|   Sorta MTB Related... Toyota 4Runner | JPD
Aug 14, 2003 5:06 PM | | Looking at buying my first "trucklike" vehicle. Have had nothing but coupes and Sedans my entire life. Since starting MTB'ing several years ago, I have had roof mounted racks (Yakima) and most recently a hitch mounted rack, which I also had to have a hitch installed on my car for of course.
I decided since I'm in the market for a new vehicle, I might as well buy something that can hitch mount a rack, and tow, and hold a lot of stuff.
Can anyone out there recommend the 4Runner, or pan it. I do know the biggest downside for me will be the mileage and loss of a nice carlike ride. Are there any other "trucklike" vehicle that could fit the bill?
No kids, or pets. Any opinions?
Thanks.John. |
| I love mine | Sultan of Singletrack
Aug 14, 2003 8:35 PM | | I debated buying one for a long time. I'm extremely happy I did. I bought one of those interior fork-mount racks and I can put my road bike and mountain bike inside the truck if I put the rear seats down. I can fit all my other crap in there too. That thing is great. I have the 2002, so it's not the most powerful thing in the world, but I have no real complaints at all. I've enjoyed it immensely. |
| re: Sorta MTB Related... Toyota 4Runner | seafarinman
Aug 14, 2003 9:38 PM | | I love the 4Runners, but at the time that I was looking, they were like $5000 more than a pickup, so I got a Toyota 4WD pickup instead.
Go to www.yotatech.com which is a Toyota enthusiast site for more opinions. |
| Subaru Forrester | pimpbot
Aug 14, 2003 9:53 PM | | I have a couple of buds with Forresters. Dynamite cars, lots of space for a non-SUV, decent mileage and good off road capabilities. Not too expensive to boot. The sunroof goes half the whole length of the roof so even folks in the back seat get direct sun.
I think the 4-Runner is a good choice, I'm just throwing ideas at you. |
| couple of Forester questions | EconoLine
Aug 15, 2003 1:11 PM | | I've current got a WRX wagon and an old S-10 Blazer 4x4. Thinking about replacing them both with one vehicle, but it needs to have a flat cargo bed at least 60" long. Do you know if the Forester has a flat bed with the rear seats folded down, and how long it is?
Also, another serious contender is the Ford Escape, or the hybrid Escape for 2004. If I had to buy today, I'd probably get an Escape 4x4, nice engine, great handling, plenty of room in back. |
| couple of Forester questions | pimpbot
Aug 15, 2003 3:10 PM | | WRX wagon has that much space, and the seats go flat. My mom was looking at the smaller Subaru Wagon, the one below the WRX and she can lie down flat in the back, one of her requirements for car camping in case it's too cold. She's 5'3" and almost makes it without lying diagnolly (sp?). It aslo depends on how far back you require the seats to be in the tracks to drive the thing.
The Forrester is a step longer, so I assume that will definately fit the bill. |
| 4 Runner | EdY
Aug 15, 2003 5:33 AM | | I've been happy with my 2001 since the day I got it. You can't beat the 4 Runner for reliability, although the Pathfinder comes close. I decided on the Toyota over the Pathfinder because I was unhappy with the transmission performance on the Nissan and had heard bad things about it's durability. I Also looked at the Subaru Outback, but I felt it was overpriced for what you got (Forrester seems like more of a bargain, although you don't have nearly as much storage area as the 4 Runner.) Bottom line is that you should be able to drive a good bargain for a 4 Runner if you get the Consumer Report guide (about $12.00); I ordered it and we ended up paying about $5,000 under the MSRP. |
| depends on exactly what you'll do with it... | Tenacious E
Aug 15, 2003 6:47 AM | | From what you've listed, I'd say go with the (Turbo!) Forrester. Unless you're going to be towing a boat or something, in which case I'd say go with an F-250 Powerstroke.
You can get the Forrester with the 2.5L Turbo motor now too. 210hp, and a decent amount of low end torque. Plenty of room for biker types, assuming you don't plan on taking 5 people and gear. if this is the case, I'd say go with an F-250 Powerstroke. :)
In all seriousness, something like a Forrester will handle the majority of "Off Road" excursions that the average driver would throw at it. Decide if you actually need the off-raod capabilities that you pay for, and are responsible for feeding with sometning like a $-Runner. 15mpg starts to put a serious cramp in your biking budget after a while!
My WRX (sedan) can comfortably handle 3 bikers + gear, and is outrageously fun on fire roads. With the winter (stock) wheels and tires, it can "off road" as well as most small SUV's, and once you get the hang of a throttle-lift-left-foot-brake combined with a "Scandinavian Flick" (on the proper non-public road, ofcourse), you'll be wondering why anyone wastes their time anymore with SUV's :)
I guess what I'm saying here is that you might want ot look at a WRX wagon as well. Not as high off the ground as the Forrester, but all the fun in the world! |
| Ditto... | Gazz
Aug 15, 2003 8:35 AM | | If you don't need the off-road capability, then don't do it. Truck-based SUV's (I have an 88 4Runner) are heavy (hard on gas) and have a live rear axle, which translates into an unsettled ride. When you hit bumps in a corner, things get skittish. Some are better than others, but none of them will drive like a car-based SUV. Unibody SUV's, including all car-based ones, carve things up almost as well as a car. The only limiting factor is the higher centre of gravity.
