Kizashi Club

Just completed a 3000 mile road trip! This was especially exciting because my Kazashi has been little more than a commuter car for me since I bought it new in 2012. The family usually travels in our ‘04 Toyota Sienna with things like a DVD entertainment system for the kids and more room to sprawl out to make the long drives more tolerable. But the Sienna is aging and has a couple of maintenance Items I should address before making any future long hauls.
My route:
From our home near Tacoma Washington to a family reunion of sorts in Yucca Valley middle of nowhere high desert California. We’ve driven it several times and thought to make some deviations for a change of scenery. Still mostly Interstates however, because we did have a lot of distance to cover. I-5 south until we cut over to the Bay Area. Hello Six Flags and then over to Monterey Bay to see their aquarium. Then 101 south until the LA area where we cut over to the I-10 eastbound. After our visit in Yucca Valley, we went up to Lake Havasu, Arizona on some secondary State Routes. After that we took I-15 through Las Vegas, Nevada on our way to Salt Lake City, Utah. Continued into Idaho on I-85 and through NE Oregon and eventually returned back over the Cascade Mountains on Washington’s I-90.
So, my observations:
1) Yay 80mph speed limits in Utah! Boo 65 mph in Oregon.
2) A/C with tinted windows worked great, mostly over 100 degrees everywhere we went.
3) The Kizashi trunk held more than I thought! We didn’t have to pack too light, we are used to the cargo capacity of a minivan after all.
4) Gas mileage was awesome! I’d replied to posts previously about poor gas mileage, rarely over 22 mpg, and that mine wasn’t measuring up to what others were posting here. Not using the Kizashi’s computer but doing my own math we averaged about 29 mpg!
5) Wife apreciated the Bluetooth for playing music from her phone.
6) Traversing mountain passes with a CVT sounded and felt concerning at first. Really put that thing to work but it kept up!
7) Got lots of looks. Mine is de-badged on the rear so others have to look really hard to figure out what it is. Gives me something to snicker at while driving all those miles.
8) Only other Kizashi I saw was while in Salt Lake City.
9) Definitely looking forward to replacing the Dunlops before our next rainy season! They were fine in most conditions although they got pretty loud on some surfaces. They are also low on tread life and we did hit some unseasonably heavy rain over the Cascades causing the traction control to engage.
10) My kids were awesome!

Welcome back! Sounds like the Kizashi handled the trip well. Glad you got to enjoy it outside of your commute, where it can really shine

Furthest trip I've gone in the Kizashi was 400 miles of mountain and coastal carving and I loved every second of it. Can't wait to go on more road trips!

Sounds like it went well. I'm the opposite in that I mostly do long trips in my Kizashi. Next Friday I'll be going on a 2000klm(1242 mile) round trip from Sydney Aus to a town called Inverloch which faces the Bass Straight and the Antarctic. I find the Kizashi to be good comfortable touring car.

Not sure if you've ever done it, but try to take the Highway 1, especially in Nor Cal. I know you were on time constraints and therefore took the 5 until the Bay Area, but the 1 north of the Bay Area is simply amazing. It's among the best highways in the world.
I've driven all over the west coast (been both to Tacoma, WA and Yucca Valley, CA before) and must say the Highway 1 is epic. It's a coastal highway so it's much slower than an Interstate freeway like the 5, but it's totally worth the coastline views and curves.

Yes, I have done that route once before, but It's been quite a few years and would like to do it again!

n8dogg wrote:Just completed a 3000 mile road trip! This was especially exciting because my Kazashi has been little more than a commuter car for me since I bought it new in 2012. The family usually travels in our ‘04 Toyota Sienna with things like a DVD entertainment system for the kids and more room to sprawl out to make the long drives more tolerable. But the Sienna is aging and has a couple of maintenance Items I should address before making any future long hauls.
My route:
From our home near Tacoma Washington to a family reunion of sorts in Yucca Valley middle of nowhere high desert California. We’ve driven it several times and thought to make some deviations for a change of scenery. Still mostly Interstates however, because we did have a lot of distance to cover. I-5 south until we cut over to the Bay Area. Hello Six Flags and then over to Monterey Bay to see their aquarium. Then 101 south until the LA area where we cut over to the I-10 eastbound. After our visit in Yucca Valley, we went up to Lake Havasu, Arizona on some secondary State Routes. After that we took I-15 through Las Vegas, Nevada on our way to Salt Lake City, Utah. Continued into Idaho on I-85 and through NE Oregon and eventually returned back over the Cascade Mountains on Washington’s I-90.
So, my observations:
1) Yay 80mph speed limits in Utah! Boo 65 mph in Oregon.
2) A/C with tinted windows worked great, mostly over 100 degrees everywhere we went.
3) The Kizashi trunk held more than I thought! We didn’t have to pack too light, we are used to the cargo capacity of a minivan after all.
4) Gas mileage was awesome! I’d replied to posts previously about poor gas mileage, rarely over 22 mpg, and that mine wasn’t measuring up to what others were posting here. Not using the Kizashi’s computer but doing my own math we averaged about 29 mpg!
5) Wife apreciated the Bluetooth for playing music from her phone.
6) Traversing mountain passes with a CVT sounded and felt concerning at first. Really put that thing to work but it kept up!
7) Got lots of looks. Mine is de-badged on the rear so others have to look really hard to figure out what it is. Gives me something to snicker at while driving all those miles.
8) Only other Kizashi I saw was while in Salt Lake City.
9) Definitely looking forward to replacing the Dunlops before our next rainy season! They were fine in most conditions although they got pretty loud on some surfaces. They are also low on tread life and we did hit some unseasonably heavy rain over the Cascades causing the traction control to engage.
10) My kids were awesome!

Sounds like a great adventure. Personally I would have left the kids with grandma, but only because I hate hate kids.