American Road Trip: what car??

[ZX10R NIN]

gordyshreds said:

Heading out to the states end of July this year for a road trip. Route is as follows....
LA, San Diego, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Vegas, Yosemite, San Fran then down the Pacific Coast Highway to LA.
Has anyone done similar and if so what car did you use? I'm looking at using "Turo" and renting a car. Currently thinking a new shape Mustang of Camaro convertible. Though not sure if for 2500 miles over 2 weeks there would be a better suited ride, or if a modern convertible is a nice enough place to be?
Thanks in advance

How many of you are going as the Charger saloon in Hellcat/Scat Pack form is a good drive as is Cadillac CTS-V in Coupe/Saloon form is another good call.

Hellcat Charger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xbtZUS3Vww

CTS-V Coupe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ_RT5221rk

CTS-V Saloon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ_RT5221rk

If you're going for a mustang try & get a GT350R I cannot explain (my uncle has one when I'm over there I can't drive it enough) how much fun this car is to drive & the noise is something to behold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtdtGgf1BF0

Failing any of those floating your boat a big SUV will get you where you need to be in absolute comfort.

[AnotherClarkey]

Something comfy and reliable where you sit up high and have big windows to see the amazing country you are driving through. I would say a barge of an SUV.

If you did the trip in something like a Camaro it would be like seeing the USA through a low-level letterbox.

[Matt Harper]

ZX10R NIN said:

How many of you are going as the Charger saloon in Hellcat/Scat Pack form is a good drive as is Cadillac CTS-V in Coupe/Saloon form is another good call.

Hellcat Charger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xbtZUS3Vww

CTS-V Coupe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ_RT5221rk

CTS-V Saloon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ_RT5221rk

If you're going for a mustang try & get a GT350R I cannot explain (my uncle has one when I'm over there I can't drive it enough) how much fun this car is to drive & the noise is something to behold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtdtGgf1BF0

Failing any of those floating your boat a big SUV will get you where you need to be in absolute comfort.

I'm intrigued to discover where you go to rent a Hellcat, Scat Pack, CTSV or GT350. They're hardly mainstream vehicles.

[ZX10R NIN]

Hertz do an Adrenaline line of hire vehicles.

Here are some links:

Mustang GT350
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

CTS-V

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

Hellcat

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

All available for hire in LA I'm pretty sure everything I listed is up for hire.

[gordyshreds]

Have you seen the price for the Adrenaline stuff though?! We are travelling for a whole year so sadly do have a budget to keep to. Happy with my choice of a RAV4 though will consider upgrading to a bigger yank SUV beast

[ZX10R NIN]

Yea it's not the cheapest but if you're there for a year you might decide to rent one for the weekend

[gordyshreds]

Ah ok, yeah, well a year round the world but 2 weeks in the states. Have already eyed up a couple of options for a days fun!

[cheddar]

Guyr said:

Bristol spark said:

Having recently travelled 4100 miles over 3 weeks in western USA, i can confirm a big SUV is the perfect tool for when you need to cover 500 miles in a day.

100% agree.

Most trips we get a big SUV

Edited by Guyr on Sunday 19th February 17:50

Edited by Guyr on Sunday 19th February 17:51

+100 for a big SUV

Spacious, refined, comfy and great view out.

Rav 4, really?
Unless they do a U.S. market V6 or V8 why bother with a small, coarse, weedy 4 pot motor and a cheap bland interior.
Utter mediocrity, a washing machine on wheels

[67Eleanor]

bobtail4x4 said:

I did the trip in 2015 clockwise,
we had a convertable mustang, only a V6 but great fun, we did 450 miles one day no problem, 2800 total.

when it gets too hot put the top up.

We did the exactly the same and loved it.

[David Beer]

67Eleanor said:

We did the exactly the same and loved it.

Done maybe six summer trips in ss convertible. Max was 5 k miles, over 4 weeks, no problem. Doing this summer again. In the winter take a motorhome, so can mix it up and enjoy all. Only two states left to do, hopefully this July.

[Fluffsri]

I was working out in the states and went from El Centro to LA and back in a day in a Challenger. Lots of fun and quick but it wasn't until I did a road trip out there at the end of the job I realised it wasn't that comfy. On the road trip we had a choice of a Ford Flex or a Buick Enclave. 4 grown adults, including my mate who is a very big lad and 4 suitcases were lost inside this thing lol. It was dead easy to drive, park and was bloody comfy!

[filthypig]

We did the PCH last Sept from San Francisco to Huntington Beach (LA) in a Mercedes CLA. Was very tempted to go for a Mustang but the cost was silly compared to the deal we got for the Merc.

Was a great car to do the trip in though. Loads of boot space and nicely specced inside. PCH was a great couple of days driving though and factor in that you'll want to be stopping all the while to take in the amazing views.

We stopped & stayed at the following places on the way down to Huntington Beach:
Santa Cruz - Overnight. Boardwalk is nice, was shut down for the season in late Sept though. Had the best hot beef sandwich at a little beachfront diner called Ideal though.
Monterey & Carmel - Stop offs for pics and a wander on the beach at Carmel.
Lucia - Food stop off at Lucia Lodge.
Pismo Beach - Overnight. Ate at Mo's Smokehouse BBQ. Amazing Ribs!
Santa Barbara - Overnight before heading into LA.

[Matt Harper]

ZX10R NIN said:

Hertz do an Adrenaline line of hire vehicles.

Here are some links:

Mustang GT350
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

CTS-V

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

Hellcat

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

All available for hire in LA I'm pretty sure everything I listed is up for hire.

All of those links (aside from the Hertz caddy and the Mustang - which isn't a GT350) are bogus. i.e. vehicles on Turo that are not actually real, or skeevy websites that link to residential addresses, so probably scams.

I accept that there are some specialist rental companies in places like LA, Vegas, Miami and NYC but they tend to focus on exotics and not intended to be used for much more than a day of posing.

As an aside, have you ever tried to rent a car from Turo? Without a US license and your own insurance, I think it would be problematic.