If you had to trade a new STI in for a truck or SUV what would you get?

TBSS

4th Gen 4Runner with a V8 and Sport Package. Rated to tow 7000 lbs, and super comfortable on the highway (compared to anything else we own, I guess). Haven't hauled kids in it, but we've used it to rescue drunks, and I guess that's kinda close.

Used police Tahoe RWD. Seriously. Do it.

Jaynen wrote: The explorer option doesnt still let him tow a chumpcar which is lible to need to be trailered home tho lol

You can tow 5k IF you get the TT 3.5 EcoBoost sport model.....

I'm in the same boat, 2 kids in varying car seats, wife, MIL, PITA dog, IF we all go somewhere. Back of the Avalanche is plum full of crap to go anywhere, much less bring anymore crap back. I've toyed with the small enclosed trailer idea, but that doesn't work well if we all went downtown to eat or shop. I just don't want another gas guzzler like the Av is, but then the irrational woman won't drive a minivan. So, I'm stuck between a 'burban or a new Durango.

Here we go.... http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/628542939/overview/

or one a bit cheaper with some more miles: http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/621561034/overview/

A van keeps your stuff secure and dry, lower loading height, potentially better street manners and mileage, can tow a car trailer, and bonus, if it's a conversion van it could be super luxurious.

Bobzilla wrote: Used police Tahoe RWD. Seriously. Do it.

I am sort of in the same boat as the OP, later this fall I am selling the ZHP and getting an SUV. The Tahoe PPV interests me, but with a move from NC to MI in the future I wonder about a 2wd SUV up there, even with snow tires. Did they ever make a 4wd Police Package Tahoe?

Crew cab 1/2 ton pickup with a soft tonneu cover. You're using the back of the SUV as cargo space anyway, might as well make it the most useful cargo space it can be. Crew cab seats five or six depending on how hard you look for one. The rear seat is big enough to put three car seats across if that ever happens. It'll tow what you want and haul dirty race car stuff without making the Mrs. angry.
I know everyone here HATES trucks unless you NEED one, but they're really just quite nice large cars with very useful trunks.

How about a Ford Flex?

mazdeuce wrote: Crew cab 1/2 ton pickup with a soft tonneu cover. You're using the back of the SUV as cargo space anyway, might as well make it the most useful cargo space it can be. Crew cab seats five or six depending on how hard you look for one. The rear seat is big enough to put three car seats across if that ever happens. It'll tow what you want and haul dirty race car stuff without making the Mrs. angry. I know everyone here HATES trucks unless you NEED one, but they're really just quite nice large cars with very useful trunks.

This. The newest cleanest example of a non ford half ton truck with a tonneau cover gets my vote.

Re: The Explorer - the one I posted is mine, not just some shot off of Google.

With the Factory Towing package Explorer's and Flex's are rated for 5k lbs. You do not have to get the Turbo to do that. Mine has a factory hitch, oil cooler and a duct that feeds cool air to the transmission. Over the winter it has averaged 15 mpg around town, with it being damn cold and my wife driving (she has a heavy foot). It does much better in the summer.

They are a comfortable and nice looking ride IMHO. For a family vehicle that can occasionally tow - they are a good option without going full size.

The 3.5L V6 puts out 295 hp (can remember the ft*lbs number) and it can motor.

I towed a 03 Golf this summer, on a dolly back home over 350 km and it motored right along.

mazdeuce wrote: Crew cab 1/2 ton pickup with a soft tonneu cover. You're using the back of the SUV as cargo space anyway, might as well make it the most useful cargo space it can be. Crew cab seats five or six depending on how hard you look for one. The rear seat is big enough to put three car seats across if that ever happens. It'll tow what you want and haul dirty race car stuff without making the Mrs. angry. I know everyone here HATES trucks unless you NEED one, but they're really just quite nice large cars with very useful trunks.

This was our choice 8 years ago and haven't looked back since. Get it equipped right, and you're looking at mid 20's highway, comfy seats for long distance driving and decent handling for something that size.

But if you hate trucks that bad.... PPV Tahoe.

What 1/2 ton crew cabs are getting mid 20's highway regularly?

Jaynen wrote: What 1/2 ton crew cabs are getting mid 20's highway regularly?

The new chebbies? The new v6 derges? The new 2.7TT ferds?

HiTempguy wrote:

Jaynen wrote: What 1/2 ton crew cabs are getting mid 20's highway regularly?

The new chebbies? The new v6 derges? The new 2.7TT ferds?

4.8L, 2wd 3.23 rear end GMC/Chevy. Pre-Ethanol 24+mpg at 75mph was no big deal. Now we're in the 22-23 range with E10. Hell, Dad's 5.3 with 3.42's gets him 21mpg at 70mph but technically it's only an extended cab with the longer bed.

How old are your kids now? Keep in mind that the 2-kid stroller is only going to stick around for a couple years -- I don't think we've used a stroller in over a year, and my youngest just turned 5. You don't need to get to teenagers for the amount of "stuff" that you tote everywhere to go down substantially, being 5+ pretty much covers it.

