I did my first long road trip in the F-Type, from Sacramento to Bishop and I put over 700 miles in 3 days. The route consisted of a mix of back roads and fast sweeping highways with the majority of the drive being at above 5,000 ft. I even went up Rock Creek Lake Road, the highest paved road in California reaching at elevation of 10,320 feet.

I was blown away at how good the F-Type was on this road trip. It struck a near perfect balance of comfort and sportiness. Here are some of my thoughts.

Pros:

• The F-Type was super fun to drive on both 395 and the back roads with quick steering, agile handling and enough power to pass traffic quickly.
• With the tune, there was ample power at all elevations. I passed a car at the top of Monitor Pass (around 8k) and my car still pulled really hard. Passing on Rock Creek Road around 9k also had plenty of power (more than I expected) and I had enough power to go up Sherwin Grade on 395 in 8th gear.
• Fuel economy for the whole trip was over 27 mpg which is amazing. This involved high speed driving on 395, some aggressive passing but overall I would describe my driving as smooth and fast. With the extra low end torque of the tune, I rarely found it necessary to rev the engine above 4k, unless I wanted to hear the great exhaust . Going full throttle, even at elevation, results quickly in uncomfortably fast speeds.
• The large fuel tank combined with the good fuel economy was great for a road trip and I only had to get gas once during the trip.
• Comfort was much better than expected. After a spirited 5 hour drive to Bishop that involved some fantastic back roads and highway travel I was not tired. I could drive for two to three hours without feeling like I need a break and the base seats, which are fairly hard, I found to be very comfortable for long drives.
• Cargo room of the coupe was good enough for me and my girlfriend's stuff as well as my fishing gear.
• My radar detector worked well when mounted in the "hole" in the windshield. I encountered constant-on. instant-on, and I also had some very good around the bend detections. I always had plenty of warning.

Cons:

• A bit more interior storage would be nice for longer road trips with two people. I got spoiled with cars that have more than 2 cup holders . I know that F-Type is a 2-seater but small back seats like an Evora or 911 would be nice for extra storage on a road trip.
• For the passenger, it would be nice to recline the seats more (once again a small back seat would help with this).
• Summer tires can ride rough on a cold morning before they heat up.

Overall, the F-Type exceeded my expectations and I would highly recommend the F-Type for road trips. I would say that for two people on a road trip, I think I would pick the F-Type over a sport sedan like the M3 or the Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio because you don't really sacrifice that much comfort and there is enough space for 2 people. If I were gonna take a sedan over the F-Type, it would have to be much more luxurious like an XF or XJ.

Also, on Friday, September 14 I saw a black F-Type coupe south of Markleeville driving towards Monitor Pass. Maybe a member of the forum?

Great write up Speedski! Quick question, what radar detector do you have that fits in the ‘hole’ and how did you mount it?
Cheers!

Interesting. So definitely not in the ‘hole’ then?

It actually is in the hole. If you look closely on the windshield you can see where the metallic tint ends. Very hard to photograph though.

On mine, the hole is above rear view mirror. Yours must have a slightly different windshield. Escort 360is worthless below mirror

My hole is also above the rear view mirror but it is biggest on the drivers side. The Max360 is a big detector, much bigger than the Magnum and the hole is pretty small and high in the windshield.. Even for the Magnum the hole isn’t quite big enough but I still get good performance. The problem is that I can’t mount the detector high enough. I can’t speak for the Max360 bit I would imagine the size would make it even harder to make it work.