Driven Daily/Mileage?

[Chris Kennedy]

Given all the comments made in this section on brands of equipment to use, aftermarket products, improvements etc., I am curious as to how many of us actually drive our cars daily, in real world conditions, and how much mileage we put on in a year. The reason I think this is important is that we need to keep in mind the use to which the car is put when recommending a product. Something that works great for a car that is basically a trailer queen, or is used at a track, may be awful on a car used for daily transportation on city streets, freeways etc. I will start: My '81 4 spd is my only car, is driven daily in Houston, Texas (the worst roads in the world), and I have been averaging about 12,000+ miles a year since I got the car about 7 years ago.

--Chris Kennedy

 

[Robin7TFour]

Greetings, i try to drive my car to work about twice a week.it's appx 13 miles each way. it's a combination of 4 lane bvld's -two lane small-town streets and some really wicked two lane back roads. it makes for an enjoyable ride. for the Corvette or the harleys.
besides i like showing off to the likes of tiger woods,shaq,and a few major sports people who live along my route to the mouse

bubba

 

[Larry82]

Given all the comments made in this section on brands of equipment to use, aftermarket products, improvements etc., I am curious as to how many of us actually drive our cars daily, in real world conditions, and how much mileage we put on in a year. The reason I think this is important is that we need to keep in mind the use to which the car is put when recommending a product. Something that works great for a car that is basically a trailer queen, or is used at a track, may be awful on a car used for daily transportation on city streets, freeways etc. I will start: My '81 4 spd is my only car, is driven daily in Houston, Texas (the worst roads in the world), and I have been averaging about 12,000+ miles a year since I got the car about 7 years ago.

--Chris Kennedy

21,000 niles a year for the last 7 years.

 

[Copdogcorvettes]

Hi to all,

My 78 4 speed was just added to the barn a couple of months ago. This is my 4th vette and my 3rd 78. Here in the Pacific northwest the winter month can be pretty bad for driving conditions. Due to the high winds and heavy rains here on the Pacific coast during the winter the vette doesn't get out much. If the sun comes out during the winter then that is a Corvette Day and the vette is out from under it's warm blanket and on the road. That's does happen very often, but when it does!

With these conditions I guess I put about 5000 miles a year on the vette. Most of that is around town and on the winding road along the coast with a few road trips. Just to drive from one end of town to the other here is nearly 10 miles. So, When I think of modification to the vette I look for ride, handling and with gas prices, MILEAGE. It has to sound good, look good and go when I ask it to. A Vette has to SOUND like a Vette.

Remember the wave

Gary

 

[The73vetteman]

................. is driven daily in Houston, Texas (the worst roads in the world),

--Chris Kennedy

I guess you've never driven in Detroit then. There are potholes on the freeways so big only a Suburban can get out of them!

I like to drive my Vette to work when the sun is out and there's no salt on the roads - which is about twice a year in Michigan!! :L My biggest challenge is picking a route that doesn't expose my car to excessive crashing over the holes in the road.

 

[OSU-VETTE]

I bought mine to be a driver, and unless it is snowing, I am driving it! I have 54 miles round trip to work, and the exception to that is if the weather is rainy and I just detailed it, then and snow, bring out the truck.

 

[Glensgages]

My '81 4 spd is my only car, is driven daily in Houston, Texas (the worst roads in the world)...

Oh, yeah?
Come to S.W. Pa., and your grand-kids'll be born dizzy!

Between bad roads, and weather, I've put 11,000 miles on my '82 in the 4 years tomorrow (17 May '00) I've owned it, only in dry weather (but been 'caught-in-the-shower' a few times, too).
I rarely drive above 80 MPH for short bursts, but DO ocassionally hit the local drag-strip, so I run 3.73 gears (and would like DEEPER gears, even withOUT the OD 700R4).
Therefore, on the few times I offer suggestions, I keep in-mind MY useage may differ from other C3 owners, and I try to 'qualify' my answers.

 

[Rain]

We used to drive ours daily.
Then I got fed up with folks having no respect for other people's vehicles in parkinglots.

We tapered back to a few trips a week with no stops unless it was for gas.

Now that we have a baby daughter, the vette might get out of the garage twice a month!

