We made it, roughly 500 miles. We stopped for gas twice, trying to target the last station(s) with 93 octane. In previous trips, I discovered that Santa Anna, Texas to be the last outpost of 93. I've often been stuck with 91 or even 90 beyond that, especially as the altitude climbed. I made a bio break in Plainview, Texas, roughly 30 miles north of Lubbock and happened to see 93 again, so I filled up there. Fuel log at the bottom of post.
Overall, the car did great. It's quite dirty due to rain and mud, but it drove very smooth. With Driver Assistant Pro, it just soaked up miles with little intervention. Most of our trip was cruise controlled at 79 mph, but when we hit I27, I pushed it to 81. I noticed that when construction or small Texas towns forced speed limits down to 50mph briefly, pressing resume to get back to 79 showed the M60's effortless acceleration abilities. Not needing to downshift, it just cruises up to speed so smoothly. In contrast, our previous Volvo would downshift and the complicated twin-charged powertrain would provide a reasonable amount of NVH. Similarly, despite having runflats, the X7 just felt more insulated, quieter and smoother over the variety of Texas roads which were in all shapes and sizes. It seemed to do really well with deformed roads that are warped from large trucks as well as ones that had multiple pavement types. The Volvo seemed to struggle more tracking in grooves and sending more noises through the cabin.
Despite a late start, it was a fatigue free drive and just felt easy. The seats were comfortable, but I can't quite tell if I still prefer the Volvo front seats for pure comfort.
All in all, a great 500 miles. Random pictures and below those, a fuel economy update, I think I'm beating the Volvo...
Happy 5000 miles:
Lights at night
Can't believe I found 93 this far north (when reg and mid are 86 and 88):
At the hotel:
For fuel economy, in post #2, if you look at fill-up’s 158 and 159, those Volvo ones most closely mirrored the BMW's shown below. 158 was the same exact Santa Anna station. The slight difference in mileage was that I had driven a little bit around Austin in the BMW yesterday, roughly 15 miles. So that is actually a penalty since it was city driving. That said, I beat it by more than 1 mpg. 159 compares to 23 shown below. 159 I filled in South Lubbock, 159 I filled 50 miles further North in Plainview (higher elevation). It was the same exact route otherwise. Again, the BMW beat it by 1 mpg. I believe this has to do with the BMW's ability to just lug along at 1800 RPM without fuss. The Volvo seemed to get punished once you got passed 70-75mph. It was rated at 26 mpg highway, and I just never got that. Considering the speeds I was traveling at, the weight fully loaded, as well as rain and some fierce weather, I'll take the 20-21mpg all day, exceeding what we got in our last car. It's worth noting, we're at 3,700' now, so it was basically a subtle climb almost the entire time. We'll see how it does moving up the passes.
Off to Denver tomorrow. I'll probably top-off in Dalhart on the border, and then make it all the way to Denver. I hope I can find a touchless car wash in Denver!