driving interstate

[REEMIX]

:honda: hey guys i am going to sydney soon. I live in melbourne at the moment, and was just wondering, how do you think it would be on the engine if i decided to drive my 1.6 litre automatic 2000 honda civic. Would it be bad coz the engines small and melbourne to sydney is a long distance, or what do you think?

Also I heard ya'll been saying RTA's a b*tch. Should I not risk it at all coz my civics lowered , and the bright yellow paint job does scream attention sometimes. Im only going from thursday - sunday.

ANy sort of insight would be great.. thanks guys.

:honda:

[tRipitaka]

unless your drive from melbourne to sydney is over 300,000 kms.. i don't see it being a problem.

[Q_ball]

Trust me...lol
Your civic will be fine (mechanically) :thumbsup:

Theres plenty of done up or slightly modified cars here in Sydney, so i dont think it should be a problem. :)

[Iwishiwasa Type R]

You will make it alright...but when you get here, will you ever want to leave?

sydney sydney sydney.. oi oi oi

[aaronng]

Do a simple check before you start.
Engine oil level
Coolant level
Windscreen washer liquid (in case you get hit by bugs)
Tyre pressure (if on highway, 36psi)
Check that your fuel gauge is working properly

[newmski]

Do a simple check before you start.
Engine oil level
Coolant level
Windscreen washer liquid (in case you get hit by bugs)
Tyre pressure (if on highway, 36psi)
Check that your fuel gauge is working properly
AMEN also check your spare tire is inflated and u have a large container of water incase you do overheat or anything

[chunky]

when u drive from state to state do u use the thing called the national freeway?

[Dray_Templar]

muches and some drink, and allow your self some time for some power naps. long boring drive that one mate.

15 minutes rest, for every 3-4 hours driving.

rest time either sleep or get out of the car have a walkaround somthing to eat and drink.

[aaronng]

And also consider breaking your journey over 2 days. Stop over for the night at some town, one that is biggish and not too tiny.

[ozhonda2006]

Mechanically it should be sound. I drove from Melbourne to Sydney in my old 1989 Ford Telstra and it did fine. However, I feel you should look at the weather forecast and choose a day that it doesn't rain as your vehicle is pretty small and what's more it doesn't handle too well in wet environments so I would watch out for those!

[Spunkymonkey]

1977 civic with city t turbo can do it fine in the past, what's wrong with taking your civic Lol....nothing...just do the checks as mentioned

[roar]

just leg it

[incoming]

when u drive from state to state do u use the thing called the national freeway?

u mean a road? yes, a road lol

[civicCXI]

how long to drive from melb to syd roughly?

[incoming]

how long to drive from melb to syd roughly?
8-10 hours
depending on speed and breaks

[tRipitaka]

driving at speed limit and no traffic to slow you down..
probably around 9 and a half hours

[mrwillz]

dont use a/c , doof doof system if u haf one
try being conservative

[johnn]

i think u should be fine!! make sure u have your car mechanically sound...thats all the best advise would come from your mechanic....

[dan_lee]

DO NOT speed on the Hume Hwy. I drove to Mt Hotham over the weekend and there were so many point to point cameras/speed cameras on the side of the freeway that it wasn't funny anymore.

[aaronng]

There are cops waiting after small crests as well. So they will get you.

[sassy_fit_vtit]

poor petrol as often as u can along the way LOL... and while ur at ur walk around strech etc.

drop by and do some site seeing on ur way, best time to drive is during the day, start out in the morning and u'll get there in the evening, it might seem longer but its alot safer to drive during the day rather then wen ur normal sleeping time is, u'll feel less fatigued and have more concernration and alertness. at least that way, u get there have a good meal sleep and wake up the next day without being tired

[Nuttz]

i reckon do a minor service on your car before you go.
change oil, top up fluids. check tyres.
then you shouldnt have any problems

[sassy_fit_vtit]

call up RTA (nsw transport) and ask about the laws and regulationson road and also for your license class, the worst thing that can happen is gettin fined for something that would other wise be fine in your own state and not know!

[slipn]

DO NOT speed on the Hume Hwy. I drove to Mt Hotham over the weekend and there were so many point to point cameras/speed cameras on the side of the freeway that it wasn't funny anymore.

