I took a train back to Detroit in December years ago to buy an Audi S4 then drove I-90 all the way back to Missoula MT. Had blizzards followed by -20 degree temps. But was a fun trip. Something I'll remember for a long time.

And I would have felt much better driving a Touareg vs a S4.

 

Wow, that's a hell of a trip. I'd join but I'm already on the East coast.
Enjoy your journey and most of all be safe.

 

I'm in buffalo - hit me up.

 

That looks a great trip - keep us updated with your daily progress.

 

Make sure your car is up to service before you start. This is a lot of stress quickly.

 

Thanks everyone for replies. Yes the Touareg is well serviced, and I have a full size spare mounted on rim - it gets rotated thru so wear is same as the rest. Plenty of tread on all of them. Also have a good snow brush and an ice scrapper.
Right now I have about 114k on the odometer.
i still need to get more rain-x washer fluid — store was sold out last week.
I also need to get a snow shovel - just in case.

Volkswagens for life - looking forward to a hot cup of coffee with you in Buffalo!

 

Thanks everyone for replies. Yes the Touareg is well serviced, and I have a full size spare mounted on rim - it gets rotated thru so wear is same as the rest. Plenty of tread on all of them. Also have a good snow brush and an ice scrapper.
Right now I have about 114k on the odometer.
i still need to get more rain-x washer fluid — store was sold out last week.
I also need to get a snow shovel - just in case.

Volkswagens for life - looking forward to a hot cup of coffee with you in Buffalo!

We did Portland, OR to Chicago in February in a rented Chrysler Town & Country minivan because my daughter refused to get out of it at the airport. Scary driving in Utah mountains at night during snow storm but other than that it was smooth sailing. Just remember when you get into the “pits” of the Great Lakes (Michigan and Erie) light snow can turn abruptly blinding, so if you see that coming, stop for the night. There is nothing worse than crawling through that at night, with trucks flying by.

 

Wishing you a super safe trip!

 

Get two snow shovels then if you find somrone just watching should you get stuck they can help you rather than stand on the sidelines giving unhelpful advice!!

And presmably you have to come back again?

 

thanks TommiT.
But the 1 snow shovel that I bring I plan to rent out to people who are NOT driving Touaregs and are stuck in MY way. LOL.

I have full confidence in my Touareg getting me where I need to go safely. (knock on wood)

And yes, a return trip in a couple months. And then, a plan for Alaska this summer.

 

LOL!

Here a Magnum is quite a nice ice cream and the hazelnut version does, indeed, make my day!

 

Great advice about rain-x being bad.
Now I feel bad because I poured a gallon into my Touareg last year - reservoir is about empty now so I am gonna switch to your suggestions instead. I just need it to rinse off the glass and not freeze.

TommiT - No worries, I love ice cream - it is one of the daily food requirements in my life.

 

Great advice about rain-x being bad.
Now I feel bad because I poured a gallon into my Touareg last year - reservoir is about empty now so I am gonna switch to your suggestions instead. I just need it to rinse off the glass and not freeze.

TommiT - No worries, I love ice cream - it is one of the daily food requirements in my life.

There are a couple other brands that bead water like Rain-X. You can also buy the rain-x spray and buff it into your windshield like I do. Then, using the other water-shedding washer fluid will work even better. I usually apply wipe-on rain-x x2 yearly on the cars.

 

Having driven that route I can tell you that driving east of Madison to Wyoming is pretty boring. That said, Madison is an underrated city and might be worth exploring a bit.

I'd suggest trying to swap out Billings for Bozeman. Much more interesting city and has a big cadre of Audi/VW folks. Tarantino's pizza is amazing, and there's a really cool restaurant in a rail car with a great selection of craft beer. Bozeman is also a natural jumping off point for Yellowstone, as is Gillette. I once drove from Joliet IL (just outside Chicago) to Gillette WY in one day.

Do. Not. Miss. Yellowstone. Take your time visiting, winter is an under appreciated time of year to visit.

Coeur d'Alene is a great town also, lots of good restaurants. Had some of the best Mexican food I've ever had actually, and I've spent a lot of time in Arizona and Mexico. Beautiful part of the world.

 

The map I posted shows the entire I-90, but my “starting point“ is near Coeur d’Alene, wont be in Washington at all. Lots of pretty spots along the way. It does get pretty flat once past the Rockie Mountains which is okay too. No real traffic until a bit further east and then NY and MA nothing but traffic LOL. Good variety.

 

Have a safe and excellent adventure!

It reminds me of a trip I did with some mates from university in '89...Philly to FL to SoCal and back in a '79 Scirocco.
Lots of stories from that one but I'll only share this tidbit:
The guys had a UK-bound plane to catch early Monday at JFK in NY.
On the Thursday we were still in California.

San Diego to Wilmington, DE required only 50 hours. Two drivers. It's a blur, at best.

Enjoy the journey!
Brad

 

hifellow club touareg members. Day 1 of the adventure started out fairly well. The first 2 mountain passes, 4th of July and Lookout, (over the Rockie Mountains) were decent I opted for a late start to allow time for snow plows and sand trucks to tend to their jobs and am glad I did.