If you want *some* off road capability but want to retain a car-like ride, look into a Pathfinder. It's unibody, but reasonably tough and has a low range. Stuff like CRV's & RAV4's have no low range and have a trailing link rear suspension which is custom-made for catching rocks - so pretty limited off road potential. But they are great highway vehicles.
Stay away from something like a Ford Explorer - its the worst of all worlds: truck-based handling and gas mileage with poor off-road capability. |
| agree w/ TenaciousE... more | logbiter
Aug 15, 2003 8:42 AM | | I had an '84 Toyota 4x4 truck until about a year ago when it finally kicked the bucket.
Replaced it with a used 2wd 4Runner, which still rides like a truck. Not much power and only about 12mpg around town and ~19-20 hwy. It does tow an airboat OK though, for my occasional moonlighting job. But I don't use it offroad where I live now.
I mostly bike to work (try and offset my bad karma for driving a suv) but my wife drives it all of 1.5 miles to work and back daily since it's our most reliable vehicle and AC works much better than our 10yr old protege. but I digress....
You can put a ton of junk in the back of the 4Runner, 4 ppl and 4 bikes on my Swagman-like receiver hitch mounted bike rack, but you could do this with a wagon too, in a lot more comfort, less road noise and better mileage
If we could've found used or afforded new, woulda bought a subaru wagon (passat wagon also high on list but more $$ and not as reliable as Subaru).
I won't go on to bash SUV's since I've got one now, but I won't buy one again.
good luck,
Serge |
| What's a "Scandinavian Flick"? | pimpbot
Aug 15, 2003 8:59 AM | | I left foot brake all the time. In fact, I kinda tend to kill my brakes fairly quickly cause I do it too much in my GTi (But man, my bone stock GTi sticks like a madman when pushed!).
is the "Scandinavian Flick" a trick to hang your back end out on loose roads? |
| Sort of..... | Tenacious E
Aug 15, 2003 9:58 AM | | The Scandi. Flick is a rally driving used to set up for a high speed (or low speed, actually) corner, in a low traction situation like gravel, dirt, or even wet tarmac.
You approach say, a 45 degree left hander and before you would actually initate the left turn (how far out depends on the radius of the dorner and the speed that you're traveling), you "flick" the wheel to the right to put the rear end into a pendulum, then back to the left. This sounds suicidal, but when executed properly, by the time that you get to the left turn, you have essentially re-directed the car to left (without slowing down much, and really forcing the car out into the corner).
This is a pretty non-techincal explaination. The left foot braking aspect isn't always necessary either. |
| Sort of..... | pimpbot
Aug 15, 2003 12:00 PM | | Okay, now I know that trick. I just never heard it called the scan'flick. LF braking does some of that too. Power on full, some left foot brake brake loosens up the back end and you can flick it all over the place. |
| I have a 1997 | laffeaux
Aug 15, 2003 11:52 AM | | I have a '97 4Runner and love it. I generally have the rear seats folded down and often throw the bike into the back (no need to remove the wheels). I'm fairly tall, so I can not stand up the bike inside with the front wheel off because the seat hits the roof - it's not possible for me to use an interior rack as a result.
I have a roof rack on it, and it works fine, other than you need to be tall to use it. Shorter people will not be able to get bikes on or off easily. Also you're limited to two bikes, unless you don't mind struggling to get a third into the middle of the roof. You can stand inside the rear doors to reach further in, or get higher.
I also have a hitch mounted rack. It works fine for longer trips, but I don't particualrly like it for generaly use as it makes opening the rear hatch (which I often use for a bench) more difficult.
Personally I don't like the new 4Runners - I think they're ugly. The new body style is is too big, plastic-looking, and looks more like a minivan. It's supposed to drive nice, but I'd not buy one based on looks. The previous generation looks more like a truck, and IMO look 100% nicer.
Also as far as reliabilty goes, I have 94,000 miles and other than tune-ups, oil changes, one set of new tires, and a new timing belt (scheduled at 90k miles) there have been no real problems. The power antenna has been replaced twice (it goes up, and keeps going up, and out on to the freeway), but everything else is still running like it was on day one. It's would be tough to beat it for dependibilty. Buy a Japanese car once, and you'll never buy anything else.
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| THANKS to All responders | JPD
Aug 17, 2003 5:57 PM | | Now I am seriously reconsidering. I will in fact almost never go off-road. I am really looking for something with interior space for cargo, drives comfortable, can tow a bit (200 lbs or so) and MUST climb like the devil in snow on hills.
I have spent several winters tooling around town waiting for plows to clean and sand the hill I live on. Simply can't be done with my current sedan which has traction control (really only useful in slippery starts anyway).
I have had a space crunch on a couple occasions when I would have liked to be able to lug 4-5 bikes and peaople and their gear, but cannot . I also tow 1500-2000 pounds a few times a year. Usually yard work stuff to the town dump, or appliances, stove fuel, moving friends, whatever.
I was looking at Passat W8 Wagon (4motion, 270HP), but the invoice is $35,700. Kind of steep for a wagon. Also looked at Nissan Murano, drives GREAT but also steep entry price and not the biggest cargo area around.
Didn't consider Subaru's because their slow. And no way I will buy a turbo charged vehicle. They DO wear out after the warranty.
I will have to do a lot more research and test drives.
Thanks everyone. |
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