Best long-distance cars
From long-distance road trips to mile-munching motorway commutes, these are the best long distance cars money can buy
The idea of covering huge distances in a car fills some drivers with dread. For some, even the daily commute is a few miles too far, but others relish the opportunity – particularly if you have the right car for the job.
While those with a sense of adventure might choose a Caterham for the task, we’re thinking more along the lines of cars that ride smoothly, generate minimal noise, and cosset and pamper you at every opportunity.
The ten cars below are our pick of the best long-distance cars on sale. Some you might expect, others might surprise you, but all make the prospect of spending a day behind the wheel far more appealing than it would be in other cars.
Best long-distance cars
- Rolls-Royce Phantom
- BMW 7 Series
- Rolls-Royce Spectre
- Bentley Flying Spur
- Mercedes S-Class
- Citroen C5 X
- Alpina B3
- Lexus LM
- Audi RS 6
- Volkswagen ID.7
Rolls-Royce Phantom
We couldn’t really choose anything else for the ultimate long-distance car. Whether or not you agree that a £400,000 luxury car can really be the best car in the world, as its maker has expressed on occasion, there are certain qualities about the Rolls-Royce Phantom that are indisputable.
It is not perfectly isolated, but you won’t find a car that gets closer. It’s certainly hard to put your finger on any area of refinement that could be improved; from the silence of its 6.7-litre V12 to the near-total absence of wind and road noise, courtesy of everything from impeccable door and window sealing to tyres with foam-filled sidewalls. Cabin comfort is, of course, first-class in the truest sense of the word, and ride comfort is effectively unsurpassed in modern vehicles.
BMW 7 Series
If you want a pretty significant chunk of the Phantom’s opulence for about a quarter of the price, the current BMW 7 Series is a pretty good place to start. Even when the 7 Series has been one of the sportier options in the luxury saloon class it’s still been comfortable, but the seventh-generation car launched in 2022 (in both combustion powered and all-electric i7 form) took a further step towards outright luxury.
The latest 7 Series is best appreciated as the i7. Electric cars are already quiet, but the i7’s insulated feel is on another level from the average electric Kia or Volkswagen. All 7 Series have a remarkably comfortable ride quality and some of the best seats you’ll ever sit in. All have effortless performance too, while features like the rear-seat 8k ‘Theatre Screen’ mean trips are even more relaxing for those in the back seats.
Rolls-Royce Spectre
Like the i7 versions of the BMW 7 Series above, long-distance travel is ultimately a function of how often you’re willing to stop to charge in the Rolls-Royce Spectre. But while the 7 Series has combustion options, the Spectre is electric only, with a maximum WLTP range of 321 miles – not bad, but not quite as much as the longest-legged i7s.
In all other respects though, the Spectre is just about perfect as a long-distance car. That includes the image you’re projecting outwards, since the swept-back coupe body style is the most elegant of any current Rolls-Royce, and looks right at home sweeping along the motorway. It’s not as large as the Phantom but there’ll be no complaints from those in the front. Its ride also isn’t quite up to the standards of the two cars above, but it’s still opulent and effortless, just as a Rolls-Royce should be.
Bentley Flying Spur
A Rolls-Royce Phantom may ultimately be more isolating than a Bentley Flying Spur, but it remains the kind of car you’d best appreciate from the back seats, whatever distance you were doing. The Flying Spur, on the other hand, is the one you’d want to cover those miles in yourself, as has long been the case between models from the two British luxury marques.
Closely related to the Continental GT, the four-door Flying Spur moves slightly further from “grand tourer” and more towards “luxury car” – but keeps a foot on either side of the door. So it’s fantastic to drive, despite its size and weight (with the kind of dynamics you’d scarcely believe possible from a 2.3-tonne vehicle), and has a gloriously-appointed cabin in which to while away the hours. The rotating centre display, letting you hide the infotainment screen for either a blank panel or a trio of traditional analogue dials, adds to the sense of class.
Mercedes S-Class
You could put almost any Mercedes-Benz S-Class on this list, going all the way back to the original model from 1972. It’s always had the qualities you’d want from a luxury saloon, and while the S-Class has changed significantly over the last five-and-a-bit decades and seven generations, the focus on space, luxury, and technology has remained unchanged.