Then came the pass over the Tobacco Root Mountains. Tobacco might be bad for ya but Tobacco Root Mountains were a B—- Temperature of 0 F and a cross wind. Road surface was patchy but the dang wind brought me to 0 visibility several times At speeds of perhaps 15 MPH. There were a couple other vehicles making the trek. We all had our hazzard lights going and occasionally we could see each other. Less fun than I wanted to have. But slow and steady and all went well. Spending the night at Bozeman Montana. Weather report says expect -15 F tonight and a high tomorrow of 1. Winter.
sorry not photos of the white outs. But if you have a whitepiece of paper, hold it about 12 inches from your face and stare at it for an hour to get an idea of the experience. Impossible to take photos while driving in that type weather.
looking forward to tomorrow. Touareg is handling everything just great!

 

Looks similar to our current road conditions up here. I find the ruts in the right lanes from tractor trailers to be sketchy to navigate in a crosswind with black ice and the top-heavy nature of the Treg, compared to other VAG cars I'm used to driving. Glad I have studded Nokian tires and seems like the traction control is well sorted. Overall, this platform is one of the best overall I've ever driven on an extended road trip in severe winter conditions.

Hope you have a chance to enjoy Bozeman, there are some really nice spots to dine out aside from the geographical amenities.

Looking forward to more updates, safe travels!

 

Pry4sno - where is “up here”

Today was cold, roads were “fun” from Bozeman to Billings Montana and then great from Billings Montana to Sundance Wyoming.
At -8F this morning, I made the mistake of trying to open rear hatch! It was frozen shut but the latch did release, which meant I had to drive around in a parking lot until the ice gave and the hatch opened up. At which point I grabbed what I needed from the cargo area and closed it back up. It will stay closed for the remainder of the trip. Definitely not worth the hassle.

Touareg is handling everything great.

This “Arctic Blast” as they are calling the extreme cold across the northern usa is super cold temps below zero F.

My Touareg needs a bath! It has never looked as dirty as is does now - ice, dirt, “dirtcicles”

Feels great having an adventure in my Touareg.

 

Pry4sno - where is “up here”

Today was cold, roads were “fun” from Bozeman to Billings Montana and then great from Billings Montana to Sundance Wyoming.
At -8F this morning, I made the mistake of trying to open rear hatch! It was frozen shut but the latch did release, which meant I had to drive around in a parking lot until the ice gave and the hatch opened up. At which point I grabbed what I needed from the cargo area and closed it back up. It will stay closed for the remainder of the trip. Definitely not worth the hassle.

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Touareg is handling everything great.

This “Arctic Blast” as they are calling the extreme cold across the northern usa is super cold temps below zero F.

My Touareg needs a bath! It has never looked as dirty as is does now - ice, dirt, “dirtcicles”

Feels great having an adventure in my Touareg.

At least you had the road to yourself!!!

 

What a difference a hemisphere makes.

You're 'enjoying' all that snow/ice while we bake in temps of 44C here in the most remote capital city in the world.

 

We had a hail storm in the early hours - turned the garden white for all of 5 minutes!

I'm enjoying your trip. Stay safe!

 

Day 3 of the adventure…
Had a touch of snow overnight, in Wyoming but I-90 was great today and weather was cold and dry. Spending the night in Minnesota. Watching Weather Channel and may alter my route if needed.

 

How many miles are you doing each day?

 

Day 4 update
Another day of dry roads and cold temps. Managed to get from Worthington Minnesota to Portage Indiana today, but did jump off I-90 and took I-35 to I-80 to avoid Chicago and a whole bunch of toll fees. Plus the weather forecaster said some snow last night turning to rain today BUT it was a trick because when the temp is in the single digits I am pretty darn sure that the “rain” would be frozen! Right?! Anyways, mess avoided altogether. Well, except I-80 has a few miles of toll fee in Illinois and now in Indiana there will be toll fees on I-90. Geeze, trying to figure out these toll fees just because these States want to make some extra money.

TommiT, I havent been setting any particular mile goal daily, just sunup to sundown driving and it seems to work for me. My tires are oversize (265/65/18) so odometer/speedometer are off a bit

My Touareg still looks filthy, drinks fuel like a horse, and keeps me safe and warm tooling down the highways.

I have not seen any other Touaregs at all so far. A few Tiguans, an Atlas, a couple of Peppers and Qs.

 

"Peppers and Q's" ???

 

Cayenne and q5 q7

 

Day 5 update

Touareg had a tinge of snow at Portage Indiana this morning. Weather warmed up as I traveled through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and into New York. Roads were good. Toll roads got me today, but not as bad as I thought they’d be.

Found a 93 Octane fuel in Ohio. Normally I only find 91 so this was a nice treat for the thirsty Touareg.

Spending the night at Buffalo New York. Removed my snow boots and got some regular shoes on because it is in the 40s F which is a really nice change from the minus temperatures. Even got a bit of drizzle and fog on my drive through Pennsylvania.

Hi to another Club Touareg member who lives nearby!

 

Day 6 update
Lovely little drizzle this morning leaving Buffalo New York. The drizzle turned into a light rain off and on most of the day. Toll roads continued to plight me - grrr. Rain cleaned my Touareg a little, but a good washing is still needed.

Arrived safely at Boston Massachusetts. Touareg did fantastic! Very enjoyable drive and the scenery was ever-changing and beautiful.

Will be headed back westward in about 2 months and will continue in this post for that.

Happy New Year Everybody!