I’m going on a 8 hour drive in a 2012 equinox for the first time, longest drive before was 2 hours back when I was a newer driver.

The car does not have any smart phone type features like the newer cars, it will connect the phone for calls but that is it, there is a charging port but I’m guessing its usb2 so it won’t be all that fast and may not keep up with the phone, I have a battery bank and plenty of cables though, I won’t be stopping for those Bluetooth FM cigarette plug things because I’ll just being doing this the one time and it doesn’t seem useful enough to me.

I am very confident behind the wheel but just curious if anyone has any tips I haven’t thought about before.

I don’t think I’ll get very tired driving but I am known to get a slump of energy a couple hours after lunch but I don’t think I’ll eat a very big lunch so I may not have much of a slump.

I am driving this car back, I came here in a truck with another driver, something interesting I noticed between trucks vs small cars is that the taller trucks leave you less exhausted and so you can drive longer with an easier time because there is a perceived slower speed of things moving in and out past your field of vision.

Thankyou on advance!

  • Dogyote@slrpnk.net
    3·
    1 day ago

    Sounds like you’ve thought about this a bit so you’ll be fine. Everything you may need can be bought in route if necessary. Perhaps download offline maps for your navigation app in case you don’t have cell service.

    Maybe pack some healthy food? This is going to sound silly, but I like to buy small heads of green and purple cabbage and just eat the leaves raw while driving. It can keep you from buying junk at a gas station.

    You could do some worst case prep, like have a couple gallons of water in the car and other things to keep yourself alive and comfortable in case the car breaks down somewhere inconvienent. If you have time you can buy a roadside assistance plan from AAA or similar so you can get towed to a mechanic, but you very likely won’t need it.

    I’ve been driving for over 20 years and I’ve never had a car break down in route. Just make sure the tire pressure is fine, the tires aren’t shit, and there are adequate levels of engine oil and engine coolant. That’s all you can really do.