88clbsport

For any of you here from the 993 discussions you might know I have been looking at a purchasing a c4s to go with my Club Sport. After the PPI and a few discussions with the mechanic, it now looks like the deal will happen.

I was going to ship the car back to LA, but I have a brother that lives in Atlanta area and we haven't seen each other in a while.

Even though it's 2200 miles and will just add to the already high odometer(63k miles on '97)I think we are going to make the journey.

Has anyone here taken the trip?
How about just part of it ie. Atlanta to Dallas or Dallas to LA etc.
I am looking for any potential speed traps or states/counties I should look out for.
I have an older passport radar detector but I don't really want to rely on that.

Hope to hear from some Road Trippers out there...thanks,
Jason <img src="graemlins/offtopic.gif" border="0" alt="[offtopic]" />

fxrdoc

I drove my 98 C2S from phoenix to nashville, about 1750 miles. I got a speeding ticket one hour into the trip, lol. I recall lots of speed traps on both sides of little rock and memphis, otherwise smooth sailing. By the way, they were using laser.

Is this the C4S that was on ebay recently?

good luck!!!

Fens

Just got back at the beginning of the month on a trip from Dayton to Los Angeles. Lived down in the Southeast for 13 years prior and made the trip from Atlanta to Dallas a number of times. I am guessing your route might be I-85 to Montgomery, Al from Atlanta and then down 65 to I-10 at Mobile then across to Dallas and on out to LA. From Atlanta and down I-85 for about 38-45 miles it is touch and go with the Georgia Patrol. Once past that the traffic seems to sail until you get to just before Oplika/Auburn area where they drop the limit and snag vehicles. You can also look for Alabama and County Cops at the Franklin and Tuskgee and Tallassse areas. Naturally about 5-10 miles east of Montgomery you can expect to see some action all the way to the Taylor Road and East Blvd exits of Montgomery. Once clear of Montgomery watch just before the Greenville and Evergreen exits. Approaching Mobile just after going over the long bridge on the north side of Mobile, they park in the Median behind the trees in the center devider area. Outside of Mobile on I-10 about 10 miles you can expect them working the 4 Corners area. From there you can see the frindly highway bandits between the Boluxi exits. After that it is touch and go until the Texas line where you can throw out and anchor as your best protection as the Texas Patrol is the most hungry so and so's I have ever encountered. I made my way to old route 66 (now I-40) to avoid Texas crossing through Oklahoma and just the panhandle of Texas through Amarillo. I saw about 200% more patrols in the panhandle of Texas than the whole state of Oklahoma and the best benefit of it was the speed limit jumps up to 85 in New Mexico once you have Texas in your rear view mirrors. Saw a few NM Patrol between Tucumcari and Santa Rosa and Gallup on I-40 but other than that they pretty much left traffic alone unless you are wild and setting a Porsche land speed record. There is construction on the East side of Alberqurqe and they take the 55 limit serious. Arizona is populated by the ticket vendors around Flagstaff and after that, it is Calif desert driving and you can be the best judge of what you do there on into the Riverside area.

Have a good trip. I found a lot of ideas and things to fix and upgrade on my 993 Cab along the way. Lots of time to think about those things.

88clbsport

Fens,
I tried to e-mail you back to thank you but it is blocked. This hasn't been a popular topic/thread but your details are incredible and very well appreciated. I am getting new rear tires put on the car in Atlanta and everyting will take place in LA.

Hank Cohn

Jason:

In October of last year my wife and I flew to San Francisco to pick up a 993 we purchased. We had three days to get back to Atlanta where we live. We knew we had to average about 800 miles per day. We both enjoyed the trip and would do it again. The speed limits are much higher on your side of Texas. It’s a little frustrating going east because the higher speeds spoil you. It would be nice to have a few more days to make the trip. This would allow some limited sightseeing, like the Grand Canyon or the Petrified Forest or Meteor Creator Park. I drove the entire way and the car was surprisingly comfortable and performed flawlessly. I admit that I thought something was wrong as we crossed some of the higher elevations. The car just didn’t make any power. Until that trip, I had never driven in the mountains and couldn’t believe the amount of HP lost. If your experience is like mine, I think you would enjoy the trip. It is a great way to get acquainted with your new P-Car.

