road trip questions/tips

**a4_matt** · 12-20-2008 09:45 PM

I searched and have some general advice for what to do to my car in preparation for taking a road trip. Change oil, check fluids, align tires, etc... i have Bridgestone Potenza (i think these are them... mine have the same tread pattern, i need to look) http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tires...productID=1080 on my stock sport wheels and it says they would work good in snow. (well i have 3 of them and one got gashed and needed replaced and the tire place said they discontinued them and gave me a tire that has pretty much the same tread pattern. i only had ~500 miles on it before replacing so there isn't a huge difference in the life between the two - had the 3 for ~14 months now). Should i take their word for it and believe them about the snow... they work really well in the rain in Tallahassee.
Reasons for asking.....My friends and I are going to be driving from Florida to Lake Tahoe during Spring Break, so it shouldn't be as snowy as it was last week (we bought season passes and want to go back but the bus from the airport to heavenly and the heavenly/town bus system sucked balls so were planning on driving). As for the fluids, can i check them myself (i have little car knowledge... my roommate knows some stuff about cars) or should i just go to like Tuffy/Jiffy Lube/Wal-Mart and ask them to check the fluids to make sure they are good for a road trip of that length. I know i'm posting this way far in advance, but i just need to know about how much money i should save to to get my car ready.
Thanks a lot....
-Matt

**s42k5b** · 12-20-2008 09:55 PM

change your oil and coolant and you should be good to go. Make sure your spark plugs are good. And if your car has higher mileage bring some coil packs just incase.

**a4_matt** · 12-20-2008 10:37 PM

Right now i have ~73000. I've had all my coil packs replaced w/in the past 2 yrs (since i've owned the car) b/c they have all gone. Where do i buy them, how much are they, and how do i replace them if they go bad? Other than that, sounds good. Thanks
and TIA for answering the other questions

**aaaudiprotein** · 12-21-2008 12:31 AM

coilpacks: ecstuning.com mjmautohaus.com and etc etc and etc
or the dealer
How many miles is your roadtrip??? i would prolly change the oil, get a set of coilpacks

**a4_matt** · 12-21-2008 11:32 AM

~2600 miles

**aaaudiprotein** · 12-21-2008 12:25 PM

if u know sometheing is wrong with your car, tyr to fix it now, otherwise your should be ok.

**cjonesgo** · 12-21-2008 12:33 PM

timing belt been done? If you are up on your regular maintenance you are good to go. tire pressure is a big thing for road trips. make sure it is up if you have a car full of people, you'll get better mileage. 38 i think is recommended on the door of the car.

how long is your spring break? florida to tahoe is a haul. you going to have any time to ski/board?

**AudiA4Turbo22** · 12-21-2008 12:34 PM

take some decent tools, a can of fix a flat, quart of oil and coolant, some power steering fluid, coilpacks, a knife just in case and ur set

have u done ur timing belt/waterpump yet? is not do it before u go, mine blew out in the 70s. do an oil change, and coolant flush, check for leaks and ur good to go.

**a4_matt** · 12-21-2008 01:20 PM

Right now, nothing is wrong with my car, just had my fuel gauge fixed (so they said. I would fill up and it would only read 3/4 full and they said they fixed it so i filled up and it did it again but 5 miles later it said it was full. We'll go through this tank and see. Also, while i was out of town, my parents went to pick my car up and they said the ac wasn't working and the part is on order now, but the ac seems to be working fine for me now... so i dont know. its covered under the warranty i have so i'll just let them replace it.)
But, yeah, timing belt was done at the 70k service.
We have March 9-13 (mon-fri) off for spring break, so technically we have the 7-15 off (weekends). We're going to try to get like 4 days of boarding in. It says it will take 1 day 15hrs. We're going to try to leave on Friday and drive straight through and just switch off drivers every like 5 hrs. There's only going to be like 6 of us and we'll take 2 cars. so we'll drive like 5 hrs a piece and relax 10 then switch... and so on..... Board monday - thurs/fri(1/2 day) and then drive back like Fri at midnight or Sat morning or something. We'll play it by ear on the leaving day...