J Vette

My car is an 07 3LT with A6 tranny. It had 14k miles when we left. Our trip was from the Tri City area of TN to Orlando FL area. The trip was a 2 day excursion with our initial stay in Brunswick GA. The weather was good (no rain) both ways.

First, there was more room in the Vert for luggage than I had expected. Since its no fun to ride with the top down on the interstate, it seemed reasonable to pull the partition down which protects the top while riding topless. This allowed for at least double the storage area. So much so that we had 2 big suitcases and 2-3 other cases for wife's makeup, etc plus an extra bag for my co incidentals.

The suitcases used were the old type which are rectangular with the handle on top, shaped much like a briefcase. We had these up in the attic left over from days gone by. They fit due to the fact that they are only about 8" thick which fits nicely in the trunk of the vert. It allows for 2 laptops in their respective cases if you so desire. We only took one, but 2 would have easily fit. In retrospect, we had more luggage than we actually needed since we didn't stay a full week. I would say that the vert will easily hold a weeks worth of packing for all but the most demanding of wife. Soft luggage may be a must if you don't have the old type of suitcases which we had because the vert is only 11" deep at its highest and about 8" under the tonneau cover.

The ride was quite comfortable, especially considering this is a sports car and not our Avalon. The seats are pretty comfortable. Again, this is a sports car, not a touring sedan. my only complaint is that the seat could be 1" wider in the seat to accommodate my 6-2" frame which is wider than it should be. Guess I can't blame that on the car though. I will say that it was better in the drivers seat than the passenger's seat where the bolster hadn't been worn down yet. Still, the ride was relatively comfortable and I didn't feel beat when we arrived at our destination.

My wife and I have done our share of road trips and usually enjoy them. We have done it in cheap butt buster cars when we were young, motorcycles , and touring sedans as we got older and could afford better cars. Comfort is extremely important for a 4-500 mile trip. I was pleased with the overall performance of my Corvette on a long trip and would gladly tour the country in it. AAMOF, I may just do that.

BTW, we went to Florida to get away and ride with the top down. Did I tell you how glad I am to have a convertible? So when we got to our destination, we took the luggage and put in the hotel room which allowed for topless riding while in the 80 degree weather. And we had a great time. Unfortunately we had to come home where it is now just a little above freezing with snow showers. But winter can't last forever. Then it will be top down. My point is that for those on the fence about a Vert due to restrictive luggage handling, don't worry about that. There is plenty of room IMO.

FlyerVette

Very nice write up. Thanks and these cars are for certain terrific touring cars as well.

MikeERWNC

Great story.

I love traveling in my Base coupe.
Every time I get in it, it is a 200 mile trip with a huge smile most of the time.

AORoads

I would suggest the newer, soft side luggage, even the gym-style bags, square duffle. I happen to have also bought a completely fold/zip up (to about 11" square x maybe 2" thick) duffle. It has quite a few zip pockets, etc. But my old Boyt nylon soft side works well, too. Btw. using those two, I've got lots of space to actually put down the top. Never tried the partition thing down. Yet. May have to do it tho in April. Kinda cool on the roads to Bowling Green. Good write up!

R0NIN

Stay strong my friend.... sunny days are on their way

J Vette

Indeed. I was impressed that an 8 hr ride was quite comfortable.

Yeah. It's kinda hard to take just a short ride.
As a former bike rider, I see a lot of similarities in the two. IE, I once went out to put my bike in the shed for the night. It was about 11pm and the temp was 75 degrees. Perfect riding temp and time. Long story short, I got home 2:30 in the morning. I had a great big smile on my face. Fortunately I was self employed so I could go in a bit late.

I was looking for some soft luggage when I got the idea to look in the attic to see if we had the old one which I mentioned. Soft is certainly a necessity if you leave the partition in place. I plan on getting soft luggage but just haven't found what I want yet.

Red08

Nice trip. My wife and I are looking forward to our road trip the end of April, from west central IL to just SW of Ft Worth, TX. I am getting new tires in the next couple of weeks, so it will be interesting to see how they ride, perform.

Tally Ho

My wife and I road trip with our convertibles and luggage space has never been an issue.

