I need help! I have a 2001 toyota Avalon with 128,000 miles on it. I have taken excellent care of the vehicle. Is it safe and RELIABLE to go on a 3 hour trip a/c on going 80 miles per hour? It has brand new tires fresh oil change and everything.
Yes, the car will be fine. Go 65 or whatever the posted speed limit is and you won’t even have to worry about being pulled over.
A brand new car can break down on a trip. Take the trip. It might ease your worries to have a AAA membership.
Thank you guys very much! Will do!
The car traveling at 80 mph is well within it’s capabilities. Make sure the tires have good tread and are at the right pressure. IMO, that’s more important.
If you make the trip…take a cell phone along for the ride.
One thing about AAA: you may have roadside assistance already as part of your auto insurance. You don’t need both.
The car will be ok. Keep an eye on the warning lightsand guages is a good idea, esp the coolant temp.
Driving at 80 mph really isn’t that safe. But it is not that unusual either for many drivers (not me, I’m a slowpoke). There is a tire issue though of which you need to be aware.
Make sure the car’s new tires are rated for high speed driving. The tires can overheat from road friction from driving that fast for long periods of time. If the tires overheat, they can go flat without warning, and a blown tire at 80 mph isn’t what you want to happen. Can be very dangerous, esp if a front tire that blows out.
I sometimes drive from San Francisco to Denver and across the Nevada desert I see cars go by at 80-90 mph and a few miles later I see some of those same cars with people hovering about a city block’s distance or more out in the middle of the sagebrush, waiting for a tow truck, after a tire has blown on them and they lost control of the car. In most cases, since it happened on flat ground, no trenches or pits or sturdy fences parallel to the freeway there, nobody is hurt, but the car looks badly damaged from the high speed romp through the rocky ground and the sage brush.
Most manufacturers offer certain tires (within their make) that are rated for high speed driving. Best to make sure you have that type.
Carry a cell phone and check your tire pressure and oil level before you leave.
The speed rating is 120 on the tires. Car has no leaks and the tires and brand brand new. Like 1 week old. Still safe and reliable enough?
My work car had 500K on it and I was driving it all over the state of Minnesota and usually made it home just fine. I’d take it down a notch though and relax more at 70 instead.
Wait A Minute.
You Are Planning A 240 Mile Trip And Are Wondering If Your Old Car Is Reliable Enough To Make The Trip At 80 MPH ?
What’s the hurry ?
Although 80’s not all that fast, why not leave a half-hour early, get in the slow lane and go 70 MPH, putting less stress on the old jalopy, while saving a couple cups of gasoline ?
A 2001 car is 11-1/2 to 12-1/2 years old. It’s a Senior Citizen in “car years.” Take it easy on the old machine and you won’t have to put it out to pasture as soon.
CSA
Don’t some states have the speed limit set at 75~80 on their freeways?
I believe there’s a few in the Texas and/or Arizona area.
Here in NH there’s discusison about raising some of the interstate speeds up to 70mph, and I’ve read that some other states are considering raising some of theirs also.
South Dakota interstates are 75 and two lane are 65. Some in Arizona are 75 if I remember right.
Yes. I will be traveling in Arizona that’s why I’ll be going about 80. I’m just hoping nothing sever would happen. Still a little iffy though.
" Yes. I will be traveling in Arizona that’s why I’ll be going about 80. I’m just hoping nothing sever would happen. Still a little iffy though. "
80 MPH Is The Minimum Legal Speed Speed In AZ ?
What’s the maximum ?
If I had to go 80 and I felt uneasy about it or thought it was “iffy,” I’d go to Plan B
(bus, fly, rent . . . ) .
I’d check out the laws for AZ. Surely, one can hold a speed below 80 MPH, legally.
CSA
@CSA
On some roads, if you aren’t doing atleast 10mph over the speed limit, you’re blocking traffic
@bscar One of the biggest traffic jams ocurred when several drivers decided to drive into Detroit in the morning on I-94 at the mandated 55 mph speed limit during the first energy crisis. The drove side by side and would not let anyone pass, just to prove that the 55 mph limit was ludicrous and counter-productive.
If you get to know highway cops, they will admit over coffee and donuts, that the best traffic flow is driving the speed limit in the slow lane and driving 5-10 mph faster in the adjoining lanes. That’s what they do in Germany and their highway fatalities are one half per million miles compard to the US.
I just got back from Arizona and I didn’t see any 80 mph signs. 65 and 75 though so if you add the 5 mph that’ll get you to 80 max.