I’ve had a front-wheel-drive Escape since 2003, and I use it for hauling stuff, so what you are looking for has been around at least 10 years, maybe more. All the carmakers make them now, and crossovers (as everyone has already said).
I call 'em minivans.
Yep and those of us who actually need the bullshit off road stuff are now mostly forced to drive oversized and/or overpowered gas guzzlers as the small SUV market has largely been taken over by the sorts of vehicles sought by the OP. The compact pickups are the closest thing to the small SUVs that ruled the world in the 80’s and 90’s, but you can only get the larger cab options on those with the thirstier engine options, which IMHO sort of defeats the purpose.
just have to throw in the Ford Transit Connect.
it is a cross between a small crossover car and a euro-style box van. it is smaller than a typical minivan but oriented specifically for hauling. i think it won “truck” of the year two years back and has a bigger brother that will replace the ford econline vans in '14.
i hear they handle like a small car but offer a lot of cool options. in case you can’t tell, i real bad want one.
I’m a little late to the thread, but may I suggest that you don’t purchase anything until you drive a Mazda 9? We have owned ours for about two years now and I still have a stupid silly smile on my face after I drive it. I am a sports car kind of guy and the 9 is the closest thing to a sports car you’ll find that can haul SEVEN passengers or a ton of cargo with the rear seats folded. The six cylinder gets up and moves, plus the auto tranny has a manual option that allows you to row the gears without a clutch pedal. Ours has beautiful leather, a kicking sound system and dual air. We purchased ours pre owned, off lease with only 21k on it. I think we paid around $19.5k and it’s been worth every penny. It is fun to drive, handles well and looks great. It has all the Zoom Zoom Mazda could pack into it and has been reliable with zero in repair costs for us. Drive one and thank me later.
Obbn, to clarify for you & everyone else Mazda gives its crossovers a CX in front of number for their names, i.e. you drive a CX-9. Don’t want anyone confusing the new Madza CX-5 with the Mazda 5 minivan.
Anyways, I have an 2009 Mazda 5, and love it. To the Honda Fit lovers earlier in the thread, the Mazda 5 is shaped & sized like a longer Fit with sliding rear doors , and you get option to carry 4 people in the back thanks to the third row, though the back two seats aren’t really meant for adults, at least on long trips. Great for shoving kids into though. I do wish it got a bit better gas mileage though - using non ethanol gas, I get 22-23ish around the city, and 29-30ish mpg on highway trips. When I put E10 in it, the mileage dropped enough that it cost more to run, even with E10 being a bit cheaper, so I stopped doing that. I keep a log book of what kind of fuel I use, and what MPG I got, for each tank of gas. Hopefully Mazda will get their new Sky-Activ engines and transmissions into the Mazda 5 soon, since those drivetrains have bumped the current vehicles using them into the top of their classes for fuel economy, i.e. the Mazda 3 went from getting 27/33 mpg on the EPA test, to 28/40 mpg, while gaining 7 horsepower.
Yes, it’s getting harder and harder to find an SUV with decent ground clearance and low range. I think most of this is due to the Ford/Firestone travesty which was basically overloaded vehicles on under-inflated/worn tires.
Not really sure what ‘Off Road bullshit’ the OP is talking about. I wish they would elaborate.
For instance, tow hooks where an option on both my 06 Pathfinder and my wife’s 02 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It’s not like these vehicles come from the factory with winches on them. Though I would love to see that as an option. From what I see for the new Pathfinder coming out, it’s going the way of the crossover too. :(:mad:.
Seems to me the hauling/towing capacities of vehicles aren’t really related to their shape, rather, the torque rating of their engines and the way the vehicle is geared. There’s a reason, too, why semi-trucks have been streamlining for years now, adding rounded air dams on the top of the cab, sleeker headlight/grille designs, etc without compromising anything to do with hauling…they are increasing their drag coefficient in order to improve fuel economy.
But you can’t stash cargo behind an air dam…
I’m assuming the limits of what the OP can fit is going to be what fits in the vehicle, not if the engine has enough power (which I guess may or may not be true). Assuming the weight is not a fact but square footage is, the OP’s desire for something non-boxy is the polar oposite of his desire to haul a lot of stuff. You can fit a lot more in a Nissan Cube or one of the older Scion XBs than a sleek sedan of the same length.
Still wondering what the SUV bullshit is.
I’m guessing it just boils down to “more like a truck than a car”:
All-wheel drive
Low-range gearbox
Big wheels
High ground clearance
Based on a truck chassis
All of those things add needless complexity or compromise everyday use. And most of those things have been dispensed with entirely for a fair number of modern SUV models. (AWD is definitely nice in the snow, but you can live without it unless you live in an area with tremendous amounts of snow or no snow plows.)
I’ve heard your request as SMV’s or soccer mom vehicles and there are are many such choices.
Hyundai Santa Fe. Very car like and my wife can fit damn near anything in hers.
They may compromise everyday use, but they are nice in certain situations. I have “Quadra Drive” which is what Jeep calls their AWD system that has limited slip side to side AND front to back. It’s extremely nice in the snow or heavy rain, and between that and big tires and high ground clearance when the city plow dumps a bunch of snow at the end of my the driveway I can still get out and go to work, and then deal with snowblowing it when I come home.
Me too want.
they are redesigningboth the Transit and the Transit connect for '14, and i hate the new look for the transit connect. it looks like another minivan.
i want to drive a vehiclethat looks like a cassowary, damn it. so '10-13 for me, i guess.
The Mercedes Sprinter (aka the Dodge Sprinter) is similar in appearance to the Ford Transit van.
Going back about 5 years ago, if you decode the VIN on most SUVs (Suburbans and such excluded), they come back as station wagons. They really are just glorified sedans sitting 6" higher (very similar chassis, and all that). Or so I was told.
But it’s much, much bigger. The Sprinter comes in two wheelbases - 140" and 170" and a max payload of over 4000 lbs. The Transit has a wheelbase of 114" and a max payload of 1600 lbs.
Methinks you are confusing the Ford’s Transit van, which is similar in size to Mercedes’ Sprinter vans, with Fords Transit Connect van, which is much smaller & mechanically unrelated to the larger Transit van. The Transit Connect became available in the US in 2010; the Transit will be coming to the US soon as the T-series, replacing their current E-series vans.