Road Trips

Touring historic Virginia in the 2014 Ford Fiesta ST

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By Jim Meachen
Editor, MotorwayAmerica.com

(January 4, 2014) U.S. Route 15 is one of the country's great north-south roads — labeled the highway of history — that stretches from southern New York to South Carolina crossing through historic sections of Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Driving until empty in a 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(November 3, 2013) The idea was simple: Borrow a Passat TDI from the folks at Volkswagen, and see just how far you can reasonably expect go on a single tank of gas. Aware that this trip meant driving from the suburbs of Detroit to Clifton, Va. — not far from VW’s U.S. headquarters in Reston, Va. — it shook loose a top of the line, Tungsten Silver SEL-level model. Yes, we’d be traveling in comfort, but it would be a car that was not the lightest in the Passat TDI lineup.

Fun with frills — A road trip in the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS

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By Jim Meachen
MotorwayAmerica

(May 7, 2013) We were a bit apprehensive when a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS showed up for our 800-mile round-trip to a famous South Carolina resort island. We weren't apprehensive about the Sonic, which we had experienced in 2012, but about its size. We needed something that could haul four adults to various eating places and attractions around the island without compromising such things as leg room and comfort.

Hyundai Azera perfect sedan for a road trip

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By Jim Meachen
MotorwayAmerica.com

(March 21, 2013) We were impressed with the totally redesigned Hyundai Azera during a short driving event earlier this year. Our admiration increased after a 1,300-mile road trip that included long stretches of interstate highway as well as miles of winding, narrow mountain roads between Lynchburg, Tenn., and Goldsboro, N.C.

Chevy Cruze, Toyota Prius among AAA's top road trip cars

(June 16, 2011) ORLANDO, Fla. (PRNewswire-USNewswire) — American drivers love to spend their vacations hitting the open road. AAA anticipated nine out of 10 travelers over the recent Memorial Day holiday weekend took a road trip as opposed to traveling by plane, train or other mode of transportation.

For those in the market for a new vehicle that they hope to log plenty of miles in while traveling, AAA has released its top vehicle picks for road trips.

Rock climbing in a Land Rover makes for an adventurous gift

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By Ted Biederman and Jim Meachen

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A gift certificate to a Skip Barber driving school or a pass to the Richard Petty Experience may be the ultimate stocking stuffer gift for the guy who loves sports cars or just wants to go real fast on a NASCAR track.

But what if the object of your holiday giving has a macho sport utility parked in the driveway and his passion is more for truck-based vehicles than race cars? Land Rover has just the ticket — a gift certificate to the Land Rover Experience Driving School.

2009 Toyota Camry: it endures without being sassy

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By Jim Meachen

More than once through the mountains of Colorado and into Yellowstone National Park and across Wyoming cattle country into the Black Hills of Dakota we heard praise for the 2009 Toyota Camry from the four people it was transporting on a 2,500-mile vacation late last fall. While our back-seat passengers commented favorably more than once on the roomy interior and comfortable seats, we were equally impressed with the gas mileage from the 2.4-liter inline 4-cylinder engine powering our LE trim-line sedan.

Learning to love iDrive over 2,500 miles

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By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

We wrote in the spring of 2002 that the all-new iDrive system in the 2002 BMW 7-Series was a “Sherlock Holmes mystery” decipherable by only the most computer-savvy people.

And we opined that the typical over-50 customer was probably too technology-challenged and would be forced into hours of reading the manual to access the many available features on the new car.