Leaving tomorrow for my longest road trip yet in the Z. Going from Omaha to Phoenix. Driving solo none the less. Should be a great drive. Has anyone else here driven their Z on any long road trips? If so, how did it perform? How was your gas mileage? Was it comfortable? Thanks

 

Sounds like a great trip...an adventure.

I took my Z from NJ to WV for this thing called bridge day in October. It was the best time I've had in my car. Mountain roads, good pavement, nobody around. It was about 525 miles each direction. And I was there for about 4 days.

I've always had small cars, and to me the Z felt as confortable as any other on the trip. Can't say I know the mpg (even though I purposely cleared the trip computer before I left). It'll be a blast, and you get to end up in a really nice Winter place!

Get some photos!

 

I took my Z on a 3000 mile round trip. Chicago to Bonneville Salt Flats and back.

The Z was great. So damn stable in heavy winds. The only thing that bothered me was the small cabin. After about 6 hours, you gotta stop and get out. Other than that, have fun, and drive safe!


dan

 

\Salt Flats huh
Have you ever ran your Z flat out? If so, what did it do top-end wise?

 

i went to race in the 130 mph club.

I topped out the car at 152 mph in wyoming.

dan

 

Not trying to highjack the thread but Bridge Day is awesome. Next year if any guys want to come down let me know we can organize a meet or something, also the white water rafting on the New River is also great and i recommend both...so if any you guys and gals wanna come down to WV let me know!!! cya

 

I remember about 8 + years ago watch chevy film an advertisement from the New River gorge Bridge(i think that's the one). The premise was that a chevy blazer was bungee jumping off the bridge. My family and waited over 2 hours for the scene to take place.

And at the time, it was the sweetest thing i've ever seen!

dan

 

yeh i heard about it but havent seen it, i bet it was a site to see!!!

 

Damn, I posted looking for anyone that was going, before I left. I wish I could have met some other Z people there.

Yea, Bridge Day was great again. It was my second. It was a quick, solo trip this year, but I didn't want to miss the jumps.

If you ever get the chance, I STRONGLY recommend taking the 100 mile or so trek out to Covington, VA. There is a road there that works it's way up (or down) the mountain on the way to some ski resort area. It's 5 miles long on the near side of the mountain (never went over the top to the other side...no need!). I discovered it last year on the way to WV, and me and a buddy of mine ran our classic street luge's down it a few times. All the turns are banked and it is constant switch-backs. I made sure to take my Z back this year on the way down. I ran up and down it three times before I lost my nerve to tempt fate with my license.

I tried to get some video to post here but I was driving with one hand and holding the cam in the other. I had to do the whole thing in 4th gear. Didn't make for that inspiring of a video so I didn't bother to post it.

Andy

 

You'll love it. I think I got about 23 to 24 mpg tho there is a generous amount of gas from the 1/4 tank mark to empty (weird).

I drove to NYC to Atlanta when hurricane Isabel came on shore in the late summer. Talk about nutty... but it was a lot of fun.

 

Hey, we should get a meet together at the salt flats. Who's in

 

If you're that close and that late in the year, do the Gauley river on damn release day. The New River (done it 3 times) had nothing on the Gauley that day. Mostly class 5 and some class 4 rapids. Our guide even broke her arm to boot (Sweets Falls and the affectionaly known rock "*****" did her in, intentional play on words there) I'm in if anybody is interested though it's been a few years since I last did it.

 

I racked up over 4000 miles on a five day storm chasing trip back in April...the Z is very comfortable for logging serious miles. My mileage averaged around 27-28 mpg, mostly highway. With the 20 gallon tank it gives you a great cruise range on the highway.

 

You storm chased in the Z, were you afraid of hail damage etc?

 

Somewhat...whenever it got bad I would seek shelter for the car at a gas station or overpass. It happened about 5 times during three days of chasing, with hail up to marble size. Also ended up driving through lots of light debris (leaves and small branches) after a near miss. The Z survived great though...no worse for the wear, and actually very stable in bad driving conditions.

I have good video of running for cover from hail in the Z...have to look into posting it to a server.