Wagons and SUVs?
- Thread starter XRL
- Start date
Accumulator
Well-known member
XRL- Heh heh, I don't blame you for wanting an automatic 
My favorite dog-haulers were all manual shift wagons, but I was a lot younger then and now I just want to get where I'm going without doing a zillion heel-and-toe double-clutch downshifts.
But AFAIK there are no snowtires available for the GC SRT8 and the summer tires on them aren't suitable for winter use.
Beware of "internet experts" (scare-quotes intentional
). I know people who use TBSSs as daily drivers and none of them have had any problems with the trannies. If you keep it close to stock you shouldn't have any troubles, and even if you *do* really mod it you can get that EOD transmission to hold up same as people do with their zillion-hp b-bodies.
If only they'd sell it with AWD... Sorta small for dog-hauling too, not much bigger than my WRX was.
Yeah, for dog-hauling a Volvo wagon can be great. Gotta a) like its unique personality/etc., b) get a good one, c) have a decent place to have it serviced, but if all those things go OK, then cool! There was at least as much usable room in the back of my Volvo wagons as in some much bigger SUVs.
My favorite dog-haulers were all manual shift wagons, but I was a lot younger then and now I just want to get where I'm going without doing a zillion heel-and-toe double-clutch downshifts.memnuts said:
But AFAIK there are no snowtires available for the GC SRT8 and the summer tires on them aren't suitable for winter use.
XRL said:
Beware of "internet experts" (scare-quotes intentional
). I know people who use TBSSs as daily drivers and none of them have had any problems with the trannies. If you keep it close to stock you shouldn't have any troubles, and even if you *do* really mod it you can get that EOD transmission to hold up same as people do with their zillion-hp b-bodies.nowayout said:
If only they'd sell it with AWD... Sorta small for dog-hauling too, not much bigger than my WRX was.
MidlifeCrisis said:
Yeah, for dog-hauling a Volvo wagon can be great. Gotta a) like its unique personality/etc., b) get a good one, c) have a decent place to have it serviced, but if all those things go OK, then cool! There was at least as much usable room in the back of my Volvo wagons as in some much bigger SUVs.
The summer tires isn't a problem for me, I live in the land of continual summer(Florida). It's just a colder summer right now.
I'd probably just go intake, tune, resonator delete on a TBSS. I imagine that's close enough to stock to not implode instantly, but I was a member on the TBSS forums for a while, so I do know that they break. Not totally common, but if you beat on them with a lot of power and leave it in D, it takes its toll on them. Which isn't really a problem, as long as the dealership was willing to cover the warranty still. Which I'm not really confident of.
We don't have a Volvo dealership here in Gainesville, so I guess the V70R's out.
I'd probably just go intake, tune, resonator delete on a TBSS. I imagine that's close enough to stock to not implode instantly, but I was a member on the TBSS forums for a while, so I do know that they break. Not totally common, but if you beat on them with a lot of power and leave it in D, it takes its toll on them. Which isn't really a problem, as long as the dealership was willing to cover the warranty still. Which I'm not really confident of.
We don't have a Volvo dealership here in Gainesville, so I guess the V70R's out.
memnuts
Biking body breaker
XRL said:
Most of the people that are blowing them up are thrashing an AWD TBSS on the strip. Besides the cash you save on a TBSS you can get a decent built trans. TCI just released a 6sp autotrans that can handle 850 hp for the LSX series motors.
Accumulator
Well-known member
XRL said:
I don't have any real input of value, but I agree that those are really nice if they have enough room for you. Better have a good Audi dealer though (that's one reason I'd prefer an A3 over, say a VW R32).
We did the math and the dog is about 4 cubic feet. He's not very tall either, he's more of long. i think he could fit into the back of an A3, though the 3.2 is still a little underpowered 
I don't think we have a local Audi dealer... so that might be a problem.
I really like that panoramic moonroof too. Damnit. And of course, A4 wagons don't offer the panoramic moonroof. So that leaves me with a few soft crossovers with them, like the SRX and MKX. Bleh.
I don't think we have a local Audi dealer... so that might be a problem.I really like that panoramic moonroof too. Damnit. And of course, A4 wagons don't offer the panoramic moonroof. So that leaves me with a few soft crossovers with them, like the SRX and MKX. Bleh.
White_07_G6_GT
New member
I'll throw my 2 cents here I always wanted a Magnum for the past few years and just last week bought one. I got a 2005 Magnum RT. I had been looking at the Edge, Flex and a few trucks but none of them really interested me all that much. When I started to consider the Magnum again I found it very easy to get big money knocked off the price.
