Quote:
Originally Posted by edkwon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hkerekes
snow tires > awd
I hope you are putting snow tires on your awd vehicle otherwise its a waste.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 340Duster
The only thing you probably care about, you already know; [Pacifica] hybrid is FWD only/ AWD is only in the gas version.
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These above quoted posts are possibly relevant to my long term interests. Thus I shall condense a Twitter thread of mine to possibly cogent thoughts:
Background: I took the Land Cruiser up skiing a few times this season instead of the minivan. Both of them are shod with Nokian Hakka winter tires. The Land Cruiser's interior volume and layout is subpar as compared to the minivan: try 90.8 vs. 140.5 cu ft cargo volume (!).
The question: What's out there with AWD that would be more practical for my family and yet still fit in my normal size garage?
Answers:
AWD minivans: Pacifica non-PHEV, Sienna. (Why isn't there a 110% scale minivan in the lines of Astros of yore? The Metris, besides being FWD on these shores, is blocky but not larger.)
Non-mini vans are generally out: Sprinters are too tall, Promaster only comes in FWD cargo variant, and the Transit would fit but its interior layout is crap. The Chevrolet Express would fit but again old-ass inflexible interior and AWD axed a few years back.
A Suburban (or Escalade ESV or Yukon XL) would match the interior volume of the minivan and have AWD but would also be 22" longer. Meh. Not sure Super Cruise is worth that, even thinking ahead to a 5 years depreciated example.
Its suspension design is cool, though.
Conclusions:
For now my wife values PHEV-ness over AWD-ness so her PacHy shall stay. My Land Cruiser shall also stick around for the next few years due to the second house's expenses. And maybe the VW ID Buzz will materialize and be exactly what I'm looking for. Or maybe I'll end up in an AWD Sienna down the road. Who knows?