Most liked posts in thread: Reflections from the road: 1000+ MINI miles on MTTS2012

  1. ljmattox

    ljmattox Active Member

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    #5 ljmattox, Jul 12, 2012
    You're welcome, I wished we'd driven further east and taken in a few more stops. We will think about that for next time, there was a definite vibe, and a good one, among the whole-route drivers. The daytime route sheets were full of fun things to see...who wouldn't want their picture taken with the Kool-Aid guy? :)
     
  2. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    #2 Nathan, Jul 12, 2012
    Thanks for sharing, sure do appreciate it.
     
  3. lotsie

    lotsie Club Coordinator

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    #3 lotsie, Jul 12, 2012
    And of course still, can route you very wrong or very odd, nothing takes the place of some general idea of where you're going. :)

    Yup, our Garmin got lost in the Ozark mountains, on roads that went from point A to point B...:lol:
    ​
     
  4. Little Wing

    Little Wing New Member

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    #4 Little Wing, Jul 12, 2012
    Yes, my Garmin told us to leap off a scenic overlook on the Cherohala Skyway. When we declined and took the long way around the hairpin turn, it recalculated and added 20 minutes to our ETA.

    Thanks, ljmattox, for the updates and thoughts on MTTS 2012!
     
  5. MinixB

    MinixB Member

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    #6 MinixB, Jul 15, 2012
    Almost 40 mpg on the highway?! That's awesome! My 09 S only got 28 mpg going to Des Moines for the MTTS event there.
     
  6. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    #7 Minidave, Jul 15, 2012
    The key to high fuel mileage seems to be the 65mph......my S only gets about 30 if I'm over 70 mph, under that speed it goes way, way up!

    I agree with getting a dedicated GPS, I've been very happy with my Garmin 1390, it not only has blue tooth so I can use it as a hands free for the phone, but it also can be tied to the car's OBDII via a bluetooth dongle, that lets me see all sorts of interesting info, like water temp, intake air temps, boost pressure and so on right on the Garmin - very cool! The larger display and location make it easy to read at a glance too, without taking my eyes off the road.

    It also has a built in speedometer (cause we all know how accurate the ones in our cars are) and it lets you know the speed limit on the road you're driving. Very helpful in areas you've never driven before.

    OH, and if you get an L or LT model it comes with free lifetime map updates!

    Sounds like you all had a wonderful trip and MTTS experience!
     
  7. ljmattox

    ljmattox Active Member

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    #8 ljmattox, Jul 16, 2012
    I think you're onto something with the above-70, this was the best I'd gotten over a full tank. I finally bought fuel with 508 showing, estimating 31 more miles left, 38.9 mpg. Calm wind, cruise control on 65'ish and then commuting when I got back (90% freeway, again, 65'ish typically).

    With some google of reviews and what's what, I ended up buying a Garmin 2595LMT, and started fooling with it this weekend. Very impressed so far: fast routing, bluetooth connects with my phone "instantly", voice commands work very well, the menu system is much easier to use than my old Garmin (StreetPilot 27xx series, very out of date). I found some internet resources (one here, in fact) to get a MINI for the map display vehicle, and I'm now looking for a British voice command set (there's one available for the Waze smartphone app, and it's a hoot with passengers to have nav commands rendered in UK-speak!) :Thumbsup:

    I have the EcoRoute OBD-II connector device also, I like it once connected but it isn't working seamlessly yet. I'll figure it out. The setup is doing what I'd hoped: take the Nav + phone functions off my smartphone, which can now just be used to bluetooth stream some audio (MP3s, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, whatever) while we're traveling. We've got another road trip (to MPLS) in a couple of weeks, I should be ready to write an actual review after that.