Canadian driving advice

[saddlebow]

I'm leaving LA next week to drive up the coast to Vancouver, turn right and then drive CAN 1 across to Winnipeg.Going fishing for a week in the Lakes near there. Any suggestions, advice, warnings or hints about dealing on the road with RCMP? Thoughts about radar detectors/jammers would be useful, and I assume that carrying cash for bail is as good an idea in Manitoba as it is in Missouri...
this will be the third Coast to coast drive in the car, should turn 65k on the road. heading south back into the US through Intl Falls, but I'm very ignorant of the habits and prejudices of the LEOs to the north....
bc

[soho]

65k! I think this might be the highest mileage R8 I've heard of yet.

[saddlebow]

got it with 40 miles on it in April 08; mileage this evening was 59,783. It gets used as a daily driver in rotation with a range rover...basically just changed the oil per Audi's specs and changed the tires almost as often..... I'm shooting for 100K before the end of next year; this trip will put close to 8k on it before I get home. I'd post more but I'm usually driving......

[kthacher]

Well this is a bit ironic. I am from Winnipeg, and am in LA right now, but without the car. Radar detectors are illegal in Manitoba, and I think the penalties are very nasty if you get caught. What lakes are you going to?

[soho]

got it with 40 miles on it in April 08; mileage this evening was 59,783. It gets used as a daily driver in rotation with a range rover...basically just changed the oil per Audi's specs and changed the tires almost as often..... I'm shooting for 100K before the end of next year; this trip will put close to 8k on it before I get home. I'd post more but I'm usually driving......

Incredible. How's the clutch? Any work outside of the standard service marks and tire changes?

I just acquired the R8 from my dad, who never drove it. I'm excited to start driving it almost daily. Also, in a rotation with a Range Rover.

[saddlebow]

KTH:
I drive south east down from Winnipeg to a place called Sioux Narrows, where a boat picks us up to take us out to Osborn Island, not sure what lake it is. There's a few of us who are friends from high school who get together once a year some where: two years ago it was Panama, lat year it was Argentina, this year it's Osborn Island....
Soho:
only problem with the clutch wasn't exactly a problem with the clutch itself; there's a sensor that tells the trannie when to engage/disengage the clutch , that sensor failed and as a result the car was stuck in neutral. Audi replaced the sensor and replaced the clutch while it was down. That was at about 50K,[ I have a 100k warranty] and the plate and disc that came out were still within specs. I did notice an improvement in gas mileage and 'feel' after the 55k service, but not so much as to cause me to think that there had been a serious degradation over time. More like putting some rocket fuel in it and going for a ride. Car has continued to surprise me........ by not surprising me and being extremely UN tempermental, unlike any other exotic car I've owned, going back to a DB5 in 1972....

[mark25]

Nice to see someone else really drives their car. I have had my R8 for just over a year and already done 22,000 miles. It currently has 32,000 on the clock!

[saddlebow]

Just for humor, I went back to find some of the stats from another drive I took; I bought the R8 while my older son was in school in Virginia, and he was PO'ed that I waited until he was on the other side of the country to get it, so I told him if he made straight A's I'd ship the car out there and we'd drive it back. He did his part, so I shipped it to DC, drove it down to the little town where he was in school, and spent the next three days posing it for pictures [this was May 2008 and martians were more common than R8s.]
here's the email I sent out to a couple of friends who like to track this kind of info...

Thought you'd like to know about the stats from our VA-CA trip in the R8. We left Sunday pm from VA, got to Louisville KY for the night; left there there next morning, lunch in St. Louis, across MO through KC and into kansas until the rain and T storms stopped us for the night.
So yesterday we had the LONG day...left somewhere in Kansas at 7:30 local time, to colorado, then Utah, down across the corner of Arizona through Las Vegas and home, arrived about 3:30 AM local:

1353.8 miles
19 hours 33 minutes
65 MPH average
20.6 mpg [!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

Trip totals, VA-CA door to door:

Total mileage: 2783.8 miles
elapsed time: 42 hours 46 minutes
Avg speed 65 mph
mileage 19.7 mpg [!!!!]



We also found out that if you're cruising at 85 in auto mode and floor it, it downshifts to 4th, and upshifts to 5th at 127..... we ran out of room to find out where the next shift point is... [and we got that on video!]

The car is an absolute trip......fast, comfortable, reliable, fast and faster.....
AND, it didn't use any oil that I can tell.

[rmicroys]

Just be careful about the speeding laws in various Canadian provinces. Ontario is by far the most draconian. If you are caught going 50km/hr over the limit in Ontario, the officer stopping you is judge and jury. Part of our 'street racing' laws here, You WILL have your car impounded for a week - full stop.

Every province has different rules on radar detectors. I'm not sure about BC, but they are allowed in Alberta. The way the legal system works here for the most part, in any province I have been to, other than getting some outrageous ticket for going stupid speeds, the officer will pretty much give you a ticket, and you will be on your way. They don't throw you in the slammer and you will likely never need bail money for getting caught speeding (unless, like I said, do something dumb like come to Ontario) Many provinces will have mandatory court appearance for over 50km/hr offenses , but they are not 'on the spot'.

Regardless, check all the laws for all the provinces you will be traveling through. Ignorance of local laws is no excuse - and the officers will make sure you are aware of that once they hand you your ticket.

Good luck.

<edit> BC's laws are harsher than Ontarios...

Commencing September 20, 2010 British Columbians driving in their vehicles found speeding 40km or over, any posted speed limit can expect higher fines and will see their vehicle’s impounded on the first offence and each subsequent offence, committed within a two (2) year period of the first offence. </edit>

[RS4Cab]

I will be doing a 4 day Canadian rally in two weeks, Doing what I heard is one of North Americas driving roads, the Cabot Trail. Have heard about law against detectors so will pull off 9500xi and just used stealthy K40. Only other advice is about criminal records. I haven't been there for about 15 years and heard they now have access to U.S criminal history computers and can refuse entry. Have heard from people who were denied entry because they had a DUI from years ago. I did something stupid about 20 years ago, got off with suspended sentences but leaves me with felony record. Hoping I don't have any problems at border.