MT FR-S Roadtrip
 

So I'm heading to Irvine for a conference Monday and Tuesday of next week. I talked my boss into not paying for the usual airfare and car rental and instead paying just for gas. With that, I'm heading out of Portland, down I-5, US 199, US 101, through the redwoods, out to CA 1, through San Francisco, down to Monterey (stopping for a kayak with the sea otters), down the Big Sur coast (stopping for a day of diving in the Channel Islands), then down to the conference. The ride back will be LA to Mono Lake to Tahoe to Lassen, then back to I-5 and home to Portland. I will be keeping this updated as I go.

Incidentally, this mean the FR-S will have to hold:

• a suitcase for my work attire
• a tent, sleeping bag, cook stove, and other assorted camping supplies
• an inflatable kayak (advanced elements advanced frame, for those that are curious), paddles, and other kayaking equipment
• my dive bag

I've already got 2600 miles on it, so I'm past the break in period. Now I get to find out if this car can road trip as well as my last car (2001 Celica GT-S wth 300k miles, RIP).


Suggestions on routes and stopovers are welcome!

you couldn't find a fr-s any closer?

i think he means he wants to use his car for a roadtrip. And not that he's buying the car from Irvine..

oh alright i get whats hes saying now i guess i didn't read it and understand it i guess. sorry

Looking forward to your comments about the road trip in this car.

And I'm looking forward to this trip like you wouldn't believe...

Packing attempt 1 failed. FYI, an inflatable tandem kayak, paddles, laptop briefcase, suitcase, camping gear, and a divebag will fit...but you won't be able to see much and a second person would be...tricky.

A lot of that has to do with the ways you can get things into the car. The throat on the trunk is a bit too small and the height is just about an inch or two too short, so suitcases, carry ons, and other hard frame bags have to lie flat as opposed to on their sides. That takes up a lot of room too quickly.

A lot of thinking has to go into the order in which you need to access things as well. The big stuff has to go in first, but if you're not careful, you'll end up having to unpack the while car to get at the bigger items. You can put a lot in the FR-S...you just have to do a lot more planning.

18 hours til departure. Car is ready...and arrangements for a rental kayak have been made.

1300 miles later and halfway through the trip...

CA 1 from US 101 to Fort Bragg - I finally got to open the car up and rip through the winding roads to the coast. I had a grin from ear to ear. This is what the car was born to do.

So far, the car has handled pavement and gravel remarkably well. The seats were perfectly comfortable even through the 15 hour marathon on the first day.

The precision every talks about? While it makes it handle ungodly well in turns, it also does some strange things on boring roads. The throttle and steering are so hyper sensitive that the minor twitches of the wheel, the tiniest changes of pressure on the gas pedal...all of those are transmitted right away. The "slop" that other cars have in steering and throttle hide the little things that you do when you can't put on the cruise control and you're forced to vary a few mph each way because of traffic. So at the end of 15 hours, my right ankle was a bit sore. That was unexpected.

The stiffness of the springs makes for great cornering and a decently quiet ride on good pavement, but on terrible pavement and in construction zones, it can be a little jarring.

So...halfway through...
This car is fantastic.