Newbies want to attempt coast to coast

[Kiwis on Vacation]

My partner and I are thinking of attempting to drive from LA to Orlando on the I10 sometime next year. We have no experience driving in the US, here at home a 4 hour drive is considered a marathon. Can anyone advise on time of year, best rental car options, type of car, GPS or not, stopovers, etc. We were thinking of stops at Tucson, El Paso, Houston and Mobile or Fort Walton. These look good on Google Earth but you can't beat local knowledge. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Just looking at the stops you've come up with, the one that would need to change is el paso to houston. That's a trip that would take you more than 13 hours and is far more than we'd recommend. The rest of your legs are reasonable, but most will still take you 8-10 hours each day.

Having said that, I'm wondering what the point of this trip is? While driving between those cities is generally possible, you'd be looking at spending very full days on the road with very little time to see anything. I guess I wouldn't see the point of flying halfway around the world just to drive across a continent - if I wasn't going to see anything along the way. I think I would be focusing much more on looking into the things and places I want to see, and not just finding a way to cross the US.

As far as rental car goes, a sedan will generally give you the best value for your money, you'll have to shop around though to find the best deals for your specific trip.