What car for a cross-country run?

Colin Wood said:

As much as I'd want ultimate speed, I'd place a higher value on comfort and economy.

So I'll pick a Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo. 

TIL about the Taycan Sport Turismo....that is a crazy looking wagon.

In reply to wspohn :

For vintage my Volvo 142E was great. I flew to Reno to pick it up and wasn't the least bit tired when I got to Vegas (it was a 420 mile trip).

For me personally I need want good A/C, comfortable seats, reliable and fun to drive cause I am going to take lots of detours and get off the interstate a lot. If we are talking a reasonable budget of cars I could actually afford, it would depend on who was with me.

Just me, ND Miata with a Flyin Miata Hush-O-Matic exhaust.

Just me and my wife, a hot hatch with a DSG /DCT probably GTi. DSG so my wife could drive some

My wife, me and the kid, I am not really sure. It would have to be bigger then a GTi. Maybe Kia Stinger GT?

If budget is no option

Just me, Aston Martin Vantage

Just me and the wife, Aston Martin DB11

All of us, Maserati Quarttroporte GTS>

No big time crush: the motor home with enclosed trailer. Trailer contents 2 bicycles, a kayak and a motorcycle. Did that trip 2 years ago with my wife and the 2 dogs. SE Georgia to Colorado and back Great Trip. Currently fuel prices make a repeat unlikely. In a hurry: I would take a 228i, to me a reasonable compromise of comfort, economy and fun. If I was on someone else’s credit card maybe an AMG sedan of some sort. Regardless of what I drove there would be extra time spent out west. 

All this talk is making me realize I need to make a road trip happen soon.

With a Taycan, charging locations need to be planned in advance.  I think the Chevy SS choice would be awesome.  My wife's new Tahoe would be good too, but expensive on fuel.  I'm about to do a longer drive in it to get another car.  Big sedans would be most comfortable.

Fully optioned G80 3.5T with all the doo-dads including active noise canceling. Speed, power, comfort, handling and ammenities. 

In reply to frenchyd :

I owned a '51 TD that had been previously owned, twice, by the same guy, named Lou. He bought it in 1954, sold it in '55, then bought it back in 1960 and kept it till he turned 83 and said it was too hard to get in and out of the suicide doors. Lou sold it to his friend Jackie, who sold it a few years later to me.

I entered it at the Forest Grove Concours outside of Portland, Oregon, the first year I had it. Mid-afternoon, Jackie -- the guy I bought it from -- walked up with Lou, the longtime owner. Lou spent about 45 minutes telling me all about his time with the car, but ended with the story about a road trip he and his buddy made, from Portland down the Pacific Coast to San Francisco, camping all the way. "We put our sleeping bags behind the seats and stopped whenever we got tired." Lou and Jackie went on their way, leaving me to wish I'd recorded his stories.

About 15 minutes later, another guy in his 80s walks up, looks at the TD, and says, "I KNOW this car! My buddy and I took it on a road trip from Portland to San Francisco about sixty years ago. We put our sleeping bags in the back and camped whenever we got tires."

"You just missed him," I said, and pointed in the direction Lou and Jackie had gone. "He passed through here about 15 minutes ago, going that way. You might be able to catch him."

For a long time, in the collector (or just plain old) car hobby, it used to be common to see ads with the words "No stories" included in the text.

Stories like this one are the best part of messing about with old cars. 

I'm planning my next road trip, to Monterey for Car Week. My lovely and talented and oh-so-fashionable wife will be joining me. 

What are we driving?

Same car we took last year. Yes, it really IS Always The Answer.

But this year we'll try out the fitted luggage.

5 times across in my Cayman. It's magnificent.

I've done it in a Honda S600 and a full length school bus. The Honda was a lot more fun. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I borrowed an E39 M5 for a trip from Reno to the San Francisco and back.

Great car, plus it had a built in Valentine One with a display in the dash.

Saved me a ticket on the way down.

I basically built my Porsche 924S for a cross-country trip (eventually, when I have time and gas isn't $5/gallon). Why?

- Driving a modern car on a long road trip is pleasant, but not really an adventure. You pretty much know there won't be any drama, which makes it less fun.  Plus, in a modern car the driving part of the trip is not a story - only the places you go. An old car becomes part of the story and the memory. 

- Gets near 30mpg highway cruising and in the mid-20s overall

- Handling is excellent for the twisty fun roads with grip for days

- Has enough torque to deal with mountains

- Very good ride for a classic car, especially on highways

- Makes decent noises, but very little wind noise, and I insulated the floor well when I put new carpet in. 

- Gigantic sunroof is totally removable (and fits in the hatchback) for when I want to pretend to be a targa.

- Cavernous hatchback with room for plenty of gear. The side compartments near the back can fit at least four one-gallon jugs (oil, water, etc.) and other stuff.  I don't think a roof rack would be necessary (as @briansquestionabledecisions on Instagram needs for his cross-country Ferrari). Also fits a full-size spare in the OEM spare well (originally used for a collapsible spare). With the seats tilted forward, there's actually close to 6 feet of flat area that could be used to sleep, if I really wanted to (pass on that, I'm too old to sleep in a sportscar...).

