My first FRS road trip- let's hear about yours too!
 

Day 1- Tampa to Key Largo (I75 to 41 near Naples to Krome Ave, and Rt 1), Miami and Homestead

Day 2- Homestead to Key West and back

Day 3- Homestead back to Tampa (Mostly Rt 27 and 72)

My wife and I had our 4th wedding anniversary this week and we took an epic road trip in Enko, my FRS. This was the first long road trip we've done in my car, I just got it in May and after the trip I am almost at 10,000 miles. For mods, I have a K&N drop-in, silicone elbow, gutted the cats, Berk dual exit muffler delete and a Stage 2 93 OFT tune.

I learned that the drone of the exhaust doesn't bother me until about hour 8. When the oil temp gets up to 106°C, the exhaust gets very pop-py with low RPM, medium load shifting in 1st and 2nd in the insane traffic of South Florida. I also learned that a loud exhaust pop sounds like a gunshot. I learned that in Miami, a gunshot type of sound from your exhaust attracts the wrong sort of attention.

I didn't see a lot of Twins in that area and I got a lot of looks. In Tampa there are a lot of Twins so no one bats an eye. I was at a light and a guy in a BRZ started talking to me, but the light changed so we didn't get to talk much. It's a good car down there because it's small and in the traffic, small is good. It also has great view out the windows and the Keys are beautiful.

This car is awesome for a road trip though! With my mods there's plenty of power to pass traffic on the many 2 lane roads we were on. The seats are very comfortable even with me having a bad back. The clutch started to bother my foot after a while but not too bad. For 2 people for a few days there's plenty of room for luggage, for a longer trip we'd have to get creative with stowage though. The drone did get annoying after a while, usually I don't even notice it but after 8 hours or so, it started bothering me a little. Cruise Control is the greatest invention my man. Ever.

Avg gas mileage (I did a flog it quite a bit, but most of the miles were highway) was 32.5 and we did about 26 hours of total driving. My top speed was... enough... (my wife had to pee really bad!) There was a lot of driving on dead flat, straight roads that went as far the eye can see behind and in front. There was a lot of passing done because a lot the roads down there are 2 lane only. 976 miles, avg speed around 37.5 MPH. I used around 30 gals of gas. This is all according to Google Location History and the Avg MPG my car shows.

My wife and I took my new 2015 FR-S up to Duluth Minnesota for a night. About 320 miles round trip. Averaged 35 miles per gallon with the auto with paddle shifters. Comfortable, quiet and enough trunk space for longer road trips. Our last road tripper was a 2007 Chrysler Crossfire hardtop. We like this new ride better!

Happy 4th wedding anniversary ........ :thumbsup:

Sounds like you had a nice trip ..... :)


humfrz

Drover mine from NH to SC and back this summer and the only issue was road noise and my right knee rubbing on the dash when using cruise control.
The NC and SC highways were fun when driving 80 plus with traffic flow.

My first FRS road trip- 3 days, 976 miles
 

I did one recently from LA to Fresno, Fresno to SF, SF to LA. The ride is quite noisy but surprised me was it didn't wear me out to be honest the seats are just right and good amount of leg room. Overall I got at least 35 MPG best overall my worst was 28 in SF Bay Area city traffic for you folks complaining about lack of power and all I actually have is a K&N Drop In and the car no trouble on the uphill stretch of the Interstate 5 Grapevine the FA20 took it like a champion just have to downshift her to 4 and 5th gear.


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I put that much mileage on my (former) BRZ in the first 12 hours of ownership.

So you averaged over 81 mph for 12 hours on a brand new car? I find it hard to believe.

I will be taking an epic one in my RS1 next week: Sheboygan, WI to Portland OR to pick up my Cousin, then from Portland we are taking the PCH down to LA, then over to Vegas for the SEMA show. :drool: :thumbup:

Schedule a lot of time to go down PCH, especially through northern CA. It can get very slow and winding. When you're going LA to LV, take a detour in LA to La Canada/Flintridge, and take CA Hwy 2 through Angeles Forest. It's about 60 miles of medium speed winding road. It joins up on the north end with Hwy 138 about 10 miles from I-15, so it's easy to cut back over once you're done.

Happy Anniversary. Glad you had a good and fun trip.


Caution, this is very negative:

I bought my 2015 FRS new October 2014. Could not wait to take a trip. Drove from Northern Calif. to Clearwater to stay at a family house I had not visited since 1978.

Driving in Clearwater on 19 was one of the most frightening experiences I've ever had in all my driving days. The road is wall to wall strip malls and businesses, and the speed limit is 55. Well the limit there should be 35 ! Can't imagine how retired people deal with that insanity. In my short time there I saw several accidents on 19.

After one day attempting to drive in Clearwater, I left my car at the house for several days. I even walked over 5 miles one day so I would not have to drive.

A couple of weeks there, finally my sister arrived with a 2005 Ford Freestar van. I drove it one day, and what a difference. I could actually see to the sides and rear, much less afraid to drive then, in Clearwater.

From Clearwater I drove to Edgewater, about 160 miles. It took me over 5 hours to do the drive. Traffic so bad on Pieces of I-75, worse than LA. I kept thinking, along the way, I'd find an accident up ahead, yet not so, just too much traffic for the road. Speeds 0-10mph most of the time. But it was Holiday season admittedly.

After Edgewater I drove to Key West, going around Miami, never stopping there. The drive to Key West is very pretty yet terribly slow, due to two lane and no point in passing others.

Had a good time in Key West, but that's the last time ever I visit Florida. Many of my High School friends, from the North East, have moved to Florida for retirement. I'm so happy I never chose that place. In Key West I rented a bicycle for 8 days. So easy to ride a bike there.

The FRS/BRZ is a wonderful road trip car, just not a car to drive in heavy traffic, in which one does not know the area well.

And yes I love my FRS. I'm retired (don't have to drive anywhere), it's now just two years old and will soon have 38,000 miles on the odo.

Road trips in my car so far: Three times from N. Calif. to the east coast and back in two years time. With diversions along the way, each trip was about 8,000 miles.

LOL I work in Clearwater, much of the time on US19. I drive a Chevy 2500 HD with a Knapheide truck body. Driving the FRS there is easy in comparison! Florida is the most psychotic terrible place to drive in the US. Everyone wants to kill you and the roads are looking for the assist. If you go the speed limit, you risk your life because the traffic is going 10-15 over. But if you go 10-15 over, you run the risk of a ticket.

My oldest son just started to drive and I had a hard time telling him that he has to drive safely AND has to speed. But don't speed because it's not safe and he can't afford a ticket. But you have to keep up with traffic. That's speeding.....

Rt 1 going out to Key West has passing zones. I'm glad I'm stage 2 because the car at stock wouldn't have been able to pass some of those cars. I had to flog that 86- I was with extra weight from luggage and a passenger too.

How would you compare driving cross-country as opposed to flying? I'd like to trip from NC to California and back, and I'm kind of weighing the options of how to do it. I like driving and wouldn't be opposed to take the FR-S there and back depending on how much money it could save.

Is it just you? Flying would absolutely be cheaper than driving. I've driven cross country twice from California to North Carolina. Seeing the country and exploring is a nice experience, but don't do it to save money

But if you rent a car once you get there, it may be comparable in price. But if you've never done it, DO IT. Driving cross country is an amazing experience. I've gone halfway across the US several times and I went coast to coast- Maine to Cali and back. It's a terrific drive and great experience.