Well, I'm fairly close on making a purchase, but this particular F type is 1100 miles away. I'm considering flying out and driving it back. Partly to save a few bucks and stress on transport, partly to make it an experience. I've always thought a cross country drive in a nice sports car would be a bucket list activity. Fairly straight shot from Virginia back to Kansas City. Hope to make the deal soon to avoid any significant Winter weather conditions.
Anyone care to share their lost distance road trip experience in terms of comfort, enjoyment? How did the car handle the several hours of highway driving? Any mechanical issues? Did the long hours in the F type change your opinion of the car for better or worse? How did you feel at the end of the journey once you pulled into your driveway?
Thanks in advance for the experiences and advice!

 

My first drive in my F-Type was a ~1000 mile drive back from Atlanta to Wisconsin, mostly all freeway driving. It handled the highway drive just fine although after about 5 hours in the seat I had to stop and stretch my legs but that's just me. You'll have the same road trip risks in the F-Type that you would in any other car in that it's still a car and anything mechanically can decide to crap out at any time without warning. I'll fully admit when I decided to purchase my car, there was a looming cloud of doubt on the drive back that something was going to happen based on the small but vocal minority who go on internet forums touting how unreliable a Jaguar can be but my journey back and every one since has been a pleasurable, worry free experience. When I pulled into the driveway I was just happy to be home lol but it wasn't until I got home and decided to seek out more curvy back roads that my appreciation for the car truly took hold. Many on this forum have flown in and drove home and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again

 

Within two weeks of purchasing my 2018, I spent a week touring around Long Island with a trip that totaled almost exactly 1000 miles. Granted, the longest single driving stint was about 3 1/2 hours at a time, but the seats (I have the base seats) were extremely comfortable (better than my 18-way adjustable sport seats in my previous BMW) and the car did fantastic. Even crawling on the access road to Fire Island for over an hour in parking-lot-style traffic jam in 90F+ temps, the temp gauge on the car never moved and it was flawless.

I would say go for it!

 

Thank you both for sharing! Very encouraging! I'll admit, the 17 hours is quite daunting, and I'm sure I'll split it up into at least two days. My back can't really take much more than 5 to 6 hours at a stretch without a significant break. I've made trips of 8 to 9 hours with only stops for gas, but I was pretty miserable when I finally go there. I wouldn't want to have that experience with the F type.
I'll be making a final offer this afternoon. Wish me luck!

 

I have not done that in the f type, but have driven 20 straight in a kia cadenza, toyota tundra, and others. I dont do that all the time, ill do 14 first day and 6 the next usually. You need gas ever 4 hours or so so you can stretch abit then. I think the f type seats could do it but i would probably break it into two days.

 

I drove about 10 hours after picking up my F-Type. After about 4-5 hours the legs/back needed a break. The last two hours temperature was close to 35 and raining so it was a little hairy being on a new car. Turned Winter Mode on and was easy on gas and steering inputs, so if you get caught in similar weather just take it easy and you will be all right. I'm assuming your car will be on summer tires like mine was but as long you don't get snow or the temperature gets below freezing you will be alright.

 

@Uncle Fishbits I believe did a 4000 miles trip in his.. IIRC, there was another member who did a trip around the United States as well in his F-Type. Many members journey on the East Coast for @RickyJay52 fantastic annual gatherings. Long trips aren't a problem with the F-Type.

 

Thanks for the mention and reminder and tag. I did in fact do that. Just a bit over 4,000 mi in the western states to a whole bunch of national parks and luxury hotels. It was 75 lifetimes ago. It was so much fun. Since then I have done a couple thousand mile trips from California up to Oregon driving around and coming back.. there is something called Summer 142 luggage rack from a professional car rack company...

The long trip, no luggage rack, and I had purchased the F-Type branded luggage which was pretty awesome but largely unnecessary versus just lots of soft-sided baggage. Also it was summer time and that means much lighter clothing in general, but we did do a number of Michelin star restaurants here and there and it dressed up from time to time.

I would say there was playful anxiety on the 4,000-mi trip about when we had to pack and even when we had to unpack because it was jammed and wedged in there pretty tight. with the luggage rack, we became gluttonous and actually abandoned efficiency and probably just started packing more things than we needed to bring.

It It looks like this website has become paid and all my waypoints aren't there, but also I may not have updated it to some of the side trips and different stuff we did. I don't think Grand Canyon is on there. But it was about 3 weeks total if that helps: Hey! Check out this trip on Roadtrippers and let me know what you think:
https://maps.roadtrippers.com/trips/9966377

 

Several F-Types put on a couple thousand miles each over this past weekend on the Ghost Run. I didn’t hear any complaints. I have also put on over 4000 miles over a 1 week timeframe. The F-Type is a very comfortable GT car.

