Your favourite car for a road trip?

[GO FURTHER]

Of all the cars I've owned, the Falcons were the best for long distance touring.
The best, I think was the AU SR Falcon station wagon. For some reason the seating position was better than the BA to FG series (more lay back, and allowing a more "straight leg" to the pedals position, as well as more comfortable seats).

Also for cargo carrying capacity, nothing beat the Falcon wagons.... Man, with the back seat down, you could fit a full size single mattress between the wheel arches width wise, and made an excellent "sleep in the car" overnighter. You could also fit two adult bikes and a kids bike quite comfortably... Much better than the Territories I owned, which for a large SUV were pretty poor in cargo capacity. The Falcon station wagons were a very practical family car.

The only car that was a better highway tourer was my father's 1976 Ford P6 series LTD with the 351 V8.... That car had the most comfortable seats I'd ever sat in, they were like lounge room chairs... Nice and wide and beautiful leather, not like the leather in modern day Falcons!... And did I mention effortlessly quiet .... You could hardly hear that big V8!

What I love about the Falcons, is after a 300Km drive, you arrive at your destination feeling refreshed and not tired... Where as in smaller cars, you get out and feel exhausted by comparison.

[jimt3te50]

Taking the wife and kids for a cruise in the XY tomorrow, can't think of a much better way to do it on a nice day

[Beastie]

2008 G6ET - One of the most comfy / powerful cars I have ever driven!

[Rob 351]

Just finished Route 66 in a brand new Mustang. We travelled 4000 miles in a little over 2 weeks and the thing was faultless! Yeah a pain in the **** putting the luggage in & out but we knew that before we headed out from Chicargo. Darn thing was that good I didn't want to give it back

[XR6WGN]

Just after Easter, I went over to Launceston to work at the V8 round.

Adelaide - Melbourne - Launceston - Melbourne - Adelaide

2683 Kms, Ave Spd 66 kph, Ave Economy 8.8 L/100 and fuel used 237.3 ltrs

Reckon I might hold on to my new Falcon for a while

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by Rob 351

Just finished Route 66 in a brand new Mustang. We travelled 4000 miles in a little over 2 weeks and the thing was faultless! Yeah a pain in the **** putting the luggage in & out but we knew that before we headed out from Chicargo. Darn thing was that good I didn't want to give it back

Did it yourself or in a mustang tour group? Isn't most of Route 66 grown over in vegetation and not able to be driven on?

[Qwerty321]

Favorite car for a road trip would definitely be a BA/BF Fairlane or a Caprice/Calais. My BA eats up the km's easy and is literally a lounge on wheels!

[2011G6E]

Depends on the trip.
We have two cars...the 2011 Triton and the 1982 Celica. If we have to go somewhere on a long trip where we might want to go interesting places, we take the Triton. The cruise control and comfort makes it pleasant as well, plus we have plenty of room in the back.

If it's just me and the missus going somewhere, we might take the Celica. It's got cold air con, it's relatively comfy, is fun to drive, and is something different.


Of course once the Charger in on the road in a few months we'll be using it a lot more for trips...seen the size of the boot in one of them?

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Did it yourself or in a mustang tour group? Isn't most of Route 66 grown over in vegetation and not able to be driven on?

Nope. It's absolutely huge business these days...guided and self-guided motorbike and car trips of various sorts, tourism all along the old route. It's very popular. We're looking at doing it next year with one of the guided tours that lasts over two weeks and uses Harley tourers.

[NX74205]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

FG2 XR6 Rental. These cars eat up the distance with ease, have plenty of go and handle remarkably well. Fuel economy is still decent reaching into the jail-me end of the scale.

Rented an FG2 XR6 last year in NZ, and drove around a fair bit in it, and boy was it comfortable over long distances. Power is remarkable, too - at least up to the legal limit (didn't try anything over that). That ZF six speed auto is brilliant.

I'd rent an XR6 again for road trips, definitely. It's a brilliant cruiser, and I won't risk getting stone chips on my own car.

[arronm]

TTG. Has the comfort, room and power. And can get places some cars can't.

[Rob 351]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Did it yourself or in a mustang tour group? Isn't most of Route 66 grown over in vegetation and not able to be driven on?

Did it ourselves with a few good mates & with the Route 66 EZI map, did all we could do. Yes some of it isn't there any more being buried under the interstate freeway but a lot of it is still there. Some of it is only 9 foot wide in places in Kansas & some of the roads were crap, which is just a testament to how good that Mustang is.
Not a rattle, not a squeak & was just the basic Mustang, but what a bloody good car!

[Sabantien]

My current choices are the G6E and my girl's A1.

The A1 is fun to drive and good around the city, but on the long trips it's so much more comfortable behind the wheel of the G6E. Much quieter, and more power to pass when you need to. Although the Audi has a far better stereo.

