the mini I may need to stop in between gas stops late at night. Just be smart and safe if you need to stop then stop.

 

Ive done it lots of times. Best thing I can tell you is to plan ahead, stops, gas, etc an use those as goals to reach. The most important thing though is to leave as early in the AM as you can. If Im going 1k miles I like to leave by 6:00am at the latest, 4 or 5 am is better. Driving into the night is better than through the night.

 

Nice! My dad is crazy like that he will do Palm Springs CA to Harrah OK in one go. Then he will go up to Flat rock MI a day or so later on his Harley.

 

Wow, you guys are all troopers! Certainly makes me feel a lot better then, and thanks for all the advice. I'll probably head out around 3am to avoid the morning rush in the city/suburbs. Hopefully I'll be efficient with stops, but not too efficient ;-)

 

Drive really really fast in places like Texas and Montana where the speed limits are either ignored or 85mph,... you cover more ground in less time.

Could not resist! All I can add is drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and keep away from sugary stuff that makes you tired when it wears off.

 

We have 102,000 on RFT'S..Travel all the time at least 12 hour stretches..We stop every
2 hours or so and bathroom break and walk around rest area once..After dark stop only at resturants Buy a coke use the bathroom get on the road...Starting early helps do not drive in the dark tired...a accident waiting to happen.. Enjoy there are lots of friendly people in America...and they love our MINI COOPERS Keep us posted ...

 

Awesome!! will do!

 

If your car is in good condition it will be fine.
You are the concern throughout the trip.
As JEWITCHER said, "... don't drive in the dark tired..."
You shouldn't drive tired at all really.
I've driven from Louisiana to Cali in 28hrs straight, Cali to NC in 2.5 days, Louisiana to Vegas in 24hrs all in my R53. I ALWAYS rest before long trips and leave after midnight.
The Sun tends to perk me up hours later.

 

We travel from Birmingham Al. to the West/southwest almost every summer to visit my parents. Last year we did Route 66 from St. Louis to Albuquerqe NM in four days so that doesn't count. Usually, we are just driving to get to south-west Colorado the quickest route.

When we are driving all day, one of our tricks is to get a book on "tape" (now they are mostly downloaded on my wife's Kindle). She always gets the un-abridged version of something. You will be amazed at how the time just melts away. We'll usually try to only stop for Gas, or when nature calls loudly!

I love road trips, so I never really feel tired when driving. But do take a few minutes to walk around at every stop. If you aren't super-pressed for time, pick a stretch to get off of the interstate and drive some state roads in an area that interests you. There is so much to see along the way.

 

I drove from Austin TX to San Jose CA in 31 hours. I only stopped for gas and drive through. Never slept. Did it in my 2003 CVT N/A Cooper. Of course I had to drive back but that took 2 days because I had to sleep!

Also drove from Austin TX to Pittsburgh PA and back in the same car. I think that took 21 hours each way? Once again no sleeping and just stopping for gas and drive thru food.

These cars are great reliable little machines.

I know that this is a 2nd generation thread, but if my crappy CVT 1st gen can do it, I'm pretty sure your 2nd gen can.

 

800 mile day? Very doable! I've done STL to Orlando a few times, STL to NYC a few times, all about 1000 miles or so. Leave about 6am, stop driving about 10pm. Something like that. I've done a handful of 800+ mile days on motorcyles as well.

Lots of good advice already. You'll likely stop frequently enough between needs for gas and needs for bio breaks, esp. if you're drinking enough water to stay comfortable. If it's just a bio break needed, try to use a highway rest stop versus a gas station at an exit, you'll save some time that way. And keep your stops efficient wherever; extra time spent at gas stops counts double: that many minutes out of your day, and xx miles that you didn't travel b/c you were standing still.

My main recommendation would be: no big meals. None. Just grab a cheese stick or two, some nuts, a piece of fruit, etc. at your stops. Nothing brings on drowziness faster than the aftermath of a big meal, or a bunch of carb intake that leads to a carb-crash later.

