In today’s Taurus SHO – BMW 535i vintage comparison (Automobile Magazine), this line at the end caught my eye: The new 535i is perhaps only the second car in which we have, with only one driver, comfortably covered 800 miles (1300 km). Which reminded me of my longest and yet reasonably comfortable drive.
I had driven the 1000 miles from Baltimore to Iowa City straight through in my VW Beetles on at least two occasions, but I can’t say it was all that comfortable. The seats in them were sorely lacking in lumbar support. And there was the general lack of creature comforts, but I was young.
In about 2002 or so, I had to pick up my younger son in Sacramento, CA, where he had been taken after a primitive summer camp way up in the Sierras. It’s almost exactly 500 miles from Eugene to where I needed to go a bit outside Sacramento. I left Eugene in the Forester at 5;30 AM, and hit I5 and set my cruise control for 75, 80 in CA (or 10 over the limit). Arrived at 12:30, picked him up, and had lunch. Hit the road at 1:30PM, and got home right at 8:00 PM (I picked up my pace some on the home stretch). My brother and his family were visiting, so I drove directly to the old EMs minor league stadium near our house and joined them for the second half of the ball game. The sun was still well up in the sky, and I felt…great, even sitting on the unpadded seats of the old wood stadium (which burned down this past summer). Of course, I was almost 15 years younger then. Although I wouldn’t be eager to repeat it, the seats in the TSX are excellent, and if I had enough motivation, I’d be willing to do it again. Or so he says….
One thing that really helps on that drive is the scenery, which is good to excellent for most of the trip, except for the last part near Sacramento. So what’s the furthest you’ve driven in a day, comfortably or uncomfortably?
I’ve gone on the fairly short trek from Pittsburgh to Erie five times in one day, then driven around for a couple of hours transporting my ex’s stuff from his parent’s house in my 1995 four door Grand Am. I ruined the suspension on my poor car (young, in love, and stupid), but my posterior was in good shape, surprisingly. Total time in the saddles was about nineteen hours. My grandad drove from New Kensington, near Pittsburgh, to Anchorage straight through twice, in the sixties. Supposedly stopping only for coffee, cigarettes, and oil changes, he drove continuously for over fifty hours, most of it on dirt. I believe they had a Nash Rambler. My grandmother opted to fly home after enduring his brutal habits on the way up, so he grabbed all of his army buddies’ gear to save on shipping. It was far too much weight and he killed that car. Family legend says it never started again after he pulled it in their driveway and finally turned it off in a cloud of smoke.
Define day, in one unbroken except for fuel stops stretch, Bowen NQ to Pitt Town NSW about 2700 kms but it took roughly 25 hours in a 79 2L 5 speed Mitsubishi Sigma wagon, the 8 weeks later I drove back with a four hour stop at Byron Bay to wait for a friend to finish work to come with me, this sort of travel was normal just going from one job to another just fuel up air the tyres top off the oil and go. Comfort in that Sigma remarkably good.
There have been many long enjoyable drives but the one that stands out in my mind took place in the Spring of 1974 when I drove my wife and infant daughter straight thru from Savannah, GA to East Liverpool, OH. We were on a trip from St. Petersburg, FL back home to East Liverpool and had spent the previous night in Savannah. We spent most of the day sightseeing in Savannah and got on the road to home about 3 in the afternoon. We were driving our 1970 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham 4 door hardtop. I recall it as being a great road cruiser although the body shook a bit on rough roads. The Chrysler had a dial up climate control system that worked like a charm, cruise control, 8 track tape player, am/fm stereo radio and a cream leather interior that was as comfortable as your living room. It was a leisurely trip up I-77 to Ohio and then we followed the Ohio River up to East Liverpool. I don’t recall driving any faster than 65 mph but the trip took only about 11 hours which is about right for 700 miles. Part of the trip was in light rain. Arriving in East Liverpool about 3 in the morning we didn’t feel tired so went to our 24 hour Kroger Supermarket and stocked up on groceries. Of course in 1974 we were both in our late twenties so we didn’t know what it was to get tired!
Visual aid:
And inside…
Personal Best was 21 hours with one short stop to run through a museum with my younger son, who had gone with me to Sinclair, Wyoming on a missions trip (doing construction work at a camp for troubled teens). It only took us 17 hours going out (just over 1,000 miles), but coming back, we hit very heavy fog for several hours, and spent most of the rest of the day driving in torrential rain that kept our speed way down. I was quite loopy by the time we got home (son was only 14 and couldn’t help drive).
I used to make the trip to my Dad’s house in Georgia in one shot (825 miles, usually 16-17 hours depending on stops and traffic through Nashville and Atlanta), but the last year or so I’ve been getting a motel so I’m not on the road more than about 10 hours in a day. Those trips were mostly made in my New Beetle or one of our succession of Chrysler-product minivans. The ’13 Beetle convertible I had for 18 months or so simply killed my back on long trips. The ’15 Honda Fit that replaced it has been reasonably comfortable on the same trip.
Paul, I did do *one* long-distance trip in my ’64 Beetle, from Atlanta to Peoria, which was about 800 miles. I were a younger man then, though! I also commuted from Charlotte, NC to Knoxville, TN (about a 4-5 hour drive) for about three months (home for weekends) in my ’71 VW bus (with non-functioning heat).
Back in 1994, wife and I drive from Cleveland, OH area to Naples, FL area about 1,200 miles straight stopping only or gas/eat/relief developed a low level pain in my side I attributed to truck we were driving (C3500 flatbedding a car). Turned out I had a kidney stone and went to the hospital about 30 minutes after arriving at the destination.
Mission Viejo, CA to Seattle, WA in a 1989 Toyota Corolla automatic, about 1200 miles back in around 1996 or so.
We needed to deliver my future Sister-In-Law’s car to her at UW, it was at the parent’s house. Made a very early start and thought we would stop around Sacramento, hadn’t really thought about it enough to realize that we’d be there by early afternoon so we kept going. Then it got late in Oregon and by the time we hit Portland it was REALLY late and started raining. The last three hours were pretty much a blur, I don’t recall much, but I know I was exhausted and had the window open while it was raining, the radio blaring etc.
I do distinctly recall that the car struggled to exceed 70mph in the beginning having been an in-town car for many years but by the time we hit the Oregon border it had no problems cruising at 90+.
Two and a half years ago my daughter and I drove from Woodland Hills, CA to Fort Collins, CO on July 4th, left around 6am west coast time, arrived around midnight mountain time. That trip, while long (1100 miles), was more bearable since we were in the 911 and able to make up some serious time on the more deserted sections in Nevada and Utah allowing us to take more and longer rest breaks and make up for the traffic we hit between LA and Las Vegas.
I’ve driven some other long distances but those are the longest in one go that I recall offhand. I know that after about 500 miles I need a good rest break and around 1000 miles is the most I want to do in a day by myself anymore (so about from here to Chicago)
I once spent 11 hours behind the wheel of a V-6 ’91 Cougar LS, mostly on highways 101, 199, I-5 and 20 in Oregon and California. What a highway car….and it averaged 27 MPG most of the way, at 70-80 MPH. Comfortable leather/cloth seat, smooth ride, enough power to pass anyone in my way, nice AC and stereo.