- Reasonably reliable, as classic cars go.

- Can fit small all-terrain tires if I decided to go that route so as to be better able to explore. 

I removed the rear seats (haha, the ones for people with no legs) and replaced them with a lockable storage compartment to keep things out of sight (and/or spare parts, tools, etc), which is actually quite large. These cars have far more space than you'd expect for something that is essentially the same dimensions as an NC Miata.  I'd put a skidplate under the engine and transaxle. It has Boxster seats, which are better than the OEM ones and pretty comfortable for long distances.  Also replaced the center dash speaker with a Chinese tablet so I can run navigation, etc. 

There's actually a guy (goes by "edredas" on social media) who is a 924/944 dude and has done a number of XC trips in his 924S with very few issues and seems to have a blast doing it.  And there's a guy who has done trips across Africa and Europe in his, usually off the paved roads, and has found it very capable on the rough stuff as well (though I do hate the term "Safari" applied to cars...)

--

Alternately, I'd do it in a 4x4 (assuming gas prices were really low) so I'd be able to easily car-camp and go well off the beaten path. It would be dull for the long empty highways, but maybe the adventure aspect would make up for it. I think ideally for that I'd go with a 4th-generation V6 4Runner, which is a good mix of reliability, offroad capability, on-road manners, and not too huge. Would be cool to do it in my Raider or another vintage 4x4 but man...old 4x4s really suck on long highway hauls across the Dakotas or whatever....

Trips over 2000 miles? Suburban. 

Hands down the best way to eat up the miles. 

In reply to sfisher71 :

I've traveled across country more times than I can count.  Just guessing but at least 100.  The ones that meant the least were the easy ones. Cruise control on, freeway driving. Stories on the tape deck or CDPlayer.  
     The adventures were fun.  No A/C, breakdowns, or massive tickets never relieved. Helped people with troubles or went out of my way for a hitch hiker.  
     The broke down Dodge, with a not quite all there lady and her children.  She was convinced her car blew up but all it was is a loose hose.   Plenty of other work needed including an oil change, low trans fluid, low diff fluid,  plugs needed cleaning. Points reset,  and a full tank of fuel.   I bought her and the kids some food and gave her enough cash to get where she was going. Took most of the day. But felt good as she drove off.  
     
  

A coworker's father travelled from Pasadena to Detroit in an Autobianchi. He's 6ft tall.......it must have been quite the adventure.

AMG wagon for under the radar cruising and room to sprawl

Vanquish Volante if you want to be more conspicuous

In reply to frenchyd :

I've done them in uncomfortable hot noisy cars/trucks. I like being able to hold a conversation with my co-driver for hours on end and not being horse trying to yell at each other. Bringing the c10 home from Tucson was definab adventure with plenty of stories from along the way. And it was also extremely tiring and stressful. I'm past the point in my life where I feel I have to prove something about how I travel or how tough I am. I want comfort, convenient and quiet. 

Toyman! said:

Trips over 2000 miles? Suburban. 

Hands down the best way to eat up the miles. 

Yeah, but when you get there you're stuck in a Suburban ;)

In reply to Toyman! :

You're not wrong. A crew cab short bed truck is almost as good. Set the cruise at 80 and fill up for gas every 500 miles. But our fuel tank is only 26 gallons and not the 36 of the 'burb. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Rather that than a sports car ot sedan. The urban is classy enough for the fanciest restaurant and still capable of wandering off the beaten path. 

There is a reason you see so many on the road compared to everything else that has been posted in here. 

Bob, a full size truck would be second on the list.

I don't recommend a 56 Ford bus.

E39 M5

/thread

In reply to Toyman! :

I don't recommend a 78 C10 with the SM465 and 4.10's.

I've done a lot of long drives but only a couple that I'll consider "cross country".  In January of this year I drove from KY to Las Vegas to deliver my son's Miata to him.  The comfort wasn't bad, the level of noise was a bit higher than we loved, but the big problem was gearing.  The poor car was turning 4,000 rpm at 78 mph and while I know intellectually that the car can do more without damaging itself it just didn't feel good.  So for superslab driving I want something with longer legs that can "relax" at 85 mph.  

I drove my brothers 2012 T&C minivan out to Colorado a couple years ago and while it was roomy and quiet, the transmission simply WOULD NOT stay in 6th gear while climbing any sort of hill.  So again, a bit more power and better transmission tuning would have made the trip a lot more comfortable.

Of my fleet I've done long drives in the Suburban 2500 and the VR6 Passat.  The burb is fine and capable, the Passat is much better.  Cars built for the autobahn are just more comfortable for covering mega-distance,

Hellcat Charger. It's a big sedan with plenty of room to pack stuff, it's got enough power to make things interesting, if something breaks there are Dodge dealerships everywhere that can service it.