Hey guys my girlfriend and I are planning on road tripping from our home in Madison, WI down to Sarasota, FL over winter break. We're trying to figure out which car to take

She has a 1999 Chevy Prizm with 188k miles. It runs fabulous but burns a ton of oil and is only a 3 speed which is a screamer on the highways.

My alltrac is the other option. Its an 89 with 172k miles. It burns zero oil and has a bunch of new parts but is pretty rusty and old. My main concern is that i dont know when the timing belt was done last.

I know neither one is ideal, but what are your opinions/choices for me?

Also how long have to travelled in your alltrac? This trip would be the record for mine by far. I have only gone 1 hour out of town with it so far.

A 3-speed?   I've heard of 4 speed manauls, but 3?  I couldn't cope!

I think the All-Trac has a maximum recommended speed.  I'll check in my owner's manual, which is where I think I read something about that.  Maybe you could rent a car for the trip?  Not sure how that would price out, though, compared to just taking your own vehicle.

Sarasota is about 1½ hours south of where I live.  If you take the All-Trac, you should stop by on the way down/up, we could have our first All-Trac Wagon forum meet

Her prizm is automatic, lol. Its tachless, but I'd imagine rpm doing 65 to be 3500-3800 ish so yeah not the greatest on the highway. That said, it does get right around 40 mpg on roadtrips although it used about 8 quarts of oil just to get from Madison to St Paul (5ish hours all interstate).

I'm pretty confident that my alltrac can make the trip. Mechanically its pretty darn solid (I know as I've gone through most of the car myself). I just have to get my gf to drive stick shift for the trip I am also very experienced the art of roadside repair thanks to some of my older cars

Renting a vehicle is not really an option as we are broke college kids although that would be sweet.

Also we considered flying but we both hate airports and would really rather road trip it.

Also as far as maximum speed, I'm pretty sure I've reached it. Pedal to the floor for about 2 full minutes got me to 99 mph with nothing left to give But at least i beat the jeep liberty i was racing against!

I live in Western Canada and have taken my auto all-trac on runs through mountain passes on highways 3 and 5 with the air conditioning blazing.  I love my all-trac, but find it somewhat gutless on those big hills.  I suppose if I floored it the whole way I could cruise at 90-100 KPH, but I don't think that is a good idea for a car with 270 KMs on it.  Driving the Canadian Rockies would also pose a workout for the wagon.  At least it screams coming down the passes

I throw mine up and down the Northern California coast between Arcata and SF all the time, going 55-65 the whole way. 600 miles round trip. I'm planning to drive it from Arcata to Seattle in a few weeks, then out to Western CO this summer. I never floor the poor thing (although I do wonder what a 4AFE engine would look like in my rear-view mirror! ), and I motor along in 4th mostly - my All-Trac has leaked out so many horsies out over its 22 years and 206,000 miles of life...

I say rock the All-Trac wagon on your journey south. It's like bringing a motel with you! Eight quarts of oil isn't burning, it's guzzling. Yikes.    

PS - next time you're out at the UW student union, sit in one of those cool chairs for me.

The question is witch car is in better condition. Any car in good condition car make that kind of trip... it is more a matter of comfort. I like my All-trac very much because it like a "old glove" to me... but I know there many car offer more comfort… and some other have better fuel economy. The 1.6L is already an almost old tech motor!

My car have 343 000km (213 000 miles) and I used it to travel everywhere in Québec... making several 1000km to 2000km (621 - 1242 miles) round trip with it for my job (some in winter storm). OK, it not the Canadian rockies, but we have good up and down road here. It’s not rare to travel in Provincial Park without service for almost 250 km

I'm not scare at all but I always bring with me my tool and I'm confident about the mechanic because I do all my repair by myself and I know where I can “push” my Corolla.

I other hands, if you ask me if I can make a trip from Montréal to Florida with my 343 000km All-trac…. Sure I will make it… even if it can be is last journey !

So… is you man. Chose the car your are more confident with.

