Unicorn Hunting: Comfy wagon/SUV with great mileage

Clay · 2007-08-27T00:47:51+00:00

Greetings! I'm shopping for a car that may not exist. My requirementslist isn't long, but it's hard to find them on the same car.1) Absurdly comfortable front seats. I'm 6'2" and get back painwhenever I drive any of my current cars for more than 30-60 minutes. I"only" weigh 190, but have long legs for someone by height.2) Good winter traction. We live in rural New England and have a 400-foot sloped gravel driveway. 4WD isn't a requirement (our FWD Passatis adequate for example), but better ground clearance would be great(our current cars frequently scrape on the dirt roads around here --including one recent event that broke TWO catalytic converters).3) Great gas mileage. As you can tell from the fact that one of ourcars runs on waste vegetable oil (see below), we care a lot aboutreducing emissions. This is actually more important, to us, than fuelsavings. That is, we don't mind paying $5,000 extra for a car thatwill save us only $3,000 in gas costs over the life of the vehicle.3a) Manual transmission. I have never owned an automatic and I don'tlike them. They have worse mileage and I don't enjoy them as much (Ialso like how manuals force me to pay attention to my driving --neither my wife nor I have ever had an accident in over 30 combinedyears driving 5-speeds).I've heard that the Prius has surprisingly good leg-room, but all ourdriving is rural -- so a hybrid doesn't seem like the righttechnology. I also hate automatics.I have a friend with a 5-cylinder Volvo wagon -- she says she gets 35MPG highway. I haven't tried driving it, but perhaps this is the bestcombo of the above choices.I'm also looking at SUV options (Ford? Honda?), because I notice myback hurts a lot less in vehicles (like our pickup truck) with an'upright' seating position.I sat in my stepmother's Subara Forester for a few minutes and I'mpretty sure the front seat is too cramped. Same with the few minutes Ispent in a Toyota Highlander Hybrid.For reference, these are our current/recent cars, and what...

Aug 27, 2007 21 Replies

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Lynn McGuire 18 years ago

I've got two suggestions, both not yet available:

Volkswagon Tiguan Diesel (May 2008 in USA ?)
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140 hp 2.0L diesel, 35/45 mpg ?
Honda CRV Diesel (August 2009 in USA ???) already available in the UK since 2001 ?
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150 hp 2.2L diesel, 35/45 mpg Lynn

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John Horner 18 years ago

You can get the Volvo V70 wagon with a manual transmission. It is one of the very few vehicles which hits your requirements.

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