Hank

richfitz

A friend and I flew out to Atlanta and picked up my wife's turbo and drove it non stop back to Denver (we only stopped for food and gas).

I hated the idea of putting so many miles (1440) on a 26,000 mile car but it was one of the most enjoyable cross country trips I have taken and was well worth both the time and mileage.

<img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[nono]" /> Important: Enjoy yourself but never forget that you are a potential target for the lowlifes that live around the freeways. I have never had a problem, but I plan my stops carefully and have pulled back onto the freeway more than once because things didn't seem right a gas station after dark.

ALWAYS have a cell phone, in addition to my Sprint PCS phone I carry a old dual band ATT phone as a back up. The ATT phone has no service but you can still dial 911 or a ATT operator if you get into a pinch.

Other things I bring with me is a sleeping bag and plenty of food/water and a laptop with a GPS unit (Delorme Road Warrior CD with Earthmate GPS Receiver). I also never travel cross country unarmed, although my current and past line of work makes it legal for me to this.

That said, there is nothing like pulling into some backwater McDonalds in a Porsche Turbo with 'out of state' plates (The locals looked as if they just were visited by aliens).

People seemed really happy to see a Porsche traveling along the freeway with them, lots of waves and thumbs up. Only one wana-be in a suped up Mazda who wanted to race at 2am just outside of St Louis. We declined, he smiled, waved and drove off. <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

We had a borrowed Passport 8500 for the trip and it performed very well. Coming out of Atlanta we were being hit by every radar and laser known to man every 5 miles or so. Cops with speed guns everywhere. As we moved north to hit I-70 the Passport blipped every hour or so until we were just east of the Kansas border, after that it didn't make a sound (we started to think it was broken) until we reached Denver.

No speeding tickets. We stayed about 15 miles above the speed limits the whole way with the exception on a few deserted stretches of straight freeway where we cruised on the dark side of 150.

Again lots of fun and a trip like this really shows you what and incredible car you have.

KC993

Dallas to LA, let's see... made that trip over 10 times, BUT back in the late 80's early 90's. I HATE it!!! There's NOTHING to see, just flat, straight put you to sleep boring highways. Interstate 20 to interstate 10...NOTHING...FLAT, STRAIGHT just watch out when you go through small towns. Interstate 10 to El Paso... better but there is a border check point, and some border patrols. From El Paso to Tucson... you can pretty much go flat out in NM, of many times I went through there, NEVER once I saw A police, and their gas price was low AT THE TIME. When in AZ you will thank your V1 hundreds of times. AZ to LA... I believe CHP's did not use RADAR at that time until you hit San Diego highway 5 to LA, plenty of CHP's and locals. <img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[nono]" />

Well, that's how I remembered... BTW, my personal record of the trip from North Dallas to Laguna Niguel...18 1/2 hours. A friend of mine bought my 944 Turbo in May 2000 and drove back to LA in 17 hours and 40 minutes. We verified this with him at home called and his wife witness.

Good luck and be careful, don't say I didn't warn you... <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

88clbsport

for those that have followed this thread or contributed...A BIG THANKS! I went to AAA for a Trip-tik, consulted Mapquest.com as well as suggestions from friends. Everyone seems to suggest the 20 to the 10....I keep thinking the 40 would be a better route and it looks shorter since I am leaving North of Atlanta. I thought i would take the 278 through Tupelo and then catch the 40 at Memphis. I am leaving from Cumming, GA which is off the georgia 400 and quite a ways north of atlanta.
any further thoughts?
Jason

Hank Cohn

Jason:

That is exactly what we did except in reverse of course. 278 has a long stretch of construction and detours onto some very rural streets. No real problem though, just a little slow. I would estimate the detour to be in the 40-60 mile range. I40 was a good route to take. We encountered some construction in Arkansas. It was on a Sunday and even though the traffic was light, I’ll bet it cost us about an hour. This was back in October of last year and they are probably done. Other than that the road and trip were great!

Hank

B-Line home

Hey Jason,

I might be moving west some time in the near future. Miami to L.A.

Thanks for starting this topic, it's great research for me. I'd love for you to post your findings after you have completed the journey.

I will most likely be trailoring my Pcar behind my daily driver.