I driven mine from Southern California to the Bay Area (where I went to college) and back twice, and to Phoenix area and back once, each time with no problem.  Each of these trips are about 400+ miles each way.  And the car had over 190K miles on it for each trip (the odometer is now about 207,000 miles).  I especially liked the Southern California to Phoenix trip; it was hot (120F (40+ C) in Phoenix), but the All-Trac drove better in really hot weather than colder weather.  It helps to have a good radiator, use synthetic motor oil, and make sure the differential fluid is to the correct level, and that the differential breather is working.

I just got back from a 240-mile round trip to San Diego (California) to visit some college friends of mine, and didn't have any problems.

The longest I do any regular trips is driving a once-a-month 150-miles round trip to a warehouse/aircraft hangar (the non-profit with which i work uses it to store our supplies for our medical missions).

Not to go too far off topic, but what weight of synthetic motor oil do you use Datsa?  Also what/where is the differential breather?

This topic helps me feel more confident in taking my wagon on extended trips, like the 3 hour drive to Jacksonville, FL to visit a friend of mine, from where I live in the Tampa Bay area.

Oil weights anything inside the manufacturer recommendation. Check your owner manual. It should be something like 10W30. I have used synthetic oil for several years but I stop using synthetic oil since a year and a half in my All-Trac.

The breath is a little nipple on the rear diff. I allow the diff to «breath» air when the oil volumes change by the temperature variation.



So, get back to the road trip.

Come on guys, Come on!

People here have All-trac with a very highs mileage. Feel worry for a 3h trip with a Corolla is, sorry, ridiculous.

Corolla (All-trac or not) are one of the BEST car ever built by a manufacturer…

If you make a correct and regular maintenance on your Corolla, you don’t have to worry about anything. You will probably be surprise how hard it is to kill a Corolla. Even people who don’t make the correct maintenance don’t see the end of there Corolla.

Guys, your car is talking to you. If you can drive more than 3h each week, you probably can drive 3h stretch with it.

Period.

Quoted from Rogue

Not to go too far off topic, but what weight of synthetic motor oil do you use Datsa?  Also what/where is the differential breather?

This topic helps me feel more confident in taking my wagon on extended trips, like the 3 hour drive to Jacksonville, FL to visit a friend of mine, from where I live in the Tampa Bay area.

I currently use 5W30 for cold weather driving and 10W40 for warm weather driving.  As far as brands, I have been using Valvoline Synthetic and Mobil-1.  I considered getting Amsoil, but the cost differential was substantial since I could get these other two at discount.  Of course, prior to switching to synthetics, I used plain old dinosaur oil 5W30 with no problem, typically Castrol or some store brand.  I just changed that oil more frequently than I do the synthetic brands now.  Assuming your engine is in good shape, I see no problem in a 3 hour trip.  Took a 2.5 hour  trip to San Diego the other day, and yesterday a 90 minute trip to Dana Point to pick up a spray gun: I'm going to repaint the All-Trac this winter break!

I drove my 89 several times between northern minnesota and southeastern michigan. 900 miles one-way.
I usually took the route through the Upper Peninsula, but did go through chicago...ONCE. I got caught in some bad traffic and was blasting the heater to help dissipate some of the heat the engine was building.
When that all-trac bent the clutch fork I drove the 900 miles without using the clutch, rough deal, but I made it. I got a new car in minnesota, and it's been sitting in a garage since. It has 212,000 miles on it, but if I ever get the time fix it, I'm confident it could go another 100,000 (however, it was granny owned until 171,000).

The past few weeks I've been putting 250+ miles per day for work-related errands.  I'm driving to Mexico at the end of this month, another 250-mile round trip as well.  Nos vemos.

hey guys just an update the all trac has been pretty much flawless on the trip. I made it down to florida no problem right now I'm somewhere in kentucky at a motel on the return trip. Only problem I have is a leaky tire but thats my fault anyway . Trip is just over 1500 miles each way. Car has burned exactly zero drops of oil and gotten a best of 32 mpg although it averages 30 exactly.

Quoted from Jcmcc

Car has burned exactly zero drops of oil and gotten a best of 32 mpg although it averages 30 exactly.

Great!  The best mpg I've got has been 31 mpg. There are 3 oil leaks (oil pan, distributor, and perhaps head gasket [!]), but mine probably does burn oil as well.  I'll get around to fixing those leaks soon enough, then I can see just how much oil it does burn.