[Viking Lady]

The countdown clock has started. Adventure to begin 8-1-2022, destination Boston Massachusetts USA. Approx 2800 miles mainly I-90. As with the last adventure, I will put updates and photos on this thread daily and welcome everyone to follow along and join me through the Club Touareg Forum.

The Winter Adventure was great, now I am doing the same basic route in Summer.
My Touareg had its pre-trip inspection at VW Dealership (a great dealership) and all systems are in “excellent” condition. My Touareg has approx 121k miles on it.

New additions for this adventure are the Malone AirFlow 2 cross bars and the Thule Force XT L cargo box.

The weather is hot and in places in the triple digits. No worries about snow and ice on this adventure. But Summer Driving has its own special issues, and the fuel prices are crazy, so I will need to adjust my driving style, speed and hours on the road accordingly.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

Have fun! That cargo box is gonna take a huge mpg hit

 

[Watch Carefully]

Bon voyage!
I'll be heading on a long trip myself for 2 weeks in late Sept and will see if I cannot create/maintain a travelogue.
Philly to Cleveland to UP MI to MN/WI to Chicago to Indy...

...Pulling a teardrop and with a cargo box on top. Even with diesel, I'm expecting sub-15mpg for the journey

 

[Viking Lady]

Have fun! That cargo box is gonna take a huge mpg hit

Hi Vw4Life. - I have been driving around with the Thule Force for a bit now and fuel mileage hasnt been hit, BUT I am sure it will be at highway speeds. According to Thule this new Force XT L isn't so bad on mileage because of the weird textured “aero-? Skin” it has.
Also, since its not winter anymore, I will be keeping the speed lower (65-80 instead of 80-95). Apparently one is supposed to drive slower with a cargo box on too. Seriously, this may be how they get away with saying less effects on fuel - sure I use fuel faster at 80-95 mph than I would at 65-80 anyways. I have never used a cargo box before - but it was my best option for my needs.
see ya for coffee? Will let you know when I am closer to your part of the country.

 

[Viking Lady]

Bon voyage!
I'll be heading on a long trip myself for 2 weeks in late Sept and will see if I cannot create/maintain a travelogue.
Philly to Cleveland to UP MI to MN/WI to Chicago to Indy...

...Pulling a teardrop and with a cargo box on top. Even with diesel, I'm expecting sub-15mpg for the journey

Hi WatchCarefully - I will be passing thru a few of the States you mentioned. Watch out for that 15 MPH curve in Cleveland Ohio! And get an EZPass reader for the Tolls - doesnt matter which State you buy one in because it will read at all tolls in all States and simply bill to your account. I bought one last Winter and it really makes life simpler than the Pay By Plate stuff.
Looking forward to reading about your adventure too!

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

Hi Vw4Life. - I have been driving around with the Thule Force for a bit now and fuel mileage hasnt been hit, BUT I am sure it will be at highway speeds. According to Thule this new Force XT L isn't so bad on mileage because of the weird textured “aero-? Skin” it has.
Also, since its not winter anymore, I will be keeping the speed lower (65-80 instead of 80-95). Apparently one is supposed to drive slower with a cargo box on too. Seriously, this may be how they get away with saying less effects on fuel - sure I use fuel faster at 80-95 mph than I would at 65-80 anyways. I have never used a cargo box before - but it was my best option for my needs.
see ya for coffee? Will let you know when I am closer to your part of the country.

Interesting, you may be totally right about the Thule, I don't have direct experience with that exact kit


Also - coffee - yeppers!

 

[Viking Lady]

Day 1.
Weather ranged from mid-50s over mountain passes thru Montana to upper 90s everywhere else.

On the Road at North Idaho near Coeur d’Alene Lake.

Just a little bit of top corner of Wyoming as my Touareg transported me to Sturgis South Dakota for the night.

Summer roadways sure do have a lot of people driving on them that shouldnt be! Seriously, highway vehicles are NOT golf carts AND what ever happened to courtesy by pulling off the road to let the multitude of real vehicle drivers get around you! My Touareg gets extremely frustrated, it’s bad enough I am deliberately holding speed down to 75-80, my Touareg wants to do what it wants to do, and that is to go fast and safe. Winding 2 lane roads on my shortcut ended up being less miles but longer times UGH Very few safe places to pass. But of course passing is effortless for my Touareg, seriously my Touareg’s middle name has to be Autobahn!

Zero issues with the crossbars and cargo box. But I will be making sure they are tightened down well before heading out in the morning.

 

[Viking Lady]

Day 2.
Touareg is doing great. I am glad I checked the clamps on cargo box this morning because I was able to turn the torque wheels about 1/4 turn each.

Even tho the big Biker Rally is over, there were still more Harleys than cars in Sturgis. But of course I had the only Touareg around!

Drove thru South Dakota and Iowa today. Temps in the 90s. Averaging 70-80 mph except for the many construction zones. Happily my Touareg is averaging 16.1 MPG!!! Yes 16.1 MPG with a/c on all day and the cargo box on top.

