jaee Posted March 1, 2004 Posted March 1, 2004 Volkswagen isn't selling them in the US anymore. http://www.vw.com/search/search_eurovan.htm Just when I was thinking a Westfalia AWD van would be the ultimate climbing rig. Quote
Winter Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 They're planning to reintroduce the minibus in 2005 or 2006. Check it out. Looks so so. Quote
JoshK Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 A lot of really cool cars started to disappaer in the past decade due to the american market becoming more and more interested in shitty, low quality, gas-guzzling, poor-handling vehicles (SUVs.) I mean, after all why would you want efficience, build quality, acceleration and decent handling? Quote
cj001f Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 VW killed the Eurovan because no one wanted to buy it <5k units a year ain't many. 2 seperate relatives of mine purchase Eurovans in the past year. It's not a particularly impressive vehicle. As for build "quality" I wouldn't associate that with VW's of late. Quote
Dru Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 josh since when to VWs have acceleration or quality Quote
Ursa_Eagle Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 compared to the US behemoths, a yugo has both acceleration and quality... Quote
Fromage Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 compared to the US behemoths, a yugo has both acceleration and quality... Yes, and the value doubles when you fill the gas tank. Quote
JoshK Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 josh since when to VWs have acceleration or quality I dunno, my girlfriend's jetta with the VR6 it's faster than most POS american cars with V8s. Quote
Dru Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 we're talkin vans not jettas smart boy. anyways everyone knows Japanese cars smoke the Euro wagons streetracing every time Quote
willstrickland Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Yeah and we know the 'Vette, Ford GT, new Chrysler supercar, and Dodge Viper, not to mention Mustang, Trans Am, etc etc will run circles around those rice burners. Quote
Dru Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 not likely same deal as with bikes - the Harley that used to be the muscle bike is for fat yuppies now, ditto with american muscle cars only one driving it is some paunchy lawyer driving at 50mph up the sea to sky to his whistler chalet owners of them are too scared of damaging investment to drive them fast. car as substitute for loss of sex drive. read mid life crisis and wanting toys couldnt have as teenager. Quote
JoshK Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Find me an american car that'll compete with a modded Subaru WRX WTI for less than $32k. An easy exhaust install and a computer mod and it pushs 370hp and gets to 60 in somewhere near 4 1/2 seconds. Not to mention the japanese actually have a concept of something called "handling" Anyway, this is pointless, we were talking about junk SUVs runing the market for lots of other neat cars over the past decade Quote
JoshK Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Oh, and for the record Audi has dominated SpeedVision GT and LeMans for years now.; Quote
tomtom Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 The Toyota 4runner is getting to be quite the pig. Quote
iain Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 I can hardly wait to see how Toyota has trashed the venerable Tacoma in 2005. If the new 4-runner is any indication, 2004 may be the last year for the classic Toyota 4wd truck. Quote
JayB Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 That would suck if they ruined the Taco - though I am much more likely to spring for major repairs and drive the thing until it implodes than buy a new rig in the next several years. So what happened with the 4-Runner anyway? I have seen one that looked heavier, had less clearance, and generally looked a bit more pedestrian but I thought that they were still selling "sport" editions that were mostly stripped down and still looked like the old 4-Runners. Quote
JoshK Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 So what happened with the 4-Runner anyway? I have seen one that looked heavier, had less clearance, and generally looked a bit more pedestrian but I thought that they were still selling "sport" editions that were mostly stripped down and still looked like the old 4-Runners. It became clear that the market for yuppies who want SUVs had far outpaced the market for people who actually want a legit 4WD truck. Hence the transistion of the 4runner from a very reasonable off-road truck to this bloat thing they now sell. Quote
iain Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Yeah I'm hoping to run my tacoma into the ground too. I guess the word is the tacoma will not change too much, but it will be much bigger than previous models. They are calling it "mid-size" now and the test ones look like a tundra, which I've never liked that much. The new 4-runner is an entirely different vehicle than the previous 3 gens. It has a lot of sophisticated drivetrain "improvements" and a V8 option that is weaker than the V6 But hey if you require the sound and consumption of a V8 it's your baby. The new 4-runner is definitely much more advanced than previous ones and offers a much more plush and smooth ride, but there's something to be said for simplicity. That's why I like the taco trucks, cause I can actually fix things on them Quote
willstrickland Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Find me an american car that'll compete with a modded Subaru WRX WTI for less than $32k. An easy exhaust install and a computer mod and it pushs 370hp and gets to 60 in somewhere near 4 1/2 seconds. Not to mention the japanese actually have a concept of something called "handling" Ok Josh, here ya go, stock models, subbing the chip will probably get you more gain in the 'stang than in the roo: 2004-2005 WRX Sti: 0-60 4.7sec, 1/4mile 13.2sec, topspeed 152mph, mpg 18/24, $32,000. 2004 Ford Mustang Cobra: 0-60 4.5sec, 1/4mile 12.9sec, topspeed 155mph (electronic limited), mpg 16/24, $34,000. Quote
Distel32 Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 wrx is also all wheel drive though, and a sedan, still just as fast as a coupe that has a much bigger engine Quote
cj001f Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 wrx is also all wheel drive though Any car w/performance tires isn't much fun to drive on snow. As for it's "sedan" abilities, the backseat sucks. Really it comes to image - and right now imports are much "cooler" Quote
Eerie Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 The VW van has been slip slidin' away over the past several years due to the saturation of the part of the market it was aimed towards. There are just too many options that offer better form, function, performance and sadly, style than the VW van. A model such as the VW van could only rely on its reputation for so long. iain wrote: The new 4-runner is an entirely different vehicle than the previous 3 gens. It has a lot of sophisticated drivetrain "improvements" and a V8 option that is weaker than the V6 But hey if you require the sound and consumption of a V8 it's your baby. The new 4-runner is definitely much more advanced than previous ones and offers a much more plush and smooth ride,... Iain, the V8 is not weaker than the V6. While offering similar horsepower ratings the V8 has much more torque. Also, the gas mileage is similar (within a couple of miles per gallon) but the V6 requires premium petrol since it has been tweaked so hard to get the horespower it provides. Quote
Dru Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 if you want a small toyota truck now i think you buy the T100? Quote
rbw1966 Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 VW vans are, and will still be, available in Europe. You can get the TDI there which offers better fuel economy. Quote
willstrickland Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 I wonder about Canada and Mexico. Back when they quit selling the Vanagons in the US (about '90 or so) and before the Eurovans arrived ('93 I think), they continued to sell Vanagons in Canada, South Africa, and other places. Quote
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