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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ The Grapevine on a 100+ degree day

Posted by: Headrage Jul 25 2005, 03:37 PM

It seems like a giant ogre gaurding the gate to L.A.

Posted by: spare time toys Jul 25 2005, 03:41 PM

Have done it but it was in a Peterbuilt

Posted by: sjhowitson Jul 25 2005, 03:43 PM

Bring extra water for you..Turn up the tunes and put the hammer down.

Posted by: Mueller Jul 25 2005, 03:44 PM

just don't try and lug the motor.....you might be better off keeping the rev's up and cruise in 4th gear......

Posted by: bondo Jul 25 2005, 03:44 PM

Keep the revs up!

Heh, I'm too slow.

Posted by: SirAndy Jul 25 2005, 04:09 PM

i'm surprised no-one has mentioned it yet, so i say it first:

KEEP THE REVS UP

Andy

Posted by: Headrage Jul 25 2005, 04:11 PM

When you say up, do you mean in the 3-4k range???

Posted by: Jake Raby Jul 25 2005, 04:45 PM

I have done it... Several times when I lived in SOCAL..

I never did it in a 914 though, BUT I did do it with a 2.5 Liter TIV in a 1959 beetle... Laughed all the way up it with DTM cooling back in the early 90s...

I'd try it in any of my driver cars, including the 3 liter- o sweat.
I drove it home from Beth's yesterday in 96 degree heat with 80% humidity and the heads maxed out at 310F, oil at 220F. That was climbing a 7% grade 4 miles long...

The key with cooling the heads is RPM in a lower gear, unfortunately in 100 degree ambient temps the extra RPM will spice up the oil pretty quick since oil temps are heavily impacted by ambient temps....

Posted by: ArtechnikA Jul 25 2005, 04:51 PM

it's no worse than the 4000' pull up out of LA into the Morena Valley up I-14 to US-395, or the 3500' pull up out of Bishop into the Sierra.

remember that in the /4, 5th is a fuel economy gear.
if traffic permits a 90mph run up in a /6, and the car is not heavily laden, you can try for 5th, but if you're slower, or loaded, 4th gear. peak torque and minimum specific consumption are at 3900 rpm...

Posted by: ewdysar Jul 25 2005, 05:23 PM

I voted yes, but now that I think about it, I wouldn't drive the Grapevine in 100+ degree weather without air conditioning, my car would be fine, but not me. Thats a long drive, it doesn't get any cooler on the other (north) side, once you're down you're still 100 miles from nowhere. I guess I'm just old, jaded and soft. I once drove it with the temps in the teens, top down in my Spitfire at night... :insert icy smilie:

Posted by: SLITS Jul 25 2005, 05:48 PM

Climb the mountain from 1K to 7k like I do.....things get warm, but I got enough sense to:

1.) Carry water (for me)

2.) Wear a hat and have cloth inserts in my seats

3.) Stop and let it cool a bit if I get real nervous

Grapevine is puny in comparison...

But in reality, I have no sense!

Posted by: grantsfo Jul 25 2005, 06:27 PM

I'd be more worried about the driver than the engine. Like everyone says keep revs up and it will be fine. I'd also be more worried about stop and go traffic out of LA!

Posted by: jkeyzer Jul 25 2005, 06:33 PM

Think of it as a test of your car's cooling capacity, and valve seats.

Posted by: scott thacher Jul 25 2005, 06:51 PM

okay i hear so much about this hill where is it, is it worse the the hill coming out of vagas to la. my water temps in 5 th gear got to about 190 going up that hill near vagas and the out side temp was 85 or so.

Posted by: Headrage Jul 25 2005, 08:17 PM

QUOTE (scott thacher @ Jul 25 2005, 05:51 PM)
okay i hear so much about this hill where is it

It's about 30-40 miles north of downtown L.A. If you're taking I-5 from anywhere south going north you have to drive it and vice versa going south. Going south you start to climb at 1-2% about 5 miles before you actually get to it then it steepens to about 5-7% for another 7 or 8 miles. And right now it's about 104 outside...

Posted by: Duffster Jul 25 2005, 08:20 PM

Like a Bat outta hell brutha!!!! provided I could ever get my tranny issues resolved

Posted by: SLITS Jul 25 2005, 09:14 PM

QUOTE (scott thacher @ Jul 25 2005, 05:51 PM)
okay i hear so much about this hill where is it, is it worse the the hill coming out of vagas to la. my water temps in 5 th gear got to about 190 going up that hill near vagas and the out side temp was 85 or so.

I've never pulled the hill from Vagas to LA, but I've pulled the hill from Vegas to LA.....it's steep and short (Stateline to Mountain Home)

Posted by: ematulac Jul 25 2005, 09:34 PM

I agree with what has been said so far. If your car is running good, it shouldn't be a problem. I stay in 4th and keep my rpms around 3-4k when I'm heading up the 14 into palmdale and I haven't had any problems.

Posted by: scott thacher Jul 25 2005, 09:48 PM

sorry ron i misspelled it

and i think i drove down the grape vine then when i went to joe sharps house, i did it at about 90 in the hov lane

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jul 25 2005, 10:16 PM

when ya coming down mah brothah?

Posted by: Maltese Falcon Jul 25 2005, 10:35 PM

Allan, take the scenic route- head over to Pismo, catch the 1 and head south into L.A. That is if you've got the time of course.
Last week we did L.A. into bakersfield 5 North (110deg) over to Paso Robles 46W into Cambria and the temp dropped to 65 deg at the coast ! We wound up at Big Sur at a comfy 62 deg for the week
I would definitely look into an oil cooler/ t-stat and rig it in the best/coolest area of your 2.0...hot climates=hot oil and cooling air temps.
marty

Posted by: Headrage Jul 26 2005, 07:53 AM

Jeez, it looks like everyone is pretty confident that these cars can handle extremes. Only 3 no votes and I voted for the burlap water bag so this seems doable. I wish like hell I had a CHT gauge though. Oh well, gotta plan me a road trip.

Posted by: bembry Jul 29 2005, 08:13 PM

As a Bakersfield CA boy who has been on the side of the Grapevine awaiting tow trucks a few times--I'd say HELL NO!!! (That is--at least not until I rebuild the beast)

73 914 2.0 in work

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