Wagons vs SUVs

[alkalinetaupehat]

I can fit my bbqcomputer in my car for Quakecon, so that's all that really matters to me as far as practicality

That's a pretty sweet compy btw.

I end up mostly driving myself or others around in my car, though my dad makes full regular use of his GMC Safari. We had to take the seats in and out two or three times last week because of people or cargo. I also took the van today when the roads were super-icy, as it has fresh snow tires and AWD. What this ends up doing for us is negating the need of a wagon because the truck-based van in tandem with the midsize car fulfill all our needs. However, if we were to change cars in the future for one reason or another, it would be curious to see if a single AWD wagon could fulfill my dad's needs. I know I'll be in the sports car market in the coming months

 

[Zap]

Me and a buddy would pile three people and all their computer gear + stuff for winter break in his '97 Civic. Poor thing looked like it had a 2" lowering kit installed

LOL, I can imagine. Some friends of mine got four guys with all their computers in a two door Cavalier! Three of the four guys are overweight, and one of the three is really tall too. I think everyone except the driver had gear on their lap.

I can fit my bbqcomputer in my car for Quakecon, so that's all that really matters to me as far as practicality

The one time I went, carpooled with three friends and all our gear in a Ford Taurus from the Chicago area. Four monitors, three mid-tower systems and my micro ATX slim system (at the time) plus rest of our gear and bags.

 

[NAC]

Heh, in college I moved twice a year, using my Mustang GT. I would have my shit piled to the headliner, up against the back of my seat (1986 model hatchback, rear seats folded) and stuff in the passenger seat. This included my tower computer, CRT monitor, stereo system with 43" tall tower speakers, all my books and clothing and my bike.

[old fogey] BITD people just made do with what they got. [/old fogey]

Ha! I had a 86 GT back in college too. At least for Freshman and Sophmore years.

 

[slag]

The general population might think wagons are for old people because they (the aforementioned general population) are dumb. /shrug

FYI, thats not a wagon.

 

[NutBucket]

Then what is it?

 

[slag]

Then what is it?

4 door hatchback. That's nothing but a sedan with a hatchback. Wagons are longer and made for carrying copious amounts of equipment behind the back seat, or hauling additional riders in the rear.

 

[vi edit]

Then what is it?

That's what I find so damn funny about the SUV vs. Wagon argument. The Forester is an Impreza wagon that just got the back end punched out a bit taller. Otherwise it's practically the same vehicle.

 

[ViviTheMage]

A majority of people buy cars based on image more than any other factor. They worry more about how people will view them than how well the car actually is.

I saw this in the parking lot at work last week and thought it was really cool, definitely not an old folks car.

maybe it's just me .. but that IS ugly. The ONLY thing I could consider is something like a hatch....maybe.

 

[PricklyPete]

maybe it's just me .. but that IS ugly. The ONLY thing I could consider is something like a hatch....maybe.

I'd take an RS6 wagon if they sold it here in the states. BADASS.

 

[slag]

I've always liked the older volvo wagons. We have an SUV, a truck, and my sedan. Truck is for hauling stuff like wood, old lawnmowers, taking the boat to the lake, etc, the SUV is my wife's company vehicle that we use to ferry kids around in (explorer with 3rd row seating), taking pets to the vet, taking the boat to the lake when the truck is being loaned to a neighbor, stuff like that, and my car is backup when I need to pick up kids from school, daycare, and I drive it to work every other week. A wagon wouldn't be practical for our family because of reduced load capacity, less able to pull heavy items, lower to the ground (our road doesn't get plowed until usually a day after it snows heavily), etc. It would be an effective kid hauler though.

 

[shortylickens]

I havent seen a true station wagon since the 80's.
The replacement was the hatchback. Most of them are not quite as big but they are actually more practical and reliable.

I dont agree with people saying the SUV is the replacement for the station wagon. Its not.
Its a replacement for the muscle car. Big, powerful, wasteful, generates testosterone. Thats what its for. Very few people use them for hauling anything bigger than their asses over to the fast food joint, two blocks away.

EDIT:
My mazda 5 protege was nice. I miss it. Shame the thing couldnt take a minor accident. I'd still be driving it.

 

[The Stigenator]

Hyundai Elantra touring is a wagon. Available in m/t

 

[jhu]

Just call them "estate cars" instead of "wagons". Problem solved.

 

[vi edit]

Just call them "estate cars" instead of "wagons". Problem solved.

I prefer the term "Avant". That sounds even cooler!

 

[ShawnD1]

Just call them "estate cars" instead of "wagons". Problem solved.

