sac's SUV-buying saga - finally complete!

Sure it does, there are hitches on the sides of the missile hardmounts.

That may be but I'm sure that the mpg stinks!

I have a 2005 Hyundai Tucson and have been very happy with it. V6, 4WD, both great for towing/bad weather/off road but not so much for mileage. That said, I am told the Tucsons have gotten much smaller and the Santa Fe is essentially the "new" Tucson. Check it out!

sac said:

That may be but I'm sure that the mpg stinks!

Nope, it's deisel.

Diesel doesn't come by the gallon?

Nope, it comes by the drum for this beauty. One fill up, and it's off to California. Not to mention all the other cars mentioned on this thread will be mere speed bumps when you roll over them.

Sure it's diesel? Looks more like it has a nuclear reactor on board.

These things showed up in a couple of movies (two come to mind, Damnation Alley, and the B classic "The Ark II", a Saturday monring series in, I think, the early 80's). They were actually military prototypes that were scrapped. Who knows, maybe they could have run on a flux capacitor or an oscillation overthruster in time.

This was fun, but can we get back to realistic suggestions now?

It was realistic, it's great off-road, plenty of storage, deisel, so it gets very good mileage for roadtrips, and has the added bonus of being to squash any other car mentioned in this thread.

Just think of it as his way of bumping your thread, sac.

I doubt that I could keep it in my Maplewood driveway.

sac said:

This was fun, but can we get back to realistic suggestions now?

2012 Honda Pilot. Test drive it. It fulfills all your requirements.

sac said:

I doubt that I could keep it in my Maplewood driveway.

You don't have to, you could park it on top of your neighbor's house.

LOL!

Sac, we have a Ford Explorer. The new one. It's rOomy and had the best mpg on the suv's. And it seats 7.

mammabear - Do the two rear seats fold down flat?

Our ford expedition meets all your requirements except gas mileage. Other than that it's a great truck. We got it so we could easily tow our camper.

Honda Pilot -- highway mpg 24, city 17 -- really not very good at all. Besides which -- have you driven a Pilot? Kinda like driving a bus.

(Ford Explorer even worse mpg, unless you go for the 2 liter 4 cylinder, FWD model, which has an engine that's smaller than a Pinto had)

I've seen Expeditions - I don't want it that big (even if I have to give up the 6' cargo area length) Whatever I get needs to be no larger than my current minivan (Dodge Grand Caravan) and preferably at least somewhat smaller. (The Grand Caravan has an 8' cargo area length - i.e. behind the front seats.)

Expedition 4wd gets 18mpg highway (9-13 city, depending on fuel) -- no way!

Among the most fuel efficient station wagons --

Small Station Wagons
Audi A3 4 cyl, 2.0 L, Automatic (S6), Diesel 34
Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen 4 cyl, 2.0 L, Manual(6), Diesel 34

Midsize Station Wagons
Toyota Prius v 4 cyl, 1.8 L, Automatic (CVT), HEV, Regular 42

As a comparison, the current Grand Caravan is rated 25 hiway, 17 city

peteglider said:

Honda Pilot -- highway mpg 24, city 17 -- really not very good at all. Besides which -- have you driven a Pilot? Kinda like driving a bus.

(Ford Explorer even worse mpg, unless you go for the 2 liter 4 cylinder, FWD model, which has an engine that's smaller than a Pinto had)

Pinto's had engines that made 240hp and 270lb/ft of torque?
The ecoboost engine, which is the 2L, 4cyl model is turbo charged, hence more fuel efficient.

How about the Acura MDX?

yes, Pinto vs Ecoboost not comparable. But that's still a wholly inadequate engine for a vehicle of that size for most drivers. The reviews have been scathing. (and no, I have not driven the 4, only the 6)

The Acura MDX is a prettier Honda Pilot, so if you like one, you'd like the other.

Common platform, but I believe the Acura is less bulky and trucklike.

Pilot & MDX share same platform and nearly all mechanical dimensions are the same. THe MDX has Honda's newer V-6 engine, more powerful, less mpgs.

debby said:

How about the Acura MDX?

Their website says 21 mpg highway. I'm hoping to do better than that.

If you want to do better than 21 mpg in the size care you're looking for, you need to look only at hybrids.