Completed 3400 miles round trip from Minneapolis to Seattle

We took the northern route both ways. On the way to Seattle, we took the Chinook Pass in Washington (established as an All American Road - one of the 30 best scenic by ways in the US). I have to say that the v handled extremely well. We started out at 3500 miles and is now at 6000+ miles.

There were 4 adults in the car (totaled to about 500 lbs), 2 large size coolers, 2 carry-on sized suit cases, 2 blankets, 3 pillows, and lots of food for us to much on. On the way home, we added 3 large jack fruits (100 lbl total) in the trunk. There was still plenty of room for us to lounge and could easily add more things in the trunk!

The roads are fairly flat until western Montana to Seattle, which were mountainous with climbs and descends that were 6% for 5 miles. We averaged about 75-80 mph throughout the entire trip (except for the mountainous areas. There were points where the v was stretched to the limit when climbing the hill, but it was still going at 40mph! We averaged about 40 MPG according to the car. Fuelly showed it's more like 38-39 MPG. That's still within the EPA estimate! When I drove at 65-70 MPH, I was averaging 50 MPG, but I only drove 4 hours out of the trip each way. But it sure tells how good our MPG could be if we were driving below the speed limit. We had the AC on 75% of the time at 75 degrees, which was quite comfortable for all of us.

Now for the Chinook Pass - this took us through Mt Rainier in Washington and saw gorgeous views of the snow capped mountains. Lots of windy roads and climbing and then descending. The v handled just fine. My husband could use more power during the climb, but no complaints. We used the B mode when going down the mountains.

There was one scary time that the car said we were out of gas and it was 2AM and couldn't find a nearby gas station that was opened. Luckily, I've read many posts in this forum saying that there are still 2 gallons left at this point and we could go for at least 60 miles easily, so I was not as worried as other people in the car.

I just wanted to share my trip details and it's one of the reasons why we bought the v! It has exceeded my expectations with its handling, comfort, fuel efficiency, and trunk space.

 

Photos of chinook pass

 

I did notice that the speakers in the back are horrible. Can barely hear my iPod in the back seats at 75 mph. The front seats sounded just fine. Ive read about this complaint in several posts. If anyone has ideas on how to improve this wo having to modify the speakers, I'm all ears.

 

I will try adjusting the balance to the rear. Thanks. I'm not ready to commit to upgrading the speakers yet, but may soon want since we want to do more road trips in the future (not as long as this one though!).