Dunno. I drove 350 miles today (and rode 12.5 miles on a 125 motorbike) and feel pretty goosed. I live in a country where you’re never more than 40 miles from the sea in a straight line. But we never drive in a straight line.
I think my longest ever “road trip” wasn’t just driving, but was a 15 hour shift delivering and collecting cars in the highlands of Scotland. At least a couple of hours of it was spent in the 3rd row seats of a VW Touran, which are slightly cramped.
The longest I’ve driven straight through in one go by myself was the over-700-mile trip from Michigan to Vermont. Did that in 2008 in my 2006 Honda Element. It wasn’t a bad trip, really. The Element’s chairs weren’t terrible, and I had an EX-P, which gave me the excellent radio and an armrest (because good ol’ Honda didn’t include an armrest standard in the Element!). I wound up getting in a pack of traffic at the Ontario-Quebec border, and we ran 140-150 km/h from there to London, Ontario. Did that whole drive in just over 10 hours.
Longest trip straight through switching between my dad and I driving was this March. We had to go clean out Grandma’s house in Sarasota, Florida. A lot of things transpired while we were down there, and we elected to leave pretty much straight away. So, with dad’s 2005 Silverado HD crew-cab pickup towing the largest trailer U-Haul offers, both loaded down so much we were squatting the truck’s suspension, we set off for Michigan. Dad taped over the sticker on the wheelwell of the trailer that told us not to go over 55, and away we went, 70-80 miles per hour while towing that much weight, averaging 9 miles per gallon even with the Duramax diesel. 21 hours, way too damned many fuel stops, and over 1,200 miles later, we arrived at my place in Detroit. I felt bad for dad, since he had another two hours of driving yet the next day to make it home.
I will say, though, the seats in that Silverado were pretty good. Wide, La-Z-Boy like. Dad’s truck has the big fold-down center console/armrest thing. It actually rode pretty decent with all that weight on it.
I didn’t drive the entirety of that FL-MI trip (dad and I switched pretty much each state), but that was the absolute longest trip in one go I’ve ever done, and not just because of the mileage. If I ever have to do one like that again, it’ll be too soon.
I have driven from northeastern Pa to Memphis, Tn stopping only for gas and Jacksonville, Fl to northeastern Pa only stopping for gas, most recently the middle of November. Depending on how tired I am, the trip takes 21 hours. I could make better time if I had a car with cruise control. Both trips are almost 1,050 long.
When I was a lot younger than I am now (in the mid 1980s), I rode over 600 miles in 1 day on my motorcycle.
In November 1996 my wife and I had to make a quick trip to L.A. to pick up our daughter. I was driving a short bed V6 five speed Ranger regular cab. I drove two 900 mile days in a row. We made it there on the third day , loaded up and headed back to Indiana with a truck bed full and pulling a U Haul. The cab was a little crowded with 3 of us in there but I was surprised how comfortable I was both ways. Since then I have done some 700 mile days, but not 2 in a row. We made it back to Indiana in 5 days.
I won’t claim I wasn’t tired when we got back. It is a good thing I love to drive
I’ve routinely driven from St. Louis and Chicago to NYC in one shot, stopping only for gas, about 800 miles. My personal best was I believe Memphis to NYC, iirc. I can’t remember if I napped or not at all, though. Most trips were in my ’89 E30, though I once did the Chi-NYC haul in a B3 Passat (terrible seats!) and an e-250 (surprisingly comfortable!).
Time-wise, the longest two trips I’ve ever done were the haul from Memphis (17 hours) and my very first solo drive home from STL, in which I took all backroads–22 hours!
In 1995 I drove a 1992 Geo Metro 23 hours from Tacoma, Washington to Jackson, Wyoming….. I would never attempt such a drive in such a small, spartan vehicle now. By the way, near the end of this drive I saw a ufo…. but now suspect I may have been hallucinating! ?
Over the years I’ve driven the approximately 800 miles between Los Angeles and El Paso numerous times; sometimes at night. Everything from U-Haul trucks to comfy sedans. Usually averaged twelve to thirteen hours (except in the U-Haul). The worst section was upon returning to L.A. on I-10 and hitting traffic around Pomona, knowing I wasn’t even close to West L.A. and it was going to be slow-and-go the rest of the way home. Those days are over, though.
I’ve made the trip on a motorcycle with no windshield or fairing, but stopped overnight somewhere in the Arizona desert with a sleeping bag. Those days are over for sure.
I’ve done Columbus, Ohio to Kennesaw, Georgia a couple of times in my ’84 Chevette. A little over 8 hours drive each way, with about one extra hour for gas, food and restroom stops. Didn’t feel too bad afterward, but then I was about 25 years younger. 😉
22 hours, from Fort Worth TX to Metro Detroit.
When I was moving from Memphis to Portland, I did the Denver-Boise leg in one shot. Thats about 900 miles or so, which is a haul but not the worst anyone’s described here. However, my buddy had recently moved there and when I arrived at 5pm-ish the previous day I parked my rig and we immediately went and started barhopping….closing the town down at 2:30-ish the next morning! I knew I had to make it to Roseburg by day 4 so I hauled my hungover carcass up at 8am downed a couple rockstars and started out of Denver.
A lifted Wrangler isnt too happy at anything over 65mph except to pass…and Wyoming is incredibly windy. And I was hauling my remaining earthly posessions on a 4×8 Harbor Freight trailer. AND the grades in ID tend to be pretty gnarly. So it was one noisy, bouncy, pounding head, hangover sweaty, getting blown all over the road haul! Pretty brutal. Would I do it again? Sure, why not. I have more guts than brains, it would seem.
This past October I had to drive up to Burlington, VT (about a 500-mile round trip) on an out of state delivery in a 2016 MINI Cooper S 2-door hardtop. Wicked comfortable, quiet, and smooth driving at highway speeds between 80-100 most of the way. I don’t think it would’ve been half as enjoyable in the TSX or even the GLK.
I had only been working for MINI for a few weeks at that point, and it was this extended journey that solidified my impression of how refined the new hardtops are. It helps that the highways through New Hampshire and Vermont are well maintained. It was also at the height of fall foliage, and the views were breathtaking.
Took this picture from the dash. Note the red bonnet stripes!
The Cooper S from our demo fleet I took.
I made several Los Angeles to Vancouver Wa (and vice versa) runs (around 960 miles) leaving around 6:00 am and arriving around 9:30 pm in the ’86 Jetta. It has really comfortable seats for long trips, and with AC hot mid summer days were no problem. I would usually just stop for gas, bring food and drinks and make one stop at a restaurant for a half hour to 45 minutes. This was in the ’90’s and I never felt worn out after the trip.
