First road trip

[ct2012]

I saw a few other people had road trip threads but didn't want to hijack theirs to put in my own story, so I figured I'd start a new thread for my own personal experience.

A few weeks ago, we were invited to a wedding up in Boston. Since I have been babying the Z pretty badly (basically only driving it to work and short trips on weekends), I decided to stretch its legs a bit by driving it on the seven hour trip from Harrisburg. I was a little hesitant about taking it due to the somewhat-limited cargo space, fuel economy (so I thought) and the basic fear of something happening to it on the drive, but I figured I was just being overcautious.

I was proven wrong in every aspect. It was a fantastic trip and a great road trip car. We were able to fit all our weekend luggage without any issues and I averaged about 28 MPG both to and from Boston. At highway speeds, the car floats above the asphalt in a way that's almost magical. I enjoyed driving every single mile of the trip and never felt bored or ready for the drive to be over. I was also really impressed with how comfortable it was for the trip. I'm 6'3" and had no complaints with either legroom or seat stiffness.

Also, I've read countless reviews about how the design is "old" and hasn't changed much in the nine years it's been in production. This car is still a head-turner. The valet (I know, didn't have much of a choice in Boston though) complimented it when he handed me back the keys and said he had never seen one before, and I lost track of the number of people that checked it out when driving past us. My absolute favorite was a little kid in the front seat of a minivan who put both of his hands up on the glass and stared open-mouthed at the Z when I opened it up to merge onto a highway. The rarity of Z's is something else - I only saw two others on the entire trip.

So, love the car and looking forward to getting the chance to take more road trips in it.

TL;DR version: OP takes road trip, has great time, still loves car.

[Fuzzzy]

Nice report! Ain't it grand?

We took my Z on about a 1200 mile, 4-day trip in 100* heat last week. Nary a problem on mostly interstate but a good bit of rural highways tossed in as well.

For the first time I checked my gas mileage as my fuel gauge has recently decided to be overly optimistic. I kept resetting my trip odometer at fill-ups so I didn't get too careless from the gauge reading. Looked to be getting 29+ mpg which pleasantly surprised me.

[TexasChuck]

That's what they are for. Hit the hills & mountains!

[DamnThatZGuy]

That's awesome that you had a good time and lucky nothing damaged your Z during the entire trip. Knowing my luck there would be a metal shelf laying in the road that had fallen out of someone's truck and I'd nail it. I've seen this happen before!! It's ridicules! I am extremely paranoid. I have hit a dead deer at night on a motorcycle that was laying in the middle of the road. It was a small one and only made the bike jump straight up real quick; it really pissed me off. I drive my old Ford Explorer as a daily and nothing bad ever happens but as soon as I take the Z out for a spin there is **** everywhere in the road that I have to constantly dodge; It's quite stressful.

[mishuko]

Do it more often! My gf and I have made two 3000+ mile road trips. I drove down from Canada to NC for zdayz and did an east coast drive too.

Longest single day drive was about 750 miles from Fontana to NJ and that also included being stuck for an hour due to a crash.

The car is great for road trips!

[JARblue]

I've done over 800 miles round trip in a day for work multiple times in the Z. It never gets old

[mishuko]

Originally Posted by JARblue

I've done over 800 miles round trip in a day for work multiple times in the Z. It never gets old

I also have to give this guy here a big shout out for giving me the zdayz opportunity

[Quicksilvers]

Before you take any road trip make sure you do all your general maintenance on it first oil change etc.

[MCDX]

We are just back from a trip to Belgium. 800km each way plus driving around in Belgium itself.

We were really worried about cargo space. But there is plenty of space in the Coupé.
Even with the privacy cover. You could still remove that and care for your own privacy and safety to gain even more space.
The additional spaces behind the seats came in very handy, too. Big improvement over the 350Z. Never thought that.

MPG was around 24, but only because there was a lot of Germany in between.

[old guy]

Love the Z on road trips, it's the best, & look foreword to every one!
The worst I've ever had happen was a stone chip & that is kinda to be expected I guess.

There is nothing like a car that fits you like a glove and feels like it's on rails!

[old guy]

Originally Posted by DamnThatZGuy

That's awesome that you had a good time and lucky nothing damaged your Z during the entire trip. Knowing my luck there would be a metal shelf laying in the road that had fallen out of someone's truck and I'd nail it. I've seen this happen before!! It's ridicules! I am extremely paranoid. I have hit a dead deer at night on a motorcycle that was laying in the middle of the road. It was a small one and only made the bike jump straight up real quick; it really pissed me off. I drive my old Ford Explorer as a daily and nothing bad ever happens but as soon as I take the Z out for a spin there is **** everywhere in the road that I have to constantly dodge; It's quite stressful.

The first two years I owned my Z felt the same way, now I'm less paranoid and I enjoy it more! Ps. I have two deer kills and one of those totaled me first maxima! And as for dodging sh-t on the xway ... That's what great handling is all about.

[mults]

I would not hesitate driving mine cross-county. Whenever we go to ZdayZ, it's a 1200 mile round trip, and the car never disappoints. Smooth, comfortable, great MPG and fast enough to get away from all the morons on the road. All this and the ability to tear up the "Dragon" is just icing on the cake.

[Benibiker]

I feel the same way every time I drive the car, it's a dream! I probably go months without seeing another one on the road, so rare and beautiful.

[Fuzzzy]

Originally Posted by MCDX

We are just back from a trip to Belgium. 800km each way plus driving around in Belgium itself.

We were really worried about cargo space. But there is plenty of space in the Coupé.
Even with the privacy cover. You could still remove that and care for your own privacy and safety to gain even more space.
The additional spaces behind the seats came in very handy, too. Big improvement over the 350Z. Never thought that.

MPG was around 24, but only because there was a lot of Germany in between.

I found the key to using the Z's cargo space is packing in multiple smaller (and preferably somewhat flexible) bags rather than large bags which limit your options for placement.