Over the years, my concept of what makes the best car for a road trip has changed. When I was young and single, only a V-8 was fast enough for me, and since I usually traveled either alone or with a single passenger and the speed of passage was my primary concern.

Later as my family grew, space became the primary consideration. Transporting my wife, myself and four kids required a van for comfortable transport, especially while camping out.

Now, as a senior citizen, living on a fixed income requires a good four cylinder mid-size sedan. Two door sedans are a rarity now. They have been replaced by coupes, which tend to be much more snug than the utilitarian four door sedan. The sedan gives a comfortable ride and four cylinder engines deliver an average 24-28 m.p.g. city and 28-36 m.p.g. highway.

Most modern fours use gear ratio to compensate for their somewhat lower horsepower, so their performance is akin to the V-6, but with better mileage. However, even modern V-8's achieve reasonable mileage. If mileage is one's thing and for those with fixed incomes, it often is, then any of the modern mid-size fours can provide fast economical transportation both for short trips and those that are longer.

Having recently made a fast road trip alternating driving every four hours with my son on a trip from Santa Ana, Ca and Grand Rapids, MI in a 2006 Honda Accord four cylinder four door sedan I can attest to its capabilities. We made the trip back in 38 hours, even with a forced stop of four hours when I became sick. Our return trip involved a detour to meet a friend in Illinois, but even so the trip was made in 36 hours.

Many of our miles were at posted speed limits and we had not anticipated from a mid-size car the mileage we recorded traveling across Kansas, an amazing 35.6. The lowest mileage recorded was 27.8 and the overall average was 32.5.

For adult couples or small families, I cannot think of a better handling or more economical car for cross country driving. The ride, while firm, makes for comfortable riding or sleeping when not driving. I recommend it without reservations.

Learn more about this author, Norman Weibel.
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