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Comments
Doing a performance rebuild on the TB sounds like a good plan IMO.
Loosh: a belated condolence and virtual round of your favorite brew to get past the sucker-punch incident.
Ed
So 2 cars often make do, but we didn't stick together for the day. It'll be the same thing tomorrow when we drop them off, only half of us can go. :-(
Where is their car? Bimmer got smashed in the snow (noone hurt). RWD to blame? Who knows. My Miata stays parked, buried under 6" or so.
Colin: you sure they can afford the raise? Gas prices are finally a reasonable 1.62 in Potomac! ;-)
Any how, I think with an M anything, it goes with the territory. They are surely worth the associated costs that come along with them.
-juice
Look at them - they are the same old minivans with a nose job. A Volvo XC90 front end on an old minivan isn't even a very good minivan, much less a crossover sport.
I'm feeling nauseated.
-juice
PS Anyone want to bet $3000 rebates appear within a month?
Jon
Jon: you are so right you don't even know how right you are. But still - my wife simply would not bite on the minivan idea. We drove several, including the MPV, Sedona, and she rode in my cousin's Odyssey.
She's warming up to the idea of a bigger vehicles, but even then - she sort of hints that it should be mine, since I have the Miata. It's funny. We'll see how it all sorts out.
-juice
I drive a wagon and I get the same reaction from the so called beautiful people, drive a wagon? I would'nt be caught dead in a wagon.
Meanwhile I get the last laugh when I see the same idiots at the shopping centre desperately trying to cram a 4 foot box into a 2 foot trunk opening.
Cheers Pat
Sorry to grumble but can I suggest a change to posting etiquette on these pages. I keep getting lost when a Title has not been included at the top of a posting. Sometimes, I am not sure whether we are talking about tyres or babies, even after reading the post through. It makes sense to the person posting but not to everyone else.
Cheers
Graham
How's that, Graham?
-juice
Jon
Man, driver's in Northern VA are pushy. I had a hard time trying to drive at a reasonable speed and not get run off the road....
Craig
so the odyssey is what we take when the family travels ( lots of room for luggage and kids ). it also is the 'dump' car ( town dump ). the grocery car. love that behind the 3rd row hole in the floor to stop oranges from going everywhere ( xt does a good job at this also but just cant handle the volume we bring back from the grocery store ). and the take it anywhere we might need buy something car.
so the xt is mostly the 2 adults car ( so need to worry about fitting grown ups in the back row ). it is also 'i have the need for speed' car. and my wife uses it as her commuter car.
so a wagon and minivan are just fine with me and i enjoyed watching those 7 series bmws stuck in the snow.
Saw a silver one today. I could see myself in that. *urgh* (eyes roll back into head Frodo style) Going to wait for that Legacy launch though. It would be lunacy not too.
Plus it seems another company is courting me, which in turn means I need to have a chat with my current one, which in turn means Colin may not be the only one finally getting market value in January. So we'll see....too early to call it either way. These things can fall apart too easily.
-Brian
Bob
Touareg Gets Even Tougher
t's time to head for the hills! Volkswagen is developing an extreme version of its all-new Touareg, aimed at establishing the car as the world's greatest off-roader. Plans for the radical machine were revealed to Auto Express at the Paris Motor Show, where the standard edition of the all-wheel-drive VW made its official debut.
Set to offer beefed-up air suspension, a more robust transmission and extra body protection, the Land Rover Discovery rival will launch early in 2004, priced from around £35,000. Proposals to distinguish the car from the regular model include cladding the exposed bodywork with plastic armour and mounting a spare wheel on the boot lid. Bigger roof rails could also feature, as well as different wheels.
Options under consideration include a 'snorkel' exhaust system to help the car through very deep water, as well as custom winches and sand filters. Revised anti-roll bars and additional armour-plating underneath complete the mechanical upgrades, while inside, the machine is likely to offer a no-frills interior that puts practicality first.
The car will, however, keep its advanced GPS-based navigation system, as well as the digital displays which detail the condition of the suspension and gearbox. Erwin Pape, the Touareg's development chief, says: "We were late to arrive in the SUV market. The Touareg has to be more than a 'me-too' vehicle. We have to prove it can do the real thing." With the engine line-up set to include the awesome 313bhp V10 diesel we tested in issue 722, plus VW's forthcoming W12 unit, it seems certain that the car will have no shortage of power.
