Ford Explorer / mountaineer. I think the mountaineer only came with a V8. I would get the mountaineer as you can rent trailers. Just about every trailer rental place will not rent to you if you have an explorer.
I had several. I liked my 94 XLT with the 4.0 the best. A great combination of enough HP and torque to pull a reasonable load yet when unloaded got around 20 MPG if I was careful.
So OP's first thought was Cherokee, and i agree on all points except 20mpg city.
But im surprised that in 3 pages noone mentioned that you could buy a 4cyl Cherokee.. It's a great 4 cyl imo, and while it will be 'slow', it should easily get 20 in the city with a manual.
The only hangup is im not sure if they ever built 2.5 Cherokees with 4wd..
How about an early Cherokee with the GM 2.8l? Probably all worn out or swapped out buy now. You could do all that jazz Gearheadotaku was talking about on the S10/Blazer but it's a Cherokee. One of my good friend's dad has an old 2.8l 2 door Cherokee, and it's not completely terrible.
There was an early Diesel Cherokee too. Can't imagine it being too swift, but it exists, and would likely get you into the mileage you're looking for.
Subaru
Get an Impreza and add the Forester dual piston front calipers & rotors. Hell, add the entire suspension for a nice lift and flog the crap out of it.
That's some cheap off roading that will get better than 20 city and 26 highway all day long.
fornetti14 wrote: Subaru Get an Impreza and add the Forester dual piston front calipers & rotors. Hell, add the entire suspension for a nice lift and flog the crap out of it. That's some cheap off roading that will get better than 20 city and 26 highway all day long.
I never, ever received that kind of mileage out of my legacy wagon, or my forester.
I have a friend with a 95 2.2/auto awd impreza. It gets about 28-30 on the highway. So i think fornetti's statement about IMPREZAS is plausible.
I didn't say it was impossible, just that I did not experience it. Does your friend have aftermarket equipment? Both of mine were stone stock. They could have added an Improbability Drive. As the Improbability Drive reaches infinite improbability, it passes through every conceivable point in every conceivable universe almost simultaneously.
Forester
Or XJ Diesel (pretty sure they made some of those here, didn't they?)
In reply to Flight Service:
I get about 18-20 city and 28 highway all day long in my WRX with a 2.5 and stage 1 tune......
irish44j wrote: In reply to Flight Service: I get about 18-20 city and 28 highway all day long in my WRX with a 2.5 and stage 1 tune......
Yep, Add a few skid plates, a little taller tires, and maybe some Fozzie suspension stuff and you can offroad better than a CRV and still have a fun to blast around in street car.
I didn't say it was impossible, just that I did not experience it. Does your friend have aftermarket equipment? Both of mine were stone stock. They could have added an Improbability Drive. As the Improbability Drive reaches infinite improbability, it passes through every conceivable point in every conceivable universe almost simultaneously.
My point was that imprezas are lighter and have less frontal area than Legacys or Foresters, so your experience with non-imprezas is not exactly 100% correlative on MPG.
Or XJ Diesel (pretty sure they made some of those here, didn't they?
Those are exceedingly rare at this point. I would say im ok with the gm v6 ones but simply due to age they seem to be pretty raggedy at this point. I had a tbi 2.8 (gm) and 5speed in a 90 Rodeo that i really liked. If you could get a 2.8/5spd/4x4 Rodeo i think OP would be on the right track with one of those. The rest of the body is WAY nicer than a Cherokee.
moparman76_69 wrote: Dakota. V6 or V8. Not a full size but has either a 6ft or (only with a std. cab) an 8ft bed. 4wd 5speed will get the mileage and a extended cab will have the room.
Do they get that good mileage? Fueleconomy.gov lists them as 14-18. I love the look of the 97-04 and almost bought one new in 97. Now I'm back in the market for the club cab 4wd, but the gas mileage is a sticking point.
Teh E36 M3 wrote:moparman76_69 wrote: Dakota. V6 or V8. Not a full size but has either a 6ft or (only with a std. cab) an 8ft bed. 4wd 5speed will get the mileage and a extended cab will have the room.Do they get that good mileage? Fueleconomy.gov lists them as 14-18. I love the look of the 97-04 and almost bought one new in 97. Now I'm back in the market for the club cab 4wd, but the gas mileage is a sticking point.
My experience says no. I've driven two Club Cab 4wd Dakotas on extended trips. Neither got better than 17 mpg freeway, 15 mixed.
I love my 87 4Runner, but the only way it will get to 20mpg or even 19mpg is if I keep it under 65mph and have a tailwind. On the way to Wyoming this spring, fighting a fierce headwind, I could not go faster than 55mph floored in 3rd gear and was getting 13mpg.
One of our members here has a 4.7L quad cab dakota that got 17mpg towing his challenge car to florida.
But honestly, there really is no Dakota that gets 20+ in any meaningful way other than the 2.5/5spd which is 2wd only.
Vigo wrote: One of our members here has a 4.7L quad cab dakota that got 17mpg towing his challenge car to florida. But honestly, there really is no Dakota that gets 20+ in any meaningful way other than the 2.5/5spd which is 2wd only.
Mopar 2.5/5 spd 2wd will get 26-27 on the highway, almost 20 in town. SLOW. Like almost air-cooled VW slow. The 3.9 Magnum V6/5 spd/4wd mightget fairly close to the fuel economy targets mentioned.
parker wrote: I love my 87 4Runner, but the only way it will get to 20mpg or even 19mpg is if I keep it under 65mph and have a tailwind. On the way to Wyoming this spring, fighting a fierce headwind, I could not go faster than 55mph floored in 3rd gear and was getting 13mpg.
In that case, your engine is beat or something is wrong. I still got about 20 mpg in my '86 towing a loaded u-haul box trailer and the bed loaded with stuff from Philly to Niagra Falls (more than a few long climbs) mostly in 4th gear @55.
parker wrote: I love my 87 4Runner, but the only way it will get to 20mpg or even 19mpg is if I keep it under 65mph and have a tailwind. On the way to Wyoming this spring, fighting a fierce headwind, I could not go faster than 55mph floored in 3rd gear and was getting 13mpg.
You may have an issue with the engine. An '87 is EFI, no? I'm pretty sure that should do 25 on the highway all day long. And 55 MPH top speed? I know they didn't leave the factory like that.
Ha ha, that is with the rebuilt engine.
The 55mph top speed was with a ferocious headwind. It'll do 90mph with no wind and a flat road.
The only way you're going to get 25mpg with a 4Runner is if you keep the speed to 55 or under. Afterall that was the national speed limit when these were new.
I usually average 18mpg. If I hold my speed to 65mph and don't encounter a headwind I can occasionally get 20mpg. Even saw 21 mpg going from Raton to Socorro, NM (all downhill with a tailwind). This vehicle is extremely sensitive to wind. A 4000 lb. box with a 115hp 4cyl.
I still say something is wrong. My truck was an '86 and I had a cap on the bed, so roughly the same profile - actually, the cap had a raised center, so it was a bit taller than a 4Runner. I agree top speed wasn't great, I maxed it at 95 right after I bought it in 1990 (4 years old at the time). The only time I got under 20 mpg on the hwy was when I was tooling around in 4WD being an idiot.
I miss the truck sometimes. It was great in the snow and generally fun to toss around. But the bed was rusting badly as was common. I sold it back in '99.
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