Fairweather Posted November 3, 2002 Posted November 3, 2002 1986 FJ-60 Toyota Landcruiser. Unfortunately, I sold it years ago for a T-100 2WD pickup. I miss it terribly. Better gas milage now, though. Quote
jeffers Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 2000 Chevy Tracker, and I've got 87k on it already. It's been up the divide 8 or 9 times now, off-road, with never a snort or a whimper. Both front seats recline fully, and they're wider and softer than a ridge rest. Â Plenty of head and leg room for even the tallest people, and you can cram 3 kids in the back seat, or fold them down to make room for a week's gear for 2. The roof rack adds a third. Power everything, 'cept you have to load your CD's one at a time, and it gets 26 mpg on blacktop. Zippy too. The cruise control is kinda bogus, it'll snap your neck and grind along at 4k rpm on slight grades, and the steering is tight, tight, tight. Â Four wheel low got me up Schaffer Gulch without dropping under 1000 rpm, and the factory skid plates mean the infrequent (8" clearance under the diffs) kisses with rocks don't take anything vital out from under you. Â It'll go forever thru 3 foot drifts as long as you don't slow enough to pizza cutter down onto the frame, but 4 footers will stop it cold after 150' or so. Â For $16k, new, it's worth a long look. Quote
North_by_Northwest Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 How come no one has one of these all the advantages of a car and all the advantages of a high clearance truck too. I know I want one. Quote
slothrop Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 Wow, that is a sweet ride Just put a tack-down cover over the bed with an airbrushed screaming eagle or some shit on it and you'd be ready for battle. Â How come there is no high-clearance, 4WD, roomy vehicle with a hybrid engine on the market? I'd almost be willing to make monthly payments for an SUV that gets 50 mpg. Quote
North_by_Northwest Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 Some outfit has been doing hybrid conversions for normal cars in Cali. They did a Mercedes (tires smoked on takeoff) and an SUV, Explorer maybe. I too would make payments for a hybrid SUV. It's hard to pay for what they got now when you know that something like a 50mpg SUV is just around the corner. I'd take a hybrid Excursion any day. Quote
rbw1966 Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 According to a press release from Toyota, they will be releasing a hydrogen powered SUV for sale in 2003. Quote
Greg_W Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 The word I get from people is that the Toyotas are already underpowered. What kind of torque and horsepower are they projecting with a hydrogen engine? How cost-effective is it? Maintainability? Lots of questions to answer. Do you have a link? I'm interested in the technology, but I love my Chevy engine: vroom vrooom. Quote
Mr._Natural Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 greg, now available from our friends at toyota, 4runner w/Lexus V8. automatic only. sticker says 40k, but I hear they are getting a few grand over Quote
iain Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 the new 4-runner looks terrible but the V8 is cool. I don't like the trend towards all that plastic Quote
hakioawa Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 Since I started driving one of these I've never had trouble with parking tickets at snow creek wall. Quote
Greg_W Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 2003 4Runner Specs I agree that the new design sucks: too much plastic and bubbly looking. The V8 they tout is only 4.7-l and so may be slightly underpowered for a V8. V6 has nice numbers though. Quote
Off_White Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 The only Forerunner I've been in was an older model, but I was struck by just how damn small they were inside, less room than our old Toyota Tercel wagon. Â Speaking of which, I'd put that wagon on a list of great climber cars. Sure, it was a dog on acceleration, but the 35 mpg was nice, and the 4wd worked great. Nice high interior, fit this tall person nicely. I sold it at 280,000 miles (still on original engine) with no 4th gear (5sp manual trans) and it has continued to run that way for 4 years (including three road trips to Texas and four to Lake Tahoe). Inelegant, but dependable. Also quite discontinued. Â Personally, I've long been a fan of Volkswagen vans, and over the years have worked my way up from a 67 (last year of the split screen front windshield) to a 79 (last year of the breadloaf, with one of the best aircooled engines VW ever made) and now to an 85 Vanagon. I freely admit they are a "cult" vehicle with some mechanical lack of dependibility, but aside from going through 1600cc motors in the first one like kleenex, I've never had any serious road trip problems. I really like the "living room on wheels" effect of the Westfalia camper, and with the addition of real heat (courtesy of a water cooled motor) and a real refrigerator in my current Van, I'm pretty content. I'd be happier to have the Synchro four wheel drive model, which also features more ground clearance, but they are both too spendy and the mysterious "viscous coupling" that serves as the transfer case makes me somewhat uneasy. Not that I'm opposed to viscous coupling mind you, I just like to understand what I'm doing. Oh, they're also discontinued vehicles, so maybe I've got a theme going here. Quote
