So, about 3,600 miles later, I'm in NYC. Quite the trip. The KXR was, for the most part, perfect. Some thoughts:

First, WHEELS.
Part 1: LUG NUTS. I was fortunate in that my flat came just as I was pulling into Washington DC, where I had family. I limped it into a family condo... when I began the nightmare that is changing a tire on the XK. HORRIBLE lug nuts, oddly-sized lug wrench. This was the first time in oh, say, thirty years of roadside flat-tire changes that I couldn't get the job done. Considering where I'd been, this could have been much, MUCH worse. First job will be to get a set of Toyota lug nuts, and then find the right lug wrench. What's on there now is indefensible.
How did this end? This happened on a Sunday, and after many calls I threw in the towel-- there was no matching Conti tire for my 20-inch wheel in the entire DC metro area. No specialty shop, none of the big chains, no one. Best I cold do was Tuesday. Then one local shop recommended the obvious that I hadn't even thought of: a jag dealership. Sure enough, a Monday-morning call confirmed that a local dealer (Rosenthal in VA) had on in stock. I had the car put on a flatbed and towed over (GET AAA, by the way).
NOTE: I know dealerships are held in low esteem here on the forum, but I've had nothing but positive experiences. Case in point: their price was $244, including labor and disposal. Tire Rack had the tire "on sale" for $186, which was $210 after delivery-- which, after mounting at a local shop, would have come to, yep, about $240.
PART TWO: 20-INCH WHEELS/TPMS SYSTEM. I'm done with 'em both. Long story short: it's too much wheel, not enough tire-- and hence, not enough airspace. Buy yourself a nice tire gauge and get used to checking pressure DAILY. More often than you fill the tank. And get used to seeing that "CHECK TYRE PRESSURE" light more or less all the time. Also, my best results were going 2 PSI low at cold start (and "cold" is, say, 60 degrees). More than that and you'll set off the TPMS because it'll be too low. A few hours of highway driving, rising temps, and you're 8PSI higher per tire, easy. It was my biggest aggravation of the trip.

E-DIFF WARNING LIGHT. Ahh, my on-again, off-again friend. I panicked when I first saw this, but since there was nothing I could do, I soldiered on. And, naturally, it went off. I think it's heat and long-term-constant-use related. I never felt anything. Never went on during my last day, and haven't seen it since. Will ask about it when I'm next in.
(But I'm thinking battery...)

Tricon wiper blades sub out for the Jag blade just fine.

Activate the "wet/winter" mode and the car is surprisingly stable on a soaking road during an absolute downpour at highway speeds. Rock solid. And no issues with the convertible top. Car was a rockstar in rainstorms.

I'm an old-school radio listener. Wish there was a way to improve that miserable inboard antenna.

The adaptive cruise is a game-changer. I'd go for hours without touching gas or brake. (But I did get a "sensor blocked, system disabled" warning once. IT left as mysteriously as it arrived.)



But, mainly..... this car-- especially the convertible-- was DESIGNED BY GOD for a trip across the US. Perfect comfort, size, power, everything. If you haven't done it, do yourself a favor.

Oh, and-- I'd gotten used to the relative commonplace of the car in Los Angeles/Beverly Hills. Once you get into the heartland, everyone LOVES the car. Be prepared to answer questions, as you'll be a Brand Ambassador.

And, OK: one shot. Me and Jenice in Zion.

 

You are a trooper!
How much damage to the windshield or hood?
I have done the trip many times, but in a suburban. Did you have enough room for luggage?
Never do this in the cooler months. In NM a snowtruck blasted me going the opposite direction- wrecked the paint on my suv. In the warmer months there is only deer in the Midwest to worry about. Also dont be tempted to go on the Skyline Parkway, most boring drive ever. Nothing worse than driving a supercharged car 25mph.
Zion is a blast of a drive.

Which way are you headed back?

 

Welcome to NY !!

You are right about not seeing many of these cars in this area. When I was on a quest for mine , everything was at least 3 hours away, and even at that there was only 2 or 3 cars at most listed within that 30 mile radius three hours away.

Enjoy your stay !!

 

Thanks for the tips. I'll put the 19's back on the car before taking a long hauler, and use the solid lug nuts I bought (but haven't used yet, because the chrome finish doesn't quite go with the car).
Glad it all worked out for you, great pics, enjoy the trip back.

 

Been there with the crappy lug nuts and lug wrench. Luckily, unlike you, I could walk home!

Here is a worthy replacement lug wrench that fits in the tool holder:

 

+3 on that lug wrench.
I bought three of them, one for each car, works great!

 

Wow, that is a story! Nice pic's, thanks for sharing.