 

800 in a day is no biggie man. Mr "stop every hour and at least 30 mins for meals" must not ever care about making time lol. Stop when the tanks empty, get food/drink on one of those gas stops. I'd kill myself if I wasted that kind of time on a long trip. Hell 800 miles a day would be near impossible.

 

800 miles / 50mph avg speed = 16 hours ... an easy day
1500 miles /24 hours = 62.5 mph avg speed ... easy to do on interstates

not if it's about going 1000+ miles on day 1, kegger/pig roast on day 2, 1000+ miles on day 3 then back back to work on the 4th day

the trick to covering big distance to to not get stiff/uncomfortable/tired ... once you get stiff or uncomfortable it is hard to recover ... prevention is the best strategy ... stopping to move/stretch will also keep you awake thru the night

stopping every hour for 5 minutes you will cover more miles in 24 hours, safer than gas-n-go ... i have done over 1500 miles in 24 hours on a motorcycle and i stopped 5 minutes/hour and ate 3 times ... every 4th stop was a gas stop ... eat when hungry ... btw the 1500 mile day did not include any interstate highways, it was all 2 lane highways

all the above assumes solo driving

my absolute longest day was almost 2100 miles in 23 hours 30 minutes, torrance california (LA) to morton grove illionos (chicago) ... but that was in a van with 2 drivers ... the van had dual tanks ... we did gasngoes but switched drivers every hour without stopping and had food and drink onboard ... the "passenger" could nap between driving stints

scott

 

Other factors to consider - who's going with you, how old are you & what kind of shape are you in, are you a morning/evening person, etc.

When I was younger, I used to knock off long runs (18-22 hours) solo and not even think about it. Just last fall, I brought an S2000 from CO to KY (1,100 miles, 16.5 hours) and it took it's toll on me - but about 3 hours were in a torrential downpour, and hell, I'm 52 years old. If you're younger and in decent shape, an 800 mile run should be nothing, especially in a Mini!!

I just checked Google maps and saw some of my longer runs were 1,600 miles solo from Cali to TX (23.5 hrs), 1,160 miles TX to WV solo, and WV to LA nonstop with two drivers (almost 2,400 miles in 35 hours)...I say load up on the Starbucks cards and do it!!

 

Omaha to Austin. 800 miles. 13 hours with stops. I'd have felt lazy as hell turning that into a 16 hour drive lol. I guess my back can handle sitting in a modern car with decent seats for longer than an hour? I dunno, I just personally don't see a stop every hour as necessary unless you're on a hardtail.

 

I do a Vancouver, WA to Phoenix, AZ at least once a year, my midpoint stop used to be Valencia, CA and 14hrs., now I think I'll shorten the midpoint travel time and stay over in Patterson, CA. Fuel, a quick rest stop break and maybe a drive thru are all I do!!

 

My best advice would be to bring music that you like, a pack of window wipes (its bug season), and a friend in the passenger seat. I also like your idea of leaving at 3:00 am, you will get a couple of hours in on 'the excitement of the trip', then the sunlight will wake you up. You are close enough to the summer solstice that nearly the entire trip should be during the day.

If you have a passenger, then let them sleep when you are awake.

Be safe and enjoy the ride.

Mike

 

Once drove 5500 miles....in 5 days...(before the MINI was reintroduced)....
Kenai AK to Manchester nh....1100 per day average....
First 2.5 days... No radio...not even am up on that stretch of the ak highway....
Simply drove when I felt like it...napped when I was tired.
Being older...I can still do about 1000 in a long day....but multiples...be harder...about 900 is not too bad depending on traffic....heck...it was actually EASIER to stay alert BEFORE I got on to the US interstate system.....multi lane highways are easy to turn lots of miles...but harder to stay alert

 

That makes 2 of us, I'll be making a solo trek as well this Friday! I'm driving Charlotte to Los Angeles in my MCS. If you spot an iced chocolate r56 with roof rack, tinted windows and black wheels, that'll be me

 

that's a good avg. Driving from fairbanks, ak to montana, we made 800 miles first day in 20 hours due to bad roads. Whole Alcan Hwy was like that in the summer. So much construction...