I'm taking a road trip to Portland Oregon (and possibly WA)....I want to drive the STi for the fun factor but gas would KILL me (I get about 14/18 mpg street/highway)

Is there a rental car that I could get that would be cheaper on gas (enough so to offset the rental fee)?

 

Probably not, even saving 20-30 cents per gallon and 10 -12 mpg, you'd need a really cheap car with unlimited mileage AND one that the rental agency would let out of the state.
So- well maybe you might come close but you'd be stuck driving a POS econo-box that's no fun to drive.

If it were my call I'd bite the bullet and pony up for the fun of driving the Sti

 

well a Chevrolet Cobalt from Avis from Friday to Monday is $107. a whole week costs about $160

when i lived in concord, i used to rent from Avis next to Sears at sun valley mall

Round trip to Portland from Concord is ~1200 miles
Sti
1200 / 18mpg = 66.66 gal

with the Cobalt @ 32 mpg hwy
1200 / 32mpg = 37.50 gal

66.66-37.50 = 29.16 gal x $4.40 premium gas = $128.30


i'm sure my math, thinking, logic, all of the above is wrong.

happy thursday! lol

 

take the sti were talking about some of the nices and funest roads to drive in the us not to mention some of the best scenery on the west cost

 

I have done this 3x in the last year. First I took the MR2 Spyder which was monotonous after a while with no cruise control. Next, over Christmas I rented a Mazda6 from Enterprise since I didn't have a vehicle without summer tires... Then over Memorial day weekend I did it again and took my R32. Gas was not an issue at all, and it was pretty kickass taking my car. One thing to think of is there is a lot of construction on I-5 right now and there are pretty huge drops and road separations. I went up there with about 300 miles on my new coilovers and it was okay, but it was a little tense at times after a few hard hits on areas where they scraped the road and then you jump back onto the old pavement.

In the winter I would say definitely rent a car due to the road crap and large rocks that hit the windshield of the Mazda6 the whole way up to Portland. In the summer that is not so bad.

WATCH OUT FOR AIR PATROL. Last trip I got stopped by Revenue Enhancement Patrol with 6 other cars at the same time during the 10 minute span where I sort of got tired (through the twisty area where the K band signs are).

One last item is, you cannot fill your own gas in Oregon. 1 time, a guy put in 87 octane... All the rest I got scratches when they apparently closed their eyes before inserting the gas thingus.

 

depends if you want to wear your sti on not.

 

I am going to Portland in august and i for sure will take my own car. I figured out it would be cheaper for me in the longer run because i am going for 2 weeks but then again Portland is my stomping grounds so i wanted to take my sti and go play on my old roads haha.

 

i recently did 1200 miles trip in my sti. i ended up spending little over $200 on gas averaging about $4.25 per gallon. i expected to spend that much, but i didn't expect a speeding ticket. considering how much it'll add up along w/ gas, i regret not flying instead.

 

So like I said, it will probably come close, you only missed out on the savings for the 37.5 gallons that you can buy cheap gas for- so its even a little closer than your estimate

 

take the STi ... why do you have it if you dont want to drive it, especially on a road trip to Oregon ... i have been keeping my STi at 70-75 and getting 23-24 mpg ... not too bad

 

Rent a nice car. Gas isn't gonna be that much of a factor... most rental cars don't do much better than your sti. But you won't have the wear and tear and you won't have to do an oil change before you leave and when you get back.


I'd rent one of those hertz mustang 350H's or something you can have some fun with.

but to offset the rental fee you'd have to get an economy car which elimates the fun factor and comfort factor. It's a toss up.


so rent something cool or take your sti.

 

<bleep> that...

in 2003, a month after getting my STi, i did a roundtrip'er to portland.

i knew about their gas jockeys...

every single time out, i got out and watched them like a MF...

 

how about a prius?

there's a place by oakland airport that rents them...

 

thats why I would take a rental, less wear and tear on the STi (or WRX in my case)