Curious, you fill the tires with air while cold, for me not during a cold time of day or during cold weather but as how the manufacturer meant, not hot from driving. Then I forget about them and don't care. On my other cars that have precise PSI reporting of course the tire pressure increases quite a bit as the tire heats up but that is part of the equation. I have never thought it out to the extent you did and under-inflate a tire in order to even out the PSI after heated. Did the TPMS system go off when you hit the higher PSI after driving, is that way you were gaming the system? I have never heard of that happening on any other car I have, it only monitored on the low side. The increase in PSI is known and factored into the engineering.

 

Exactly. The cold tire pressure spec. on the sticker has been 'reverse engineered' from the desired operating pressure once fully warmed up. Set the tire pressure properly when cold and don't touch them again.

Not to hijack but this is one of the easiest ways of dismissing one of the 'nitrogen in the tire' myths. If nitrogen expanded at a lower rate than air, tires would be under inflated at highway speeds.

 

I've been on two relatively long trips with my XK convertible in the last few years and they're truly a great touring car. The biggest challenge (for she-who-must-be-obeyed) was restricting her luggage to one carry on suitcase and a soft bag. Once she got over the angst of that restriction - and came to accept that most hotels had laundry service available - she embraced the trip.

Like you, I also suffered a flat tire (tyre for our English brethren) on my trip. I was lucky that the local Discount Tire shop in Laredo, TX had one in inventory, and AAA towed me directly to their facility.

One free recommendation: grab a dash cam for the trip home. You've just been through some amazing scenery, and there's something very cool about re-living that experience from the video captured from a dash cam.

Here's wishing you a safe and memorable journey home.

 

Thanks, one and all, for the suggestions!

Queen and Country: thanks to the aerodynamics, the hood is fine; the windshield may have a couple of speckles, but that'll be obvious after a proper clean-up. Seems OK, though.
The front bumper, however, is another story. DEFINITELY took the brunt of things and looks a little sandblasted. Fortunately, it previously had a few scrapes and blemishes so it needed a repaint anyway. I will definitely get a clear bra when I take care of it.

Tire pressure: I definitely assumed that pressure sensors would have compensated for any warm-up while driving. Now I don't know what to think. I now have two new friends-- a classic "stick" gauge and a fancier one with a round dial readout. (The stick reads a few PSI higher, BTW). What put me over the edge was when one day I realized that one tire may have been high, so a let out a five-count of air-- which would have been two, maybe three PSI on any other car I've owned. It bled out 7PSI. And I tried the Ghetto Fix mentioned on another thread (1.drive to the air compressor. 2. Turn the car off. 3. Bleed the air out of all tires down to below 25 PSI. 4. Turn the car on. 5. THEN refill to proper pressure.). The theory is that the pressure is so low that it triggers all the warnings, then the sensors can sense each refill. As with other posters, it worked-- for about four hours.
I think the combination of extreme temp changes (in the high country I was starting out in the mid-fifties and it was well over 90 by noon), altitude changes, etc, where too much for the 20's. There's so little air in that low-profile tire that small changes make a big difference. Hopefully now that I'm in a consistent environment it'll be better.

And yes, you've got to be... "creative" when you pack. I shoulda taken a picture. Every nook and cranny had something (a pair of running shoes on the floor behind each seat. You can still push them all the way back and have a little space down there). Problem is, of course, you can never pack it back the way you did the first time.

And LoudHogRider, LOVE the dashcam idea. I will look into it.

Oh, and yes.. that is a cat on Jenice's lap. Let's just say the cat (hers, definitely not mine) made it as far as Denver. No, didn't throw it out the window-- Jenice has family there. NEVER. AGAIN. (Honestly, even the cat was miserable).

 

Adaptive Cruise; best thing ever invented.

 

They will laugh at your comment 20 years from now as they get in the back seat of their autonomous vehicle with a bottle of scotch.

 

I made that trip to Zion last fall and the other 4 National Parks (The Mighty 5). Stunning trip and I can't decide which Park is more beautiful. Thanks for the pic. I had to read down because I wasn't sure if that cat was gonna make it:-)

All in all it sounds like you're having a good time.

 

My sister would vote for Bryce Canyon...........

 

They don't. They look at the tire pressure only. If it's below minimum (at any time) the warning comes on.

 

Canyonlands wasn't bad either

 

Interesting. So do the senors over come on for over-inflation? I'm still trying to figure this all out, and this has never been an issue for me in any car I've owned. I'm learning to ignore it but I'm not sure that's wise.

What happened last time a drove it and then I got a warning light for the two fronts for a bit... that went away... then for the left rear.

 

Was working on a project this year where a guy comes out of amnesia (fine otherwise), and after the crazy day he asks his friend "anything else I should know about?"

Friend: "let's see... they got self-driving cars now."

Guy: "why?"

Best line I've heard in a while.

 

And thanks for the pics! For the record: Utah now definitely gets my vote for Most Underrated State, beauty-wise. Stunning.

 

If you come back through Utah, do the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, well worth the side trip. And, the Mighty five are amazing.