The Best Car For A 1,500+ Mile Road Trip Vacation

To set up the premise, my wife and I planned a trip to go to 2 places: Gatlinburg, Tennessee and, Asheville, North Carolina for Valentine's Day weekend. If you have never been to either place, they are great areas for travel and leisure with the family, or even for couples for a get-away trip. Also, we took a quick trip to South Carolina for V-Day since it was only 45 minutes away from Asheville, NC to a place called "The Hare & Hound" in Landrum, SC. I must say, Southern hospitality is alive and well. I highly recommend going. But that is not why I am here. I am here to tell you why I think my 2009 BMW 328i M-Sport is the best choice for a road trip that was over 1,500 miles around. Why do I say this? Well, let me tell you below.

Ride Comfort

If you were going to travel for over 9 hours and 600+ miles, the car you'd hope to be driving won't make you regret choosing it for a long journey. My BMW might be a bit sporty but with its suspension blended with the heated bucket seats that can relax even the tensest person. The heated seats do come in handy for someone with a bad back because they get hot enough to relax the muscles. The only other car I would have said would be my old 2003 Buick Century Custom with cloth seats but since I never had the chance to drive it this far before it was totaled it couldn't be this. But it definitely had the best ride comfort overall for a 5 hour 300+ mile drive one way.

Interior Space

Most people would choose a GT car for this kind of journey which means they would not have any space to buy anything to bring back home. Since the BMW is a sedan, I not only had the trunk but the back seats to put luggage and various items to bring back to New Jersey. For this trip or any trip, I always bring my toolbox as well for those just in case scenarios. Most people will argue any sedan would work just perfectly for interior space, and I agree with their argument, but my next topic will end this debate.

Spirited Driving

Since most areas have fun roads that twist and turn, and the three states I visited definitely had this to many degrees, my BMW 328i M-Sport scratched the itch I had to carve these asphalt roller coasters of fun. The roads I drove that enabled spirited driving were US-441 in Tennessee between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg (even though there were some traffic and speeds weren't too restricted. Then there is the Foothills Parkway in Tennessee that is outside of Gatlinburg. The Foothills Parkway has plenty of winding roads on the mountain and a couple of sharper turns. Without the fog, the scenery should have been spectacularly beautiful. And for those who like beautiful scenic highway driving, I-40 between Gatlinburg and Asheville offers 2 tunnels for those who love thunderous exhaust notes to echo through the mountains and a road that cuts through said mountains giving away to beautiful scenery until you reach your destination. NC-694 runs from Asheville, NC to an entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway. NC-694 has to be a road I had the most fun to drive on going both up and down it. NC-694 had tons of swooping curves and sharp corners mixed with short straight-aways. It would make a great road to do a hill climb on but it is not as wide and there are tons of houses on each side that blocks some spectacular views that were sure there but could not be seen thanks to thick fog. And finally, we have the Blue Ridge Parkway. The same beautiful and scenic road Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Hammond, and Mr. May ventured out to drive but only hated due to speed restrictions in their GT cars on a TV program some time ago. The 328i M-Sport with its M3 suspension, wheels, and braking system, as well as 6-speed manual transmission and naturally-aspirated N52 engine, performed greatly on each road. Even though a fog was present on 3 roads, they were still great roads to drive on for spirited driving.

Conclusion

So, there you have it. My argument for why my 2009 BMW 328i M-Sport is the best choice for a road trip that took over 11 hours (left at 04:00. Arrived at 15:30) and 600+ miles to get to one destination with a lot more driving throughout the rest of the vacation. What's next? A trip to Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA next month. Will it be in the BMW? We will see. If you have a car you think would do just as well or better than this BMW, let me know in the comments.

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