 

I've shared this story before on this forum. In January 2018 I started looking for a '16 S w/ a manual 6-speed. They are harder to find (or were) than you think and to make a long story short, I found one at the West Palm Beach, FL dealership that fit the bill on a Friday morning in July. They had just gotten it in didn't have any photos on their web site, so I spent the rest of the day going over everything with the sales guy. He took a bunch of photos and we got most of the paperwork done that afternoon. The following morning I took a $95 one-flight from O'Hare to Miami International and then took a $95 Uber ride to West Palm and got there at 11 AM EDT. The car was everything they said, they gave me an extra year of CPO warranty and I drove it off the lot by 1 PM headed back to Chicago (1,200 miles). Drove to Atlanta the first day through a bunch of thunderstorms but had more fun the next day going through northern Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky before grinding my way back home through the Midwest cornfields. Absolutely loved the trip. Car was and still has been flawless, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Two things about it: 1) the many ways to adjust the performance seats in the S/R make it easier to avoid butt and back fatigue on long trips; and 2) you are going to know the car a lot better after taking that trip.

 

Thank you for sharing this experience!
Unfortunately, we can't agree on a price at this time. I'll give it some more time. The search continues.

 

Did a 5100 mile road trip in July and have done the Massachusetts-Michigan run (1900 miles round-trip) at least 7 times (65k miles on the car.) It's great, for me. If you are able, get off the expressway at least some of the time, and find some secondary roads. This was key to my July trip (MA-MI-WY-NE-WI-MA), and I've incorporated a detour through the Green Mountains of VT on my Michigan runs.

Good luck on finding a car!

 

I do Montreal to Corpus Christi TX and back each year. That is 2500 miles each way.
I find the F-Type very comfortable. The road noise could be improved, but overall, 10 hour drives are very enjoyable.

 

Is it rare for a GT to be so cozy and comfy for long drives, or par for the course these days? I am *not* talking pre 90's vehicles, which all had the charm and aesthetic we convinced ourselves made up for the issues. =) But are most sports/GT/muscle this nice, or is the F-Type a rare breed?

 

I took my 2011 mustang on a long trip and it was great.

 

Two trips of note... In March 2017, my wife and I picked up a new S convertible in Pasadena CA, and put 1,600 miles on it driving home to northern Nevada, via several stops in Arizona (including Marble Canyon/Lee's Ferry for some site seeing and fly fishing). It was very comfortable, quiet (for a convert) and got around 28 mpg for the trip.

The second trip was in July/August of 2018. I drove from northern Nevada to Pasadena, picked up my brother, and embarked on a 4,500 mile journey through Arizona to Texas and back. We drove a lot of "blue roads" at a fairly good clip (a lot of the secondary roads in Texas are 80 mph speed limits), and did a couple of long days (500+ miles). We were very comfortable, enjoyed the entire trip. Again, got around 28 mpg, even driving it pretty hard.

Your mileage may vary, but overall, I would rate this car as one of the most comfortable and enjoyable cars I've ever toured in. So much so, that when I turned the lease in this past March, I bought a 2017 coupe with the same equipment. Haven't had a chance to tour in it yet, but am looking forward to it, especially with the extra luggage space.

No hesitation for me to recommend long trips in this car. Have fun!

 

Within past month flew down to FL and drove mine back to OH taking back roads for fun through Smokies 1100 miles in 2 days. Car is so much fun and comfortable my wife made trip with me.

 

I bought my new F Type R in Seattle and road tripped it home to LA. Almost exactly 1100 miles. My brother lives in Seattle and drove down with me. It was a great trip and there were no problems, except a couple of rattles and a center console carpet separation that an LA dealer fixed under warranty. It was plenty comfortable and the weather was great. The biggest challenge was not really giving it the beans because I was in the break-in period. So no launches (but one of us did get it to 115ish on I-5).

 

Years ago, I used to do a lot of long distance driving in all different types of cars. I am talking about 30+ hour driving time distances. Ironically, most of my long distance driving was done when the speed limit was still 55 mph. Nowadays, if the trip is longer than 3 hours, then I will be flying.

 

On 3rd F-Type, 2nd SVR, drive back and forth Chicago to Florida frequently also venturing to Maryland, Newport RI, Lake George NY, Long Island, Quebec City & Montreal, Traverse City plus many more long drives with zero issues and tremendous driving pleasure. Wife has back issues and SVR seats are seen as therapy by her even though I drive as if I stole it. Go get her now.