OK, I have to make a decision tonight as to what car to take on a road trip to Key West.
My choices are as follows with my pros and cons.
2014 BMW i3 REX - This is the most complex option.
Pros, great gas mileage. Cons, range anxiety and lots of planning.
When going slow great range, not so good good when at interstate speeds I have to go 147 miles mostly on highway until I can reach a charging station in Florida City where there is an outlet mall. If I take the i3 our plan is to go to the outlet mall then plug in and walk around / shop until battery is topped off. Should take about 1 hour/ Then top off gas tank (2.3 gallons) and continue to our first night in Key Largo where we hope to plug in our trickle charger for the evening.
The distance from the charging station in Florida City to Kay Largo is 29 miles so we will hardly use any battery. We cannot use gas until we hit 75% battery. Battery range is 85 - 90 miles especially when driving at 40-50 mph. We would stop battery drain at 75% and use gas to get to hotel. Trip from Kay Largo to Hotel in Key West is 100 miles on the nose.
Se we could drain batter to 50% (45 +/- miles) then use gas to get to hotel (1 gallon) We are sure the hotel will let us plug in and we do not plan on driving the car for 4 days until we leave so we can top off the battery the 1st night and not charge again.
Trip home would be a challenge.
We would use gas once we hit 75% and then top off the gas as needed (every 90 miles) so we could get back out of the keys on 1 tank of gas ans 25% battery, then top off the gas 1 more time and drive until empty (80 of the next 147 Miles) then top off at a rest area 1 more time to get the rest of the way home.
The i3 is very doable, just not sure I am up for the adventure. Or maybe I am.
Option 2 1991 BMW 318is with M50 swap - Pro - fun car to drive good gas mileage 30 MPG on highway better once in keys. Will not have to stop for gas for entire trip down unless we want to.
We will probably stop in Florida City and top off then again on our way back up, once you corss into keys gas gets expensive. Trip from Florida city to KW is 130 miles we can make round trip on a tank of gas.
Con - older car and while well sorted you never know what 28 year old part might decide to let you know its time to change.
Option 3 - 2007 FJ Cruiser - Pro - comfortable drive lots of room no worries about door dings or really any damage as it is what I call my battle wagon.
Con - Bad gas mileage, will get 16 MPG on highway and maybe 20 MPG in the keys range is bad too like 250 miles a tank if you push it 230 is more realistic. So we would be making a few gas stops. Bullet proof never gives me a problem would probably change serpentine belt prior to leaving as I just realized it has over 100k miles on it. I am sort of sadistically waiting to see how long it lasts. It was an Autozone one that everyone I FJ Cruiser forums said would not make 30K miles and to get an OEM one at 3x the price. They were wrong.
The adventurous part of me wants to take the i3 because it will be neat to work the logistics getting down there. Plus it is a neat car to drive and is really quiet and comfortable.
The car guy in me says to take the E30 because it is a cool car to drive.
The lazy part of me says take the FJ and just get down there and enjoy yourself.
Taking the I3 sounds like a challenge, and could be a fun one. I understood they have a BMW motorcycle engine as an on-board charger, but I didn't realize the gas tank was also motorcycle size. Just 2.3 gallons? Sheez. Quite different from how Chevy looks at the on-board charger on the Volt. Looks like you've got it all figured out. But if one piece fails (e.g. mall charger is broken, or otherwise unavailable) then you have yourselves an unwanted adventure. I suppose you could bring an empty gas can as a backup plan and use it if you were forced to. Or would that be cheating? ;D
Quote from: BruceK on June 29, 2018, 01:19:41 PM
Taking the I3 sounds like a challenge, and could be a fun one. I understood they have a BMW motorcycle engine as an on-board charger, but I didn't realize the gas tank was also motorcycle size. Just 2.3 gallons? Sheez. Quite different from how Chevy looks at the on-board charger on the Volt. Looks like you've got it all figured out. But if one piece fails (e.g. mall charger is broken, or otherwise unavailable) then you have yourselves an unwanted adventure. I suppose you could bring an empty gas can as a backup plan and use it if you were forced to. Or would that be cheating? ;D
2.3 gallons will get me 90-110 miles, possibly 120 miles once doing 45 MPH the entire time in the keys. The engine is a 2 cylinder motorcycle engine that drives a generator. Approx gas mileage is 35-45 MPG. If on the interstate driving 80 MPG it is more like 35 MPG and then some battery gets eaten. i.e. I turn on the battery hold feature at 75% battery and drive at 80-90 MPH (ever driven in Miami? that is slow) the engine / generator cannot keep up so it eats some battery, I would guess about 1% every 20 miles. Not horrific.
I could realistically drive this car from my house to Key West and back on one charge only stopping every 90 miles for gas.
I have to decide tonight because tomorrow, if I am not taking the i3 I have to go over either the E30 or the FJ before we leave on July 4th for Key Largo.
BTW- I will be making a thread about the trip because we have been doing some research and found some neat off the beaten path places to explore, plus we are in a quirky hotel way down near the Southernmost Point. We have never stayed in this area before so it opens up a whole new area for us to explore.
