Thanks to everyone for your great suggestions. AdamIsAdam, ref the spare valve insert, I'd "heard" that using the tire sealant ruins the TPMS for that tire and you have to have it replaced, which is one of the primary reasons I was looking at a plug kit. Is the slime ruining the TPMS an urban legend? Any insights anyone has would be most appreciated!

 

https://www.lifewire.com/fix-flat-da...ensors-3955868

 

I just did the Blue Ridge Parkway in a 1980 Mercedes Benz 200 I bought on Bring a Trailer. I took basically nothing. Not even a tire plug kit. Here are my tips.

Check the road status. BRP is at 3,000 to 6,000 feet and it will be closed for snow on a regular basis during the winter.

There are no services and no electricity or plumbing on the BRP. There’s at least one 50+ mile stretch with no gas. Always have at least 1/3rd a tank. (There’s actually no gas on the BRP. You have to exit the BRP and “go into town.” Exits are rare and at some exits it’s miles to services.) Consider carrying a gallon of True Fuel from Home Depot. It’s a gallon of 93 octane ethanol free in a can that won’t leak. Take a funnel.

Carry two quarts of oil.

Get AAA months in advance and upgrade to the highest level so you can get a 100 mile tow if necessary. You have to be a lowly member eligible for only 10 mile tows for a few months and if you don’t have a tow during that time they’ll let you upgrade. Take a couple of pens, a pad of paper, and copies of your Aaa card in case you have to ask someone to call for a tow for you while you’re in a cell phone no-service area.

No electricity on the BRP means no lights in tunnels. I was halfway into one and it went dark as anything I could imagine. Literally couldn’t see anything. Leave your lights on.

Huge swaths have no cellular service. Download maps in advance. If you don’t have nav consider getting a Garmin.

The BRP is amazing but it’s bad form to drive at high speeds. Once you get to North Carolina, leave the BRP and go barnstorm some of the amazing mountain roads an hour or two to the west. There are many options and I won’t attempt to name them all but think Cherohala Skyway and roads in that direction.

North Georgia also has some great roads.

Everyone talks about tire plugs. I have used Slime with great success.

The most important thing to take is what I call road trip attitude. Anyone can fix a problem with a trunk load of tools and parts. The true road tripper fixes the problem with a good attitude and resourcefulness. In return they get stories to embellish and retell for decades.

Fun cities to stay in are Charlottesville, Asheville, Cashiers, Highlands. Tapoco Lodge, and Blue Ridge.

You don’t say where you’re going after the BRP. Keep us posted.

 

The tire valve inserts and tool came and as I was packing them into the Cayman I took inventory of what comes with the car. Low and behold, Porsche provides a spare insert and removal tool.

 

Thank you for all your great suggestions in response to my post. Very much appreciated and I learned a few things. That said, could you pls let me know what the suggested roads are in GA and NC? I'll be retired with nothing but time to kill, so why not?? Also, I'm still up in the air. Originally I was going to do SP to BRP and then backroads to San Antonio, stay for a couple weeks, then backroads to FL, stay, backroads to AL, stay, and then return to NVA. HOWEVER, I've got friends in CO and CA who want me to come visit so I may turn right after the BRP and head for CO and then to San Diego, using as many backroads as possible. Do you have any suggestions for roads I should take X-country, or should I post that on another threat? Anyway, thanks for the good ideas!

 

I had a month off for a road trip in 2020. I bought a Caterham in Salt Lake City, toured the southwest and drove it home to Atlanta. Google “seven went down to Georgia” for the story.

Generally speaking, good roads are in the mountains or on the coast. So in the eastern US virtually all the good roads are within 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail. In the west, they are west of a line from west Texas to Eastern Montana. I know there are exceptions. Driving from Georgia to San Antonio to Florida is not an interesting route. Backroads on that route have none of the benefits of backroads and lots of annoyances. I’m going to Austin for the F1 race and hardly considering backroads.

I’d do SP, BRP, Cherohala Skyway, the Dragon and then do a quick two day transit to Marfa, TX. From there I’d visit friends in Colorado, then hit Southern Utah, NM/Arizona, Palm Springs, the many roads around LA, the PCH, and maybe continue up the Pacific coast to Seattle.

There are apps of course but I find Butler Motorcycle Maps helpful for finding the best roads.

There is an endless list of things to see in the American West. If you have three months, build those into your trip. Also consider putting events on the agenda. I’m building a cross country trip for next year around Rennsport Reunion at the end of September. I’ll take at least 3 weeks and build in some must see items.

The problem is one of timing. You risk snow doing all of that in the winter. At least put on a set of all season tires and don’t expect you’ll be able to drive at greater than 6/10ths.

 

My hero! Is this a solo trip? I suggest you start a thread to document the trip, perhaps staring now with the planning. Post that link here because I want to follow it.

 

@AdamIsAdam Thanx! I plan on doing it all in good weather. If I can't have my top down, I don't want to drive!! And since Pirelli and Michelin both say their UHP tires shouldn't be driven below 45 degrees due to cracking, I hope to be done long before then!

 

I would get rid of the wheel locks. I have only had bad experiences with them. I had one shear and it took me forever to get off. Another was lost and I had to order a replacement which took two weeks. I have never had wheels stolen and I wouldn't park my car anywhere where I thought that may be an issue. I used to live.in the city and parked all sorts of cars on the street. I have had my window smashed plenty of times and a convertible roof cut but no one ever stole my wheels. I think they would go for the cat first.