ClubCJ - The CJ Lancer Club

Hey guys,

its gonna be my first road trip soon with my lancer!

any thoughts on what should/can i do to prepare the car for the long drive?
its only been about 6 months since i last serviced it so yeah!

any thoughts let me know!

Ahh the long drive, I recently did Sydney to Melbourne, across to Adelaide, and then cut cross country back to Sydney. All up, over 3000 kilometers. The lancer did it marvelously. Between Adelaide and Wagga (I think) got over 850kms out of a tank with 5 liters to spare. That was before the CAI.

Anyways, make sure you tires are in good condition and the pressures are all correct. All your fluids are correct and that the break pads aren't on their way out. That's about it.

That's not a long trip, check the tyres are fine and all fluids etc. Spare globes if you are going at night etc.
Stop if you think you need to, sleepy driver = no no.
Highway driving is easy on a car IMO.

Also i forgot to mention about going to Mount buller, what are you tips on driving near snow? and parking in cold temperatures.

Take a jacket.

Haha that's not far, I did Melbourne to Perth back in January, and back again!

This is the route that I took. I only made one stop and that was at Bordertown, it has a nice little park with a lake and gazebo there, worth chilling for a bit to stretch your legs. Oh I also stopped at Horsham for some McDonald's haha

The car will handle the trip fine, you don't need to do anything in terms of preparation. But here are some pointers to help you out:

* Go the speed limit, do NOT speed.
* There are cops along the highway
* There are plenty of petrol stations, you don't need to worry about carrying extra fuel
* There are plenty of fast food places along the way too (well enough)
* Depending on your provider, you'll get 99% mobile phone coverage the whole way
* If you're feeling tired, take a rest stop as soon as you can. This is very important for long distance travelling
* Keep your headlights on, it helps out on those long country highways to see other motorists (though everybody in the metro areas bitch about it - but they're simply ignorant idiots haha)
* Be wary of animals, there are kangaroos and other things wandering around the highway. Most of the time they'll be active at sunrise and sunset, but in my experience I never saw a single live kangaroo, just lots of dead ones.
* Speaking of dead animals, in the drive between Melbourne to Adelaide, most of the corpses are on the Victorian side haha
* When I drove in January; SA was a quick trip, however going through Victoria was slow as shit, all of a sudden lots of road works and incredibly slow speeds!
* It took me about 9 or 10 hours, easily doable in a single day
* Also keep at least a three or four second distance behind the cars in front of you. If a car hits a kangaroo, that beast gets flung over the car and if you're close behind that front car, the animal will go right through your car too!
* Play good music throughout your trip, it'll keep you active and alert
* There are lots of historic monuments and sightseeing and tourist spots along the way, if you're bored and want to kill time feel free to check them out, but most of the time they're not that worthwhile checking out

Think that covers just about everything, most of that covers any sort of long distance trip anyway. If you have any other questions just ask away.

I doubt you are, but if you are travelling at night, make sure you have a full tank before your journey. And fill up whenever you see a open petrol station.

I travel through the night between VIC and SA every now and then. And most petrol stations along the way are closed during the night.