Always took two days when towing my trailer with the ’70 Chevy pickup, at 55-60 mph and a lot more stops for gas with it’s 18-19 gallon gas tank it would have been too long of a drive in one day. I did once do the one day 980 mile drive in the C10 truck without trailer and it was a lot more tiring in that old truck after a long drive. At least it was in the cooler fall weather.
Haven’t done a long run like that in almost 20 years, did do a 460 mile trip to Boise last year in the ’04 Nissan Titan truck. That was a comfortable ride and could have easily done twice that mileage in a day. Trucks have come a long way in 34 years in comfort (and fuel mileage).
Caspar Wyoming to Calgary Alberta; 1,400 kilometres (850 miles), 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), cruise control set at 130 kph (80 mph) in a 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II. One may question the wisdom of doing such a trip in a 30 year old British car (I know I did) but the drive passed without incident. Refueling was frequent, however.
This particular daily distance is about my limit and I’ve done it many times before in my Renault 30, Peugeot 505 wagon, Audi Coupe and a VW Jetta (when I still owned them). The king is my 1985 Mercedes 300D, in which I did a similar drive this past summer.
At least once a year we drive from Iowa to Eastern North Carolina with an over night stay near Lexington, KY. Roughly 10 hours each day.
The most comfortable drive was with the ´03 Ford Windstar, the least comfortable was with the ´86 Mazda 323 for lack of air conditioning and a buzzy 4 cylinder engine.
Recently, the most discomfort I experienced with our `05 Pontiac Vibe because of a hidious driver´s position and complete lack of lumbar support. I did not notice this in a 10 minute test drive. But I sure noticed back pain after 30 minutes behind the wheel. I made minor modifications to that car and that improved comfort levels to fair.
You can tell, I am not spoiled in that department.
With my job, a 400 mile day is nothing abnormal. But beyond that, I have to think….
Jefferson City, Missouri to Auburn, Indiana – 512 miles in a rental Camry.
Hannibal, Missouri to Mitchell, South Dakota – 569 miles in our 2000 Ford E-150
Jefferson City, Missouri to Tupelo, Mississippi – 450 miles in my ’63 Ford
Detroit, Michigan to Cape Girardeau, Missouri – 590 miles in my ’96 Thunderbird
Hannibal, Missouri to Alto Pass, Illinois and back -227 miles each way driving my ’87 Dodge D-250 with my Galaxie on the trailer for the last half.
Longest ride (that I remember): Thebes, Illinois to Cut and Shoot, Texas – 702 miles and crammed in the backseat of a 1983 Plymouth Reliant
I’m thinking I may be fizzling out around 600 miles!
1200 miles from Savannah, GA to Bangor, Maine summer 2014 in my Buick Verano. Our daughter goes to college in Halifax NS Canada and we usually do the drive of 1750 miles in three days with hotels booked in Delaware and Maine up I95. We got off a day late and wanted to still use the prepaid room in Bangor. We left at 2:30 AM and got to the hotel at 11:45 pm. Car did great and averaged 34mpg, but I was super tired at the end.
Norfolk Virginia to Copper Harbor Michigan, way up on the UP, 1,300 miles in a beat up penalty box of a Chevette, August 1985. 24 hours straight through, though to be fair my buddy and I did share the driving. That was bad enough, but it got worse. As soon as we got there we had to get on the ferry to Isle Royale National Park, most of the way across Lake Superior. 50 foot boat, 10-15 foot following seas, with the screw getting out of the water every wave. “The lake is about 900 feet deep”, said the Captain over the PA, “so you’re never more than a quarter mile from land.” I skipped breakfast that day. (At least we got to stay on the island for a week of backpacking. We saw a family with 2 young kids get on for the return — apparently they took it as a day trip. A memorable vacation for them I am sure…)
(WRT Isle Royale’s being part of the US despite it’s proximity to Thunder Bay ON, let’s just say the cartographer wasn’t a Canadian… interesting story if you look it up.)
I’ve never has a automobile trip as horrid as any time I have had to fly– 3hrs from Vegas to Toronto are hell. Aircraft are made for people under 5ft tall.
Having said that when we drive from Ontario to Florida its about 14hrs to Atlanta, stay over night then another 7 hrs to Orlando, it seems quicker going down than home. Last year I drove my Bullitt Mustang on its last road trip and we drove Hamilton Ontario to Carlisle Penn for the All Ford Nats then 11 hrs to Smyrna Tenn to visit relatives. Couple days late it was 11s home to Ontario. That car had the best front seats–better than my 2015 Mustang I think, but after an 11 hrs drive I was not overly tired or sore–unlike 3 hrs in an airplane.
It helps if you can fly the plane yourself.
Not if the wife gets airsick in anything but the smothest air. LOL. Whole nother story.
I do 600 miles in a day without much trouble. From here to the Mayo Clinic is about 600 miles and I had checkups every few months, although they have backed off a bit on that.
Cambridge UK to Poitiers, France in 1.1 litre 4 speed Fiat Uno.
Google says that 537 miles, plus a sea crossing.
Or Stansted to Exeter and return, around 500 miles, in a Hertz Citroen Picasso with wind, rain, fog, no lunch and an impatient boss for company
Attended a wedding in Clearwater FL, then drove to North Port FL, went to bed and couldn’t sleep, so at 1:30 AM, I left for Long Island. I did catch a little sleep in a rest area, but still made it in under 24 hours. From North Port to LI was about 1,250 miles and you could add another 100 for Clearwater to North Port, but that would put the entire trip over 24 hours. I did it in a ’91 Toyota Corolla.
For four years, when my son attended the University of Alabama, I drove from LI to Tuscaloosa, (over 1,100 miles) or vice versa several times a year. On the first trip, we stopped for the night near the Virginia Tennessee border. All other times, it was a one-day trip. That trip was made at varios times in the aforementioned Corolla, am ’86 Taurus Wagon (hey it is Taurus week) or a 93 Ford conversion van.
I also drove from Sacramento CA to LI by myself in less than 72 hours, including two overnight stops, but that one was comparatively easy because each day was somewhere around 900 miles. Did that one in a 2000 Chrysler T&C with the seats out. I suppose I could have slept in the back, but I paid for a motel.
I did all of those trips alone. The more people you take with you, the longer it takes to drive because someone is going to need to take a pee break when nobody else has to go.
1793 miles from Elko, NV to Stevens Point, WI in a Ford van following a bus, but that includes a three-hour stop for sleeping somewhere in Iowa I believe. As for continuous, non-sleep driving, my maximum is 1,007 miles from Orlando, FL to St. Louis, MO.
I’m comfortable with about 10 hours on the road – which with breaks translates into about 650 miles.
Beyond that, I can usually make sense (both economic and sanity) out of airline tickets and a rental car.
When I was a delivery driver for my former job I did 120 miles one day, all around Portland. May not sound like much, but I was in a clapped out almost 500K mile 268 Hino box truck. And getting in and out of both the cab and box of that truck, when making multiple stops got old real quick. Not a fun day.
Across France, Calais to Carcasonne. Not an issue in a SAAB 900.