Iowa is growing Ethanol crops! Miles and miles and acres and acres and acres of corn.
Bugs were dying to land on my windshield all thru Iowa - yuck. had to wash windshield and headlights quite a few times today.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

Wow 16.x.mpg is great

 

[Watch Carefully]

Hi WatchCarefully - I will be passing thru a few of the States you mentioned. Watch out for that 15 MPH curve in Cleveland Ohio! And get an EZPass reader for the Tolls - doesnt matter which State you buy one in because it will read at all tolls in all States and simply bill to your account. I bought one last Winter and it really makes life simpler than the Pay By Plate stuff.
Looking forward to reading about your adventure too!

Many thanks, and safe travels yourself!
I've had an EZ-Pass for ~20 years here on the east coast--I'm glad to hear it will be useful in the mid-west.
Cheers,
Brad

 

[Viking Lady]

Day 3

Great day to drive a Touareg! Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and into New York.

photo coming into Cleveland Ohio. I-90. This is the area where that super sharp turn is. Dont know who decided an interstate highway needed a super sharp turn and super slow speed for it.

Lots of construction zones today in every State I drove thru. Really slowed the trip down as work zone speeds were 35-50.
What’s worse than slow speed construction zones? How about traffic coming to a stop for 20-minutes due to someone causing an accident in a construction zone! Yep, it happened New York today. Here is a photo of traffic at a stop.

Watch Carefully - yes EZ-Pass works in mid west as well as new england. If it is not your “home state” they charge a skosh more, but it all pays out of your home State EZ Pass account. Just drive on thru under the EZ Pass signs.
For those members who do not know what an EZ Pass is….. it is a little transmitter that sticks on windshield. It is for paying toll fees (fees charged for privilege of using a road). Yep crazy. But with the EZ Pass transmitter it saves time and money so at the toll booths you dont have to pay cash, or pay by mail. It automates and simplifies the process.

VW4Life - yep very pleased with the 16.1 MPG my Touareg is experiencing. Will need to reschedule coffee.

Trip-wise, I am 2 days ahead of schedule. Last Winter the trip took 5 days. This trip would be just 3 1/4 days. (I attribute this to Summer having longer daylight driving time - which I had not taken into account.). But…. it now looks like I will be visiting and experiencing a Revolutionary War Encampment (Reenactment of course) etc and Living Museum. As a big history buff, I cant pass up that experience.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

Sorry I missed coffee 😢 turned out to be a hell of a morning

 

[Viking Lady]

Day 4 -

Started out the day near Niagara Falls NY. Although I didnt get to grab a coffee with VW4Life this morning, I did get a light warm rain for a while. Sadly not enough to wash all the dead bugs off. This photo shows Toll Road reader - this is what EZ Pass transmits with to pay the fees for using the roads. There are toll roads in many North East States.

Weather jumped back up into the 90s by the time I got to Massachusetts.

Touareg continued getting 16+ average MPG. Amazingly wonderful! Brings up questions tho….
1- did lower speeds (65-80 mph) help fuel mileage THAT MUCH? (Same trip in Winter ave 80-90 miles per hr and ave MPG 14).
2- Is the Thule Force XT L “aeroskin technology” really that well designed as to improve fuel economy? (This is a 16 cubic foot cargo box)
Whatever the reasoning, I am very happy with it!

Touareg is going to need a good washing soon. But I do have a couple day historical type “side adventure” to enjoy first.

 

[gryhnd]

But…. it now looks like I will be visiting and experiencing a Revolutionary War Encampment (Reenactment of course) etc and Living Museum. As a big history buff, I cant pass up that experience.

Lexington?

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

Re#1
In very simplified terms, Drag is proportional to the velocity for low-speed flow and the squared velocity for high speed flow.

 

[Viking Lady]

Hi-how-ah-ya gryhnd.
not Lexington. The fun will be at Sturbridge. Its an amazing Living Museum and Old Village etc reenactment too because winning once is never enough!

SaVAGeSoot - your simplified physics lesson would mean my Touareg is the exception. Or it works for airplanes but not Touaregs? Sure increased drag with cargo box, but on winter trip I did not have cargo box. With cargo box my MPG was much better. Does the Thule aeroskin technology change the laws of physics?
or is there no difference in drag from the aeroskin tech cargo box and simply reducing speed by 10 mph average improve mpg that much?
or cold air and snow of winter thinner than humid hot air of summer?

 

[gryhnd]

Oh I've been to Sturbridge Village before!!! Enjoy. There's some historic things in Lexington too, but the :living museum" didn't click with me for some reason. You could do that though, down at Plimoth Plantation.

The "physics" comment was not mine though, lol.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

I'm guessing reduced speeds had the biggest impact on MPG

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

or is there no difference in drag from the aeroskin tech cargo box and simply reducing speed by 10 mph average improve mpg that much?

Yes, as speed increases drag increases proportional to speed squared, so reducing speed has a massive impact. Keep in mind that your engine rpm are also 400-500 lower so that puts the engine in a different efficiency zone, etc.

65mph is very different than 80mph

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

Here's a sample chart of a similar experiment with various vehicles to illustrate the impact of speed on MPGs.