That said, when I was in the US a few years ago I decided I NEEDED to road trip, so hired a car and drove from NYC to DC. Wanted a muscle car of some sort, ended up in a brand new Mercedes because it had GPS. Did about 750km that weekend and it was super comfortable, quiet, heaps of power, and cruised along effortlessly in the fast lane. Probably would have done the whole trip without filling up, especially as I had to return it empty, but wasn't sure about where petrol stations were (or how to open the fuel cap, or how to get fuel to pump) so topped up a little on my way back, and the heated seats were great after hopping out of the car for a rest break in winter.

Downsides, I never did get my phone connected so I could listen to my music, so was stuck with all the weird American radio stations.

So while my Falcon is great, the Merc felt more like I was driving in a really comfortable couch. Unfortunately I don't quite earn enough to own my own!

[Rallye Sport]

Horses for courses here...

For a cruise down the WA coast its the Cortina, I can throw away my worldly worries, slip on some chrome aviators and listen to the crackly AM radio. I've never had a car that gets as many positive comments and thumbs up either...

The Tickfords great for visiting country car shows, it's oh so comfy, eats up the kay's and overtakes with ease...

By far my favourite was an old Mazda campervan I had in my mid twenties, it was slow, rusty, you could barely hear the radio over the cupboards and pop top roof rattling but it never let me down and took me to some amazing places all the way around Australia. I spotted it in Broome and Margaret river after I sold it and always wonder if it's still roaming the open road...

[Sioso]

Any big old Valiant, hemi six and a loud exhaust.

[Olbucko]

Originally Posted by JG34JA

Our Territory, fantastic road car. Balances comfort with supple ride, steers well in corners, effortless.

and has great headlights, can cope very well with bad dirt roads, and the ability to go off road if required, plenty of room inside for luggage, and you can sleep in it if you have to.

[zeuss000]

Many years ago i drove my XA Superbird from Brisbane to Perth, that was an awesome trip. wish i still had the old gal. On the way back a couple of years later it was in an XBGS Panel van (302) also a really nice drive, towed a boat the whole way with the missus, 2 dogs and 2 pet rats..

[BFIIGhiaZF6]

I have had 3 Fairmont Ghia's over the last 35yrs, a 1979 XD, 1997 EL and current 2007 BF11, all great cars to drive, but the current BF11 with ZF6 is something else, heaps of power, great comfort and handling, and fantastic fuel economy, last of one of the best.

[Carrion]

My 1995 DF LTD.

It was like driving a bloody lounge chair around all day.

Heaps of room for everybody. Massive boot space. A nice cruiser 5.0L V8. Big sound system. Lots of soft leather.

Still drove like a new car. Now sadly gone.

[DRU842]

Drove the Mondeo XR5 to Mt Isa with the family & returned via Townsville. Great GT car, comfy, powerful.....

[roddy1960]

G'day.. For me my own cars would have to be (surprise , surprise) my long owned AU ll Futura..On a trip to Hobart a few times and up the far North West Coast..once..she rumbles along peacefully at the speed alert setting of 105 kmh and she sits on 1850-1900 rpm..all the time you want it to..Hardly ever use cruise..tyre rumble and ABC local radio is about all you hear.. A full tank prior to leaving means the 520 km return to Hobart means I'll have just under a quarter of a tank left if I don't get distracted with any other things ..As a passenger , my friend's Honda Accord Euro..very very nice..The plan is to take my XR6 to do a proper road trip one day on the BIG ISLAND .really looking forward to that..Cheers Rod..

[Shonky.]

oooh, look, a Hulk thread that hasn't been closed down

a rare beast for sure

[Blue Roo]

The best car i ever drove long distance was an XA GT Hardtop. I had to drive from Brisbane to Townsville regularly. The Gt loved it. I changed the 4 speed to a Tremetic 5 speed and dropped the diff gears back to 3.5. And put in a long range fuel tank.

[TUF_302]

These days i just take the missuses Magna, its powerful, smooth and great on juice, the Patrol is fine on long trips but its truck likeness can get a bit annoying after a few hours

[Hemihunter]

P5 ltd

[Olbucko]

Looking forward to a road trip or two in my new FGX XR6.

And the worst, Sydney to Townsville and return in the summer of 1971 in a 1970 Escort 1100 PV, with 37 kw of power, 12''wheels, warped drum brakes, no radio, no heater, and for 500 km, no windscreen. Back then a large part of the Bruce highway was still dirt.

[Autolite]

ZC fairlane column auto 302. Left foot on the hump ,right elbow out the window. Best driving position ever!

[Paull]

Either my P6 LTD or my BF LTD. Cruise control is a nice to have in the BF.

[SSVPom]

Did 4500+ kms in two weeks in our Territory Diesel from Melbourne to Qld and back. Even the wife commented on how it ate up the kms, and carried all of our gear with little fuss in total comfort. Returned 8.7l/100kms as an average too.

[Phildo]

Either The Wraith:





or Knight Rider

[OffRoadFalcon]

This... absolutely love it.

P1240943a2 by Christopher Hollett, on Flickr