In 1999 I drove about 1100 miles, some back roads, some highway, over the course of 18 hours nearly non-stop, from Pierre, South Dakota to Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was made easier by the pristine 1986 BMW 325es I had at the time. That car made for some very comfortable miles.
Once a year for the past 15 years I have driven from Toronto to Nova Scotia and then back non stop, other than for gas or food. It now works out to just over 1100 miles although It used to be longer before all the New Brunswick highways were finished. I got lucky when I got a new car in 2001. The seat fits me perfectly and I have never been uncomfortable behind the wheel. I also love driving at night. The trip usually takes between 16.5 and 17.5 hours, depending of traffic and construction delays.
I do a SC to MI trip twice a year to see my brother and his family, a little over 700 miles each way. I generally enjoyed it until reaching my 40’s, now not so much.
This year I got serious about dealing with my fear of flying that came out of nowhere in my 20’s(I learned while doing some research on the subject that this is actually very common) and flew both trips successfully as well as another trip to NY, so I think I’m cured. Even with a cancelled flight that delayed me an extra day to deal with on one trip, it’s was much less stressful and I was able to enjoy my trip more than if I had to spend 11 to 13 hours each way in the car. I have no idea why people get so upset about flight delays and cancellations – OMFG I had to spend the night at the DTW Hampton Inn and take a flight in the morning instead, the horror!
I’ll fly on any trip that would require more than 6 hours of driving now.
I’ve made the 1,000-mile trip from northern Missouri to Virginia countless times, but have done it only once without an overnight stop, in 2007.
We made that trip in my 1998 Ford Contour SVT, and those seats were extremely comfortable. I actually felt like I could keep driving some more!
That was pre-kids. Now with two little ones, a 500-mile day is a good accomplishment.
Have driven the approx. 1100 miles from central Ohio to Dallas, TX and later, back again in the 1970s, in the 1980s, in the 1990s and again two months ago.
My most challenging was in the mid-1980’s, when I worked a day shift job, ate supper, went to a seminar that I’d prepaid to attend, then drove the 1100 miles! It took a good hour longer than usual and I almost wasn’t sure I would make it. But I was stubborn as I was so close to my destination and didn’t want to stop and rest. On any of these trips, I only stopped when I needed fuel – and I’d also take a restroom break, too, of course. This year, recognizing that I’m not as young as I used to be, I was prepared to stop and get a room for some rest if I needed to. But I pulled it off with no problem. None of the trips, even this year, were in any way uncomfortable for me, thank goodness.
Almost forgot my longest trip, from Dallas to L.A. in October of 1983. Like the other trips, the only stops were for fuel. Don’t recall how many hours it took but the miles were in the range of 1400-1500. It was to attend a weekend spiritual retreat. Then, only two days later made the return trip, again with no problems. That trip was made in a Mitsubishi-made Plymouth Sapporo with the 2.6L and a 5-speed manual transmission. I have nothing but good things to say about that Sapporo in regard to the trip or my everyday driving. It was a great little car and that may have been my most comfortable trip.
Ok, have also made trips to Florida and back where I was with friends and we drove straight through, taking turns, going down and coming back. One time was in a nearly new PT Cruiser.
When my mother died, I couldn’t afford airfare to get to the funeral. So I did Grand Rapids, MI to Ft. Lauderdale, FL in one sitting. That’s about 1400 miles.
I was in a bit of a rush, so I did it in 18 hours.
In the late 1970’s, driving from Halifax NS to Vancouver BC, I managed Winnipeg MB (or just outside) to Calgary AB in one very long day, driving the older two-lane Route 2 south of the TransCanada most of the way – probably about 1250 km / 750 mi – in a 1973 BMW 2002.
A great day, watching storms cross the Prairie landscape and wondering whether I could dodge them. It was a comfortable car for a long trip but I was glassy-eyed getting into Calgary around 10 pm. What struck me at the time was that I had crossed the Prairies in one day, but it had taken me three and a half to get across Ontario.
What doesn’t probably count was a Christmas 1969 40-hour marathon from Halifax NS to Cocoa Beach FL (200 mi + an overnight ferry + 1400 mi) in a 1968 Datsun pickup. It was with a friend and we traded shifts, sleeping in the back as necessary. My strongest memory of that trip, other than a great library of 8 track tapes (Santana, Beggars Banquet, Nashville Skyline, Taj Mahal!), was that I-95 was still not complete through parts of South Carolina and Georgia. That, and what a tough little truck the Datsun was – no trouble at all on a 3500 mi round trip.
Hmm… For me, driving the family in our 1984 Chrysler E-Class from Florissant, MO to Hays, KS for the first leg of our 1989 Colorado vacation. That E-Class was one comfortable car, but then I was 38 years old!
Later? Cincinnati-area to STL area in the 1996 Intrepid we owned from 1997-1999. Very comfy.
Now? Same trip but in my 2012 Impala.
Of course I don’t make any trip non-stop! Are you kidding? I have never driven more than 3 hours straight!
Santa Rosa, CA to Cheyenne, WY, starting in the wee hours and stopping only for gas and fast food.
About 1185 miles in a 1995 Dodge Intrepid, still the most comfortable longhaul car I’ve driven. Its long-distance comfortable seating, stable ride and confident handling made me feel I could have gone farther, but that’s where the hotel was.
Baltimore, MD to Indianapolis, IN – about 600 miles. In a rented Chevy Cobalt. It was for a training class for work for a new piece of software, there were only a couple places in the country offering the class. I could have flown but thought it would be fun to drive.
I’m actually have one coming up that will be about the same – I’m driving from Baltimore to Orlando in February for the “Hamcation” hamfest. I’m doing Baltimore to Savannah in one day and the rest the next. I’ll be driving my recently-inherited ’98 Voyager with the back full of electronics and old computers, so that should be an adventure.
Western NJ to Bar Harbor ME 422 miles…2010 Honda Accord
Eastern NJ to shore of Lake Erie in Ohio about 400 miles…1978 Chevy Caprice
Northern MD to Virgnia Beach VA about 300 miles..1998 Chevy Cavalier
Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island are worth the ride, regardless of the distance. The home of Acadia National Park.
A couple years ago me, the wife and 3 kids drove our 2005 Odyssey 1200 miles straight from Chicago to Cocoa Beach FL. 21 hours and I did every minute of the driving myself. Was borderline delirious by the end of it. The seats aren’t terribly comfortable on a good day and after just a few hours it was pure torture. But we made it.
Second longest would be returning from a camping trip from Yellowstone in Wyoming to Chicago. Don’t remember the mileage but the drive was 19 hours straight, in my ’93 stripper Ranger that lacked AC and power steering. Did every minute of that drive myself too, perched on a vinyl bench seat and sweating with the windows open.
About ten years ago I drove from Waco, TX to Jackson, MS and back in the same day to pick up a friend in my ’97 Taurus. That is about 900 miles with only gas and 1 meal stop, and I did all the driving. From what I recall it was reasonably comfortable, but I was tired when I got home.
