What everyone here needs to understand

[Brian Ellis]

Brian;

You might not appreciate how large the US is travelling by plane or looking at a map, but I guaran-fricking-tee you that if you drive from NYC through Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis then cut west through the Dakotas to Seattle then back by the southern route you'll damn well appreciate it when you're finished.

Just ask cjolley what it's like driving from Oaklahoma City to San Antonio, and they're in neighboring states.

Doc, I have driven from Montreal to Miami and from Seattle to San Diego (inland), so yes, I appreciate the size of the USA - and many of its natural beauties. In fact, I venture to suggest I've been in more States than the majority of Americans.

What you don't seem to realise is that Europe is 23,032,135 km², against the USA's "mere" 9,363,364 km², nearly 2½ times bigger in area. Lisbon to Moscow is ~5100 km which I believe is farther than between any 2 cities in Continental USA - and Europe goes on for another 1000 km E. of Moscow. And no, I've never driven that route!

[ND66]

Lisbon to Moscow is ~5100 km which I believe is farther than between any 2 cities in Continental USA - and Europe goes on for another 1000 km E. of Moscow. And no, I've never driven that route!

From Seattle, WA to Key West, FL Yahoo maps show 3630 miles, this is 5842 KM of driving distance.

The estimated non-stop driving time is 52 Hours, can you make it from Lisbon to Moscow within the same time frame. Even knowing it is a shorter distance?


There are no Expressways in Europe like here in states, you must admit that.
.

[agallag]

St. John's Newfoundland to Glacier Creek, Yukon Territory is 8578 km/5330 miles. 103 hours and 43 minutes. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

No, I've never come close to driving that route. Also, if you're flying in a straight line, it's only 5300km.

[Brian Ellis]

There are no Expressways in Europe like here in states, you must admit that.
.

You must be joking. I'll grant you I've never seen such wide highways as around LA, for example, but my experience is that these are more snailways than expressways! I think the most I've seen in Europe is 4 lanes in each direction. I would say that the motorway network throughout W Europe is probably denser than in the USA and is every bit comparable. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn

Incidentally, it was Hitler's Third Reich that invented the Autobahn network, which became the prototype for every other country in the world, including the USA.

OK, make it Lisbon to Nijni Novgorod and I have no idea how long it would take. No European would be idiotic enough to drive at 70 mph non-stop for 52 hours, even through the areas where the speed is restricted to under that or conditions wouldn't permit it. It is not realistic and I doubt whether you would find such statistics.

[Jon P. Inghram]

Incidentally, it was Hitler's Third Reich that invented the Autobahn network, which became the prototype for every other country in the world, including the USA.

Godwin's law!

They did NOT invent the Autobahn, nor "highways."

http://german.about.com/library/blgermyth08.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn

[agallag]

Hwy 401 in Toronto is 18 lanes wide for one section, 9 in each direction. It's also widely accepted to be the busiest highway in North America, including those in LA. It's a nightmare during rush hour(s). It's basically bumper to bumper from 6am to 8pm every day.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=toronto&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=43.66573,-79.598715&spn=0.002631,0.006781&t=h&om=1

How's this for an interchange?

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=toronto&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=43.673273,-79.581034&spn=0.010523,0.027122&t=k&iwloc=addr

[ND66]

You must be joking. I'll grant you I've never seen such wide highways as around LA, for example, but my experience is that these are more snailways than expressways!

Traffic jams during rush hour do happen everywhere in the world in every major metropolitan area.
LA is one of them, so is Chicago, New York, Rome, Paris ETC. Personally I think that Rome is a bigger cluster f _ _ k then LA during rush hour.

And if you do a long distance driving, you just don’t drive thru the middle of every major city you can find on your way, especially during rush hour! You go around it or just drive thru it during the night if you have to.

No European would be idiotic enough to drive at 70 mph non-stop for 52 hours, even through the areas where the speed is restricted to under that or conditions wouldn't permit it. It is not realistic and I doubt whether you would find such statistics.

Don’t need any statistics for that.
The trip I did mention (Colorado, Utah, etc.), and from what it took me to drive that distance of 960 miles ( 1545 KM), you may or may not believe, I simply don’t care.

Here is what we did. Saturday we went for a wedding party and shortly before midnight we changed our clothes from formal to normal, jumped into my car and took off at midnight.

12 hours and 10 minutes later we did enter Denver City limits. We also did a few short stops to stretch, get coffee (mainly me, my wife to be was sleeping most of that time). And I wasn’t driving like maniac.

I just owned a dream car for a road trip like that: Lincoln Mark VIII









There was a famous TV ad showing a 1993 Mark VIII first touching an overhead beam at a slow speed and then being able to clear below it when going at 55 miles per hour. It is considered the holy grail of Mark VIII advertisements.

Watch it HERE:


.

[Technoid]

a new front light housing (the glass) must be bloody expensive

[ND66]

a new front light housing (the glass) must be bloody expensive

Never had to replace one.

.

[ND66]

How's this for an interchange?

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=toronto...t=k&iwloc=addr

How about ours in interchange Chicago?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=chicago&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=41.847474,-87.63618&spn=0.011988,0.026994&t=k&om=1

And this is Expressway by Atlanta, GA

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=atlanta,ga&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=19&ll=33.805455,-84.413576&spn=0.001672,0.003374&iwloc=addr

.

[Tjalfe]

How about ours in interchange Chicago?

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=toronto&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=43.673273,-79.581034&spn=0.010523,0.027122&t=k&iwloc=addr

And this is Expressway by Atlanta, GA

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=toronto&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=43.66573,-79.598715&spn=0.002631,0.006781&t=h&om=1

.

man.. those highways look just like the ones in Toronto.. remember to click the link to this page button

[ND66]

man.. those highways look just like the ones in Toronto.. remember to click the link to this page button

Fixed!

[agallag]

Meh, our's are better.

By far the worst traffic I've ever experienced was in Bangkok, Thailand. We took a cab from the Grand Palace back to the shopping area, about a 6-8km ride, and it took 1 hour and 15 minutes. What a nightmare.

Although, the ride ended up costing us only 110 baht, which translates to about $3.30 canadian.

[ND66]

Meh, our's are better.

By far the worst traffic I've ever experienced was in Bangkok, Thailand. We took a cab from the Grand Palace back to the shopping area, about a 6-8km ride, and it took 1 hour and 15 minutes. What a nightmare.

......

It reminds me of driving during a snow blizzard in Chicago.... .

.

[cjolley]

I drove San Francisco to Oklahoma City (1630 miles, 2620km ) in one go once.
Won't be doing that again.


PS MANY years ago.
PPS In a 15 year old 63' Rambler Classic 6 cyl.