Ray Dunakin
08-26-2015, 06:12 PM
My past three vehicles have been Isuzu Troopers. Now it's time to replace this one, and you can't get them in the USA anymore. It's going to be really hard to replace. So far I haven't seen anything that has the same great combination of features:
Practical features: Lots of places to hold drinks or store maps, tools, etc. Massive cargo space. Four doors. A rear door for easy access. Spare mounted on the rear door. Good instrumentation (tach, electrical gauge, temperature gauge, etc.) Plenty of power without being too much of a gas guzzler. Manual transmission with overdrive.
Off-road features: High clearance. Skid plates protecting the oil pan, tranny/transfer case, and gas tank. On the fly 4wd with limited slip differential.
Comfort features: Lots of head room, both overhead and side-to-side. Plenty of leg room. Power windows, locks, and mirrors.
Most SUVs these days are built more like cars than like trucks. They're so streamlined and stylized that they lack the head room and cargo area that a boxier design would have. They barely have any off-road capability, are lacking in clearance, and aren't built tough enough to handle serious off-road use.
Worst of all, most have hatch-backs instead of doors. I hate those things! For one, they're a head injury waiting to happen. Two, if you're hauling anything on the roof that sticks out the back, you can't open the hatch. Third, eventually the mechanism wears out and you can't get them to stay up. Fourth and worst of all, they eliminate the only logical place to store the spare tire. As a result they end up mounting the spare under the vehicle, where it inhibits clearance and you have to crawl around in the dirt to reach it; or they put it inside where it wastes valuable cargo space.
Practical features: Lots of places to hold drinks or store maps, tools, etc. Massive cargo space. Four doors. A rear door for easy access. Spare mounted on the rear door. Good instrumentation (tach, electrical gauge, temperature gauge, etc.) Plenty of power without being too much of a gas guzzler. Manual transmission with overdrive.
Off-road features: High clearance. Skid plates protecting the oil pan, tranny/transfer case, and gas tank. On the fly 4wd with limited slip differential.
Comfort features: Lots of head room, both overhead and side-to-side. Plenty of leg room. Power windows, locks, and mirrors.
Most SUVs these days are built more like cars than like trucks. They're so streamlined and stylized that they lack the head room and cargo area that a boxier design would have. They barely have any off-road capability, are lacking in clearance, and aren't built tough enough to handle serious off-road use.
Worst of all, most have hatch-backs instead of doors. I hate those things! For one, they're a head injury waiting to happen. Two, if you're hauling anything on the roof that sticks out the back, you can't open the hatch. Third, eventually the mechanism wears out and you can't get them to stay up. Fourth and worst of all, they eliminate the only logical place to store the spare tire. As a result they end up mounting the spare under the vehicle, where it inhibits clearance and you have to crawl around in the dirt to reach it; or they put it inside where it wastes valuable cargo space.
