real quiet
 

Matt Clara wrote:

"Fairly good mileage for an SUV," is like saying, "It doesn't kill too much
for a nuclear bomb."

Ha ha ha! Good one.

How 'bout a real car, that gets good mileage, like the Passat I've suggested
a dozen times now, and a trailer hitch and trailer to haul your occasional
load? Or are you just ****tin' us with all this concern for mileage?
SUV's have no purpose, other than self-indulgence.

My Trooper is still running at 203,000 miles. I like it, so I'm not buying
anything else until it dies.

Your idea of a trailer is problematic in California, where the spud limit
is 65-70 mph for vehicles, but only 55 mph if pulling a trailer. From my
house it is about 380 miles to the Oregon border.

The new Highlander Hybrid is out but gets only 26 mpg, disappointing.

real quiet
 

On Aug 16, 10:14 am, Wilko wrote:
Cricket wrote:
"Siskuwihane" wrote in message
roups.com...
On Aug 15, 9:55 pm, "Matt Clara" wrote:
"Bill Tuthill" wrote in message

...

Matt Clara wrote:
What about the Passat wagon--it's a full sized sedan/station wagon--?
The Passat TDI wagon was never sold in California due to emissions.
I could import one from another state, e.g. Oregon, provided it has
enough miles on it. VW supposedly will introduce a cleaner diesel
engine
next year. But by then, the 2008 Highlander Hybrid will be out, and it
might get better mileage, especially in town.
Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape hybrid get fairly good mileage for an SUV,
better than any minivan. After driving dirt roads with a rental
minivan
last week in Idaho, I can see why boaters usually prefer an SUV.
"Fairly good mileage for an SUV," is like saying, "It doesn't kill too
much
for a nuclear bomb."
How 'bout a real car, that gets good mileage, like the Passat I've
suggested
a dozen times now, and a trailer hitch and trailer to haul your
occasional
load? Or are you just ****tin' us with all this concern for mileage?
SUV's have no purpose, other than self-indulgence.
Earlier you said a person may need an SUV, now you say they have no
purpose other than self-indulgence. So which is it?

A Passat wouldn't last a day on some of the state forest roads around
here.

Doesn't haul a horse trailer for squat, either.

You can get quite a few boats in a horse trailer...

Cricket

You guys have really never driven a Passat 4motion with a decent engine,
did you? More ground clearance and 4 wheel drive.
I drive a Skoda Octavia 4X4, which is built on the same platform as the
Passat's smaller brother, the Golf. It does very well on really bad
roads, and it's been voted as the caravan towing car of the year in
several countries. Making remarks about the Passat, with the same 4X4
system but with more powerful engines available, not being a great car
for hauling a horse trailer is nonsense.



From what I've read the 4Motion has the same ground clearance as the
standard Passat, not going to cut it where I go on an almost daily
basis. I don't have a horse trailer so I have no issues there.


This is the kind of roads (and quite a bit worse than that) I've taken
my Octavia on many times, usually during kayaking holidays in the
Balkans, mind telling me why my car should have given up on its first
day there?

A 7" rock? :)

real quiet
 

Wilko wrote:

This is the kind of roads (and quite a bit worse than that) I've taken
my Octavia on many times, usually during kayaking holidays in the
Balkans,
http://kayaker.nl/macedonie/P224.jpg

Road? What road?

Steve

real quiet
 

"Wilko" wrote in message
...
Cricket wrote:
"Siskuwihane" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Aug 15, 9:55 pm, "Matt Clara" wrote:
"Bill Tuthill" wrote in message

...

Matt Clara wrote:
What about the Passat wagon--it's a full sized sedan/station wagon--?
The Passat TDI wagon was never sold in California due to emissions.
I could import one from another state, e.g. Oregon, provided it has
enough miles on it. VW supposedly will introduce a cleaner diesel
engine
next year. But by then, the 2008 Highlander Hybrid will be out, and
it
might get better mileage, especially in town.
Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape hybrid get fairly good mileage for an SUV,
better than any minivan. After driving dirt roads with a rental
minivan
last week in Idaho, I can see why boaters usually prefer an SUV.
"Fairly good mileage for an SUV," is like saying, "It doesn't kill too
much
for a nuclear bomb."
How 'bout a real car, that gets good mileage, like the Passat I've
suggested
a dozen times now, and a trailer hitch and trailer to haul your
occasional
load? Or are you just ****tin' us with all this concern for mileage?
SUV's have no purpose, other than self-indulgence.
Earlier you said a person may need an SUV, now you say they have no
purpose other than self-indulgence. So which is it?

A Passat wouldn't last a day on some of the state forest roads around
here.


Doesn't haul a horse trailer for squat, either.

You can get quite a few boats in a horse trailer...

Cricket

You guys have really never driven a Passat 4motion with a decent engine,
did you? More ground clearance and 4 wheel drive.
I drive a Skoda Octavia 4X4, which is built on the same platform as the
Passat's smaller brother, the Golf. It does very well on really bad roads,
and it's been voted as the caravan towing car of the year in several
countries. Making remarks about the Passat, with the same 4X4 system but
with more powerful engines available, not being a great car for hauling a
horse trailer is nonsense.

This is the kind of roads (and quite a bit worse than that) I've taken my
Octavia on many times, usually during kayaking holidays in the Balkans,
mind telling me why my car should have given up on its first day there?

http://kayaker.nl/macedonie/P224.jpg

Sure, there are better cars available for offroad trips, but very few, if
any, for a similar price, quality, fuel efficiency or top speed with boats
on top as that.

I took a Plymouth Duster (two wheel drive and rear drive to boot) into Dolly
Sods years ago, on roads exponentially worse than that - and got away with
it. Doesn't make it a good idea. If for no other reason than if you do get
stuck, getting something in to get you unstuck is going to cause a lot more
damage and gas usage than a reasonably sized SUV would have done in the
first place.

Horses for courses - sometimes you need the SUV. I've driven S-10 Blazers
for years - not quite big enough for the most exreme stuff I do, but that
isn't very often, will pull the horse trailer, gets as good milage as
anything else that will do the job. I shoe horses for a living, so I need
four wheel drive and major ground clearance fairly often). It would be silly
to get an Expedition for what I need, but equally silly to have anything
less than the Blazer (or my current, a 4X4 Dodge Dakota, 1987 - I recyle...)

Cricket



--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/