Help gladhands pick out a whipped wagon

[CommercialDoc]

Maybe a little off topic but I live in Pittsburgh. I think the public perception of Pittsburgh winters is that they are more severe than they actually are. I would expect less major storms and heavy snow than Boston. Pittsburgh gets a lot of wet, wintry days but maybe a handful of heavy snows per season.

ps - if you happen to need Pittsburgh specific advice, feel free to pm me.

 

[dcg]

Originally Posted by gladhands

Do you drive on them all year or rotate seasonally?

Pretty much what bigbjorn said. Except the tires on my S2000 are staggered and directional so no rotating for me.

 

[Harold falcon]

Originally Posted by bigbjorn

Right, god forbid someone buy proper snow tires. My wife drove our Blizzak-shod Odyssey like f'ing Juha Kankkunen this winter around dopes in useless SUVs on no-season tires.

Tires. They're where it's at.

You win with this reference.

 

[bigbjorn]

BTW, you definitely don't want to drive on snow tires all year.

One of the things that make snow tires so exceptional is that their compound is very very soft, which means that even at temperatures below freezing you will get compound grip, in addition to mechanical grip. However, this soft compound will make them wear very quickly above 50d F.

BTW, this is another little-understood thing about summer and all-season tires -- because they are optimized to work between 50 and 80 d F, they harden significantly at freezing temperatures, which decreases compound grip, even on bare asphalt.

The softer compound, in addition to the decreased land/sea ratio of winter tires (what you might call "more tread&quot, is an important component in their performance. Tires... they're not just round and black.

 

[dcg]

OP could import a Forester STI

Except that I don't think they make one for the current gen, which is now more of an SUV.

 

[eg1]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Just my opinion but you'll want to get something as roomy as possible relative to wheelbase. Nixing SUVs limits your choice at that point. Check out Volvo.

+1

OP, my brother the banker married somebody much like your wife (from your description) and he bought the Volvo SUV-thingy XC90. Peace at any price, my friend ...

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Bradden

Congrats !

Look at the Ford Edge, the newer ones are better on gas, they also have a generous back seat to fit the car seat plus all the other baby necessities. They are also rather quiet.

My sister and her husband got an Edge when they had their second kid. They love it. It gets 25 mpg highway, feels nice, and I've driven it several times and it's nice to drive around it. Big and roomy.

 

[gamelan]

i love my Subaru Forester. the first one saved my life so naturally i picked up a second one.

the first was an XT which was a hoot to drive. and it was fun being able to out accelerate G35s, 328s, etc in my little turbocharged 4 banger. i miss that thing.

current one is a bottom of the line model but i still love it.

-Jjeff

 

[pscolari]

Originally Posted by gladhands

My wife just had our first child and will be moving from Boston to Pittsburgh, so it's time to add a second car. We're looking for a wagonish vehicle with awd or 4wd to deal with the hills and snow in our new city. I'm not interested in an SUV.

Right now my wife and I are considerign the Honda Crosstour and Audi A3. Thoughts? Suggestions?

We recently bought an A3 with quattro here in Boston. For us size was not an issue as we have no kids and just a small dog. Prior to this, we had (and are just about to sell) a Subaru Outback. Our first instinct was to test drive the new Outback, but we felt the car was bloated and nothing like the best parts about our 2000 Outback. We also realized at this time we didn't need the space, but still wanted to focus on AWD. We did also test drive VW Tiguan and Passat wagon. Didn't test Jetta wagon as, like you mention, not 4motion.

We are very happy with the A3, though the wait was terrible. We ordered around mid-August and finally got the car December 29. The day before I picked it up we got about a foot of snow and got to drive it in the snow right off the bat. Compared to our outback, the quattro feels better, but that might also have to do with having a much smaller wheel base and a lower COG.

For your purpose, I am not sure how great it would be for an infant w car seat in back. For a point of reference though, I have been in the back of A4 Avants before and it doesn't seem like there is that much more room compared to A3. So, I don't think you win with Audi, unless you go Q5. The only other car I would consider if we had to do it over again would be either a 3 or 5 series wagon with about 30k miles on it. Since we have only put on about 200 miles a month on the A3, I would be happy to buy preowned with a car like that.

 

[turboman808]

Sorta on topic sorta not

Getting married this Friday and we are picking up a 4x4 when we get back from our honeymoon.

Really we are getting a rock crawler. We go out with friends and it's always a good time. Now we will have our own.

 

[impolyt_one]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Just my opinion but you'll want to get something as roomy as possible relative to wheelbase. Nixing SUVs limits your choice at that point. Check out Volvo.

This is what I told him to do in a PM; the new V60 that is coming out looks like a nice car and would suit his needs well. It's also more car than an A3, which is essentially a nice looking Golf 5-door, though the Volvo and the Audi with similar realistic options probably come with similar price tags.

 

[gladhands]

I appreciate everyone's advice here. You guys are great. Who knew that this is where the gentlemen hang out?

 

[OldGeezer]

+1 Volvo
+100 Subaru

 

[changy]

Why the aversion to SUV's? I think models like the Lexus RX line or BMW x3 is a nice middle ground if you don't want to go full size. Just throwing it out there

 

[Farhan]

If you're willing to look at the Xtour, might as well take a look at the Toyota Venza. My wife and I are in the same situation and after car shopping for several months, I'm pretty confident we've found the car we need in the Venza.