My longest trip to date

In2Deep

After doing three very fun 400 mi+ r/t runs in my '09 Sport Tour 6MT from Austin to OKC over the past 3 months, I wanted to stretch things further. So last week I decided to run up to Colorado. 880 miles each way, and each done in a single day, each taking about 13 hours total time (GPS stats showed moving time behind the wheel at about 12 hours). Here's my report:

COMFORT: Seat comfort for a long day was just fine. I found myself adjusting seat back and seat bottom angle a couple of times to change things up. No problem for me.

ROAD NOISE: We all know that the road noise in our machines is noticeable when driving most surfaces. It is what it is. The drone and noise when driving asphalt has never really bothered me over the 70M miles I have on the ODO. On this trip the route from Austin to where I was going (Divide, CO) had me take a 50/50 mix of Texas and New Mexico secondary asphalt roads and freeways. Freeway pavement was just fine. However, for the first time in my experience I found that the road noise from Asphalt started wearing on me over the longer runs of 150 - 200 miles each stretch. Now it needs to be noted that these secondary road runs were done at pretty high speed overall (I'd guess average 90MPH), so decibels were a little higher and for longer periods than most might experience at the speed limit (70-75). That said, the drone from asphalt over such long periods of time definitely took a mental and physical toll, but nothing that couldn't be shrugged off eventually. FYI, I am running nearly new Hankook Ventus V12 EVO's (had about 2,000 miles on them at the beginning of the trip).

PERFORMANCE: Not much needs to be said here other than the 370Z on the open road is too much fun. The car loves 85+ MPH, and IMO 90MPH is the sweet cruise speed. Runs up to 120-130 are easy and instant and when done under the right situations/conditions -- and with proper skill -- are safe and stable. FUEL ECONOMY was great....again. Average over the trip was 26 (even when going North to CO "up hill" as you gradually gain altitude over hours of driving). Remarkable was the first leg coming out of Colorado down I-25 and then over from Raton NM, and running 85-90, I saw 29 MPG over a full tank. Very cool.

The car also burned about 1 quart of oil over the entire 1,700 miles. This doesn't surprise me given the higher sustained speeds and frequent runs to triple digits over the course of the trip. Using Royal Purple (since new).

ISSUE: About halfway going up to CO I was coming into a small town after running a back road. As I downshifted into the speed zone my clutch went nearly to the floor before disengaging. Having kept up with various threads on this forum about the CSC, I pretty much knew exactly what was happening. Since it's pretty isolated on this route, I was a bit concerned. I had no choice but to forge ahead, and ended up giving the clutch a pump about every 10 minutes for the remainder of the trip up. That brought the clutch pressure (to the foot) back up, but would dissipate each 10 minute interval. A pain in the a$$, but it got me to where I was going. The really good news is that I found a tiny repair shop in the town I was visiting (with great Yelp reviews), and within 2 days my CSC was replaced (and I did the master cylinder as well). No way was I going to try and make it back home with out repair.

I had them check the clutch plates, and to their assessment the clutch itself was in fine condition, and they did not recommend a total replacement (very expensive, by the way). With the new CSC, to me the clutch actually feels and performs better than new. Shudder is gone. SO FYI, my clutch itself was fine at 70,000 miles. PROPS go to Big Sky Automotive in Divide, CO. Brandon saved my bacon, and did a great job fixing the Z.

One other minor issue on this trip: took a nice hit to the windshield with a rock kicked up by a truck. Cracked and a running crack in the passenger lower right corner. New windshield is necessary. Oh well.

SUMMARY: Great fun, comfortable, a bit noisy, and I would not hesitate to take a similar distance one-shot run in this car again if I wanted or needed to.

That is all. Drive safe.
I2D

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