How long have you driven on a road trip in your Saturn Astra?

[PaulR]

It got me thinking the last few weeks on just how much we drive our cars anymore. I wonder if many people, other than JFS who recently moved from CA to TN, do many long cross country trips.

Well back in May I drove my 2008 Astra XE from WI to CA for my nieces graduation from the University of California at Berkeley. It was a total round trip of 4,805 miles. And along the way, using U.S. highways 93 and 50 through the Nevada desert, the Iron Highway in the Black Hills of SD and I-80 crossing the Sierra mountains. For a basic WI flatlander like me it was a blast, and it was the first time I had been to CA. The trip was rather comfortable, being temperatures were mainly in the upper 60's to low to mid 70's. But I kept wanting to doze off driving in the middle of the night in WY, so I needed to pull over and stop.

On my 10 day road trip, the Astra got from 31.1 to 38.6 mpg at any one fill up and for an average of about 35.5 mpg. Filling up in South San Francisco was a rude awakening at $5.98 per gallon, though in other nearby areas it was more like $6.25 to $6.50 per gallon. The highlight of my trip was visiting Alcatraz prison. The low point probably spending the night in Oakland.

Next year my nephew graduates from West Point Academy in NY and that is only about a 2,200 mile round trip.

[AstraFasta]

We regularly do 4 hour (total) round trips in the Astra. Our Buick is a superb car for long road trips; quiet and comfortable.

The Astra is a fun car but the cloth XE seats aren't super comfortable on long drives (I wonder if the leather seats have better foam).

The Astra is a bit noisy but is somewhat quieter now so that makes the trip better thanks to some maintenance:

- fixed the exhaust flex pipe
- patched the exhaust resonator
- replaced the rubber door piece on the b-pillar
- repaired the rear door wiring (now the rear windows are tightly closed)

Premium tires that are well balanced make a big difference too.

If the back seats are flat and the luggage cover off, the Astra gets noisy. Those are important for sound insulation.

I think the Russian Astra website had some tips to reduce cabin noise. Ceiling insulation was especially effective but tough to install. I think front wheel arch insulation was a winner too. Underhood insulation might have been disappointing. There were more tips but I can't remember them.

[Astra08]

About 10 years ago, drove from FL to DC for a wedding, which was about 900 miles. No issues and great fuel mileage.

My trips now consist of carting my dogs up the mountains which is about 70 miles, or maybe to the local brewery, but with 172K miles on it, the long trips are over.

[Allice]

6 years ago