Road Tripping in the USA!
- Thread starter [TW]Fox
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It depends what you are interested in and where you want to go. The problem is that there are just thousands of square miles of nothing in 'middle america'.
If you had a few months, I'd say yes go for it. If it was only 2-3 weeks I'd say don't bother. America is so diverse and so much to see.
You can spend 3 weeks in California and not even scratch the surface.
If you had a few months, I'd say yes go for it. If it was only 2-3 weeks I'd say don't bother. America is so diverse and so much to see.
You can spend 3 weeks in California and not even scratch the surface.
That is west coast mate. I have done that, so I am talking about the 3000 mile across the US West to EastLand San Fran, do work stuff, hire car, drive to east coast fly home from somewhere like NYC, Washington, Boston etc
Ah sorry bud, sounds like good fun though, I can wait for next week.
I've done East > West > East before. We drove west through Kansas, Colorado, Utah, etc and back east along the south coast. The trip back along the south was a lot better.
Something like this maybe?
It's going to be pretty dull when you go between SF and Austin or Vegas and Austin.
Stop in Vegas because otherwise you'll be going non-stop through a tonne of boring ****
Austin's great and has some of the best BBQ places you'll ever eat at (Salt Lick and Franklins BBQ are 2 of the best)
Memphis has some pretty awesome BBQ (Rendezvous and Central BBQ. Everyone I know around here says Central is the better of the two). The Bass Pro shop there is like no other shop you'll go in and could be worth checking out. They have a pond stocked with huge fish and with loads of different boats on actually inside the shop and an alligator and **** like that. There's the Peabody hotel where they bring the ducks down from the roof in an elevator to hang out in the fountain, etc, and the Mississippi river.
Nashville is an awesome city. It's only 2hrs away but sadly I don't get to visit enough. If you get there on a Saturday morning they have a Cars and Coffee meet and on the first Saturday of the month is when all the supercars go. They pack out a HUGE car park with some pretty nice exotica
Smokey Mountains (Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge) is a great place to stay and chill out, the cabins in the mountains are pretty awesome. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge themselves are pretty dull but then you've got the Dixie Stampede and Dollyworld up there too to keep you busy
I'd try and get to go through the Carolinas as there's plenty to do and see up there. Asheville is a pretty cool little town that has the Biltmore, Sierra Nevada Brewery, and a few other smaller breweries.
The driving roads through East TN and the Carolinas are great. There's also The Tail of the Dragon in East TN/NC which is considered to be one of the best driving roads in the US.
This is accurate. Some people like to see the vast nothingness and stumble upon some incredibly quirky stuff, but its certainly something to only do if the USA is a frequent visiting spot.
Spent past few days road tripping in this lovely V8 GT cab auto, the coastal roads out here are brilliant in California, blue skies everyday and incredible views, typing this from the beach in Santa Cruz, shall be heading back to San Jose airport soon to the stress of UK roads, so relaxed out here.
Soldato
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Quick question about the Route-1 situation... if I was heading from Monterey to Santa Barbara and originally planning to drive the coastal route the whole way, I know that now I'd have to stick inland initially and then join the coast road a way further South... But some have said that the section this cuts out is one of the most scenic and iconic bits of the drive, so some people choose to head North after re-joining the coast, drive up as far as possible and then turn around and head South from there...
Anyone done this? Is it worth it (as I can imagine it adds a lot of driving time)...
Anyone done this? Is it worth it (as I can imagine it adds a lot of driving time)...
Spent past few days road tripping in this lovely V8 GT cab auto, the coastal roads out here are brilliant in California, blue skies everyday and incredible views, typing this from the beach in Santa Cruz, shall be heading back to San Jose airport soon to the stress of UK roads, so relaxed out here.
IMG
How much was the V8 cab per day Gibbo?
You need to do it, incredible road and if you like driving fast lots of opportunities to do so, I drove right upto the road black and then drove back in opposite direction was so much fun, had some fun with a BMW M2 on my drive too.
Did it via Www.turo.com as better deal was $700 for 4 days with full insurance cover, would have being less with lesser cover. This covered upto 400 miles and each mile beyond was 0.52c or $52 for each additional 100 miles so pennies.
With Turo you can get some real nice cars, nearly got a Vette but at one point there was three of us so ruled a Vette out but that would have being like $1200 so still a good price.