Thanks to everyone else for the great info..

Todd

A couple of years ago I drove from suburban Detroit to Los Angeles. Solo!!

I can't remember roads, and don't have a map nearby.
I traveled South on 75 to Knoxville. Stayed w/ friends for 2 weeks. Then down and through Oklahoma, N. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and then to Las Vegas where I got pulled over after 16 hours of driving for swirving (falling asleep)Never do that again. Then through Joshua tree forest and in to San Diego and up to LA, where I lived in Malibu for 6 weeks. I don't remember and of the speed traps, and kept the speed down. The main thing I remember about that trip was how rushed I was and didn't take time to enjoy it as it may never happen again. My advice is to take and extra couple of days and don't be in too big a rush. Some beautiful senery and a great road trip. Many landmarks and neat things to see, and being in a hurry kind of ruins it all. Zip one way if you wish, but take your time going the other. When you get to Atlanta enjoy it. Check out Buckhead, and just hang around for a day. Go to Olympic stadium if anything is going on. Have a safe trip and enjoy,many people would love to have your opportunity.

ked

Jason, I've driven many many times to Atlanta (first time when in High School, to see Tony Dean & his 908 defeat - actually outlast - the McLarens & Lolas at the 1st CanAm held at RA) and numerous times to LA & other points West from Huntsville AL.

I concur w/ the I-40 route, it is a pretty straight shot and pretty low density. Of course I would take the route from Atlanta to Memphis through Hsv, but it isn't limited access - in fact in N GA & over Sand Mtn. (AL) it is very "50's America", w/ some fantastic driver's roads. From Cumming to Rome to Ft. Payne (or better yet, Mentone) to pick up US72W, east of Hsv, thence I565 back onto 72W and into Memphis. From there, no changes till Barstow (more 50's Amercia?).

2 winters ago I made great time from Hsv. to Breckenridge CO via I40 (don't tell me old 911s can't be fun & reliable in the cold, snowy mountains). Go fast starts in Arkansas (why hang out there?), OK was REALLY fast, w/ tons (literally) of diesel duallies cruising at over 100. Texas panhandle is as Fens described - mercenary State Troopers making us part of their revenue generation model - no judgement, no class. Be Aware & V1!

Anyway, if you aren't interested in discovering rural Alabama & Georgia ("send lawyers, guns & money..."), aside from dropping down to Tupelo, you could head up to Chattanooga & pick up US72 there (via I75 & I24), and through Hsv. to Memphis. One nice thing, if you are so inclined, is that these cities all have something to offer (Chattanooga, the Aquarium; Hsv, the Space & Rocket Center; Memphis, Beale St.). If there's anything I can do to help, drop me a note... just writing about this, as the summer approaches, makes me want to go somewhere... to get a C4S.

88clbsport

Isn't this what having a great car is all about. I am so glad I decided to do this...work will still be there when I get back! I'll get to "really" know the car and spend some quality time with my brother while clearing my head in the process.
Hope I am not to "drived out" because I am going to Laguna Seca right when I get back for 3 day Skip Barber school.

Oh yeah, do you think I will have any concerns about parking the car overnight? Guess I better plan out my stops...I was just going to wing it!

Cool way of looking at this or any road trip

Plane ticket-$275
Gas-$200
Food-$100
hotel-$200
wear and tear, oil change after etc.-$200
experience-priceless
Sound like a commercial for a credit card?
vs.
$1500 for covered transport-Intercity

**just remember 2,300 miles on my car were from this trip when I go to sell it...hopefully to someone from this board***

Fens

Jasonany further thoughts? Just one after thought. Might be wise to put together a small kit of emergency repair replacement items. There are not many Porsche dealerships or places that stock items for the Porsche along the routes discussed. I found checking out the oil type and brand in the vehicle and carrying 2 qts to be a time saver versus looking for that info and shopping to find the oil along the way a wise decision. A couple of belts are a lot cheaper that sitting somewhere while they are shipped to where you are is a wise precaution. I am sure you can probably think of a few others.

88clbsport

Good point Fens!
I am putting together a little emergency kit with flashlight, sleeping bag, etc.

The extra oil and belts will now be a part of it....can anyone think of other mechanical items?