Pandemic Panamerica Trip Report (7400 miles in the F-Type)
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On Friday March 13th of 2020, I grabbed my F-Type and headed North for Driving While Awesome’s Coastal Range Rally. Like most hand-built British cars, it didn’t finish. A bolt, which happened to be a strange Torx head bolt, came loose in the front chassis bracing. I limped the car 3 hours home, swapped keys for my 1991 Miata, and headed straight back North to where the rest of the 70+ rally goers were staying in the small town of Ukiah, CA.
We had three incredible days driving some of the best roads California has to offer and enjoying each other’s company. Fist bumps, swapping keys, riding in each other’s cars, packing into a restaurant for endless laughs, and blissfully unaware of the fear gripping the world around us. In a lot of ways, it was car person’s last supper of a pre-pandemic world.
When we returned on Sunday March 15th, we came back to a different world. The very next day, “California Issues Directive to Fight COVID-19” was posted to gov.ca.gov. Air travel stopped, car travel stopped, having any sort of social event even close to our rally was over for the next two weeks. Just kidding.
Two Weeks to Flatten the Curve, Week 39
In a normal year, I would simply get a plane ticket and fly to Massachusetts for Christmas but this year had been awful. I’d gone nowhere. In the previous 3 years, I averaged 3 trips to Europe and 2 domestic trips per year. Facing the prospect of crowded holiday travel with 8-10 hours of masked up panicky people on the way out and 8-10 hours of masked up panicky people on the way back, I made a call: time use some of that travel bug and do it the old-fashioned way – in a car.
Cross Country in a Miata – Just Kidding, Again
My plan was to take my 1991 Miata and swap the tires mid-way for all-seasons. I had just finished a really nice interior and the car is very comfortable. The only problem was the very tired engine with 213k miles. In November, I purchased a 2003 motor to swap in. No problem, right? Wrong. Not only did some of the parts not arrive in time (I’m looking at you, Vivid Racing) but I got sick. Not COVID-19 sick, but vertigo sick. I have a history of vertigo and won’t go into it here but let’s just say you can’t pull a drive shaft off a car if you can’t look up without your eyes twitching rapidly.
Jaguar, the Gentleman’s Miata
I made the last-minute call to take my F-Type. It’s 2015 R Coupe. I bought it February of 2020 with just 14k miles on it. 2015 was the only year that the R was available in RWD, making it a slam dunk collectability when you combine it with those gorgeous curves courtesy of Ian Callum.
Now this choice presented a few of important problems:- The F-Type has less usable cargo capacity
- I would be putting a ton of miles on a low mile car
- I had recently made a very expensive investment into Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires for it. Those are extreme performance summer tires. So yes, the obvious choice for “is it going to snow or not?” terrain.
I managed to get creative with my packing. I used all the space in the rear hatch and drove with the passenger seat and passenger footwell packed with my belongings and gifts. As for the mileage concern, how often are you going to get the opportunity to take 550hp supercharged V8 sports car cross-country? If the entire economy failed tomorrow, I lost my job, and never had another chance – I would forever kick myself. I will address the 3rd issue shortly. Or rather, I won’t and that becomes a problem.
Who Wants to See the Trip Tic?!
My plan, which actually worked quite well, was to take the Southern route via Interstate 10 through Texas. My brother lives in San Antonio and I would get to see his new apartment on my way through town. Aside from there being almost zero public restrooms open in the state of California, I made it there without much of an issue. I will say this for San Antonio, the River Walk is gorgeous. It’s a weird little European feature in the heart of Texas. Who knew?
Departing
Returning
Important Car Modifications
It didn’t take me long to realize that the F-Type has a critical flaw for my 5ft 6in frame. I’m no Doug Demuro. The seats are absolute torture for my body. Every crease in the wrong spot. It’s as if the seat was designed with only people with tall torso’s in mind.
$2.97 at Walmart fixed my problem. That’s the price of a bog-standard pillow.
With the pillow-mod in place, the car was once again complete and comfortable.
AirBNB or Hotel?
I’d like to take a moment to address what the nighttime travel experience was like. Obviously, if you drive 12+ hours in an F-Type, you can’t just throw the seat back and fall asleep. For one, the seat doesn’t do that. For two, I don’t do that.