In my earlier years I made many long distance trips but did not rack up more than about 500 miles per day due to several factors like slow vehicles (’65 Dart, ’54 Chevy pickup, ’73 Econoline with a 16 foot trailer and a 8 month old), slow speed roads (the Alaska Highway, 1100 miles of dirt at that time), or winter driving.
I haven’t done any travelling in many years to speak of. I don’t have anywhere I need to go, and it is not as much fun as it used to be. Maybe I will take it up again after I retire.
From Overland Park, KS to Hilton Head, SC 1,091Miles in a 1985 Ford Country Squire
From Overland Park, KS to Williamsburg, VA 1,133 miles in a 96 Plymouth Voyager
From Overland Park, KS to Paradise Valley, AZ 1,286 miles in a 91 Dodge Caravan
From Southfield, MI to Houston, TX 1,334 miles in a 74 Ford Maverick which was the worst thing ever to drive
Leave work in St Paul MN Friday afternoon. Drive to sisters house in Winter Park CO. Ski all day Saturday, ski Sunday morning, drive from Winter Park Home to Lake Elmo MN, then back to work Monday morning. Drive Just over 2100 miles, Ski around 6 Vertical miles, all in just over 60 hours (32 driving a SAAB 96 or 1st generation Accord). Oh to be young and stupid again.
Gallup, NM to El Reno, OK – roughly 700 miles. Everytime I drive back to OH (where I was born and raised) that is my first day goal. I can drive that comfortably and there’s a pretty good hotel there that I’ve stayed in now 3 times. Otherwise I don’t usually do more than about 500 day on a long trip.
Ironically Gallup is roughly the same distance (700 miles) from Anaheim, CA and Disneyland. I married into a family of Disney Nuts and about twice a decade we do that drive straight through and usually leaving at 3 AM!
I once did 1400 miles in one day.
I live in Hampton Roads, VA and I bought a tractor near Nashville in October, 2004 and it was about 700 miles one way. It was a beautiful Sunday so traffic was relatively light, the leaves were changing in the Blue Ridge Mountains and I had lots of good music to listen to. I had my then-new Dodge Ram pickup and I left my house at about 5 in the morning and got to the small town where I bought the tractor just east of Nashville early in the afternoon. I loaded up and started heading back home and figured I would just stop for the night when I got tired. It wasn’t until I got about 2 hours from home that I really started feeling tired so I just stopped, took a quick nap and finished the trip home and I was home by midnight.
I couldn’t do that again. Having done a career in the military, I travelled a lot for work and moved several times and my normal limit is 500-600 miles a day.
Calabasas, CA to Vancouver, BC. Left at 7:30 AM on a Wednesday. Stopped for gas several times and at a casino off I5 in Central California for a buffet meal (and a bit of blackjack). Arrived home at 5:30 the next morning. If it wasn’t for the three energy drinks I consumed I don’t think I would have made it.
I would probably not do that again.
1,070 miles in 15 hours including stops only for gas and food in my 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T. This was the last leg of a three day cross country move from Harrisburg, PA to Costa Mesa, CA. A little over 2,650 miles over three days – just over 35 hours of total drive time.
What a road trip car! Super comfortable seats, and it cruised very comfortably at 90 mph once I was west of the Mississippi.
Summer of 96 i drove from Chicago to Long Island in my 1971 Chrysler town and country. Great ride was about 850 miles in 14 hours. Great comfortable car got 15 mpg at 75mph. i normally went from Michigan to Long Island a couple of times a year for a few years with that car. Great road car.
I did 650 miles this summer in one day, but my expedition is not as much fun as the old town and country.
I had to think about this one, but I believe my record is Ft. Myers, FL to Nashville, a little over 800 miles in one stretch, in a Civic wagon. But I was in college, so I had plenty of stamina and no extra money for a hotel on the way. (I did have a companion, then-girlfriend, now wife, who’s a good road trip passenger even now.)
Like 67Conti, I’ve driven LA to Vancouver (WA) a couple of times, but not in one stretch…once in a 26-foot moving truck (not comfortable) and once in a Z3 (pretty comfortable once you’re in it). Those mountain passes are nerve-racking in a big slow truck.
One day 20 plus years ago I wanted to drive Route 66, so I set out from home in the SF Bay Area. When I got to Ludlow and onto 66, the pavement was so coarse that the rear view mirror in my ’82 Camaro Z28 was just a blur, and given the relatively “delicate” nature of the running gear in that car, I just turned around and went home. 800 miles round trip. I know I couldn’t stand driving that distance in one shot now, but if I were to try again, I’d want to be back in that Camaro. It was a great travel companion for me.
I returned in 2013 in rented Dodge Avenger, which I really liked (!). It rode just fine on the coarse asphalt of Route 66. But Ludlow was about as far as I could stand to drive one way from home.
Phoenix to Ann Arbor Michigan, non stop except for gas, food and bathroom…in a 1968 MGB. I was young and invulnerable at the time. I was halucinating by the time I arrived. Street signs were waving at me, bushes trying to thumb a ride, etc. It never occured to me (17 years old), that I was probably more of a danger than an alcoholic behind the wheel. Aside from the fact that the MG actually made it that far without a breakdown, I was very lucky. I honestly don’t remember how long it took but it did exceed the one day limit.
From Portland Or. to San Diego, about 1100 miles. In 1971 in a 71 Nova with bucket seats. It was at the end of a vacation that included speed week at Bonneville. Not sure why we didn’t stop, I guess we were broke by then or just stubborn. The worst part was going thru LA traffic late at night after that long on the road.
I had made arrangements to pick up a girlfriend in Newfoundland from Ontario with some sightseeing thrown in. due to some unfortunate circumstances I was delayed getting away but was determined to still hit my spots.
left Havelock, Ontario 7am Monday morning. crossed the border into New York, stopped at Champlain Olympic site(stop 1), took the Lake Champlain ferry to Vermont and ended the first day in New Hampshire.
day 2 was straight up the coast of Maine, with a half day in Bar Harbor(stop 2),.. the Bangor airport (Steven King movie The Langoliers shot there..big fan..stop 3) , across the border into New Brunswick. 18 hours in the car and stopped for the night when I hit a hill with 3 lanes ( 2 up and 1 down) and couldn’t figure out which lane was mine.
day 3 a run to Sydney, Nova Scotia to catch the Newfoundland ferry and across to Newfoundland.
day 4 across Newfoundland in a hellacious storm (I have a picture of a road sign that folded in half on the post and parts of the trip the wipers would not move on the windshield from the force of the wind catching them ) arriving in the small town near
Gander mid-afternoon.
I had a 85 Cadillac brougham that was built for a run like that.
the things we do when we are young, stubborn and in love!
Brisbane to Melbourne, Australia. About 1700 Km, 90 % on two lane blacktop.
In a Holden Gemini panel van. Solo. In 23 hr, less the 2 hrs getting a blown tyre replaced. Back in 1980. I wouldn’t care to do it again.
At the 16 hr mark I’m sure I was nearly in a trance…….made it safely, but never again.