I drive a "lowered SUV"


and the el camino was a lowered truck. You already know what that car looks like, but this is what a lowered truck looks like. It's the same! *gasp*

 

[heymrdj]

Still do in college. Me and a buddy would pile three people and all their computer gear + stuff for winter break in his '97 Civic. Poor thing looked like it had a 2" lowering kit installed

Oh and it was $20 for a 1000 mile trip. Fuel mileage ftw.

Lets be at least a little believable shall we? You're saying you got 100 miles per gallon at 2$ per gallon?? The average gas prices in 97 were about 1.30 and up. Even at 1.30 you would have had to make better than 50mpg. Believable on an empty 97 civic, maybe just barely. But no snowballs chance on a fully loaded one, the laws of physics do not aid the numbers of such a crappy little engine. Most people say they get at most 31-44mpg unloaded at 55mph on a good day.

 

[ShawnD1]

Lets be at least a little believable shall we? You're saying you got 100 miles per gallon at 2$ per gallon?? The average gas prices in 97 were about 1.30 and up. Even at 1.30 you would have had to make better than 50mpg. Believable on an empty 97 civic, maybe just barely. But no snowballs chance on a fully loaded one, the laws of physics do not aid the numbers of such a crappy little engine. Most people say they get at most 31-44mpg unloaded at 55mph on a good day.

He might have been tailgating a semi. I once got about 60mpg when I was tailgating a semi in my corolla

 

[slag]

I havent seen a true station wagon since the 80's.
The replacement was the hatchback. Most of them are not quite as big but they are actually more practical and reliable.

I dont agree with people saying the SUV is the replacement for the station wagon. Its not.
Its a replacement for the muscle car. Big, powerful, wasteful, generates testosterone. Thats what its for. Very few people use them for hauling anything bigger than their asses over to the fast food joint, two blocks away.

EDIT:
My mazda 5 protege was nice. I miss it. Shame the thing couldnt take a minor accident. I'd still be driving it.

Mercury grand marquis station wagon with the 460 is what my parents had. It has sideways seating in the rear for 2 additional people where my sister and I sat. Probably singld digit fuel mileage, but we didnt care. We got gas at the indian country gas station (no tax) for like 79 cents/gallon even into the 90's.

 

[heymrdj]

He might have been tailgating a semi. I once got about 60mpg when I was tailgating a semi in my corolla

I can get 39mpg in my Expedition at 74mph, but I don't know of any semi that doesn't turn within 1000mi :biggrin:

 

[hanoverphist]

i would totally roll in a station wagon like this

 

[Zap]

FYI, thats not a wagon.

Then what is it?

dictionary.net

a car that has a long body and rear door with space behind rear seat

Merriam-Webster

an automobile that has a passenger compartment which extends to the back of the vehicle, that has no trunk, that has one or more rear seats which can be folded down to make space for light cargo, and that has a tailgate or liftgate

answers.com

A station wagon or estate car is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door (the liftgate or tailgate), instead of a trunk lid. The body style transforms a standard three-box design into a two-box design
...the models typically share their platform, drivetrain and bodywork forward of the A-pillar.

 

[jlee]

FYI, thats not a wagon.

Yes, yes it is.

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

Lets be at least a little believable shall we? You're saying you got 100 miles per gallon at 2$ per gallon?? The average gas prices in 97 were about 1.30 and up. Even at 1.30 you would have had to make better than 50mpg. Believable on an empty 97 civic, maybe just barely. But no snowballs chance on a fully loaded one, the laws of physics do not aid the numbers of such a crappy little engine. Most people say they get at most 31-44mpg unloaded at 55mph on a good day.

I should've mentioned that this was splitting it with the two other people in the car.

We would fill up the car with about 12 gallons of fuel and cover one half of the trip, and this was with an average fuel price of about $2.63/gallon last year (local reservation had a gas station + fuel was hovering around $2.50-2.75 last year where we were filling up)

This means that it would take 24 gallons of fuel to complete the trip to and from my college and home, so the math goes something like this:

24 * $2.63 = $63.12

Divided among three people this gives us a per-person cost of $21.04 round trip.

And with 24 gallons over 1000 miles of steady-state cruising at 55mph in what was essentially a lowered Civic with the SOHC motor (driver is a religious nut about speed limits and I was bored and read the owner's manual lol) we get 41.666 repeating for an average mpg figure.

Q.E. motha-respectin' D.

 

[Spicedaddy]

hmm, RS4 Avant... My dream daily driver.

You can put so much stuff in a hatch/wagon compared to a sedan, it's ridiculous. Just looking at Subaru's web site, the Impreza sedan has 320 liters of cargo space, while the wagon has 1257 liters.

 

[CraigRT]

hmm, RS4 Avant... My dream daily driver.

Ditto!