I used to go to Hotham alot a few years ago and it was same, heaps and heaps of cameras and radar guns.
Its the perfect place to catch motorists as they are rushing to get to the snow and there are alot of open roads and the bastards hide behind the trees

[JaCe]

Interesting thread... I'm planning (with some mates) to go for a nice drive from Sydney to Melbourne end of year- only problem is none of us know how to get there so we're thinking of buying GPS units lol!

[REEMIX]

okay im back!
we ended up getting a rental car from thrifty. The reasons we decided that was because, its a 1000KM drive each way, and you dont have to worry about servicing or car problems if anything happens on the way up/down, or when your back. But if you cars in top nick, and you dont mind then its all good. I saw a lot of excels, little pulsars and civics driving up to sydney along side us. We had a 2001 lancer.

ANyway, just one huge tip. Getting to sydney is okay, jsut straight down hume hwy all the way. The problem is getting around in sydney. M2, M7, all these motorways which are commercialy bought make it hard to get around. You definately should buy a Sydways or navigation for that. The infrastructure was just too complicated!!!

[corn_flakes]

haha if you think sydney is bad you should try socal....freeways everywhere!

anyway, i might as well ask some questions here rather than starting a new thread...

heading to the snow fields in a few days...

i heard ppl say to add coolant to my windshield washer liquid to prevent it from freezing up...is that safe??? i don't want to be spraying some coolant around and gettin it on my paint...

the other question was what aaron said about tyre pressure....what tyre pressure should we have, and what's the rationale behind it?

and that thing about point to point SPEED CAMERAS! :eek: have they really had that installed along the hume hwy towards canberra? :confused:

:thumbsup:

[REEMIX]

The good thing i learnt about sydney. I was told most, maybe all, but not proven, that it is a law that there has to be three signs before a speed camera.

And i did notice this. I saw three sign, 2 second after eachother, saying speed camera ahead, speed camera ahead, speed camera ahead. Then u can clearly see the speed camera. If you speed then u really deserved it, otherwise you can simply slow down before the SPEED CAMERA. I think its a law in sydney or something like that, but not 100% sure.

There are cameras on bridges and some jus random poles on the way towards albury. So its harder to speed in vic. But once ur in albury, its easier coz of the signs. Either way... there was probably only 3 - 4 on the whole way. But i guess put aside the installed speed cameras, u got be cop's who sitting there, making money!! I didnt see any... on the way up or down.

[JaCe]

ANyway, just one huge tip. Getting to sydney is okay, jsut straight down hume hwy all the way. The problem is getting around in sydney. M2, M7, all these motorways which are commercialy bought make it hard to get around. You definately should buy a Sydways or navigation for that. The infrastructure was just too complicated!!!

You can blame the Labor govt. for that. It's funny how one Carr can cause so much traffic congestion.

I wonder if Melbourne is much easier to find my way round- I'm intending to drive there end of year.

[tRipitaka]

You can blame the Labor govt. for that. It's funny how one Carr can cause so much traffic congestion.

I wonder if Melbourne is much easier to find my way round- I'm intending to drive there end of year.
the CBD is much easier to find your way around.. not as many turns and one way streets.. it's all a grid..
although u'll have to learn how to hook turn in the city..

[|JnR|]

I havent driven to sydney but i personally think that the drive to adelaide is dull ... has anyone driven there before?


faaaaaaark ...
bugs ... mist ... bung towns ...

and highway patrols ... i got to see a laser speed thing inside one of those .... u guys can figure out the rest

[Arowana]

AHHAhahaha....just driven back from sydney.on friday...farout..in nsw..there are at least 3 signs says cameras ahead..but in vic...most of the cameras just appeared out of nowhere....

and i would like to say...dont speed mate....coz on my way back..i've spotted 2 cops cars hiding in the bush...and i think it was 2...cars got pulled over...yes i was like 10-20km over the limit...but yeh..good thing the cop was busy giving out ticket to the speeder dat was infront of me.

im not proud of what i did..but yeh..just want to hear my vtec scream..

[aaronng]

When on the NSW side of the border, cops let you go about 5km/h over the limit and maybe a little more. I did 115km/h (120km/h on the speedo) in front of the cop and he didn't chase after me. Cameras are all clearly labeled as they have to give you 3 warnings before the camera, unlike Melb where speed cameras are not indicated and have only 3km/h leniency.

The point to point cameras are still operating for trucks and heavy vehicles. I've read that they plan to implement it for cars as well as the monitoring system has been upgraded to the point where it can monitor the number of normal vehicles that travel the route. But I don't think that they have started monitoring cars for speeding yet.