What’s the ultimate road trip car?

[Zee09]

I'll take the Ghost and drive myself

Yeah me too...lol

 

[manicrodder]

RR Phantom with @AutoMechanic
driving while sipping on his 32 ounce
sweet water..

That would "Drive " you crazy.

 

[TCL]

And enough glass that you can see what you're driving by. Something modern cars suck at.

I had a black on black !991 740 Turbo wagon from new when we had twin girls. I adjusted the mechanical wastegate rod a few turns for a little extra boost. Nothing crazy. That car would pull like a freight train with rear wheel drive. I traded it in on a 2001 V70 T5 5cylinder turbo with front wheel drive and that car was a handful under acceleration. Both were great long distance cruisers and the seats were exemplary the V70 had booster seats built in the rear seats for the kids. O would love to have the 740 Turbo back.

 

[kebabaluba]

It depends on the type of road trip you are making. I`ve seen people road trip with roadsters/sportscars for the fun or adventure, unusual cars like Morgan etc. For me if i take long trip for the sake of the destination, a comfy car with good fuel economy and cruise control is a must. For a adventurous kind of the road trip to see and drive some scenic routes a cool roadster og a sportscar would be nice. Its a bit of a shame i never had a chance to drive my old 3000GT VR4 on a proper road trip. That car had almost anything needed for a cool road trip, power and handling, comfort and cruise control.

 

[JWC86]

The one with comfortable and supportive seats!

 

[Nyati]

Porsche-when you want to get there fast-

 

[Silver]

Unlimited funds - Why, a Rolls Royce kind sir!

Otherwise I'd go with something like an old but well maintained Surburban. Comfortable, plenty of room, reliable and cheap to maintain.

 

[aquariuscsm]

 

[Gimpy1]

Any old 70s American car that had the cushy sofas

Yea except you'd have to sell your first born to pay for gas.

 

[Tahoe4Life]

The ultimate road trip vehicle is the Chevrolet Suburban. Plenty of power and SAFE when your out on the highway surrounded by tractor trailers. Plus decent highway mileage on plain old 87 octane.

 

[UncleDave]

A friends dad had an 80's (84?) 5 speed Porsche 928. He lived in Glencoe - same town Risky business was filmed in.

I got to drive it on several trips to elkhart lake to lap it, and I'll remember those trips my whole life - back in the 80's we were utterly untouchable in that thing as we scorched the highways - smooth comfy, stable.

We waited till about 2-3 in the morning and till we were out of deer country, and would hold serious speed for log stretches of time.

 

[Job]

The Tesla model S with free charging may be one. CR gave them the best car they ever tested awhile back I think. Coast to coast with zero fuel costs. It has to be one from a private party, no more free stuff.

 

[Marcozi]

Turbo diesel with a BIG fuel tank. And great AC. And a great ICE system.

 

[robertcope]

My pick:

I've driven it 14 hours in a day and could have kept on going. It's just a crazy good, comfortable highway machine.

 

[Crash Bandicoot]

Having done the drive from our property in Durango to our house in Houston too many times before moving to Scottsdale. I’ll be quite content with never driving 1000+ miles in one shot again. Global 8000 has everything you guys want. Comfy interior, big Fuel tank, even rear wheel drive.

 

[alcyon]

https://japanesenostalgiccar.com/25-year-club-lexus-sc/

 

[alcyon]

Personally in my opinion it has to be rear wheel drive. I've driven a number of cars with FWD on a few trips and I wasn't that thrilled.
I love my Volvo 960 with it's 2.9 liter 24V, I6, motor that gets me 28.2 mpg at 65 mph. As far as seats go, there isn't much offered out there better than a Volvo seat for long distance driving.

There are a few cars that I think would be great highway cars but not much that is new. The 94-96 Impala's as well as the last generation of Crown Vics would fit the bill. A larger Mercedes like an E or S class sedan, or a Lexas LS would also make great highway cars. BMW, I'd go with a 540i with the 3.0 liter motor, the 3 series is too small. You want a 6 cylinder or 8 cylinder for the highway because the fours can be a little noisy at higher speeds.

Here's the thing about road trip cars especially if you plan on driving distance and spending more that a couple days on the road, you need space for your luggage and trip supplies. That means a trunk is a necessity. I've owned wagons and cars with hatches and I would always wish I had a trunk when I took them on a trip.

The one thing you need to think about is a balance between size, comfort and fuel economy. With the cost of fuel today any vehicle choosen for long highway trips has to get in the high twenties, low thirties with gas mileage.

I did rent a 2020 Impala for a trip close to 2500 miles back in March when my Volvo decided to puke power steering fluid from almost every seal. Considering it was a GM I have to admit it was a nice car for the highway. The 305hp V6 was more than adequate for my needs but again I'm not a real fan of FWD for long highway drives. It did get 35-36 mpg at 65 mph and I wasn't running anywhere close to those speeds, more like 75-80 mph and I got 30-31 mpg. If I needed to rent another car for a long trip my first choice would be another V6 Impala.

Interesting to know exactly why You prefer rwd. I used to drive a fwd for 20 years , and now I have a rwd, and I like it, but i cannot seem to find the words to describe why.

 

[pghvolvo]

Interesting to know exactly why You prefer rwd. I used to drive a fwd for 20 years , and now I have a rwd, and I like it, but i cannot seem to find the words to describe why.

Road feel. I have a Toyota Prius FWD which I love driving around town. Short trips on the highway are fine but long distance travel is not fun except at the gas pump.

 

[aquariuscsm]

My pick (this is not me or my car):

 

[A_Harman]

Road trips are good.
Car doesn't matter so much, it sort of guides the type of enjoyment.

1975 Vega. Me road-tripping with my student engineer friends. "Hey, how fast will this thing go?" Held it wide-open for 10 minutes, enough to know the absolute top speed on the flat was 106 mph. Engine didn't have enough power to hurt itself, couldn't spin over 5000 rpm.

1985 Pontiac Sunbird turbo. Weekend drive up to Watkins Glen from northern New Jersey. Two-day Track Time driving school, drive back on scenic NY17.

2002 Camaro. Drive to Pennsylvania and back to Indiana in one day to visit an old girlfriend. 1040 miles in 16 hours. Drain gas tank, stop, fill gas tank, drain bladder. Repeat. Camaro's super tall gears enable 80 mph cruising, no fuss, muted noise, plenty of torque to climb hills on PA Turnpike.

So many memories. Too many to list here.