The latest car is a mighty thing, over 5.1 metres long even in standard wheelbase form, with abundant space for passengers in both the front and rear. The seats are fabulous too, remaining comfortable for as long as it takes for the fuel tank to run dry – and naturally, they’re heated, cooled, and have a massage function. But another key aspect is the near-silence of travelling at speed in an S-Class, which really makes a difference over long trips. Just avoid the 21-inch wheel option.
Citroen C5 X
So what’s this Citroen doing amongst generally more expensive and exotic cars? Well, just like some of the legendary Citroens of old, the C5 X punches above its weight for comfort. It might have a mainstream badge but there’s nothing mainstream about its relaxed feel – it’s a match for several other cars on this list.
It starts with the ride quality. While not infallible – occasionally you’ll hit an expansion joint that’ll send a shudder through the car – it generally floats down the road, making light work of most bumps. You might think this would severely affect its cornering abilities, but while it’s no hot hatchback, it’s far from out of its depth. Couple a soft ride with broad, well-shaped seats, and better than average refinement for this class, and the C5 X makes long distances a breeze.
Alpina B3
The Alpina B3 isn’t the grandest model by the German manufacturer, known for decades for imbuing BMWs with even more luxury and performance than usual. It is however one of the most all-round desirable cars on the roads, taking the already accomplished BMW 3 Series and giving it M3-baiting performance, but with a much greater focus on class and comfort.
It’s not a long-distance car in the sense you’ll barely notice your journey pass by – instead, it’s more a long-distance car in that you’ll find any excuse to drive it somewhere far-flung. One aspect that Alpina has mastered is ride quality: despite enormous 20-inch wheels, it’s far more pliant than a BMW M3, but barely less able when you get to a twisty road. It’s a long-distance car that’ll make you want to take the long route…
Lexus LM
£90,000 is a lot of money for what is, if you wanted to reduce it to its bare constituents, a posh MPV. The price might raise eyebrows but the concept is nothing new, certainly in the brand’s Japanese homeland, where big, luxurious MPVs are big business. The Lexus LM is big, based on the Toyota Alphard available in overseas markets, but it takes the luxury part to the next stage, mixing space with real opulence.
As owners of premium SUVs will tell you, there’s something luxurious about sitting up high, which all passengers of the LM get to do. In the top-spec model, everyone gets their own seat too (with legroom being truly vast in the four-seat version), while Lexus, already known for its high quality (and well-built) interior materials, has really pushed the boat out in the LM – everything you touch feels great. It’s…well, MPV-like to drive, but it’s smooth and refined virtually everywhere.
Audi RS 6
Another less obvious choice of long-distance machine, you might think, but Audi RS 6 owners will no doubt be able to inform you otherwise. Yes, the most powerful, pumped-up version of the A6 Avant rides more firmly than its lesser counterparts, potentially taking away one quality of a great cruiser, but in this case the RS 6 is far from uncomfortable, and makes up for it with other virtues.
One is speed. Not useful everywhere, admittedly – opt for Audi’s package to raise the limiter to nearly 190mph, and all you’ll be doing is making a 45mph crawl around the M25 even more frustrating than normal. But the RS 6’s blistering acceleration does make getting up to speed a lot easier, while Quattro all-wheel drive and impressive handling mean you can maintain it too, even on curvier roads. Not to mention a set of excellent seats, a big boot (565 litres minimum), and an interior you’d happily spend several hours at a time in.
Volkswagen ID.7
Like the other electric cars on this list, you won’t go quite as far on a charge in the Volkswagen ID.7 as you will in say, a diesel Passat. But when the longest-legged ID.7s can do up to 435 miles on a charge, does that really matter? All but the most dedicated drivers with the sturdiest bladders will have stopped for a break long before then anyway.
And the ID.7 makes a fine cruiser in its own right. Like all the ID cars the cabin is large, a benefit of the dedicated EV platform, while a drag coefficient of 0.23 helps it slip through the air relatively silently. The ride quality is also well-judged for long-distance comfort - perhaps a little floaty for some, but comfortable, with great motorway stability. It has good visibility too, so you won’t have the stress of large blind spots (just the stress of VW’s slightly iffy infotainment system, instead).
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