R-pod Owners Forum : I-70 Mountain Passes vs I-80 or I-40

R-pod Owners Forum : I-70 Mountain Passes vs I-80 or I-40 https://www.rpod-owners.com/ This is an XML content feed of; R-pod Owners Forum : Camping Adventures : I-70 Mountain Passes vs I-80 or I-40 Copyright (c) 2006-2009 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Sat, 05 Sep 2026 16:44:42 +0000 Tue, 08 Oct 2013 21:38:41 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 9.64 360 https://www.rpod-owners.com/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=4074 R-pod Owners Forum https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_images/web_wiz_forums.png https://www.rpod-owners.com/ I-70 Mountain Passes vs I-80 or I-40 : Wolf Creek Pass is a trip. In... https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4074&PID=39309#39309 Author: Keith-N-Dar
Subject: 4074
Posted: 08 Oct 2013 at 9:38pm

Wolf Creek Pass is a trip. In 1975 I drove back from California in early April and over that pass in a snow storm in my 1970 Pinto. It was thrilling!]]> Tue, 08 Oct 2013 21:38:41 +0000 https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4074&PID=39309#39309 I-70 Mountain Passes vs I-80 or I-40 : We are just wrapping up our annual... https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4074&PID=39264#39264 Author: CharlieM
Subject: 4074
Posted: 08 Oct 2013 at 8:10am

We are just wrapping up our annual Colorado trip. We took I-70 from Denver to Grand Junction including Loveland Pass via Eisenhower tunnel and Vail Pass. No problem for the heroic Honda Pilot with its mighty 3.5L engine. Not fast, but steadily upward and downward. The real tests were Red Mountain (Hwy 550, 11075 ft) and Wolf Creek (Hwy 160, 10,856 ft) passes. Again, no problems. The transmission only hit 233 degrees once for a short bit, but then came right back down. I did have to drop to first gear a few times at 15-20 MPH, but the road geometry, and my wife, essentially forced that. Other passes conquered were Raton, Lizard Head, and Owl Creek. The latter was gravel, 10,114 ft, with snow and mud. Again the Pod and the Honda came through. Just go slow. I attribute part of the success to the Honda's 4.73 axel ratio. Other 3.5s may perform differently.

This was a test trip for the Honda and it came through with flying colors. Climb mountains at 10,000+ feet? No problem. More info and pics to follow.
]]> Tue, 08 Oct 2013 08:10:45 +0000 https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4074&PID=39264#39264 I-70 Mountain Passes vs I-80 or I-40 : I found the same thing, almost... https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4074&PID=39239#39239 Author: techntrek
Subject: 4074
Posted: 07 Oct 2013 at 7:57pm

I found the same thing, almost no brakes are needed on the downhills.]]> Mon, 07 Oct 2013 19:57:01 +0000 https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4074&PID=39239#39239 I-70 Mountain Passes vs I-80 or I-40 : We're taking the trailer... https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4074&PID=39227#39227 Author: waterflaws
Subject: 4074
Posted: 07 Oct 2013 at 5:59pm

We're taking the trailer to Fresno, CA in a couple weeks. We were worried about taking I-70 because of all the mountain passes, so we took a test drive to Idaho Springs and back.

It was GREAT! I didn't want to wrap the engine too much so I set the cruise at about 55mph (with the overdrive off, of course) and the trailer pulled just fine! The best part was, going downhill, I guess there was enough air-drag added to the engine-drag that I hardly had to use the brakes (even on Floyd Hill and coming back into Denver on that last, long, steep hill.

So, now, unless there's bad weather, we'll be taking I-70 out into Utah and, hopefully, saving several hours of driving. Plus, the scenery is FAR more interesting!

]]> Mon, 07 Oct 2013 17:59:51 +0000 https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4074&PID=39227#39227