The Ideal Road Trip Vehicle?

[UKCraig]

Further to the suggestion that European cars offer more comfort and handling capablilities, I cannot agree more. I do love the sound of a V8 but the build quality and handling of most cars that I have driven in the US are questionable at best. I am planning on picking up a new car next year and, right now, the best package of performance, comfort, practicality, build quality and value for money is a BMW M3 E46. That is what I will be going for and I can highly recommend this wonderful piece of kit to anyone. Of course they may be slightly harder to come by over there but it's worth the effort (IMHO)

[Willyh]

I have a Jeep Wrangler and a Nissan Xterra. We've taken both on recent road trips and both did relatively well.

We took the Xterra on an 11 day trip through the Pacific Coast Highway. It was more than comfortable and we had plenty of room for our gear. The gas mileage is nothing to write home about, but that's expected in an SUV. The comfort of the vehicle really surprised me. That was the first time we took it on an extended trip and and we couldn't have been happier.

We took the Jeep on a recent weekend jaunt to Moab. Like the Xterra the gas mileage sucked. The wrangler is a box on wheels so there's absolutely no aerodynamic quality to it. Unless you consider bread boxes aerodynamic. It's not a vehicle I would recommend for long distance trips. It's not very comfortable and a bit noisy. But if you buy a Jeep you know what to expect. You're not purchasing the vehicle to drive on the Autobahn.....it'll do better in the woods near by. Jeeps are not touring vehicles by any stretch of the imagination.

I have the Unlimited so the longer wheel based afforded a bit of an easier and quieter ride over the standard Wrangler. The extra space allowed us to pack everything needed for a weekend of camping. The good thing about the Jeep is that it will allow you to explore areas that would be otherwise inaccessible in a "regular" car. While in Moab we did a little off-roading in Arches and saw sites that we wouldn't have seen otherwise.

I love my Jeep, but it's best used for short weekend getaways where you'll really want to get off the road and explore.

The Xterra is more than capable of tackling some of the tougher terrain, but it's also well suited for longer trips where long days of driving may be required.