More recently, 1100 KM in a day. Again, two lane ‘highways’ here in Australia.
That was OK, had A/C, cruise & company. I regularly do the 1000 Km trip to Bathust solo in 11 hrs.
I’ve done some 700 mile days in rentals in the USA. Trust me, you have it a lot easier
with the interstates. Easy to average 70 MPH. On Australia’s ‘highways’ where its mostly
2 lane blacktop, you have to work at it average 60 MPH. Slowing down for towns, trucks,
Toyota Camrys, all kill your average.
Agreed Chris. Even on divided highways there are still on-grade intersections with little-used roads (major roads have overpasses) and such that mean higher speed limits are sadly not realistic. On one trip down the Hume to occupy my mind I was assessing visibility around bends and over crests and came to the conclusion there were lots of areas where I don’t believe the “designed for 130/140 km/h” urban legend, leaving aside the intersections. At one of those I saw a B-double (semi truck with 2 trailers) doing a u-turn, taking 2 or 3 bites to get around and blocking the road to traffic while he did it. Then there is the speed enforcement…
Having said that, my longest was a bit over 1000 miles in 20 hours, including picking up and unloading a non-running car, and the only time I have got through two 25 USgal tanks in a day. Still felt ok at the end of it too.
My 03 Caravan does not have Cruise Control or a Tilting Steering Wheel, but thankfully I can use the AC on flat Interstates while still being able to go 75-80. I drove 500 Mi from Missoula, MT to Portland, OR in one go and did it in about 11 hours. Western Montana and most of Idaho are slow going when your Minivan weighs 3,800 Lbs and has a 150 HP engine. Compared to older vehicles and Conestoga Wagons my Caravan is a Cadillac though, but if it becomes a long distance cruiser I am going to have to get Cruise Control.
Portland to Salt Lake City about 800 miles in 12 hours in my 2010 Prius. Running 65-75 it got 48 mpg. Comfortable seating – it’s a long-legged road car.
When I drove across the country eight years ago, I drove from Easton, PA to Chicago, and another 800 miles or so to Oglalla, NE the next day in a rented U-Haul truck.
More recently, the most I’ve actually driven in one day was in a ’56 Studebaker from Lebanon, TN, through the Natchez Trace to Tupelo, across Mississippi to Clarksville, down the river to Greenville and then crossing the whole of southern Arkansas in pitch darkness, before finding a place off the road near Texarkana, TX in the early hours of the morning. Suffice to say, the ride to Fort Worth the next morning felt like a cakewalk.
Not the longest trip ever — but the most painful — was driving across New Jersey on US 78 with a raging toothache en route to an emergency dentist appointment on New Years Day, in a Plymouth Belvedere with a busted heater module.
I’ve made the trip between Staunton, Illinois and the northern suburbs of Houston (850 miles, 13.5-14 hours) straight through solo on three occasions.
The first two were in 1991 and 1993 in my ’88 Thunderbird. Say what you want about the Essex 3.8 (much of it deserved and being rehashed here for Taurus Week), but fuel economy was definitely NOT one of its flaws. Both times I made it to Arkadelphia, Arkansas (a little over 500 miles) on one tank. I only stopped for quick bathroom breaks, which for me in those days always meant McDonald’s. They were the gold standard in consistently clean restrooms – another area in which McDs has lost its way in recent years. Both times I also spent the night in Little Rock on the return trip.
The last solo nonstop was in 2004. A few years after the T-Bird trips I moved back to Houston. When my grandmother passed away in ’04, I had the opportunity to buy her 2002 Dodge Dakota 4×4 (with 7400 miles on it) from her estate. My aunt served as executor and sold me the Dakota for substantially less than book value. That Labor Day weekend I flew to STL from Houston to spend time with my family and do all of the formalities in purchasing the truck. On Labor Day itself I drove the truck back to Houston, albeit with a couple of additional gas stops. I’m still driving the Dakota today.
This was not done in one day, but it was done without sleeping…
Omaha to Cheyenne WY 500mi
Cheyenne to Fort Collins 50mi
Fort Collins to Cheyenne 50mi
Cheyenne to Omaha NE 500mi
total 1100 miles
plus a scenic drive around the mountains which I do not know how many more miles that adds.
Longest continuous drive without a break in one day is Lincoln NE to Lyndhurst OH 875mi, in 10hours. A lot of it done at triple digit speeds.
Answering the question in the plainest and simplist way possible: Squishy Brougham seats, BAD; el strippo bench seats, GOOD. My base model ’71 Electra 225, my ’73 Delta 88, and my ’87 F150 pickup all have the harder “el strippo” bench seats, and I can drive long distances in them without that unfolding-myself-as-I-exit-the-vehicle ritual that is necessary when I’m driving a product of the Great Brougham Epoch. I think the F150 is particularly good because I’m 6’1″ and ingress and egress is just that much more natural.
Did the Cascade Loop in an ’89 base Ranger. Not as bad as I thought.
New Orleans to Tampa, about 12 hours no matter how fast you drive because of the bottle necks along the way (Mobile AL tunnel)!! On one occasion, traffic on I-75 in FL came to a complete halt for 20 minutes during the 4th of July holiday.
After the third driving trip, I bought an non stop airline ticket and arrived in 3 1/2 hours from the moment I left my house to the moment I stood on the beach in Florida…
I used to be able to drive Charlotte NC – Portland ME without stopping, about 1000 miles even. My record is 13:50, which I will never attempt to break. Longest trip ever was Winter Park FL – Charlotte NC – Portland ME which is about 1500 miles, but I took two one-hour naps along the way. I was young…if I tried that now, I would end up a fireball in a ditch somewhere.
My longest was Indianapolis to Dallas, about 900 miles and 14 hours in an 85 Crown Victoria. The seats were pretty supportive, and it was not bad.
Also several 600-700 mile stretches in several cars. The 94 Club Wagon and the 85 GTI were very comfortable. The bench seat in the 66 Fury III was woefully lacking in lumbar support.
Longest: roughly 750 miles from Chicago to Pottsville PA in a Mark VII LSC. The LSC buckets should have won some kind of award back in the day (don’t think they did though). Especially the ’86-89 bucket design (Ford slightly altered the buckets for the final 3 years of the LSC in ’90-92 and for the worse, IMO). Anyway so those seats, in addition to being very aggressively bolstered, sitting on a 6-way power rack, and having a power recline with an incredible range (not all power reclines are equal, just compare a recent Town Car and a ’15 Malibu and you’ll see what I mean), so in addition to all that the Mark VII LSC buckets had a power lumbar, power thigh bolsters, and a manual pullout cushion for the lower thigh support. Now that manual cushion once pulled out could actually be SLANTED slightly sideways in either direction, so as for example to give your right leg more room as it operates the gas pedal.
Anyway, so the best seats ever, and in a vintage car no less. Their only drawback was those buckets would not be comfortable for anyone with a large frame. But that would be true of most sporty bucket seats I suppose.
