You are here: Forums Wagons Station Wagon vs SUV

Station Wagon vs SUV

1426 messages,  Last post on Feb 21, 2007 at 8:37 AM

You are in the Wagons Forum. Your Host is kcram

What is this discussion about? Wagon

Messages Page 84 of 143 1 ... 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 ... 143 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

#826 of 1426 rollover neck injury by subewannabe Jun 23, 2003 (8:19 pm)
is caused by the head being pushed hard into the corner of the roof as the occupant's body accelerates in a rotational vector, even faster than the vehicle , then it is in that very vulnerable position when the car comes down hard on that corner. yes, you can survive a rollover but it is mostly because of the speed and dyanmics of the roll turned out well for you, not the strength of the cab roof.     last weekend's observations on returning from the beach were interesting, but it was a biased study, i.e. people going to , coming from and living at the beach. today i went the opposite direction, up into the mountains surrounding great smokies natl park. the towing winners up in the land of the sky: full size pick ups towing campers, including 5th wheel rigs. i did see one SUV, an old jeep wagoneer, towing dirt bikes on a trailer. down in the nantahala gorge, everything was car-topped , including the whitewater rafts, on everything from VW golfs to converted school busses. im still looking for the jumbo SUVS towing those 5000 lb boats. so far im seeing the SUV's but no boats. imagine that! Mark
#827 of 1426 subewannabe by boaz47 Jun 24, 2003 (4:59 am)
When I have gone camping I do see Pickups, quad cabs and extended mostly, towing more than I see SUVs. However remember I also live on the West Coast and next to some mountain lakes. At the launch ramp I see pickups as well. But I see SUVs and never have seen a VW Golf or Subaru launching at either Shelter Island in San Diego or New Port, or Long Beach. Pretty much the same sight at the Colorado River and Lake Mead. I was at the High Desert Roundup last year and I didn't see one wagon out of between three and 600 jeeps and other 4x4s.   What I have seen only relates to where I go and what I do not anyone else. It is the reason I asked earlier if anyone ever saw Foresters towing dirt bikes, jet skies, or snow mobiles because I wanted other input. It may be an area thing but car topping, except for bikes and Kayaks, is not a popular method for transporting anything in my area. Not even to and from the beach. To tell the truth if we do see someone with something on top of the car we most often look to see what license plate is on the back. We are surprised if it turns out to be from California. Northern California may be different. I know when I lived in Seattle it was different. I do feel that some of the eastern areas of the US favor wagons far more than many of the western states. After all the old AMC, Rambler 4x4 car wagon thing was kept alive in the east and north east for years when we didn't see them out here. I can't for the live of me remember what they were called. If I do I will post later.
#828 of 1426 car topping canoes/kayaks/rubber pigs by steve_ HOST Jun 24, 2003 (7:03 am)
I've been a whitewater boater for years and, while there are raft and canoe trailers out there (my catarafting buddy uses a trailer), they are mostly a pain to deal with. River boaters don't need fancy boat ramps; we really don't need much of anything except access to the water, and having to maneuver a trailer just cuts down on your options. You can get quite a few boats on a roof rack and it's not unusual to see 8 or 10 kayaks hanging off the roofs in boating country.   The problem with SUVs for boating is that you have to climb up on the hood, etc. in order to get the boats up there and tie them down. With a wagon, you don't have to lift stuff up so high. The clearance on a SUV comes in handy on some put-in roads though.   Steve, Host
#829 of 1426 Well steve by boaz47 Jun 24, 2003 (8:54 am)
there we are again in area differences. I would think with something as small as a aluminum fishing boat it would still be easier to use a small trailer. With a West Marine, or Zodiac we tend to roll them up and carry a air tank in the back to avoid roof top clutter. I can still get my 12 foot West Marine with a 10 horse motor in the back of a Cherokee, with the air tank and food for the day. Also if you go to dinner in Laguna Beach on the way home you don't have the boat on top of the vehicle to be messed with. The Lido isn't going on top of anything and yet I still don't see small wagons towing them. So it comes back to what you do.
#830 of 1426 different strokes by steve_ HOST Jun 24, 2003 (9:47 am)
Play boats have gotten so short that people do throw them in the back of their SUVs and vans. I'd just as soon not have gas fumes in the cabin, so if I were hauling a stinkpot around, I'd get a trailer.   Steve, Host
#831 of 1426 True again by boaz47 Jun 24, 2003 (10:29 am)
It is better to haul the gas can and motor outside. But even with small boats a trailer is nice if you have a place at home to park it. The thing I wonder is, with all the talk about how people could use a wagon, we still see very little of them pulling motorcycles, jet skis, or snowmobiles. Not even Subarus. The question I would ask is why? I believe the answer is the perception that they can't tow and a reluctance by dealers to even suggest it. I think one of the big draw backs is no one knows what they can do so they don't use them.   I once pulled a Catalina 22 from San Diego to Riverside with a D-50 mini truck. I even pulled it down to New Port a few times. However it was a whole lot nicer when I got a full sized truck. It isn't as much what you can do with a wagon verses a SUV it is how good do you feel doing it. My wife once had the people at Home Depot load 800 pounds of stepping stones in the back of our old Volvo wagon. The rear springs never were the same. I did the same thing in my Old Ramcharger and while I knew they were back there I still felt I wasn't hurting the truck.
#832 of 1426 by ballistic Jun 24, 2003 (10:36 am)
"It is better to haul the gas can and motor outside."   Boaz47 and Steve and others: Speaking of gas cans, maybe one of you has heard of a product I can't seem to track down. Several years ago I heard about an "emergency" gasoline substitute that could be safely carried in a car trunk, yet still would save your bacon if you ran out of gas, while (presumably) doing no harm to the engine, catalyst, and so forth. My new XT (unlike my other cars) has no trip computer displaying precise distance-to-empty miles remaining. I'd like to run the tank dry a few times to see where on the gauge the needle winds up when there's nothing left, but I need to carry some fuel to get me to a gas station, and I'd rather not carry a can of gas.   Has anybody heard of a safe (or safer) emergency fuel product that can be carried in a vehicle?   jb
#833 of 1426 ballistic by li_sailor Jun 24, 2003 (11:10 am)
Yup. It's called a paddle   On the subject of small craft, my GF is a kayaker and hauls it on top of her Outback with saddles on the roof rack. Any higher and she couldn't do it. She much prefers a wagon over any SUV. In fact, she says she won't be caught dead buying an SUV. She's contrary
#834 of 1426 paddle, right by steve_ HOST Jun 24, 2003 (11:38 am)
And you don't have to depend on the wind either.   Ballistic, I remember that emergency gas product that you are talking about, but a Q&D net search doesn't turn up anything. Must not have been a big seller.   Steve, Host
#835 of 1426 by ballistic Jun 24, 2003 (2:14 pm)
li_sailor to ballistic: "Yup. It's called a paddle "   Geez. OK, whack me with that one...   Steve adds, "I remember that emergency gas product that you are talking about, but a Q&D net search doesn't turn up anything. Must not have been a big seller."   Rats. I've Googled every which way and have come up empty. Which is what I'd like to avoid by carrying something along while discovering where on the gauge my XT runs out. I guess I could call AAA, but who wants to wait an hour to resume the thrill of driving an XT?   jb

Messages Page 84 of 143 1 ... 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 ... 143 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

You are here: Forums Wagons Station Wagon vs SUV