I would take the FJ, vacations are not supposed to be stressful, they're supposed to be fun. If there was no destination or time factor then I would take a "fun" car......the difference in dollars for gas for using the FJ just really isn't a factor when compared to being broke down or stalled waiting for a charge or walking to find a gas can - to me..
I've done trips with questionable cars too - I drove my old Mini to Colorado from KC right after I rebuilt it - literally started it and drove out of town! I also bought a Mini in Baltimore sight unseen and drove it home to KC. But in both cases time was not a factor... I didn't have to be there or back in any specific time frame, and I didn't have cherished ones with me to look out for.
I've gotta agree with Dave on this one. Change the belt and enjoy the trip - heck, you'll even have space for a souvenir lawn ornament.
On our morning walk we discussed this at length. The i3 was ruled out even though I think it would do the trip easily. Wife has no sense of adventure like you guys, I do not mind thinking and working through problems on vacation. Hell, I will be exhausted when we get back anyway, my wifes idea of a vacation is go 100MPH all the time and explore and see as much as possible.
Sitting around drinking or doing nothing is not in her DNA. Which is fine by me I am a bit hyper and not a fan of sitting still either.
It was down to the E30 and the FJ then we were talking more about the trip, I mentioned they have bicycle rental at the hotel... then I paused and said, hell, what if we take our bikes down and not rent any?
So the decision was made, take the FJ toss the bike rack into the Reese hitch and take our bikes down.
I really want to take this i3 on a longer trip. Maybe a Florida back road trip. It is a hoot to drive.
Spend the afternoon checking the FJ over. The cleaned it up inside and out.
Well, best as you can on the outside. Being parked outside all the time, she is starting to show the wear from sitting in the Florida sun all the time.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/n-jSbL3k/i-Z22ZH6z/0/88639bfe/XL/i-Z22ZH6z-XL.jpg)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/n-jSbL3k/i-SJCcQJv/0/5855a1ba/XL/i-SJCcQJv-XL.jpg)
Serpentine Belt had approx 80K miles on it. Looked decent.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/n-jSbL3k/i-BgxfDT9/0/c6b9053e/XL/i-BgxfDT9-XL.jpg)
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The FJ is rock solid reliable. I was toying with changing the main radiator hoses on it since they have 160K miles on them. They still feel and look decent. Might do that tomorrow if I have the time. Also, when changing the serpentine belt I noticed one idler pulley is a little noisy, so I need to take care of that too.
Now I need to get through 2 days of work.
If nothing else this trip has made you do some routine maintenance. Enjoy the trip.
I really wanted to leave that belt on.
I was morbidly curious how long it would last. When a few of us went from a $70 OEM to a $30 Dayco (Autozone) belts all the forum gods told us the belts would be done in 30K miles and the 60K mile OEM was the only logical option as the Dayco was going to break on us while driving.
I got 80K miles out of it and probably could have gotten 100K out of it easy.
Here's a bit of irony for those forum guys. I've used Dayco belts before and never had any concerns. So I did a little search on the Interwebs and found this Q&A that kinda hits the nail on the head.
LMAO!! Imagine that, forum "experts" are wrong again.
I have the OEM belt in the back of the truck, I pulled it off in 2012 and I keep it as a spare, I am going to compare it to the Dayco belt tomorrow and see which on is in better shape.
That is all the maintenance I have time for my week is turning into bedlam. I am still at it at 10:30 this evening.
Trying to cram a week of work into 2 days is proving to be daunting at best.
The payoff will be worth it. Cannot wait to change my latitude and attitude. Key West,...... if I could convince Mrs.5543 we would live in the Keys by now. She does not want to be an alcoholic which is a prerequisite to be a resident of Monroe county. ;D
I just love the vibe down there the NFG attitude. I would live in the middle Keys if given the chance in a moment.
I will be lucky to sleep 10 hours in the next 2 days getting the hell out of here and away from my needy clients.
Went to bed at 1:30 this morning after working on jobs all night.
I went into office at 7 this morning.
I just finished up my last few jobs and its only 10PM!!!
I get a normal nights sleep after I pack.
I have to go out on 3 jobs tomorrow morning then I head home and then head for Key Largo.
I love and hate this job all at the same time.
You're almost there. Light at the end of the tunnel.
Quote from: 94touring on July 03, 2018, 07:33:53 PM
You're almost there. Light at the end of the tunnel.
All the hard work was worth it. I cannot remember the last time I came home from a vacation so relaxed. I was really able to unwind on this trip for some reason. More so that many others.
Will start up a thread when I have time, everyone (clients) came back from the long holiday weekend rearing to go. I have not seen a flood of orders come in like this in as long as I can remember, post 2008.
Black Betty got 20MPG on the nose in the Keys, not so much out on the interstate and turnpike coming down and away from the keys. She never hiccuped once.
I hate to admit she was the most logical choice. More later I have a few jobs to turn out this evening.
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(https://photos.smugmug.com/Florida-Keys-2018/n-P3ZDmM/i-g9nk5HL/0/c9092257/XL/i-g9nk5HL-XL.jpg)