To Drive Cross Country or Not?
 

I have a 2010 Camaro SS with 16,000 miles on it. Havent replaced my brakes or tires yet. Keep in mind i have the 21" Rims on there with Pirelli P-Zero's runflat. What are the pros and cons of driving from California to New York. I am moving back to New York its not just pleasure, but i feel like it would be a dream of most people to be able to drive a 6 speed black camaro ss across the country. but then you also have to think logistically. When I return, I would need an oil change, new tires, new brakes, maybe a new clutch even. That could be pretty costly, not to mention if i get a flat tire on the road, I would need to replace all my tires right then and there, and thats if it isnt in the middle of the desert where I could get stranded.

So I am asking, if it were you.. what would you do? pros and cons too....

Best!

I think you answered your own question.
You only live once :thumbsup:

Exactly, you only live once. Even if it costs you a little, you'll always be able to say you drove across country in a camaro ss, I'm sure there'd be a lot of fun roads along the way..either wide open or back roads.

Ya I keep telling myself that, but tires and brakes is not just a little cash, its gonna cost a couple grand. Those tires do not come cheap. On top of that moving back to NY i will have to buy snow wheels and tires so thats automatically a couple hundred or maybe $1000 more. Still though...YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE

I'd do it. Just double / triple check everything before you start. Fluids, tire pressure and visually inspect everything like the belt and such.

Clutch should be fine for that trip and well after.

It's only about 3,000 miles or so, most of that highway. Highway driving is a lot less stressful on your car than city stop and go driving. I really doubt you will need anything replaced after only 3,000 highway miles. It's only like 2 months worth of regular driving.

Like everyone said, just check everything real good and go for it.

I got the idea to drive my Camaro from Nc to San Diego a few months ago and still want to do it. Even more so now than ever because one of my teachers from 2010 is currently BIKING across America, alone. (Needless to say he is a boss.)

I think its about the experience of the drive, good or bad, and as many have said, you only live once! I say do it!

New clutch? You've only got 16K on there.

You shouldn't need anything more than normal oil change ...

Really, i have very low profile 21" i think those would need to b changed relatively soon after no?

No big deal driving across the US. As stated you will probably need just a oil change.

Unless they look like they need to be changed in about 2 months of regular driving you should be fine. Unless you plan on doing burn outs everywhere.

I have maybe done one burn out in this car. And it was quite a FAIL on scale of good burn outs. So I think Im good with that... any suggestions of stops along the way as well? Should I head south, north, or mid country?

That is something I always wanted to do. Unfortunately we have two dogs that someone would have to look after for about a month.

I have almost 29,000 miles on my Camaro and 13,000 of that are road trips all across the USA for the Hot Rod Power Tour. To ease you mind, go to a reputable tire store and have them put a treadwear gauge on your tires to see how much is left on them. If you ship the Camaro, it's going to cost probably what tires would cost anyway. Brakes are easy to have checked, but they should be good well past 25,000, I replaced mine with 27,000 miles on them and they had 30% left, even with 5 or 6 good days of Autocross.

If you have Onstar, no worries, it works where even cell phones don't. XM radio helps on the trip, lots of places with not much on the radio if you don't have it.

Have fun, see America, take Route 66 part of the way. I love road trips, just check the car out and then go, 16,000 is still new. Plan out what you don't want to miss, and you'll find plenty of other things to see if you get off the interstate and hit some two lane roads. :thumbup:

Over/Under speeding tickets?

I would say go for it. I have done it twice in the past. Just make sure you have a good radar detector and GPS. Enjoy the trip.

Just keep it within 8-10mph of the speed limit and you should be ok. Watch your speed coming into and out of cities along the way and you'll be fine. And construction zones, they love to write tickets around construction zones where the speed limit drops from 75-65-55-45-35 in a short amount of time.

one day i would love to do this! im in california also, and thought about just driving down the coast which would be amazing. (from north to south) but if i could one day do a cross country trip that would be ideal. im not in the position to do that right now, but if you are, then go for it!!! be safe and have fun! :)

If after driving the car now for 16k miles why after going less then 7k?? miles would you NEED to change the tires, brakes, etc? Why would you need to buy 3 new tires if you run flat on 1? Just buy another Pirelli run flat..

I drove my 2011 2LT from San Diego to Virginia... Nice drive!

for the sake of normal wear and tear and treads etc. Usually when you have to replace all 4 if u want to replace one, unless they are still all fairly new.

Go for it! If you don't want to I'll drive it for you! I wish I could find the time/excuse in my life to take a road trip...a road trip for me is driving an hour to Boston

I'm confused, why would 3000 miles of light driving cause all of that repair? WHy do you think you will need to replace all of that?

Depending on if you go highway or not, I would not even think an oil change will be required. If yo9u are going highway, it might use 1/2 an oil change, no clutch, very little tire as you are not even taking real turns or accelerating. Ok it'll cost a lot of gas, but if you stay under 80-85 it's not bad. Also it'll take a few hundred dollars of the value of the car if you plan on selling soon, if you plan on keeping the car a few years the value is not going to be very different for a few hundred miles.

Also what is you other option, have it transported? That'll cost about the same

drove from San Diego to Virginia back in 1986 in my 1978 Z28 nice ride

go for it

Ofcourse do it.

If I had the chance, I would definetly do it. I'm a farmer, and having poultry houses and cows, we can't just get up and leave. The idea of open road with the top down sounds awesome!

Just enjoy the trip! You will have tons of fun on the road with the Camaro! A dream trip to drive in a Camaro from California to New York. Have fun!!

Drive it!

Once in a lifetime opportunity.

I would love a chance to drive across the country in my SS.

I still have the dream of hitting all the states in at least the lower 48 in one trip, perhaps also up into the 10 provinces of Canada and into Alaska on the same trip.

Don't really know how I can work Hawaii into the mix...

No question's just Drive It.. Well worth it....

I just drove 800 miles from Tx to Co and the only complaint is my right shoulder area was cramping real bad. I'm not really sure why since my normal daily driving doesnt do this.

Oh, and I got up to 25mpg (according to the DIC) in my SS on the trip!

Do it!

(this was a commercial from Godfathers back in the 80's when they actually made good pizza)

imagine 20 years down the road and you can tell that story of how you drove your black camaro across the country, that is a dream to most people. And in those years that money you spent wont really mean anything, if i was in the position to be able to do so, i would do it. Take Rout 66! that is something i want to do one day so bad. But as far as having things replaced, i would only get an oil change when i get back.

Change the oil, get the tires to the proper pressure, and GO.

Nothing like driving cross country in an awesome car. You bought it to drive it right? What better opportunity.

Where in NY are you moving to? UpstateC5 is a great group of people if you want some fellow enthusiasts to hang out with once you get here :)

I wouldn't use a radar detector in VA or CT. Maybe some other states, I'd check online to see where else they are not legal.

I did it last year with my brother in law from San Diego to Tampa in a 1975 Ford F100 4x4 pulling a 78 CJ5 in August with no AC. It was one of my best vacations ever. We hit Route 66 or what's left of it from Cali to Texas then headed south. Route 66 through Arizona was awesome. Some truely incredible sites.