[T3] News and questions from the road

[Keith Park]

as you go up in elevation your power will be less and your gas mileage more,
especially with FI.

I get about 22 towing heavy loads, and that assimilates wind.

Keith


Topnotch Restorations
topnotch at nycap.rr.com
http://www.a383ina68.addr.com/radiorest/main.htm
71 Squareback  "Hothe"
65 Notchback  "El Baja Rojo"
93 RX7  "Redstur"
87 Golf  "Winterat"
 
-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org [mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org]
On Behalf Of Daniel Nohejl
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 1:06 AM
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: [T3] News and questions from the road

Wow, so since leaving Madison two days ago, we've been through Minnesota,
South Dakota (including the Badlands overnight), and are now in Cody, WY
which is a little bit outside of Yellowstone. We're just shy of 2400 miles
into our trip and have had no major incidents as of yet. I'll spare you all
the touristy highlights, though, and get to the T3 stuff!

Gas mileage has varied a lot. After leaving Madison, it was 24.7 but the
wind in South Dakota killed us and we dipped down to 22. It's such a big
empty place (seemingly one huge farm tended by many farmers and a few towns
sprinkled throughout) and the wind off the farms and prairies just pummeled
the car which made it hard to drive above 65. Both hands had to be on the
wheel at all times as the gusts were strong and unpredictable..it was quite
nerve-wracking at times.

We thought that with South Dakota we'd been through the emptiest windiest
place in the country and then we got to Wyoming! Almost as soon as we
crossed the state line, there were signs warning us of 35+ mph wind gusts
and they seemed to come from both sides. For long periods, we had to keep
the speed between 55 and 60 as it felt like an invisible hand has preventing
us from going any faster. The drive was slow and frustrating until we got to
Bighorn National Forest. While there was a lot of downshifting into 3rd and
2nd to make the ascent up to 9,666 ft, we survived the ordeal. This part of
the drive was largely windless and our MPG climbed back up to 24.7 despite
the hills. 

FWIW, Wyoming is far and away the most beautiful state we've been through so
far!

We had one small incident this evening:

-We checked into our hotel, got back in the car, tried to start it, and
nothing happened. This happened the other day at Jim's house. Everything
clicked like it should (we have a hot start relay installed) but no dice so
we had to push start. Last time, this was because our 15 amp fuse blew but
now we have a 100 amp fuse. If that blew, then what the heck is drawing so
much current in our starting system? We'll have to check the fuse in the AM.

A small observation:

-Once we get to Oregon, we're going to ditch our roof rack. We stopped
packing stuff on it in Ohio when it became clear that the wind was steering
the rear of the car on account of what we had packed on the rack. Took the
stuff off and we haven't had that issue since. Now, all it does is whistle
and given the crazy winds we've experienced, I'm inclined to think that it's
not helping our gas mileage. 


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