Death Valley in August with kids (should I avoid it ?)

On May 31, 4:10 pm, wrote:
PeterL ha scritto:



On certain stretches, e.g. when the car is going uphill and using a
lot of power, if you also use the air con, your car may overheat. But
on flat stretches of road you can use the air con, no problem.

This is a precious information to me. Do you know it from Vegas to
Furnace Creek and then up to Lee Vining there are many miles that go
uphill ? Or is it mainly a flat road ?

I wouldn't say it's "flat", but there aren't any steep mountain passes
that might tax an engine in good working order. I would say several
parts of California Hwy 190 going through Death Valley are "wavy",
which followed the natural contours of the land. I found the
sensation of going up then down these bumps at the speed limit (50
MPH) was similar to the temporary feeling of weightlessness of a
roller coaster descent. If your kids are sensitive to motion
sickness, then make sure they have something to deposit their lunch
in, just in case.

In article ,
J. Clarke wrote:
vapor lock.
Gas tanks? Sorry, but vapor lock happens in fuel lines and the float
bowls of carburetors, not in gas tanks. Nearly all cars sold today have

I gave that as the off the top of my head example of something which
idiot lights and engine thermometers can't detect.
While it is true that fuel injection is more common these days....

what does one do to the tires while driving through?

I posted that in another note on the fact that somewhat high passes
surround the Valley. The air temp isn't the problem. Don't expect to
have cold air traction with the tires on these roads. The surface
temps common exceed 160f on the roads. At least 2 other posters
thought these surrounding roads were flat. Far from it. I've also
driven in via Darwin (scorpions! kewl!).

In general the traction provided by tires improves with increasing
temperature right up to the point that they start coming apart. This is
why drag racers do a "burnout" immediately before the race, to heat the
tires and increase traction. And they get the tires hot enough to
smoke. Track racing drivers have to take it easy for a lap or so after
a tire change for the same reason, and experienced motorcyclists take it
easy for the first ten miles or so of a ride until the tires warm up.

I've no specific interest in drag racers. If you say so about tire
technology, I'll defer to you, but I am also aware that numerous cars
have gone off 190.

Now if the tire is real crap it might throw the tread, but I can't see

Nope, that's a more serious problem.

Regardless, the OP doesn't seem to be planning on racing, he's planning
a sedate drive with the kids, which any modern car should be able to
handle with no trouble at all.

Generally. It's all mountain highway driving until the Valley floor.

I'm sorry, but you seem to be worrying about nonproblems.

Not my problem.

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