subaru outback. excellent ski car. never been into the suv thing so this a great compromise. awd. excellent handling (the taconic in all weather). 27-28 mpg. fold down split back seat for ski storage. too small for a family though.
Last edited by skiadikt on May 29th, '09, 10:11, edited 1 time in total.
Hubby has a Subie Baja which we sometimes drive to VT but I've been leasing for the past 20 years so I have a new car every 2-3 years. Right now it's a Pontiac Torrent awd. I love the handling and exceleration but not as cushy as the last few suvs I had (crossover). Gets better gas mileage.
Now , maybe I haven't skied Sugarbush enough to know the character well enough...HS 4/17/2007
johnny the jibber wrote:02 jeep liberty with a standard tranmission. good car, but not quite enough ground clearance when the dump gets deep...
Lift that bad boy! They look bad a$$ lifted ....
no thanks, you have to change out the gearing, drop the transfer case and do a ton of other work. been there, done that. all set with all the issues it will cause...
he would shove your ass so far up your ass and stuff! -thejet61 10/2/09
If a snowboarder is in front of me or to the side I assume the slobbering moron will cut from one side of the trail to the other -GSKI 1/17/12
2002 Ford Ranger extracab pickup. 4 liter V6 stick because they would no longer sell the 3 liter with 4WD, and I wanted the 3 liter, I don't tow anything and wanted the better mileage. Love the club style crew cab doors. Only problem so far was a leaky slave cylinder on the hydraulic clutch. 17mpg city, 20 hwy.
2002 Subaru Forester. No problems. Some wind noise on drivers window. Ok room inside. Good ski car for us. 26mpg.
1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse Turbo, 165,000 miles. Had some spauling on one of the camshafts, did a farmer style repair on that one since new bearings were out of the question. Fingers crossed, a good mechanic and regular doses of Slick 50 have worked so far. Zippy. Extremely zippy after 3,500rpm. Due for either a complete overhaul and repaint or replacement. I keep thinking replacement as I'd like airbags. Like those popup headlights though. 26mpg. A mouse just built a nest on the exhaust manifold (ugh, you want to talk stink) as it didn't get driven much last winter; it keeps its summer tires on.
1930 Ford Model A. 98% done. Needs a pin stripe, rear armrests, the brakes adjusted and has cooling issues. Nearly all original metal. They built cars for shorter people then. Drives like a tractor. No synchro mesh, double clutch on downshift. Generator, no alternator. 6V system. Wooden body pillars and ribs. Floorboards. Mohair. Vacuum wiper. Mechanical brakes. 40 awesome horsepower. Manual spark advance. No heat, no defroster, no solenoid, no oil filter, no radio, no AC, no nuthin. 20 mpg, top speed so far 45 mph. There are rumors it will do 60, but you are beyond the braking capacity at that point.
There's a nice 2000 Volvo C70 convertible that sleeps in my garage at night. I only get to drive it if I go to the gym at 5 am. It used to be mine, but now my 18-year-old daughter drives it. This year we actually put snow tires on it, because the low-profile tires aren't meant for New England winters. It has an upgraded option package, but only the low-pressure turbo.
(And...while I was typing this, the phone rang. Said daughter was just hit in the rear quarter of said convertible. D*mn.)
The other car that sleeps in my garage is a 2006 Volvo Cross-Country wagon. Special Ocean Race Edition. It's number 168 out of 500. My husband takes tons of teasing about it. He loves it. I like it too. Handles great in the snow, and the split rear seat means you can take skis as well as a couple of passengers. This is our sixth Volvo wagon...cue Thorski...
BUT...
We also have a sweeeeeet 1998 GMC Savana full-size 8-passenger van that has over 200,000 miles. It's hauled kids skiing every winter since we bought it; it was known for a while as the "fan van," hauling kids to h.s. sports events; it's been to more college dorms than I can count; it's been to Charlotte, Washington, DC, Virginia Beach and I've driven it in Manhattan more than once. It's got plenty of dents, but nobody knows how they got there. Nobody.
My 1991 Toyota pickup. Nearing 218,000 miles. I love this truck so much I spent most of my money to keep it running.
Until this winter, I could say honestly I had never gotten it stuck, and had been in some very hairy situations with it, but alas, here she is belly-hung 100 yards from my house. Hit the snowbank too slow, and didn't expect it to be so frozen