If you’re into AirBNB for the personal interaction, you can forget it. I stayed in “Entire Place” accommodations only and never saw an owner. Everything was typical – done through the app for check-in and check-out. AirBNB has some updated cleaning policies. Every place I stayed was not only sparkling clean, but had tons of white space in the bookings. With almost no one traveling, you have your choice of places to stay. Better yet, since I was working on part of my cross-country journey, I could request very early check-in without issue. Many days, I was in the car before 6am and got to my next city just as my west coast colleagues came online.
I also stayed in hotels, exclusively Hiltons. They have a fun “freshness seal” places on all the hotel room doors after they have been cleaned. It’s 100% psychological, but also kind of fun to crack the seal on a hotel room. They also take other steps like cleaning the tv remote and putting it in a plastic wrapper so you know that it’s been cleaned. If you’re a clean freak, Hilton might be your jam right now. Their Android app not only allows you to book, but it also lets you check-in and unlock your door. You don’t need to touch a dirty key or even talk to a dirty human. I actually hope they keep this going forward because it’s rad.
Keep Your Foot in It
The F-Type is a really good sports car. I don’t think people say this enough. There’s a perception that this car is Grand Tourer (GT), which it can be, but I having hustled it on CA backroads numerous times, I can say that it’s just as much fun (and with more theater) as any 911. It’s incredibly capable.
Having said that, the GT aspects shine on the open highway. If you put your foot in it, it’s ready to go. You want to double the speed limit? Funny thing, the car wants to double the speed limit too!
This of course, leads to my single largest complaint about US drivers: they are braindead. When I’m driving, like many enthusiasts, I’m constantly checking my mirrors. That includes my rear view and especially my rear view when I’m in the passing lane. I can say, with absolute certainty, that most people plunk themselves in the left lane without looking behind them. I as approach their bumper, see as their hands gesture off the wheel in explanation of whatever riveting topic they’re engaged in. The coffee mug gracefully goes from cupholder to face and back. They adjust the radio or check their hair. The one thing they don’t do is look at the F-Type closing in on them in their rearview mirror.
This is where the F-Type’s secret weapon comes in: the exhaust.
PopopopopPpoppOpopopopPOp.
“That was an odd sound” thinks the braindead zombie in a Subaru Forester. “It sounded like it came from behind me! I wonder if I have a mirror to see back there?”
In 75% of circumstance, the exhaust (which unfortunately only works when you’re close enough after already having had to brake) lights up enough neurons to get someone to move back to the right.
In one confusing circumstance, I closed on a gentleman driving in the left-hand lane with not another car in sight. After letting me past, he immediately got back in the left-hand lane as if the right was lava.
Johnny Law
Less than a week after I got back from my trip, my dad got a speeding ticket in New York. Thankfully, despite the discussion before my trip about how many I’d get, I can safely say that the total was zero. I chalk this up to two key pieces of technology: a radar detector and Google/Waze.
The police I came across fell into 3 categories: driving with their radar turned on, driving with their radar in instant-on (basically a button they have to push), and stopped using a radar or laser gun.
For the speed traps, Google Maps was key. It got well more than half of them. For the police on the prowl, the radar detector was great. In a few circumstances, I was able to spot them first and get myself slowed before they hit their instant-on. It was always a chuckle to see that detector go off as I got down to exactly the speed limit. Not today, Johnny Law!
Tennessee & The Mountain
Having spent a night in Birmingham, I decided a good leg would be Birmingham, AL to Ashville, NC. By driving North through Chattanooga, I could take the road through Nantahala National Forest (home to the world-famous Dragon). Unfortunately, this did not go well. Just 20 miles up Cherohala Skyway from Tellico Plains, I started to see snow on the ground. Then it was a little snow on the road where the trees blocked the sun from melting it. Then, in a matter of moments, it was the entire road. I put the car in snow mode, which dulls out the throttle significantly and makes the traction control aggressive.
The temperature outside was actually about 48 degrees F. That’s actually well within the temperature range of my tires. However, what’s not in range of my tires was that the snow was just a thin layer over a dense half inch of ice.
When I reached a steep grade, the car started to slow down. Traction control did its best to prevent slippage but that just exacerbated the lack of propulsion.
20mph…15mph…10mph….5mph…nothing.
