Summary:

Impressions: 

• I started the trip wanting to see the best mileage I could get with the MPV, but once a lead foot, always a lead foot .

• I'm really happy with the performance of the MPV. It was able to handle going over the Rockies and through the farmlands of Alberta with equal ease. The speed limit through the BC interior and Alberta was typically 110 km/h (70 mph). With the full load, acceleration was not as peppy as usual, but once the van got up to speed I was able to pass vehicles with no worries.

• The ride was very smooth and the tires gripped well through the curvy mountain passes. It simply did not feel as heavily loaded as it was.

• Road noise was minimal. There was a bit of wind noise from the roof box, but I closed the sun shade and forgot about it.

• The hood deflector worked well in what it was designed to do: protect the hood. At the end of the trip the hood was surprisingly clean: no bug splats or rock chips. The bumper and grill, however, were covered in bugs and the windshield got a fair share too. I made it through most of the trip with no mishaps, but on our way to Calgary I got a rock thrown up from a car in front that left a little (4-5 mm) chip in the windshield .   

• The van was very stable at all speeds. The roof box did not seem to affect handling in any way even at very high speeds. On the open freeway (with minimal traffic) I would usually set the cruise at either 120 km/h, 130 km/h, or 140 km/h. There was only one time, going through some flat farmland south of Edmonton where there very strong crosswinds that I had to slow down a bit (to 110 km/h ).

• When tested at the upper limits, the engine took it well and the MPV did not seem to behave any differently than traveling at 120 km/h--other than the fact that the lines on the road were going by much quicker . I don't know what the speed limiter is set at on the MPV.

• I really miss having HID headlamps--I would have loved to carve through the darkness of the Rocky Mountains in the Passat! Out in the wilderness, the high beams on the MPV were barely adequate and the front of the vehicle was hardly illuminated. (On the Passat, when the high beams are switched, the low beams stay on--this is much better because it allows you to see the entire road.) I actually used the low beams on the MPV most of the time because then I could at least turn on the fog lamps (even though it bugs me when people use fog lamps when it's not foggy .) I know that the Sylvania Cool Blue bulbs I'm using are not any brighter than the regular (stock) halogen bulbs and, on a lit side-street, they hardly illuminate the pavement. The funny thing is I got flashed 3 or 4 times driving to Jasper when I was using the low beam only. The only explanation I can think of is that since they look whiter when compared with the city light bulb, perhaps, oncoming drivers think that the high beams are on. But how can they see the city light from so far away? I've never had this happen to me in the city. I know my headlamps are aimed properly because the beam pattern against my garage door is similar to that of the Passat: there is a definite cutoff and the light does not rise above it. Is it because of the colour of the light? Have these people never seen HID-equipped cars?

• We stayed four nights at the Fantasy Land Hotel in the West Edmonton Mall and slept in a different theme room each night: Hollywood, Polynesian, Safari, and Truck. The kids had a lot of fun (OK, I enjoyed it, too .)

• Now that I've returned from the road trip and we aren't driving around with all that cargo, the MPV seems even peppier than before. I've left one of the second row seats out just so that we have more of an open space in the van and to lose the extra weight. That chair alone is quite heavy. Whenever I need to carry an extra passenger, the seat is easy enough to put back.