I paid cash for my Magnum a $40,000 3years ago that was still under warranty I got for less than $13,000.
I love it it's everything I wanted and even with the Hemi it returned 24.7MPG on regular fuel with 50% city 50% HWY driving.
Here she is.
I paid cash for my Magnum a $40,000 3years ago that was still under warranty I got for less than $13,000.
I love it it's everything I wanted and even with the Hemi it returned 24.7MPG on regular fuel with 50% city 50% HWY driving.
Here she is.
Accumulator
Well-known member
XRL said:
I dunno, some Audi dealers are easy enough to work with at a distance; they'll come to you when the car needs servicing. The dealer I patronize is a few hours away (with lots of other Audi dealers in between us) but they bring me loaner cars and pick mine up whenever I need anything done.
But that brings up whether you can trust the dealership guys with your car; I went through a...uhm...educational period
with Stoddard Imported Cars and they do OK by me now. (But OTOH it was one of their guys who was driving my wife's A8 when it got sandwiched between a semi and a concrete freeway divider, and that almost certainly wouldn't have happened with me or my wife behind the wheel.)
V_Eight
I wish I detailed good
Honda Element AWD
Accumulator
Well-known member
Heh heh, I kinda like the utterly functional interior for a dog-hauler (and the no-frills body too, what with all that plastic), but yeah...the Element is scary-slow. We'd never be able to pull out of our neighborhood in something like that.
If it was only a Dog hauler it'd work. I don't hate how the Element SC looks. But the main idea of the new car is to upgrade too. TECHNICALLY, there's nothing wrong with my current vehicle other than it'll need some expensive servicing at 100k miles (15k - or roughly 1.75 years away), and new tires eventually, and one wheel is bent. And then a few other stupid little things (the paint on the center console and steering wheel has chipped - GM quality ftw; it could use some extra sound deadening, and I should built it a little amp rack to hold my amps; I'd like to get the driver's seat bolstered a little bit better, or replace the seats with ones out of a later Redline so they have suede, or maybe just get new covers and rebolster the driver's seat).
Basically I figured I could get everything I wanted fixed for like $3Kish. Then I realized the car would have 100k miles on it, and 3k would be a decent DP on a newer vehicle I won't need to do all that to. So I dunno.
Basically I figured I could get everything I wanted fixed for like $3Kish. Then I realized the car would have 100k miles on it, and 3k would be a decent DP on a newer vehicle I won't need to do all that to. So I dunno.
imported_Big Jon
New member
My PT GT is the best dog hauler I've owned. I know, you don't want FWD but with the back seats tumbled forward or removed you have a doggie condo. When I need more than 2 seats the Magnum R/T gets the call, remove the false floor for additional headroom, toss in a big dog bed and you're good to go. The entry height in back is pretty high for a small or older dog to get in, I know some use the side door. You can get a low mileage SRT8 for $20K or less, not bad for a cool 425 hp wagon.
XRL said:We did the math and the dog is about 4 cubic feet. He's not very tall either, he's more of long. i think he could fit into the back of an A3, though the 3.2 is still a little underpowered
Underpowered? Will you take it to a track or something? I think it has plenty of power for any normal roads..
I'll probably track i occasionally, but I'm also completely insane and need speed. My gf has a PT Turbo, so there's always that too. Hers is the low boost version that runs on regular. The dog fits in there no problems at all.
I've been looking at Chargers lately, and i'll just fold the seats down and have the pup lay on the trunk side of the rear seats. No damaged leather that way, heh.
I've been looking at Chargers lately, and i'll just fold the seats down and have the pup lay on the trunk side of the rear seats. No damaged leather that way, heh.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Big Jon said:
I'd think you'd need to use the side door anyhow. The back bumpercover seems vulnerable to nails/etc., I don't even let mine jump in/out of the back of the MPV or the DenaliXL and both of those have protective rubber pads back there.
When dog's jump over painted surfaces it's only a matter of time before you have an "oops!" even when they're trained to jump correctly, just the way it works out IME. Can't even put a cover down as it'll cause marring if it gets rubbed against (unclean) paint :nixweiss
Accumulator
Well-known member
XRL said:
Well...in my sense of the term the big nail marks *are* marring, just a really nasty version of it
I'm pretty fanatical about this one; I train my dogs how to behave/not around vehicles and I keep their nails *VERY* short. Still, getting them in/out of vehicles (a few times *every* day) without anything getting messed up is a challenge.