As I was losing speed, I could see that the road only got steeper. This wasn’t going to happen. I would have to turn around. That is, of course, if the car and conditions would let me do that. I tried for a 3-point turn and the car slid sideways. The banking in the road wanting to pull me towards a guard rail. After a couple tries, I made the call to try and back the car down instead. I came within an inch of the guardrail.
On my way down, backwards, I passed a family in their van. On their all-season tires, they had actually stopped short of me. The vans driver remarked about amazing it was that I got my car farther than his. Skill, my friend!
The F-Type really isn’t the ideal car for backing down a mountain. Not only does it have almost no rear visibility, its wide hips make it awkward to ensure that you’re pointing the right-wrong direction.
Live to Fight Another Day
Unscathed by the tactical retreat from the mountain, I pressed on. Wanting to pull the Band-Aid off all at once, I drove from Asheville, NC to MA in one day. However, a brief line of snow squalls preceded me to New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Behind that line of storms was a cold front. Around 4pm, as I crossed the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the temperature dropped to about 34 degrees.
The pavement was soaking wet. Within moments of the car’s outside temperature reading hitting 34, I felt the tires tense up like a pill bug that senses danger. They were hard as rocks. Every imperfection was coming through the wheel and in addition to hydroplaning on a tenth inch of standing water, the tires tramlined over everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. Every lane change was a butt-puckering moment as the tires lurched the car on the painted lines. The rear of the car danced as the staggered width tires each touched the lines at a different time. This was sketchy.
I made it to my parents’ house at 6pm that and parked the car for the rest of my visit.
NOPEklahoma City
On the trip back, I decided to take less stops. Having been gone nearly 3 weeks, it was time to just get back. On night 1 of the return, I stopped in Knoxville. Instead of taking Interstate 10, I would take Interstate 40 instead to shave a couple hundred miles off the trip.
I got up the next morning with Amarillo, TX in mind. I started out very early and did my best to keep my foot in the throttle but I ran into rain before I was even out of Tennessee. Having to keep it slow to stay on the road, I didn’t make the greatest time. I had a choice to make.
The rain was going to turn into freezing rain that evening. With the car’s temperature sensor reading 33F in Oklahoma, I could try to press through and risk hitting frozen pavement (we know that goes with this car) or I could stop in Oklahoma City and leave later in the day the next day (hoping for a quick melt). With some prodding from my mother, I chose the latter.
This was a mistake.
I woke up in the morning to find more than 5 inches of snow had fallen in OKC. Nearly an entire year’s worth of snowfall for the city had happened in one single storm. The roads were a complete mess. My checkout was noon so I stuck around for a bit before getting antsy. Every minute in that hotel room that morning was a reminder that I should have stuck it out the next 150 miles to get past the snow/ice line on that storm.
When I did get on the road, the highway looked fined at first. Then, suddenly, it didn’t. The 3 westbound lanes were no longer plowed and just a single lane with 1 tire’s worth of pavement showing was available. This went on for about 100 miles. My F-Type and the myriad of truckers brave enough to be out there weaved our way around the highway (sometimes using the break down lane if that was the clear pavement) to get through it. I counted 9 vehicles off the road including two 18-wheelers.
Son-of-a-----
Somewhere in New Mexico, a rock hit my windshield. It didn’t appear to do any damage so I didn’t think much of it. Unfortunately, by the time I got to Arizona, an 8-inch crack had developed from the passenger side A-pillar towards the center.
Quotes are currently in the $800-1200 range and seeing as I live in the Bay Area where car break-ins are frequent, glass isn’t covered by insurance policies. I’ll be out-of-pocket on that.
Key Learnings:
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Strangely enough, Doug Demuro also took a JLR product from CA -> MA -> CA and also suffered a broken windshield. However, I got much better fuel economy despite averaging a similar speed
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The seat in the F-Type is for tall people only
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The power of the car is intoxicating
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Every state has its own version of terrible drivers (seriously, driver training is needed)
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Extreme performance summer tires are for dry and warm pavement
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The Miata would have also been fun
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The Southern route is kind of boring
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Beaumont, TX is the pits
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New Orleans Beignets are delicious
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Tennessee has great driving roads and I must return someday
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It snows in OKC
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The F-Type R Coupe gets really solid highway fuel economy
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7th and 8th gear are actually useful highway gears with 500ft-lb of torque
The Numbers: -
Total distance: 7400 miles exactly
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Days traveled outgoing: 7 nights
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Days traveled returning: 3 nights
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Average speed traveled: 75 mph
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Fuel economy: 21.4 mpg
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Total fuel cost: $1,313
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Total hoteling cost: $1,418
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Total food cost: $192
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2 oil changes, filter, and vacuum pump: $298
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Windshield replacement: $800-1200
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Approx. $4000 total trip cost not considered: brake use, tire use, car cleaning / detailing
An F-Type in it's natural habitat.