In addition to that the Mark I had for the trip had an insane factory optional JBL sound system with refurbished and improved (but still factory) speakers, a refurbished factory Sony CD player, an excellent climate control unit, and a retuned sporty suspension with loads of aftermarket upgrades to toss the car once in the mountains. That trip was a few years ago and that car is still around, too.
PS: I try to stick to 600 on a day if I can though. No matter what the car, I find that north of 650 and especially at and after 700 concentration just ain’t what it should be (and by then it is probably night time, too). So while it’s nice and fun to look back on, I don’t recommend it or look forward to doing again. I drive 600 on a day fairly often though and that’s very doable, especially on a good night’s sleep.
Pottsville, PA? Were you some kind of reverse Smokey and the Bandit, preparing to smuggle a truckload of Yuengling out west?
Lincoln consistently did great seats in the Mark series. My ’96 Mark VIII had the most comfortable seats of any car I’ve ever owned, and among the most comfortable I’ve ever experienced, period.
As I had a summer job working as a transporter for Hertz during summers when I was in college, I got wary of driving long distances in one shot (especially alone) early on. Though I lived in New England at the time where distances are relatively short, there were two problems unique to the job…one was that you had multiple cities you might have to go to on the same trip that weren’t remotely even in the same general direction, since we often drove as a group of several drivers in one car, and dropped off drivers at their destination as we got to them, and the driver of the “shuttle” car and the last destination car had the longest drive back home. The second was that you never knew when you would get the call to make such a trip, you might be up all day (working another job, or whatever) and have to go on some sort of convoluted route. Also, the destinations weren’t easy to find, many of them were something like “Harold’s Gulf station in Montpellier” (which actually was the closest normal trip, about an hour away from our home location in Burlington)…I was at Harold’s many a time those two summers, but other locations only once. Of course the normal problems were staying awake, but several times people hit deer, especially going up I89 in New Hampshire. Sometimes the cars you picked up were suspect, we had to pick up several cars in Massachusetts that were originally “Florida” cars that were picked up mid way in their rental life for use in New England…and some in dubious state…I once picked up a rental that had been stolen (and abused) to take back…so my driving habits were definitely colored by my early experience driving for Hertz. Back then the cars were pretty large still, and all had Automatic and A/C, so they were pretty comfortable (as long as they were in good shape) so it was more my endurance and being able to safely deal with driving (fortunately not winter driving, only had to do that with my home car).
I’ve turned into a pretty slow driver, maybe 10 years ago I stopped driving aggressively, and am the guy every one passes (usualy several times)…more relaxed driving when you don’t need to think of keeping your position in the convoy kinda like some kind of vendetta or something. I think I’ve got the weirdest accumulation of mileage on my current car, it has been to both coasts (I live in midwest now, it has been to East coast several times, only once to southern California though), yet in 15 years of owning this car, it only has 113k miles on it…and it is my only car. I think most years I average fewer than 5k miles of local driving, but when I do take a longer car trip, it is of the 1800 mile one way variety, but I take my time. I like to start early, but also end early, get to bed, and repeat…I figure if you drive to “see the country” you should “see the country”…so I alot lots of time for trips…I’m not big on flying unless it is overseas
My “recent” (if you exclude my Hertz days) mileage record is 825 miles from Austin, Tx to Sante Fe NM…very little of it on interstate, mostly state roads…I also tend to do a fair amount of non-interstate driving, so that slows you down some when you go through towns…it is kind of like the driving I remember my Father making when I was little, when many of the interstates weren’t there or weren’t yet completed…so you may be driving lots of time, but the miles don’t often accumulate very quickly. I miss seeing the smudge pots they used to use to mark construction sites (seemed like lots of them back then) as my father used to be driving, often at night, but otherwise the trips seem similar, only I’m the one driving instead of him.
Great post!
Longest solo drive: 1000 miles from GA to MI 12 yrs ago in a ’95 C1500, cruise control but not much else. Took about 16 hours, with icy roads once I crossed the state line into MI about 2am with 3 hrs to go.
Longest overall drive: 2,200 miles from AZ to MI this March, but split over 3 days and 2 drivers in a ’14 CTS. Much more comfortable, though a bit unnerving when a bag of popcorn exploded going over Vail Pass when the pressure differential got to be too much. Fortunately, it took less time to figure out what happened than it did to clean it up!
Longest solo drive without cruise control: 450 miles from MI to PA 7 yrs ago. 8 hrs In a rented PT Cruiser for work, did not think to ask for cruise control when renting a car because I assumed they would all have it by that point. Foot was pretty sore by the time I arrived.
My wife and I commonly go on trips that are 600-700 miles in one shot every year or two now, but we split the driving so it’s nothing doing for either of us. 8 hours of driving is about the point when I’ll consider flying, anything less than that I’ll just drive, and many times even if it’s over that, as anything over 4 hours in a full narrow body jet is pretty miserable.
Same here, except that I’ll drive within the 700 mile range on a day, 1200 if I can afford 2 days, and will consider flying only if it’s over 700 and I have to be there that night. Words don’t do justice how much I despise being crammed into an aluminum tube, in some uncomfortable cramped seat, with some dude eating nasty airplane chicken to my right, another climbing over me to get to the bathroom, and all of that just to sit on tarmac for a full hour after landing because of some stupid holiday jam, miss my connecting flight, and have to book a hotel room. No thank you I’ll drive.
Hollywood CA to Roseburg OR on my way to Newport. 99 Cavalier and 05 ION. 13 hours.
Not all in a car, but I think this counts for something. In April of this year, I boarded an early morning (7) flight from Halifax to Calgary. I got into Calgary at 10 local time, met a friend, and started driving. We drove for 11 hours, to Brandon, MB (around 1,200 km). This in a Honda Fit with no cruise control. Put into a single time zone, I was up for nearly 24 hours. We made Toronto a day and a half later.
The most I’ve done in a single run is Halifax to Montreal — about 1300 km.
I’ve done San Francisco Bay Area to Portland many times, maybe 600+ miles depending on starting point and destination. Alfetta, Rabbit Diesel, Prius, Forester and Vega all come to mind as the cars. But the most miles in 24 hours, albeit with one 3 hour nap, was a “Saddlesore” ride I did in the late eighties: 1000 miles, 18 hours start to finish, on my 1985 BMW K100RS motorcycle. I was in my early 30’s then. My longest recent rides have been 400-500 mile days, albeit on less comfortable bikes than the K bike. The most memorable was Santa Cruz to Ely, Nevada, just over 500 miles, on my Ducati Monster. The last few miles were painful – and cold.
Most miles I’ve driven in one shot would be Raleigh, NC to Clearwater, FL back in 2002. 676 miles door to door in a ’91 Accord LX. I drove the whole way but did have passengers to keep me occupied.
Most miles I’ve driven solo would be Raleigh to DeBary, FL in 2005. 577 miles, ’96 Lincoln Mark VIII.
Both were very comfortable road cars, but the Lincoln wins handily for the fantastic seats, less road/wind noise, and that wonderful air suspension ride.
