Ski car or ski truck?

Doing fine thanks .yesterday pulled the trigger and  Ordered me a new 2018 Outback Limited ( traded my 2012 same version )    .    Dark blue pearl, with white leather heated seats ,moonroof, power lift gate nice sound system set up etc pkg put a few xtra options on too  . Nothing like it in the system that was availble from others so decided eff it order it . We did it that way last time too,should be in before Xmas and perhaps right after Turkey time .

Sweet whip WD

Peter Minde wrote

Were I to win the lottery, I'm not buyin'  no stinking' Lamborghini.  I'd rather have one of these:

Oh hell yes!

I don't want any gigantic ostentatious truck.  I'll drive a car:

The gas mileage isn't too good, but it's your only choice for an AWD hatchback.

mm

I've seen 2 of these live and up close.  Some things are just plain wrong.  

Always had a thing for that MB Unimog too , sumbitch will go thru anything . I remember the ole WC slalom skier Paul Accola from Switzerland had one . Saw a special on him he was driving that rig all over Alps . Acola was a farmboy from the Swiss  Alps  and he loved that "  tractor " as he called it.

warp daddy wrote

Always had a thing for that MB Unimog too , sumbitch will go thru anything . I remember the ole WC slalom skier Paul Accola from Switzerland had one . Saw a special on him he was driving that rig all over Alps . Acola was a farmboy from the Swiss  Alps  and he loved that "  tractor " as he called it.

After all, they were originally developed as farm vehicles.

Not sure if I posted this before- maybe in one of the other threads.

http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/off-road/extreme-rigs/building-a-unimog-truck-camper-rig/

I'm still doing winter driving in my Toyota Matrix with a Thule on top.  Last few years I added snow tires after having issues getting out of VT at MRG one time.  Find that roads around ski areas well maintained and mostly bare.  If it sucks you aren't driving fast in any car.

Got a Volvo XC70 myself and that thing is sick. Got ski racks and the option of a big ol box or some kayak or bikes. All wheel drive is the best thing invented for ski vehicles. What extra nice is dropping the rear seats down and being able to camp in the trunk because I have so much space. I’ve put 5 people in there with coolers and all and still have some space with the roof box. She’s given me some trouble but I got a new transmission and engine for free off the warranty I bought. My coworker just bought a 15 passenger AWD van though which we will be taking to Boho a bunch

We are continuing with the crossover SUV route for our latest ski vehicle.  Picking up a new 2019 VW Atlas in Kingston tomorrow.  The thing is pretty cavernous inside compared to others in its class.  With 4Motion AWD and a slew of safety features it should serve quite well.  With my son taking the Wrangler to college I was down to using the Saab 9-3 convertible as my daily driver, and that wouldn’t do for the winter, especially getting to powder days at Magic and Platty!

Still rolling the dice with my '97 legacy...seen here being pushed out of the NJ Inspection facility last month after being "interrogated" via the OBD port. Ended up passing muster before it crapped out, so it's currently sporting a "pass" sticker good until the end of 2021. Received jump from dude off beater minivan and went to work. All good since then...no issues..so incident remains a mystery. It's my prized possession.

+1 Jon951.  How many miles on that bad boy?  I couldn't get any of my Subies past 240k miles.

Current ride: 2012 diesel Jetta shooting brake.  Four snow tires, did well in the sleet / freezing rain in LP last Monday

Peter Minde wrote

Current ride: 2012 diesel Jetta shooting brake.  Four snow tires, did well in the sleet / freezing rain in LP last Monday

Love It!!

This is the last year to get a VW AWD Wagon if anyone else wants one.  I think I posted this before, but my Golf Alltrack:



No offense JTG, but the Atlas is too high IMHO.  I watched them attempt to put a cargo box on the roof of that thing at a VW dealership and no one could get up there.  Like my old '06 Escape it's too damn tall.  What you can haul on top is just as important as what you can haul within.

<quote author="Peter Minde">
+1 Jon951.  How many miles on that bad boy?  I couldn't get any of my Subies past 240k miles.

133k...just broken in...one of many Subys owned by my family...others not new, but not beaters. The head gasket failure issue struck a number of them, but not a problem for us, as we repair our own vehicles. A good friend of mine is a master tech at the dealership so no shortage of support if needed. His quote, "Suby...modern day Volkswagen"...so true.

These were pretty good in the now back in the day...I haven't had this one out in the snow since I owned it...trying to preserve it, not salt/brine it. Wish I still had the little Baracrafter ski rack that slapped on these below the rear window, but prob sold the car it was on, rack and all. I'd use it for wall deco if I still had it, many memories loading my skis into it long ago.

TheGreatAbyss wrote

No offense JTG, but the Atlas is too high IMHO.  I watched them attempt to put a cargo box on the roof of that thing at a VW dealership and no one could get up there.

My crossbars arrive Tuesday, I’ll let you know how it goes!  I’ve managed well enough with the Thule cargo box on top of the XC-90 and the Wrangler for years, so I’ll make the Atlas work.  Hard to find a 7 passenger vehicle that fits adult children that isn’t on the big side.

Peter Minde wrote

+1 Jon951.  How many miles on that bad boy?  I couldn't get any of my Subies past 240k miles.

200k is about tops for what I’ve gotten in a Subi, undercarriage rust has been the issue rather than anything major mechanical. I still buy them ( have 3 now) because IMHO they are the best bang for the buck.

Agree that the OB is a pretty good bang for the buck . W

Jon951 wrote

133k...just broken in...one of many Subys owned by my family...others not new, but not beaters. The head gasket failure issue struck a number of them, but not a problem for us, as we repair our own vehicles. A good friend of mine is a master tech at the dealership so no shortage of support if needed. His quote, "Suby...modern day Volkswagen"...so true.

and this is one of the reasons why I will never by a Sub. Most people cannot fix their own vehicles and most people do not have access to a master tech for support. I have a handful of ski buddies with Subs who had to deal with the head gasket issue.

Jon951 wrote

These were pretty good in the now back in the day...I haven't had this one out in the snow since I owned it...trying to preserve it, not salt/brine it. Wish I still had the little Baracrafter ski rack that slapped on these below the rear window, but prob sold the car it was on, rack and all. I'd use it for wall deco if I still had it, many memories loading my skis into it long ago.

These bugs handled the snow great but there was a serious lack of heat for the cabin and the defroster.

x10003q wrote

These bugs handled the snow great...

When I was in engineering school I used to drive Taconic Parkway to Stowe every weekend. We started counting the cars that were off the road in bad weather, and almost all of them were VWs, station wagons and Oldsmobile Toronados (which were the only FWD cars back then). "Everyone knew" that VWs, station wagons and Toronados were good in the snow. It was true all those cars didn't get stuck as easily as my 1958 Biscayne, but once they got moving they were all hard to control for different reasons. The problem with VWs was that they ran low pressure front tires that would easily lose traction, which led to lose of steering. Plus you were freezing cold even before you crashed off the road.

mm