When You're The Only Fuel for 100 Miles
A deserted French Quarter
Trouble Foreshadowed
Taken 5 Minutes Before Hitting Snow in TN
Cats Dislike Snow
Ew, Get It Off!
The 6 Lane Highway Got Much Worse Than This*
Exomotive Exocet, 91 Miata (VVT swap), E46 325xi
Fmr: F-Type R, Lancer-R -
@nickhasanexocet Great write up - looks like it was a hell of a trip too!
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@nickhasanexocet As someone who has driven Conti Extreme Contact tires on iced over roads, you have my sympathy. Not something I'd ever do again.
Definitely looks like a must-do once in a lifetime trip. -
@nickhasanexocet said in Pandemic Panamerica Trip Report (7400 miles in the F-Type):
It didn’t take me long to realize that the F-Type has a critical flaw for my 5ft 6in frame. I’m no Doug Demuro. The seats are absolute torture for my body. Every crease in the wrong spot. It’s as if the seat was designed with only people with tall torso’s in mind.
Tell you what, Nick. I'll do you a solid and trade you the C5 for the F-Type.
For real though, great write-up and pictures!!
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@nickhasanexocet have eaten begniets in NOLA, can confirm.
Slightly jealous of the long road trip.
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@nickhasanexocet said in Pandemic Panamerica Trip Report (7400 miles in the F-Type):
There’s a perception that this car is Grand Tourer (GT), which it can be
I think you proved that by doing this haha. Great writeup!
I'm guessing you did the two oil changes before and after rather than on the trip itself? Just curious.
Also, I'd die if I ever had to pay gas prices above 4 bucks. My car runs on premium too, and every time I get gas a little bit of my soul collapses (though it's brought back once I start driving because driving is fun. Long live road trips!)
Some journalist told me about this site. Now I own three cars.
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@nickhasanexocet nice writeup.
I still remember the people (on this site no less) that told me that driving during the pandemic was putting others at risk. To those people: who's laughing now?
79 Trans Am
64 Thunderbird
22 Bronco
not myself, not dead, not for sale -
@nickhasanexocet - Great article! Best decision you made was taking a wide swing around Atlanta, even if that did force you to a strategic retreat in the TN mountains. Just to balance things out, you owe us at least one article (with pictures!) of the Miata!
Hondas, Accuras, BMWs and a 300ZX (gone but not forgotten Tc, Ford Ranger)
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@taylor-martin I actually did the oil changes before and when I reached MA. Given that I drove at some sustained high speed and did several pulls, I figured I was good to change out at 4500mi or so.
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@jayvincent Haha, but I wasn't able to avoid Virginia. Virginia is the worst state to drive through in the country!
A Miata post will come!
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@mybirdistheword https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order#:~:text=Effective August 1%2C 2020,as low as possible.
considering his trip violated Mass travel restrictions, yes he is putting others at risk. -
@gmporschenut-also-a-fan-of-hondas i can say fairly, given the regard for "necessary travel" that few people care. Besides, according to public health officials, proper mask wearing reduces the risk of transmission by 95%, right?
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@gmporschenut-also-a-fan-of-hondas said in Pandemic Panamerica Trip Report (7400 miles in the F-Type):
@mybirdistheword https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order#:~:text=Effective August 1%2C 2020,as low as possible.
considering his trip violated Mass travel restrictions, yes he is putting others at risk.I was very specific in making this post a-political. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
Exomotive Exocet, 91 Miata (VVT swap), E46 325xi
Fmr: F-Type R, Lancer-R -
@nickhasanexocet congrats on breaking Mass Travel Order !
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@gmporschenut-also-a-fan-of-hondas Thanks, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Next time, don't say anything at all.
