I just came back from a road trip to inspect a used BMW for my wife. The XKR and I were on the road for two days traveling 900 miles, almost all of it on the interstate. I now know why the term 'grand touring' was coined. What a wonderful automobile. Smooth, solid, fast and comfortable. I was surprised how intuitive the Navigation system can be.

I left home with only 21,000 miles on the clock, so I put about 4% of the total mileage in two days. Average speed on the trip computer was 65 mph at 21.5 mpg. What a blast. We got thumbs up there, back, and in between.

 

And it can carry a useful amount of luggage. That's why I went for another XK instead of an F-Type.

Graham

 

Good for you Gordo, keep putting the miles on her!

I just put ours in the garage from a week long trip to your neck of the woods and back. Spent the entire trip today with the top down cruising "off the beaten path" roads comming home.

You are 100% correct that this is truely a Grand Tourer"!

 

Same with me disabled wife can’t get in a F. Can the XK-R plus
luggage and a break down mobility buggy for her to get around on when we get there. No chance in the F.

 

I took a one way flight to pickup my XK and then drove it 853 miles home in one day, 850 of those miles were interstate. Great way to get introduced to one of these machines.

 

That's a lotta miles in one day!

 

Several times I've left home in the north of England at 6:00pm and driven 337 miles to the English Channel. Crossing through Eurotunnel, I've continued driving south through France and over the the Pyrenees, arriving in Burgos in northern Spain by 3:00 the following afternoon. That's three countries and 1230 miles over some of the busiest roads in Europe in twenty one hours.

The following day I've crossed Spain from north to south - another 620 miles.

The XK is a true Grand Tourer.

Graham

 

Gotta agree, the contrast between how I feel when I step out of my XK compared to my other "sports cars" is very noticeable.

 

Are you running that solo?

 

I picked up mine 900 miles from home! Had a friend with me as co driver and for company!:-)

 

Same here, flew to Dallas, did the deal and drove the XKR home to Florida in day and a half. The XKR is a grand tourer indeed.

 

I do the driving. My wife doesn't drive.

We've found the departure time is best for light traffic in England and northern France. French roads at 01:00am are wonderful places. Almost no traffic and no Gendarmes.

Graham

 

Son and I flew out and drove mine back 1,400 miles over two days! Changed drivers every time we stopped for gas. We both enjoyed every mile.

 

An impressive run for 21 hours as the only driver.

I do 35 hours with one other driver to cross country, also leave in the evening. Most of the day time rush is spent in the less populous middle of the country, with the more populous ends of the US spent at night.

The interesting thing, is that the time of day per location in the movie Cars is dead spot on if you pass Bristol Tennessee at about the time you'd get of a NASCAR race, and head for the super speed way in California.

The sun is setting as you head into picturesque "western" mountains, and you still have a long ways to go before arriving in the morning.

 

They are a joy to drive, I did a 1800 mile round trip from Georgia to Jersey. The car is comfortable, powerful a true grand tourer.

 

Last July I took my first road trip in my new-to-me '07 XKR. Two days, each way, from Mesa, AZ to Dothan, AL and back. Upon arrival in Dothan, the first question asked of me was, "How's the ride, is it comfortable?" Until that moment, honestly, I hadn't really even thought about it! THAT'S how comfortable it was.

BTW, both ways, I drove between Mesa, AZ & Shreveport, LA in one day (1250mi in ~18hrs).

 

Good to see more long distance driving posts.

Newbies arriving on the forum must often think we spend all our time fixing our Jaguars.

Graham

 

Ha Ha, I love this. We put 5,800 miles on our first XK vert in the first 2 months with it! 5,500 mile of it was on one trip where we thought wed'd just go for an "overnighter" trip! Of course we had to buy some clothes along the way. lol We Wound up in Idaho from our home in Georgia on that one. After that we mainly stuck to off the beaten path roads to really enjoy it (and now pack "just in case". It may be fastest to go from point A to point B, but there are far too many letters to enjoy in between when mixed with X and K!

Spring is just around the corner here for all of the US soon, so lets get out an drive! Maybe everyone could post on the forum when and were you've gone so we can all enjoy vicariously.

 

One of the really nice things about living on the coast between Santa Monica and Malibu is all of the various routes over the Santa Monica Mountains into the valley area. For instance, earlier today I did the following:

Left my home in Pacific Palisades at 11:30am, drove the PCH then crossed the Santa Monica Mountains to Mulholland Drive through Latigo Canyon, returned to the coast on Kanan Dume Road. Stopped for a hamburger in Malibu, filled the tank, dropped off some laundry and was back home by 2pm having had a fun drive through the twisties. Not a lot of miles - about 50 round trip - but lots of turns per mile. Not much traffic either in the hills.

 

Rub it in Ralph, unfortunately, my part of Texas is flat.