Traction - already first-rate thanks to a computer-controlled brake, throttle and stability system - will be further enhanced by aggressive off-road tyres being developed. Interest in this ultra-functional SUV has come from a number of sources, including the military.
Bob
At least they have HOV lanes, and if Subaru ever makes a hybrid you could enjoy that even by yourself!
Bob: who is going off road in a £35,000 anything?
The best off roaders are built, not bought. For that budget you could build one and buy a tow vehicle with a trailer.
-juice
and anybody else who buys that kind of high-end off-roader. It's a small market for sure, but there is a market.
Bob
-juice
Bob
Today it's 1.7236, so $60k plus!
-juice
going to pick it up this evening, stay tuned for details on whether the hesitation is fixed and other driving impressions. just in time for a wicked thunderstorm/snowstorm!
-Colin
Cheers Pat.
-juice
Cheers Pat.
the service, as usual, was impeccable. other than price of course but you do get superior service at my dealership for that superior outlay of cash. I gave the OK to order the computer friday at 10 AM and today at 3 PM they called and said it's done. they even detailed it very nicely. I think they do detailing for free anytime you have a large bill... lol
spoke with my dad about the throttle body and he thought that as long as the rod for the throttle butterfly isn't scored, little else that's wrong couldn't be fixable. at only 80k miles I don't see how the throttle butterfly could be worn. thinking it's carboned up or just misadjusted (closing too far). good winter project!
-Colin
-mike
GM's "Crossover Sport Vans" got seriously trumped by DCX's vans, they just showed the new folding seats and they look GM's band-aid fix look plain sloppy.
Chrysler's split fold neatly, so they even one-upped the Odyssey.
-juice
So, it looks like Chrysler/Dodge will have a lead in the minivan-seat wars for a while -- at least until Honda shows its revised Odyssey next fall.
Bob
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=6674&sid=17- - - 5&n=156
What were they thinking ?
The current generation doesn't even have movable 2nd row seats (front to rear adjustment like the front row). It was pretty clear to us that 'cheaper' in this case didn't mean 'better value'. Add to that their reliability problems and late upgrade of the engine line (they were still selling push-rod V-6's when we looked), and it was a no-brainer.
We bought an '03 MPV.
-brianV
Nice leap frog jump by DCX. The Sienna's 2nd row can't come close, and Nissan's is awkward, though still convenient. MPV still has the exclusive side-by-slide, the only one you can move over with a child still in the seat.
Amazingly, Odyssey was a segment leader just a couple of months ago and now seems very outdated. Honda has a long to-do list:
* hide the door tracks
* open the 2nd row side windows
* side-curtain air bags
* split the 3rd row
* get the 2nd row seats to fold magically
* AWD option
* hybrid drivetrain?
That last will be the only "exclusive" feature.
This is turning out to be a pretty fun bet, eh, Bob? Competition has really upped the ante, Honda will have to really stretch to offer any real break throughs.
-juice
Bob
Sienna and Caravan have upped the ante nicely, I might actually win the bet! LOL
-juice
Bob
They have to keep secrets. Competitors are popping up with new features in no time. If they show it in January, 9 months later some one might beat them to market with the feature, literally.
-juice
Bob
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=6677&sid=17- - 3&n=156
It looks better without the chrome grille found on the larger H2.
Bob
These are the ones they recommend:
Progressive-scan, single-disk player:
Panasonic DVD-555 $130
Progressive-scan, multidisk player:
Panasonic DVD-F85 (5 disk) $150
Samsung DVD-C631P (5 disk) $120
Philips DVD 795SA (5 disk) $280
These are the ones with "blue" marks, indicating the most versitle, etc.
There are 28 listed in this report
You may want to pick this issue up (hopefully it should still be on the stands) because they also test the STi.
Bob
-juice
Cheers Pat.
-mike
Cheers Pat.
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/wheel11_20031211.htm
The handwriting is on the wall. Expect an onslaught of AWD cars in the future. Is Subaru ready for this competition?
Bob