The truly hardcore Vette traveler will try a 3700 mile trip with luggage and incidentals in a C4 convertible. Back in 1998 my wife and I flew from Fairbanks, Alaska to Phoenix, AZ to retrieve our 89 convertible. We had flat bags to lay down where the top goes (still had room to go topless), one bag on the passenger floorboard (my wife is short so she still had some legroom), one small duffel on the centre console, and some tools and spare fluids stuffed in spaces under the top stowage. The trip took 4.5 days and yes we're still married.

AORoads

I know what you mean. Friends live up in Rhode Island. Not far from their house is a Samsonite/American Tourister outlet store; been there forever. Just keep looking all over for the kind of luggage you want. May even find it in department stores like JC, Macy's, etc. Altho with all that hard sided, roll on luggage with big handles, it is getting more difficult.

su8pack1

Mike Campbell

The biggest objection I have to a Vert is when on a trip can you access the luggage area from inside the car? I know with any coupe you can and get water, snacks or whatever. I think with the waterfall in place there's none.

Wildmanht

There is some room behind the waterfall area.

phileaglesfan

Soft side luggage is always good in a Vert. I never used where the top is stowed yet but I know it is there. Came close a couple times with with the wife's shopping excursions. One of these days she'll find out about that extra storage area. Not when we are driving in the mountains though during the summer.

DSOM_Wolf

Snacks? Good god man, you allow food to be eaten in the car!?

JoesC5

While I have a Z06(with gobs of space in the rear), we go on long distance cruises with friends with their C6 convertibles. 12 day cruises don't seem to phase them when they pack right. Most complaints come from the wife because they don't have the room for her to buy a bunch of junk along the way to drag home(and phrased by the husbands for the lack of such space).

fyreline

The Wife and I took my 2007 3LT (M6) convertible on a little longer trek in 2011, from Central New York to the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 - her Christmas present to me - and then down to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the Corvette plant and museum tours, and finally back home to New York. On the road for a week, mostly nice weather with one torrential downpour (even the semis were pulling over to wait it out). Never leaked a drop or missed a beat, 26.6 mpg overall for the 1500-mile trip, plenty of top-down cruising. We had more than enough luggage space, and my wife packs everything. Yes, there is enough room behind each seat on the little shelf there for light windbreakers and bottled water (and suntan lotion!). I had taken some trunk measurements and bought a couple big soft-sided totes to fit. Do your homework, purchase luggage wisely, this is a truly GREAT car for touring. Yeah, the seats could be better (and will be in the C7), but we were never sore or uncomfortable and neither of us are spring chickens anymore.

Nothing like the feeling of eating up the miles in your Corvette, out there doing what it was meant for. Don't be afraid to get out there and ENJOY your car, that is what you bought it for, isn't it? A fresh coat of Rejex before the trip meant all the bugs and road grime rinsed right off. Many, many favorable comments from folks of all ages along the way. This was one of the most memorable and enjoyable road trips I've ever taken .. . And it won't be the last.

J Vette

There is a small shelf area behind the seats and the waterfall which allows for some items to be stored. But not as convenient as the coupe I suspect.

My wife and I both enjoy top down riding in the mountains here. She can do all the shopping she wants when she is in her car.

I saw an ad for a used Vette wherein the seller pointed out that it had never seen rain or been eaten in. I like to buy those cars. But I eat in mine. And drive it home in the rain if it comes up while I am out.

Yep. I really enjoyed the way the car handled when I needed to get around or through some traffic. My wifes car gets through OK. But you have to crack the whip on it and drive it hard to get through the "swarms" of cars riding together all in a bunch. The Corvette got through with little effort at all. It was quite a pleasure

J Vette

BTW, For those with the power convertible top. The top WILL NOT GO DOWN if the partition in the trunk is not snapped into place making the compartment for the top to go into. You may already know this. But it took me a few minutes to figure out why my top would not go down.

That is quite a nice safety feature which can save thousands of Dollars.

J Vette

Sounds like perseverance, persistence & ingenuity at its finest. You and your wife obviously had a "bonding experience". My wife and I had a few of those on our motorcycle trips. I wouldn't trade some of those experiences for anything.

peter pan