These Are The Best Cars For Solo Road Trips

Buick Roadmaster with an upgraded stereo system. Sitting on a cloud while cranking the tunes.

Suggested by Broken-Aero

I’ve done it a couple of times in a variety of cars:

1985 MR2 (twice),

Second Gen Cadillac CTS

2010 VWJetta TDI 6-speed

C5 Corvette

1998 Buick LeSabre

2019 Volvo XC60 T8

2014 Toyota Highlander

Gotta say, the more boring cars were the better road-trippers... more comfortable, good MPGs, invisible to police. I think the Highlander was overall the best. Halfway across Kansas it got it’s nickname, “The Prairie Schooner”.

Suggested by ReluctantFloridaMan

Depends on the cargo needed. If i dont need cargo then something thats small and fun to drive. If i do need cargo then ideally a wagon like a V60 Polestar wagon or a Panamera Wagon.

Suggested by boneheadotto

Nobody will pull you over for speeding, there are drugs on board and there is room in the back to interact with random blondes you might bump into during the trip.

Suggested by hoser68

I drove my 128i cross country. Twice. It was great.

Suggested by zoomzoomy2k

This is easy - I just spoke to a colleague a few weeks ago who moved his daughter from Charlotte to Austin TX in his Bronco Sport.

Room enough for two adults, a shit-tonne of stuff and a Jack Russell-mix named Ralph.

Atlanta → Charlotte → Austin →Atlanta = 30mpg.

The only issue was the A/C struggled to keep the cabin cool in 100+ degree heat just outside of Houston. My colleague plans on getting the windows tinted before his next road trip.

Suggested by Earthbound Misfit I

Back in 2019, I bought a used 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI. After getting the (insert appropriate mileage) service done at the local dealership, I drove it from Portland, OR to Beaumont, TX and back to visit my mom and brother. The car was super comfortable and got around 40 mpg on the road. I did the trips down and back in 3 days each, which was pretty tiring. The only issues I had were a speeding ticket in Utah going down, and having to stop on the highway in Kansas coming back because I literally couldn’t see where I was going due to a huge rain and wind storm that was very scary. It’s been a great car ever since.

Suggested by bryanrmorris

“Do you value comfort, quiet, fuel economy, or speed when road tripping?”

Yes. (As in, there is no “or” about it in an Audi A4.)

Comfort and quiet are a given (perhaps a little too quiet sometimes, if I’m honest). On the highway, this car seems happiest at about 140 km/h (about 85 mph) - so much so that the biggest threat is speeding tickets because the car is so well-behaved at high speeds. You just don’t notice how fast you’re going at times. (But there’s plenty of tech to keep you in line if you want it to.) The 2.0 engine gets excellent fuel economy when cruising on the highway, but the 6-speed manual combined with the turbo means she’ll go like a little rocket when needed for passing. Long trips across the vastness of Canada have never been so enjoyable.

Suggested by Muqaddimah (call me Muck)

I’ll take comfort with a side of speed and I’d have to go with the X5 we used to have or the X7 we have now.

Suggested by sounbwoy

I recently went on a 1700-mile tour on my old Airhead BMW and it was honestly my favourite solo road trip I’ve ever done. You can only load it up with so much stuff, so you have to be judicious, but you can carry a surprising amount. I got smiles and waves everywhere I went, and with a 5-gallon tank making >40 mpg I needed to stop well in advance of the bike to stretch my legs. I was on 70+ mph highways and gravel backroads alike, and it was all so much fun.

Plus, the older bikes — if you’ve maintained/restored them — are easy to take care of on the road and you can carry all of the tools you’d need for /most/ roadside repairs or tuning without taking up any real space.

It’s a great way to go!

Suggested by TheSchrat

I get the idea of doing it in something small and sporty - but I think versatility is more important. You could conceivably come across all sorts of weather (case in point, on our last road trip - WRX as a car - we went from +30 C in eastern Washington to around 0 C going over the Coquihalla mountain pass freeway with sleet, ice, and incredibly slick conditions. A Miata might have been fantastic at the start, but it’d have been a nightmare at the end. Similarly, road trips sometimes require stuff - camping gear, cameras, space for things you pick up.... you want space. Not tons - but enough.

Suggested by TheWalrus

The greatest road trip of my life was done in a 1975 Ford Thunderbird in 2003. I drove it from Waco, Texas to World Ford Challenge 6 in St. Louis, Missouri, and back. Sure, it only got 12-14mpg (except for the few hundred miles where I drafted my friend’s 1986 Mustang and achieved 16mpg), but cruising along at 80 or so on a giant sofa with cushy suspension and plenty of room for clothes, supplies, tools, and spares is absolutely the way to do it if you can afford the gas.

Suggested by Mustang2Matt

If I win the Lottery, first road trip I’m doing is in this thing. Matter of fact I’m going west to east, then east to south and finishing North in a star topology.

Suggested by darthspartan117

Gonna vote for the humble station wagon. I’ve done several cross country trips, but the best ones were done in a wagon.

The last cross country trip in my Outback was probably the best.

Haul you and all your gear and your bikes in comfort with zero worries when google routes you onto a “highway” in wyoming that’s actually just a rutted dirt road with longhorn steers looking at you like, “boy, are you in the right place?
It’s an outback so police are not looking at you as a potential speeder, it’s an outback so parking overnight at an iffy motel in Nebraska doesn’t get your car broken into.

It’s a comfy ride that, if the wind is right and you keep it under 80, will net you around 32 mpg. More than enough power with the basic engine even up in the rockies, climate control is fantastic even when you’re driving across the frying pan that is everything east of the black hills in south dakota.

The outback is an incredible long distance all terrain gear hauler.

Suggested by Buckfiddiousagain

“put another way, a long way to go and a short time to get there, what’s your vehicle of choice? If you had to, lets say, get from Los Angeles to Miami in short order, what’s the best way to skin that proverbial cat?”

Boeing 737.

Even a Max is safer than any car. And the cost is less than what you will spend in fuel and hotels for a trip in any car.

Suggested by hoser68