What's your longest one day Miata drive?

I drove around the loop from Vancouver, past Whistler, past Pemberton, up to Lilooet and back down the other side on the TransCanada #1 highway.

About 600km...

...just for fun.

Any route that includes a road called 'Sea to Sky Highway' can't be all bad ;-) Route looks great. What does the 600KM equal? I may have to map mine just to get a look at it via satellite ;-)

Chris

Divide by two and add another 10% of the original figure and you'll get close, but if you want to be more accurate, a km is 5/8 of a mile almost exactly.

So about 375 miles.

Just set your destination next door to your starting point and use Google Maps' ability to set a couple of points your route must travel through...

Ooooh! I've flown that loop many times in the FlightGear simulator, generally starting in Pemberton. I've always figured it would be stunning in a Miata. It's gorgeous from the air, especially when clouds are hanging halfway down the slopes.

It's a great drive.

If you hit the Sea-to-Sky highway early enough -- and if it's not the ski season so that "early enough" is both not as early as the skiers heading up to Whistler and so that the sun is already up! -- there's not much traffic on a road that winds and has a terrific mix of bends and straights for a car such as the Miata. In the spring, the road north of Whistler and Pemberton runs along a beautiful river where everything is alive...

...I think I'll do it again this spring with my GF!

one warm night in august, 9pm. some 450miles. got back home around 9am and called in sick :)

I call you COOL! But, I'd do that on a cool / cold evening! Hey, the last two days have been wonderful in Houston! I think we have one more day of fall, I can't wait! ;-)

Chris

About 100 miles round-trip for me is the most I have done without planning a route. I'm boring and fairly predictable.

This weather has been most excellent!

Pat

How about our 500 mile Marathon in a normally aspirated '90, towing a Combi-Camp trailer loaded with camping gear, in convoy with friends in a van loaded with kids and their tent trailer? From Clanwilliam Manitoba to Custer South Dakota in 1994. When we crossed the border near Antler ND, the fellow on duty said, "Are you towing that with THAT?" When he asked what I had for an engine, he couldn't believe it. "Go on through, and good luck to you" were his farewell words.

Stuart H. '91 Eunos Roadster

LOL, He had no idea did he! That sounds like a wild trip! How much did the combi trailer weigh? Did it follow and stop pretty well? And I wonder how your clutch liked it ;-)

Good work! cd

Come on now, that weak! You've surely taken some 'drives' in that hotrod! I didn't say they had to be unplanned! What's your longest 1 day Miata journey?

cd

Oh, planned or unplanned, I misunderstood.

My longest journey in one day, in any vehicle, was from Fayetteville, NC to Houston, TX, non-stop except for gas and for leg stretches.

Something like 19 or 20 hours. I would have made it to Austin but the fog in Houston forced me to stop and sleep, in the Miata, for a few hours. Between fatigue and severely limited vision, I would have never made it home that morning. Never again.

That was in the '96M. The '91 turbo is not ideal for long trips even under the best conditions.

Pat

It was the first day of a 2-week vacation, St. Louis to Sierra Vista, AZ: 1500 miles in 25 hours, straight through with stops only for gas and food. My wife drove about 1/3 of the miles.

Maximum GVW was around 900 lbs. I reckon we were around 600 lbs. loaded. It was a queen bed size combi. Surprisingly clutch and brakes held up well, it wasn't until I turbocharged the Miata that I had to replace the clutch. Stopping distances were a different story, especially downhill in the Black Hills. Looked a little strange with fender mounted towing mirrors, but the trailer was slightly wider than the car.

SH Former '90 Red (Tabasco) Former '91 Silver (Silverwind) Current '91 Eunos BRG (Wasabi)

I knew you'd have a few marathons up your sleeve. I've driven both to and from Phoenix straight thru (cat nap in the car on the side of the road once each way) but I sure didn't consider that a 'Miata drive'. You know what I mean. I don't think I'll ever do that again. The 750 mile stint I did was purely a pleasure drive designed and undertaken to enjoy curvy (and hilly) roads. Problem here in Houston is, to get any substantial quantity and really good quality roads like that require covering a hundred miles or so of flatlands ;-).

What's your longest 'pleasure drive' Lanny?

Chris

Hey, that 1500 miles to Sierra Vista included all the tasty bits of US191! :)

But I know what you mean. NOT the trip to drive all 14 Continental Divide passes in Colorado, but more-or-less spontaneous loops from home on a Sunday. Nothing impressive; they never run over 200 miles without going overnight.

That is what I thought Chris was talking about, spontaneous trips.

There is probably someone around who has done 24 hours straight in their Miata. I would have made about 21 hours but for getting stopped because of poor visibility. Wasn't trying to set a personal record, I was just in a hurry to get home, and by the time I hit Louisiana, I wanted to keep going west.

For spontaneous trips, like Lanny, probably 200 miles maximum, but for me, probably closer to 100 miles, maybe 150.

Pat

That sounds like it qualifies to me! You're talking scenic and curvy and so on! I was trying to exclude straight interstate stuff, simply getting from point A to point B. That sounds pretty darn bad-a_s actually.

Later, Chris

Some of the passes were so good, we had to turn around and do them again. The Divide trip was best thing I ever did with a Miata, even better than a track day.