I've honestly never tried it. I used to have to drive overnight for rehearsal stuff in college sometimes, and I just drank plain black coffee. Coke and coffee with stuff in it didn't work for me because of the sugar crash afterwards. Though after too much coffee i would get a little sick to my stomach.

Have you ever tried the sport beans or the gu (whatever brand it is?) with caffeine? Or another option is chocolate-covered coffee beans (which I've had for overnight running events and loved).

How much caffeine is in no-doz? I just did a quick google search and didn't find a brand-specific answer.

And for experimenting with no-doz, depending on the amount of caffeine, I'd try half a pill or so first to see. You can always add more, but you can't undo having to put up with the elevated heart-rate and the shakes if it's too much.