I’ve had this problem lots recently.
@beschizza - the date is wrong in the permalink - 18 instead of 20.
What’s up with that? Scheduled posting or something?
NOOOOO! The slow disappearance of manual transmission in the US gives me a sad. And that’s a car I would have considered getting in the future.
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I guess the only problem would be that you could never register it in California (will never pass the smog tests), and wouldn’t be able to register it anywhere in the US for 25 years (I’m pretty sure the T5 has not been federalized).
Toyota vans are good for this. I have been out cross country skiing, and overtook 4WD Subarus stuck in shallow snow, while the liteace I was in cruised right along.
that doesn’t sound like a clearance issue.
Now that I’m looking back, I think it’s the hatchback they are removing from the line, not the stick. I have been spending so much time looking for a manual, station wagon type vehicle that I conflated the two.
I can’t believe it is so hard to find this configuration in the US. It’s a perfect compromise of haul my self, stuff, and kids, and still perform well on most roads on the continent, paved or dirt.
The original wagon posted was pretty sweet too. If I wanted to cruise / camp my way around the country it looks like a great way to go.
I guess the big question is, why is the US market so damn narrow? The car companies always go back to demand, but it seems like SUVs were sold pretty hard in their early days just to make that demand happen.
Yeah it is. Snow piles up in front of the lowest part of your vehicle, preventing forward motion. The one wheel drive townace and liteace have more ground clearance than the two wheel drive subaru station wagons (I count a single axle as one driving wheel), so the subarus can’t drive into as much snow. Not sure if the subaru has a limited slip differential but in any event more driven wheels won’t push all that snow out of the way.
Perhaps I misinterpreted what you considered as “shallow” then.
Yep. That’s why they get you hooked. I’ve been a German car guy for 20 plus years now. I’ll never own a Japanese or American car.
Well, my X3 was build in South Carolina, but still…
Some Asian cars are pretty great, don’t get me wrong.
When I used to travel, I rented lots of cars. The Hyundai Elantra was probably the best for its lower price range. Unexpectedly, the Nissan Cube was great, too. The Cube had the same communicativeness that I enjoyed with my Golf. Unfortunately, it’s a tough sell for straight men (and many gay men), because the looks of the thing puts the hurt on your machismo. The customer I was working for at the time literally called me to tell me I looked ridiculous as I was driving away from the office. He was a north Indian, too, so it must be pretty bad. I can’t comment on the Cube doing 100, because I was driving it around the Sacramento suburbs, so that’s just improbable.
I would rate the latest focus as “pretty good” for the price as well. Compared with the latest model cheap Jettas, I’d rather drive a ford. I would go so far as to say that the base Jettas that start at 15k are not actual VW’s.
Of all the cars I’ve rented, I actually hated the Prius the most (granted I think the only ones I rented were 2009 models). It’s big, stupid, slow and smug. That huge LCD that shows you how efficient it is ruins your night vision, because the rest of the car is completely dark. I’d rather rent a Toyota Echo. It’s slow and cheap stupid, but at least more drivable at night, and less like a van in the corners.
“Watch out for bridges and hop-ons; you’re gonna get some hop-ons.”
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You’re right. I’ve had Hyundai’s as rentals several times, they’re pretty nice.
I’ve not driven a Focus or Fiesta, but people rave about them. Including a guy I know in Europe that does car deliveries for people. He swears by both, has them up with the Golf.
Thought. Replace the backlight with a mix of red and white LEDs, switch to the red ones at night?
I just bought one and you can’t have it, nah !
Oh yeah, and it comes with 4WD too !
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