January of ’14 I drove solo from Cleveland, Ohio to Santa Rosa, California in a 1979 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Brougham diesel coupe that I’d bought on-line and sight unseen from an elderly farmer. Gave myself three days to make the 2400 mile return trip, but…
First day I hit an ice storm in Iowa and ended up cowering under a cheap hotel blanket after an extravagant series of 360º spins past a line of jack-knifed semis; that slowed me up. The next day I accidentally locked myself out of the car in North Platte, Nebraska and spent a few hours getting back in. Sixty miles later I blew a tire in Oglala and got a tow to a town with a hotel and a tire shop – Julesburg, Colorado, where I spent the night in a hotel. All four tires were pretty old and a bit dry-rotted and I still had a winter crossing of the Rockies, so I replaced them and hit the road.
I was way behind schedule now, so I filled up and drove straight through from Julesburg, Colorado to Santa Rosa, California – about 1325 miles. It was remarkably comfortable and I averaged about 23 mpg.
You should write more about your ’79 Olds diesel. It’s been 2 years since you got it, so I’m sure you’d have some stories to tell by now.
Three weeks ago I drove 630 miles from Pittsburgh area, across US22, I-70, I-74, I-39 and a few miles on I-80 to Princeton, Ill, and back again the next day over 550 miles across I-80/90 and US11, in the 2002 Tahoe I bought a year ago.
No fatigue, no back pain…and I’m 58 years old and overweight.
Only a handful of cars in my 43-years of driving offered that level of comfort. I remember a ’68 Chrysler I’d had back when I was 19. Also – believe it or not – my ’57 Chevy’s bench seat was good for the 500-mile trips I’d take every now and then. Better than the two Caprices I’d own years later. The Caprices obviously RODE better but for long-trip comfort, the Tri-Five won.
I think when I replace my Tahoe…it’ll be with another one.
When I had a Tahoe as a rental, the comfortable seat was my favourite part. That and radio controls on the steering wheel.
This past summer my family went on a road trip to the east coast. I wanted to make it to Moncton, NB for the last day of the Atlantic Nationals car show. We took my (new to me) 2007 RAM2500 Megacab. I did all the driving. It is a very comfortable highway cruiser for sure, with acres of room in the back seat for the kids too.
Left on a Friday evening after work, driving 540mi. to Cornwall, Ontario. The next day we continued east through Quebec and New Brunswick to Moncton, another 685mi. There was more hard driving during the week we were down east. We came back home through the US, covering another 875mi. in 2 days.
39 hours from Cincinatti, OH to an hour past Spokane, WA. Did this in the spring of 95 in my 85 Towncar. Started hallucinating at around the 24 hour mark and it only got better. Very comfortable car! It was a bit over 3,000 miles without a lick of sleep. Well, not any intentional sleep but I did nod off a few times.
Just google’d it. Just over 2,100 miles, not 3k.
For me, 480+ Miles, or about 8 hours with a couple of breaks for food and sight seeing. A couple of times from Northeastern Baltimore County to Ogunquit, Maine (485 miles) and just about the same distance in the opposite direction once to Rock Hill, SC (482 miles). That distance was long, but comfortable.
When I was a kid though, I was a passenger in my Dad’s car when we drove from Rosedale, Maryland all the way to Gary Indiana in one day… that Googles out to about 690 miles, so Dad has me beat there. Then we got up the next day and drove to just Northwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul on the way to see some relatives in Frazee, MN, which we made on the third day. This was in 1973 or 74, right after they dropped the speed limit to 55… That was a VERY VERY LONG DRIVE…..
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/vintage-reviews/vintage-road-track-report-the-55-mph-myth/
Needless to say the next time we went up to Minnesota, we FLEW. That trip was in 1977. I still remember the rental car… a cream colored Dodge Aspen or Plymouth Volare with the venerable slant six….
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classics-1976-plymouth-volare-and-dodge-aspen-from-an-a-to-an-f-chryslers-deadly-sin-1/
That was a really fun car to throw around on the dirt roads of rural Minnesota. Fun times for a 17 year old kid with a new drivers license! ;o)
My longest drive solo was from Dallas to Canon City, CO in my 95 Explorer, 800 miles of Panhandle plains and mountains. One of the reasons why I kept it so long was it was super comfy in the saddle in the front seats. Back seat was flat as a park bench though.
Next longest was 400 miles in my 77 Chevelle, coming back from Charlotte, NC. That cars bench seats are not the best in the world for big miles.
423 miles this past spring in the 1975 Oldsmobile 98 as its shakedown cruise from Manhattan to Charlotte, NC. And then from Charlotte to Wilmington, NC, and back up through the NC, VA, MD eastern shores to the city.
The speakers had not been fixed at the time which was pretty rough, did a lot of music from the phone and singing to pass the time. But those poofy velour couches sure are comfortable, and I never felt tired or cramped from driving. Today, with the speakers replaced, and a Redi-Rad device installed the hours would go by faster.
For me, the most comfortable vehicle I’ve rode in, I’ve also driven, was my parents’ 06 Subaru Outback.
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-Nate
Long time listener, first time caller. This post was too fun to resist commenting on.
936 Miles
Car: 1994 Ford Thunderbird LX 4.6L
Drive: Acworth, GA to Boyne Mountain, MI
Comments: Started snowing once we got to about Flint, snowed all the way to Boyne Mountain. T-Bird spun out on I75 into the median twice, got stuck trying to go uphill to Charlevoix, gave up and re-routed to Boyne Mountain. Great road car, perfect for long trips (as long as it is not snowing)!
726 Miles
Motorcycle: 1993 Yamaha TDM850
Ride: Key West, FL to Perry, GA
Comments: Long day! Stopped in Miami Beach to visit a friend.
As others have said, youth, energy, stupidity.
Nowadays, with the kids in the car, just under 700 miles is about the most any of us can handle.
My longest trip was in college – me and a buddy drove from Snyder County in PA (north of Harrisburg to San Antonio for spring break; 27 1/2 hours in a 95 Ford Thunderbird. it was a long trip.
1098 miles, Houston, TX to Bristol, VA in my 1979 Mark V, on the way to an LCOC meet in PA, back in June 2007. Left at 4:00 A.M., arrived at 11:00 P.M., with a one hour change to EDT…61 MPH door to door. Won the “Longest Distance Driven” award!
I did Cincinnati to Miami, FL in my ’82 308 GTSi and it was an amazingly comfortable ride the 17 hours there and 17 hours back. Would have never believed it until I did it.
Presently, I have to say I’m impressed with how good my ’06 Lotus Elise is on a long drive. Save for being a bit noisy (although it’s not as bad as some would have you believe), the Probax seats in the ’06 and forward Elise are pretty damn good. We’ve done 5-6 hour stints in the car and it’s not bad at all…even my wife will agree, which in and of itself is a miracle 😉
NYC to St. Louis in 22 hours in 1971. I’ll skip the back story. In hindsight it was a really bad idea. I was lucky not to doze off and crash. Near the end of the trip I picked up a hitchhiker and he took a turn at the wheel, but still.