Give it time, she will get more miles soon enough

 

[78SilvAnniv]

I've never tracked my mileage, but for the past 14 years the 78 has been a daily driver. She had about 85k when Kenny picked her up and she now has about 250k, so that averages 12k/year. Driving includes hwy and town, since we've always lived rurally.

For myself, mods need to take into account performance efficiency. I want to get the most out of a product that I can.

Everything generally falls under headings, in this order:
Safety
Reliability
Cosmetic

Why keep the miles down? I don't care about getting a better selling price...since I'll be DEAD when she gets sold!
Heidi

 

[pauld]

Heidi and the others,

Are these original engines and if they are, have you had to rebuild or replace major engine components with the high milage and regular use? Just curious about the average life (in miles) of our engines?

Thanks,
Paul.

 

[Chris Kennedy]

I am glad to see so many people DRIVE their cars, like I do. One of the nicest things about our cars is that parts are so readily available (in fact, sometimes there is often price competition among vendors), and that they are basically tough and simple, mechanically. Also, when you drive your car it behaves with a certain fluidity and smoothness, whereas trailer queened-type cars might look perfect but often have an arthritic quality when driven. I agree with the lady's (Heidi) ranking of what's important, and one thing I urge all people when re-engineering something about the car through the aftermarket is whether the re-enginerring has potential safety rammifications (e.g., brakes, suspension).

--Chris Kennedy

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Are these original engines and if they are, have you had to rebuild or replace major engine components with the high milage and regular use? Just curious about the average life (in miles) of our engines?

My original engine lasted to 180k and I replaced it with a GM crate 250hp in 1997.
Rear end needed to be rebuilt in 1993 due to it having crossed through a swollen creek with water up to the midline.
Power steering replaced part-by-part about 3 times before I bit the bullet and replaced all parts at once to cure the leak problem. (swollen creek/sand was the culprit here, too)
Kenny had extra $ in 2000 and had 78 custom painted to surprise me. SA scheme with everything painted on, no decals, and clear coat over all. Beautiful!
This past fall I kissed #4 piston and intake valve, bending pushrods and the valve and denting the piston top. We replaced the heads to allow for better breathing and I'm happy with the performance change. Kenny also pulled the engine to replace #4 piston (better safe, than sorry) and I painted everything GM blue and black and added M/T valve covers. The engine looks sneaky! Crisp, clean and nothing extra that doesn't need to be there.

My next major projects will be to replace the brakes, including the orig rotors and I have a guy lined up to rebuild my orig TH350 tranny. Tranny is holding up well, but I'd rather do it when I want to, not when the tranny decides to give it up.

I like the higher mileage vettes because to me that translates into many reliable miles. If a vette is driven and maintained, I think it will be 'healthier' than one that is driven occasionally with maintenance spaced further apart.
I feel that by driving my 78 daily, I can spot any potential problems quicker than the occasional driver...who may have to ask themselves if the vette made 'that' sound the last time (weeks/months) it was driven and then worry about if the sound is normal or a problem waiting to happen.
Heidi

 

[BeaterShark]

I have more or less driven my '69 daily for the past 4 years. I have no PS, PB, or AC and a fairly built engine (solid roller, single plane intake, electric fuel pump, etc). I've put about 30k miles since Nov, 2001 (with this engine) and 42k since Jan, 2000.

I don't drive when there is more than a 30% chance of rain as the T-tops leak quite a bit. My car also sees downtime for upgrades/problems.

 

[78SilvAnniv]

I have no...AC

No AC in Texas! :eek How do you survive summer driving?

I have AC, but rarely use it because the humidity makes for cool summer driving...so long as you're moving forward. Since moving to GA I have discovered the joy of driving with the tops off in the late afternoon and evenings. CA summer weather was too hot/dry to enjoy.
Heidi

 

[GotMy81@16]

My '81 is my daily driver, I drive it to school and back everyday and where ever I need to go.

 

[22229stingray81]

In her prime I put over 11,000 miles on her a year. I put less on her now because I have a second car, am much more protective (no rainy driving unless a must), and having some ongoing mechanical problems caused by an accident. Always has been reliable though, got her with just under 100,000 miles and never looked back. Took a 400 mile one way trip once, no problems at all. Still drive 27 miles each way to school in her most every day.


-Tatortot

 

[WayneLBurnham]

Got infected with "It" in July '02, about 52K miles now

...and about a buck a mile too (well, 95 cents... )

It's pretty much the ONLY thing I drive, unless it's down for upgrade/repair.

