I normally go on road trips, about once every month if not once every 2 months, ranging from 300-500 miles.

Just curious to hear how the xB handles long road trips, comfort zones for the driver and passengers....basically typical "review" of the xB but on a long road trip vice normal daily driving.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

 

I have done it alot..as well 100 miles a days handles great and very comfortable.the only downside it revs high..so over 80mph gas mileage really suffers..I have 13,000 iles since 10/31/04..so I really drive mine

 

good to hear, and as to be expected, most vehicles driven over 75 mph will suffer a decrease in gas mileage...but hopefully if I keep it in the 60-75 range I should get fairly decent gas mileage hopefully.

 

Only gone on a couple near 300 miles and it is great! The comfort is awesome, but the road noise is a little loud. Sound deadening is easy and well worth it. In the summer, lots of bugs will splatter on your windshield. All-in-all, a good road trip car, provided you pack reasonably. My last one was with four people and stuff for three days and we all fit fine, as did luggage, but more luggage would have been a slight problem.

 

i go about 250 or so almost every weekend...my girlfriend lives an hour and a half away so i do that trip alot...it handles great and im never uncomfortable...the gas mileage over 70 does suffer and so it helps to keep the speed down a little...bugs have become a problem since the weather has gotten warmer so make sure the washer resivoir is full

 

i have been on 1 long ___ road trip to to redding from san diego ...i dont how many miles that is...but it 12 hours of driving that i will not do again...because i am on 18's and the ride was rough all the way....but everything else was ok...

 

I did 750 miles x 2 in four days. To boston and back. On real bad highway, it's not so fun. On smooth road, it rides quite nice and handles real well even at high speeds. Not dodgy like my old car. It was definitely a fine, easy trip.

 

I went camping with 3 others and there is no room for any bags! It sucked. We had to put down part of the back seat.

 

Well, your low profile wheels and stiffer springs probably added to the rough ride.

 

Of course they did.

But my xB has had a choppy ride since I drove it off the lot, with the short wheel base and stiff suspension. And it wasn't a comforting feeling for me to hear the engine wound up to 4-4.5k for anything over an hour.
/Shrug for long road trips I'd rather have another vehicle.

 

I've been thinking about going to a junk yard and cutting the rails and seats out of an old BMW or Mercedes. Ideally, I could find one with the memory seat buttons on the seat itself to make a complete transplant easier. This would give me a set of electric, memory seats for the front.

What do you think?

 

^^^good idea^^^

But i'm not sure it's worth the trouble. Good luck if you try, though.

 

Springs soften after ~10k miles.

It's a good car for road trips because of the leg room, but the motor/road noise can be a bit headache inducing, especially above about 75mph. Sound deadener helps that. The armrest helps a lot. There isn't much room in the trunk, but whatever. Pack light and stuff that sleeping bag into the sack.

 

I'm not sure the seat transplant from a car would be a good idea, simply because of the high seating position of the stock seats. Perhaps the seats from an RX300/RX330 would work better?Your main problem would be finding a seat type that fits in the narrow space the new seat would have to fit in. If you end up doing it, make a big deal about it here, whether it works out well or not, so that the rest of us can learn from your experience.

 

I ran a 375 mile trip today, but I chose not to take the xB.
Its too loud and the seat cushions don't have good thigh support.
I took my wifes car... its quiet, has a V6 which gets 32mpg on the hwy, but the real reason is she has XM radio.

I have done 160 miles in a day on two trips in the box. It rides nice, just a bit noisy and has a choppy ride. Not the best Hwy star, but it makes up for it in the city and for hauling stuff everywhere.

I like the fact that toyota kept the weight down, but the downside is more noise due to lack of sound insulation. All n' all a good compromise

 

XB is great but over as long as you keep rpm's less than 3000-3100, or buy air plugs.

 

Kremtok: So you think I need a higher seat? You're probably right. If only there were a way to mount the seat to the existing rails.

 

guess if I get the xB, I'll have to lay sound dampener throughout

 

How about the steering wheel position ? I'm 6' 2" and the steering wheel is just too far away from the body. On long trips I feel like I'm holding my arms way out in front of me, they start to ache. I always end up driving with my hands toward the bottom of the wheel. Anybody else ? It's a big pain in the neck and not easly fixed.

 

i do 300 every week..back and forth to where ever.. havent done a long trip since i got the xb..end of may im going to nebraska so ill see how that handles.