So if I were me, I'd look into short-term solutions for the short-term problem and keep the STi and the Forester. The trailer hitch luggage rack is one option, another is renting a minivan if you only need lots of space a few times a year. $300 to rent one for a week seems like a lot, but you can do it three times a year for 5 years and still not cover the depreciation on buying a new vehicle.

As for the original question, I'd buy a minivan (Odyssey, probably) and a cheap, used pickup to handle the occasional tow duties. You're not taking the kids to the ChumpCar races, right? :)

In reply to DirtyBird222:

If I had to trade in an STi for a truck because of family, what would I get?

A divorce.

MrChaos wrote: new burbans will do low 20's highway.

Depends on the driver. I've yet to see one do better than 15.

Mass is mass and frontal area is frontal area and engines can only be so efficient. Those are the hard equations of fuel economy.

Jaynen wrote: What 1/2 ton crew cabs are getting mid 20's highway regularly?

Imaginary ones.

What truck or SUV? That's easy! A big honking Escalade with giant chrome-plated rims!

Knurled wrote:

Jaynen wrote: What 1/2 ton crew cabs are getting mid 20's highway regularly?

Imaginary ones.

Pretty much every modern truck from the big three. If you look at EPA ratings, they all range from 21-29 hwy. The 6.2 Chevy is the most powerful engine offered in a half ton truck last I checked and its tied for worst hwy economy, from a truck from the big three (2wd models) with the 5.0 ford at 21 mpg hwy.

E36 M3 In 05 when my dad bought a pre MDS hemi truck, he probably specced it as back as one could for fuel economy. 20s w/ taller tires (275/60s compared to 275/55s), tow package with 3.92 rear, 4 door, 4x4 and 5.7 hemi. The first few years he had it, it routinely got 19 mpg hwy and absolutely atrocious mileage in town or when towing, and in the following ten years with fuel economy a huge concern, there have been huge improvements in efficiency in everything from tires to aerodynamics, so pretty much every modern truck gets atleast 20 mpg on the hwy.

Go drive a modern trucks, just in the last couple of years they have come a long way, especially dodge and GM, I expect similar improvements when fords newest design comes out.

A buddy just traded in a well equipped '13 5.0 Ford on a well equipped '14 5.3 Chevy, and although the ford was pretty nice for a truck the GM is just a nice vehicle, decent economy, quiet, comfortable, has all the fancy gadgets, its an all around good car. Leaps and bounds ahead of what you got just a few years ago.

In reply to Opti:

I have driven modern trucks. For the life of me, I couldn't get a newer Sierra to get better than 17mpg on the highway. And I was trying.

It did not have DoD. My experience with DoD is that it encourages one to drive like a complete a-hole in an effort to keep it from dropping into 4 cylinder mode, which has an annoying lag when you need power again. Step into throttle, stu-stu-stutter-nothing-is-happening-HEY V8 AGAIN YAY. I can respect why the first thing many people do when they get tuning hardware/software is to nuke the DoD operation or at least change the cut-in so it goes to V8 mode more quickly.

This is the same driving ethic that makes my 28mpg Volvo get 15mpg. I shudder to think of what it does to a 6000lb pickup.

Bobzilla wrote:

HiTempguy wrote:

Jaynen wrote: What 1/2 ton crew cabs are getting mid 20's highway regularly?

The new chebbies? The new v6 derges? The new 2.7TT ferds?

4.8L, 2wd 3.23 rear end GMC/Chevy. Pre-Ethanol 24+mpg at 75mph was no big deal. Now we're in the 22-23 range with E10. Hell, Dad's 5.3 with 3.42's gets him 21mpg at 70mph but technically it's only an extended cab with the longer bed.

I honestly don't doubt the mid 20's claim on that truck. I had a coworker with a 05 Z71 get 20-21 highway.
Isn't the tow rating on a 3.23 only 4600-4700lb though?

If you had to trade a new STI in for a truck or SUV what would you get?

Has anyone said Cyanide tablet yet?

nocones wrote:

Bobzilla wrote:

HiTempguy wrote:

Jaynen wrote: What 1/2 ton crew cabs are getting mid 20's highway regularly?

The new chebbies? The new v6 derges? The new 2.7TT ferds?

4.8L, 2wd 3.23 rear end GMC/Chevy. Pre-Ethanol 24+mpg at 75mph was no big deal. Now we're in the 22-23 range with E10. Hell, Dad's 5.3 with 3.42's gets him 21mpg at 70mph but technically it's only an extended cab with the longer bed.

I honestly don't doubt the mid 20's claim on that truck. I had a coworker with a 05 Z71 get 20-21 highway. Isn't the tow rating on a 3.23 only 4600-4700lb though?

Accordingly to the owners manual in the glovebox it's rated to 6700 lbs. it's had as much as 8k before(learned AFTER the fact) and towed the C4 on an 1800lb open trailer through southwestern Misery and down to Nashville to deliver it to Cotton.