But when I go the states I always have to have a V8 simples, this time wanted a convertible Mustang to enjoy those coastal roads and it's great fun with 400+ horses in something with a great soundtrack to enjoy the views in.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Given that an Ecoboost is typically 30 quid a day Inc insurance and unlimited mileage that is a heck of a lot of money just for a different engine
Given that an Ecoboost is typically 30 quid a day Inc insurance and unlimited mileage that is a heck of a lot of money just for a different engine
Worth every penny though
Worth every penny though
Really? I can understand 100% wanting a V8 (and modifying it) in the UK as your daily car. Paying 6 times as much for 4 days of rental seems a bit crazy when the V6 / Ecoboost is still 300bhp.
I enjoy V8's, if you want to save money then yes of course buy the smaller engined car and it will save you money on fuel. I was not trying to save money, like I say I'd have spent twice this to get a Vette but will probably do that next time.
Plus the sound of that V8 with the roof down is something else, like I say worth the money to me, maybe not to you.
I enjoy V8's, if you want to save money then yes of course buy the smaller engined car and it will save you money on fuel. I was not trying to save money, like I say I'd have spent twice this to get a Vette but will probably do that next time.
Plus the sound of that V8 with the roof down is something else, like I say worth the money to me, maybe not to you.
I understand all of that, and it would probably be more relevant if you didn't own a V8 in the UK! Surely by renting the V8 in the US you basically got a slightly slower experience of what you have at home but with no roof. Had you gone for the Ecoboost or V6 you'd have got.... basically a slightly slower experience of what you have at home with no roof.
People often rent the V8 as they "must drive a V8 in the US for my road trip", but you do that every day in the UK anyway (which a much more sorted and modified version).
Each to their own but I'm surprised you didn't use it as an opportunity to check out the Camaro or see what the slower versions are like in comparison to the V8.
Soldato
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You need to do it, incredible road and if you like driving fast lots of opportunities to do so, I drove right upto the road black and then drove back in opposite direction was so much fun, had some fun with a BMW M2 on my drive too.
I'm more for the scenery than the driving fast
but good to know...How much extra time would you say it adds to the journey (roughly) to drive up to the roadblock and back? I think our estimate prior to the road being down was something like 4hrs roughly to go from Monterey to Santa Barbara; I expect that will be about the same with the inland section, but just trying to gauge how long it'll be total if we drive to the roadblock - an extra hour? 2 hours?
Did look for Camaro V8 but could not find any. Found a V8 Dodge Challenger which if was not such a sunny country would have gone with.
Also I paid $100 more for delivery to the hotel instead of airport collection which adds to the cost but this was not a trying to save money excercise, just get the car I wanted and it cost what it cost.
I'm more for the scenery than the driving fast
How much extra time would you say it adds to the journey (roughly) to drive up to the roadblock and back? I think our estimate prior to the road being down was something like 4hrs roughly to go from Monterey to Santa Barbara; I expect that will be about the same with the inland section, but just trying to gauge how long it'll be total if we drive to the roadblock - an extra hour? 2 hours?
No idea was not clock watching but so much scenery you stop a lot to check the views, I'd say 1-2hr.
Did look for Camaro V8 but could not find any. Found a V8 Dodge Challenger which if was not such a sunny country would have gone with.
Also I paid $100 more for delivery to the hotel instead of airport collection which adds to the cost but this was not a trying to save money excercise, just get the car I wanted and it cost what it cost.
If it wasn't a money saving exercise why didnt you just rent a brand new V8 from one of the rental majors instead of some random guys car?
For 4 days short notice rental from LAX Sixt have the following:
Mustang GT Convertible: £477
Jaguar F Type Convertible: £500
All fully inclusive zero excess full CDW.
Surely that would have been better?
If it wasn't a money saving exercise why didnt you just rent a brand new V8 from one of the rental majors instead of some random guys car?
For 4 days short notice rental from LAX Sixt have the following:
Mustang GT Convertible: £477
Jaguar F Type Convertible: £500
All fully inclusive zero excess full CDW.
Surely that would have been better?
The ones I checked did not have brand new V8's, just 4/6 cylinders, but I did not shop around much and as such went with the one I got, perfectly happy with the price.
For future reference which site are you using and next time I shall consider using them.