I drove to Colorado Springs, CO from the Cleveland area, about 1350 miles on Thursday and Friday. Except for the major rainstorm yesterday from western Missouri to midway through northern Kansas, the trip was uneventful.

Mileage was 29-30 while driving 80-85 mph with the AC on, the entire time. Not bad. I'm sure it would've been better if I'd driven the speed limit in the eastern states (OH, IN, IL, all 65 mph. :'( ). The driver's seat was comfortable for long distances--no soreness at all at the end of the trip. I used the cruise control for the first time during this trip, too. Seems reasonably accurate. XM is well-suited to long trips like this. I had absolutely no signal loss at any point on the trip.

The Falkens weathered the trip well, and were especially useful during the rainstorm. Except for a couple of episodes of slippage (during which VSA saved me) in deep puddles, they stuck like glue. However, above 80 mph they seriously wobbled. I'll be getting the tires rebalanced while I'm here in the Springs as a result. Any Coloradoans know a good place?

The Valentine One was worth every penny. The arrows are definitely NO gimmick. It literally saved my ass several times on the road. Basically if Ka flashed, I slowed down, and invariably, a cop was there. In Colorado, the Highway Patrol uses mostly K-band radar, so I have to pay more attention to that.

I wish I had a V710 phone (e.g. I wish I could use the Bluetooth HFL capabilities of the car), as my wife kept calling me during the trip. I had to use my earpiece.....At least the wife could reach me--the magic of Verizon's excellent coverage and roaming agreements meant I could hear her in Middle of Nowhere, Kansas.

In all, a good trip so far. Long road trips like this remind me that we live in one of the most beautiful countries on the planet.

 

I forgot to mention two things:

1. It's really cool to watch the clock change time zones automatically. It does so within ten miles of the change. I observed this on I-70 driving through western Kansas, where there is a sign indicating "Mountain Time Zone" in the westbound lane....less than 10 miles later, the change was made.

2. I like the nav setting in which the cursor representing you is at the bottom of the screen, and the map turns as you do. Cool!

 

Agree. The clock automatically changed itself seamlessly, you even don't know it happens. I used to make Navi "UP" but prefer to set it "NORTH" in trips. Frankly, glad to know you made the safe trip and had been CO successfully, especially V1 had provided the extremely farther range in seeking out :cop:.

I could see you'd have wonderful trip ahead of you.



P.S. Please dump my PMs, they're useless...

 

Now you tell me!!!! - that alone would have made the worthless to me Nav worth something, technogeek that I am.

Now if it were linked to the cesium clock in Colorado, it would have happened in a microsecond (as if that made a difference, but I had to try to justify my cheaping out on the Nav).

 

You drove through Kansas and didnt stop by.

 

I was lucky to get through the KC area unscathed. When I went through the KC area Friday morning it was just raining cats and dogs and there were puddles on the roads. I'm lucky I missed the thunderstorms that had come through overnight. AND I had to drive I-70/670 through downtown, always a challenge even during the best of weather. How do you guys handle it (other than slowing down ). I mean, there must be some horrific accidents on that stretch of freeway!

RR, I hate to tell you I told you so.....but the nav really makes the car. Allowing the car's clock to receive signals from the national atomic clock would be so COOL. I'd pay a few $ extra for that stuff!

 

Not sure what the hell is up with what I call the "anal retentive" band of states between Illinois and Pennsylvania and their stupid speed limits. In Pennsylvania, on the infamous turnpike, there are places where the speed limit drops down to 55 (yes, I know you didn't go through PA).

I've had XM signal loss about a dozen or so times, both sets of occurances in either Montana (while driving in valleys with mountains on either side) or strangely enough, Mississippi (where tall trees sometimes form a "wall" along the side of the road). In Mississippi, the losses were only for a second or two, while in Montana, they were at times a bit longer.

With regards to Kansas and Missouri (particularly Kansas City), I've come to conclusion that the people in that state must know when I'm on my way and order up rain, because every time I drive through there I hit a major rainstorm.

 

The time from GPS is about as close to the "atomic clock" as you're ever going to get. I believe that the GPS system uses the atomic clock to set the master time on all the sattelites so you're probably getting a time that's accurate to within one second or less. Why pay for something you don't need?

 

Thanks for the report. I keep hearing nothing but good things about the V1.

 

i love these trip reports. i've only taken one trip and that was vegas. my next trip is northern california and after reading this, i may have to invest on a V1. just picked up an ipod just in case my bad luck makes XM play nothing but nasty songs at the same time.

again thx for the report