slothrop Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 One interesting aspect of current gas/electric hybird engines (like in the Toyota Prius) is that they accelerate very quickly from a stop. I wanna see some hybrid drag racing! Quote
krazy_1 Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 ok i know i am wayyyyy late on this one, but i have me a 93 bronco - takes me anywhere, in awesome shape. if anyone is interested pm me - i'm going to be selling it off here soon - want to get something with 4 doorz. Quote
slothrop Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Dr Flash Amazing: Yeah, DFA heard they're really fuel-efficient, too! No shit! Yer a smart feller! Â But for a car with surprisingly little power, they are reported to accelerate through 30 mph about the same as your usual gasmobile. Â But what the hell am I talking about? The acceleration of a wimpy little hybrid sedan? We're talking climbing vehicles here. You can't beat this one: Â Â You could probably mount some Hellfires on it for those expeditions to Pakistan or Yemen, too. Quote
jordop Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Off White: Speaking of which, I'd put that wagon on a list of great climber cars. Sure, it was a dog on acceleration, but the 35 mpg was nice, and the 4wd worked great. Nice high interior, fit this tall person nicely. I sold it at 280,000 miles (still on original engine) with no 4th gear (5sp manual trans) and it has continued to run that way for 4 years (including three road trips to Texas and four to Lake Tahoe). Inelegant, but dependable. Also quite discontinued. Damned straight! My tercel gets van. to smith in 1.5 tanks of gas. Mind you, once you hit 140kms it feels a bit like a windsurfer! Best $$ I ever spent! Toyota didn't seem to care about planned obsolescence with that one! Â [ 11-05-2002, 08:07 PM: Message edited by: jordop ] Quote
jordop Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Greg W: 2003 4Runner Specs I agree that the new design sucks: too much plastic and bubbly looking. The V8 they tout is only 4.7-l and so may be slightly underpowered for a V8. V6 has nice numbers though. When did atoyot stop making manual 5 spds in the forerunners? Never understood why someone would choose automatic 4wd over standard Quote
Charlie Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Greg W: 2003 4Runner Specs I agree that the new design sucks: too much plastic and bubbly looking. The V8 they tout is only 4.7-l and so may be slightly underpowered for a V8. V6 has nice numbers though. That thing is ugly! I was feeling dumb for not having the newest model, but I feel better now. The best climber rig is a tacoma with a shell (hotel on wheels). Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 Yeah, DFA heard they're really fuel-efficient, too! Quote
glacier_dup1 Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 My personal favorite was my 1983 Cougar. Ah, the smell of burning foliage stuck in the undercarriage. Quote
b-rock Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by shredmaximus: Minivan = Muir Hut on wheels He he, always knew that's why you drove around in that thing. Â My family picked up one of the first gen Chrysler Minivans back in '84. T'was sweet for roadtrips in my teenage years. Got 275K miles with no major maintenance. Called it the 'toaster'. Loved that car. Quote
Dru Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 Actually Ford Windstars are the third most commonly stolen vehicle because they are easy to break into and hotwire. Quote
allthumbs Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Dru: Actually Ford Windstars are the third most commonly stolen vehicle because they are easy to break into and hotwire. Now just how the hell do you know that, you veritable encyclopedia of trivia and bullshit? Quote
Dru Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 Its that little triangle window with the pushbutton lock. Ford loves it and thieves love it too. Under one minute with merely two bent butter knives! Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 Damn, just glue the fuckin' wing window shut with PC-7 and don't worry about it! Quote
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