I can't say much about the snow driving, but I took it to work all four days and nights of the "big" ice storm last year (early '03) - often the only car in a mile on the highways. Talk about testing out a car on "cinder block mountain"! The whole road was like an endless series of parking humps. I felt like somebody on one of those big-belt-around-the-waist weight loss machines of the '30's.

No A/C here either. Good deal it's a ragtop. Important safety tip on no AC driving in the summer in a convertible: do NOT, repeat NOT, use waterproof sunblock. Almost killed myself from heat exhaustion until I got that insulating stuff OFF with a gas station water hose! People are supposed to SWEAT!

I had wanted to install a Vintage Air or Old Air unit before this summer, but interior, suspension, motor and power steering got in the way. I might just buy a cheap Samden compressor, a VIR eliminator, some hoses and try to make this one work a little.

Right now (and for the second time) NEGATIVE PS. I feel your pain Heidi - I just had most of the PS system replaced 6-8 months ago. It started leaking so bad I pulled the belt off a week ago until I can find the leak and get it fixed. Manual steering from a power steering system is much worse than straight manual steering, especially this ram assist type.

I have a similar GM Goodwrench "Target" Motor with about 65-70K miles on it now. I'm just now waiting for a cam and a two peice timing chain cover to come in to upgrade the top end with the Edlebrock Performer RPM Air Gap kit and some roller rocker arms. That fairly weak little motor is tough! It has a four bolt main and the pretty decent powdered metal rods. I wish it had something better than a stock cast crank and pistons, but a whole forged stroker rotating assy is for later. In it's stock form, it holds 5K and 105 for 15 mins with no problem other than the heat climbing to annoying levels. We'll see how it holds up to 420hp, or, rather, hopefully we won't ever notice a problem until I can afford the forged rotating assy...

As for daily driver concerns, aside from paying attention to heating, the most critical area for me has been rear wheel lubrication and most irritating all the minor problems with body stuff after three decades of varying levels of care and modification. I have been changing and upgrading systems constantly, but this would have been much less if I had not been rigging it for real abuse with a future real engine.

This car sees mainly reasonably high speed highway driving and every imaginable bad condition. It holds 85 and 4K+ constantly and that is it's most common use, probably for over half of those 52K miles. Of course it doesn't get good mileage - about 10-11, like all my vehicles, and it definitely needs premium. I've had numerous $500-600 monthly gas bills.

I didn't buy it save money though...I sure succeeded at that!:cry

 

[BeaterShark]

No AC in Texas! :eek How do you survive summer driving?

I have AC, but rarely use it because the humidity makes for cool summer driving...so long as you're moving forward. Since moving to GA I have discovered the joy of driving with the tops off in the late afternoon and evenings. CA summer weather was too hot/dry to enjoy.
Heidi

In my 17 years of driving (since I was 15), I have never used AC. My first car was a MG and ever since, I can't drive with the windows up and I've always had some sort of removable roof.

Before we had our first child, my car was a '94 vette. I didn't use the A/C in it either. I do remember one day where I thought about pulling over and putting the roof on, but passed. On the news that night they said the temp was 109 - 111.

Even on the 105* days I don't sweat. I have a 30 minute drive home from work during the hottest time of day (4 - 5) and when I get home, there isn't a single bead of sweat on my head. I do admit that the back of my shirt is damp, though.

 

[Culprit]

I've had my 78 for almost a full year now and I drive it an average of 3 days a week. Basically, I drive it every day unless it's going to be raining (but I'm not afraid to get caught in the rain or go out in a light drizzle if it looks like it will clear up later in the day), or I need the truck to haul a ladder or something.

It's windows down all the way, unless I have a female riding shotgun who is worried about her hair, then it's time for the A/C.

Semper Fidelis,
Culprit

 

[Chris Kennedy]

Thanks, Hedi, for the information on your car (also, I frequently visit around Atlanta, and have often commented that the roads in Georgia are in generally great shape and are lots of fun). My next project will be to finally do what is necessary to fix various rear differential leaks on my '81. These leaks have been a persistant problem for almost 100,000 miles, no matter what I have done to reseal the case. There are also some various little things I have wanted to re-do, but nothing major. I also know exactly what you mean about the good "feel" of a car which is driven daily and normally.

--Chris Kennedy