Not true! My sister in law got one so that if some drunken idiot male in an SUV plows into her, her vehicle will be at least as big as his. Honest.
Not true! My sister in law got one so that if some drunken idiot male in an SUV plows into her, her vehicle will be at least as big as his. Honest.[/quote] I forgot about the size argument. Well, in the USA it doesnāt really matter as the roads are wide and so are the parking spaces. In Taiwan and Europe its different and size should matter.
[quote=āHobartā]Come on guys, even a CRV is less sissy than a dang station wagon or Minivan! It is La Stationwagon and La Minivan, but Le SUV. SUV no matter how you look at it is a males car/truck. Sure there are more macho SUVs than others, but all SUVs are more macho than almost all station wagons and minivans.
At least that is the way most Americans over 30 look at it. (Umm, I may be mistaken as I havenāt lived here for the past 9 years.) There may be exceptions but as a rule all SUVs are macho and all wagons and minivans are feminine. The only reason women drive SUVs are because the husband bought it for her so that he can drive it and not be embarassed.
Hsiadogah: They made that XC70 look like marketing design crap and no substance. Ummā¦errā¦I was more insterested in the Audi All Road than the XC70 anyway.[/quote]
Donāt worry Hobart, Iām just rattling your cage ā hey, donāt forget youāre talking to someone whoās quite happy with his Sentra! 
In the US, the small SUVs (X5, Mercedes, Lexus, Acura, CRV, etc) are still perceived as for soccer moms or sissy boys.
Got to drive a big full size truck or a true 4WD to be something else.
Well thank god weāre not all fashion-victim enough as to adopt some consumer pattern driven by overcompensating 30-something American men. Iām not about to buy an overweight gas-guzzler with no offroad potential, poor on-road performance and handling, plus minimal cargo space just because it looks butch.
I have a friend who bought an X-Trail for his wife, because like most guys in his position, his wife insisted on having it. He wanted a van for hauling stuff, she thought the SUV looked safe. Useful cargo space is marginally, barely larger than that in my Impreza wagon. Fuel consumption is much worse. He only has FWD, I have AWD. He has a little more ground clearance, but I have twice his traction. On āimprovedā roads his Nissan is a slow, understeering top-heavy tippy pig compared to the Impreza, and he left in the dust. On tarmac, if thereās just the slightest hint of a curve in the road he turns into a speck in my mirror because corners I can carve at 90 he has to wobble through at 60. On mountain descents he cannot keep my pace because his brakes overheat. Sure, it looks very butch having your ass handed to you by some mommyās wagon. Iām sure it makes him feel much better.
Forget fashion. Get what you want.
[quote=āHobartā]Come on guys, even a CRV is less sissy than a dang station wagon or Minivan! It is La Stationwagon and La Minivan, but Le SUV. SUV no matter how you look at it is a males car/truck. Sure there are more macho SUVs than others, but all SUVs are more macho than almost all station wagons and minivans.
[/quote]
I dunno about all you guys, but if I didnāt need to go offroad, Iād much rather have an Audi RS4, RS6, or Subaru Legacy GT wagon over an SUV. JMO.
Ben: Nice choices, I would be happy with any of those as well. Damn fast those wagons are. Definitely not girlie cars or housewife grocery getters. Now, do they actually have more space than an SUV? No wagon has a 3rd row seat do they? Guess with that kind of performance who cares, at least they have more space and cheaper price than an M3, but with similar performance.
The bottom line is WASTE. I hate watching things (especially the earthās resouces) go to waste. The funniest thing in the SUV world Iāve seen lately is how they are now removing the rear Diff from these SUVs so in the endā¦ theyāre just bulky front wheel drive pieces of hoo hoo. I remember my sister took out a loan for a kick-ass head unit for her VW cabriolet. It was fully loaded with inputs and outputs all across the back. I installed it for her and ran the speakers off deck power (NO AMPS or any real use of itās strong points) ? WHY did she need it I ask, she said it had this cool video that plays on the LCD when she listens to the RADIO! :loco: WASTE!
Anyway, back to the topic. I feel like I can compare that style of thinking to the Toureg. I always thought of VW to be a sensible company that didnāt need to follow these stupid trends, I wonāt even comment on the Porche. I understand that they have to make money, but at the cost of their reputation?? They lose in the end for sure.
Hereās an old link to our teamās webisteā¦ We have a new one now but I donāt have the link for some reason. tonsure.com/4x4/projects.htm
ICBW, but as far as I know, the Touareg, and itās midsize counterparts (X5, RX330, etc), that are the subject of this thread donāt have 3rd row seats either. 
I would imagine the space of at least the RS6 and Legacy GT would be the same or very close to a midsize SUV.
Definitely a lot more fun to drive than an SUV. 
^^ Itās amazing what will disappear into the back of a Legacy wagon, way more room than a CRV or Escape for example.
I think one of the most impressive cars Iāve ever driven was an older S6, the one with the NA V8 and 6sp tranny. Hard to believe youāre in a wagon when shifting into top at 230kph and still accelerating 
The subaru is a cool car, but is it cheaper to maintain?
If I were to get a vagon, I would go for an AD resort, local make, dirt cheap to run.
Yeah, the 2 wheel drive SUV is a curiosity. What you end up with is a tall station wagon that doesnāt accelerate or handle as well as a normal height wagon, doesnāt have any more cargo space, and canāt go off-road or tool around in snow/nasty weather.
Heh - Over CNY, we loaded up our 1990 Honda Civic with camping gear (we took out the back seat to make more room) and headed south to spend some time camping on the beach with MJB, Durins Bane and their families. Even with our overloaded wagon, we made it down the rutted, coral-encrusted beach road without punching a hole in the transmission or the oil pan. We had to take it really slow, and of course we had the peace of mind knowing that MJB was ready to tow us out of any difficult spots with his monster truck, but stillā¦ The wife and I would love an SUV (I like the higher riding position), but really our 4 door 1500cc Honda Civic sedan does the trick for 99.9% of the things we need to do.
[quote=āMr Heā]The subaru is a cool car, but is it cheaper to maintain?
If I were to get a vagon, I would go for an AD resort, local make, dirt cheap to run.[/quote]Cheaper than what? Iād say itās about Toyota level for spares.
I looked at the AD Resort, the Ford Activa and Mondeo wagons, the last of the Liberos, as well as the Impreza. The Activa only came with a 1.6 and has no cargo space. The Libero and AD had enough space, but again were only available with a 1.6 and a base level interior. The Mondeo and the Impreza were the only two that fit my budget (no Volvo or BMW wagons for this poāboy) and had any torque for climbing hills fully loaded. I do a lot of that. With similar pricing I traded the extra room of the Mondeo for the Subyās AWD and way better handling. The interior is better too (not hard to beat a Ford interior). They didnāt import the Forester when I bought the Impreza 
For a dirt-cheap Ostfront-worthy wagon Iād take the Libero over the AD Resort as it handles better and feels to have marginally more power.