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Car choice
Ok, this is off topic but sorta related.
I'm shopping around for a new car and leaning towards the Subaru Outback 2.0L turbo diesel (manual).
Its no secret why. It's MTB friendly and has enough boot room to replace my shed.
The other alternative is the X-Trail, but feels heavy. Have driven it and has some grunt but feels very heavy.
Outback seems to have the better handling but is a little pricey sitting above $42K.
So question is, does anyone have any one of these two cars and if not, experiences with a good car that are MTB/outdoor lifestyle friendly?
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I've just bought a Mitsubishi ASX 2.3 Diesel, great car, plenty or room and power to spare. They don't have as much bling as some other makes/models, however, for the price, I think they are great value.
I have owned an X TRAIL and its an awesome car the boot space is unreal as the back is so square in the design can slide bikes straight in and with the hard plastic removable covers its awesome and easy to clean instead of carpet lined internal.... I now have a RENAULT Koleos which is a work car but has is similar to the xtrail but with more upgrades for free and cheaper ,,, though the xtrail smashes it for storage departments
Then let them know you supported them because they support a lot of cycling in OZ!
I got sick of bike racks etc and spending money on cars in general to just carry my bike around.
Ended up with a renault kangoo maxi crew, who knows how reliable they will be long term but its got a 5 year warranty so I am willing to see how it goes. It's comfortable, fits 3 bikes without pulling them apart, 2 bikes while retaining one seat in the back and I don't really have to worry about getting the interior dirty!
There are other brands out there, Fiat, VW, Citroen, etc that offer similar vehicles and these things are very well priced too!
Im stoked.
a 5 year old, 60,000km Audi A6 Allroad quattro with 3.0V6 diesel turbo for less money than the Subaru you are looking at.
Basically the Outback on steroids and drives much better in my opinion. Personally like the looks more than the newer Subaru wagons too.
Heaps of space, seats down would have to be as good as the Outback if not better. I have more head room too.
I do under 10,000km a year so 60,000km isn't an issue for me on the car.
It's an auto but punches out 450Nm of torque from 1500rpm so in sports mode don't miss a manual. Sports mode down changing of auto is fairly aggressive under braking and fairly intuitive about what your intentions are.
In addition to sports mode has flappy paddle but no DSG. Use paddles occasionally for a downshift in drive but sports mode auto already has the torque and turbos in the right place better than I can at moment.
Open road mileage is 7l/100km. Around town seems to be about 9l/100km.
Claimed 0-100km is 7.5s or in the 6s chipped. Latest diesel twin turbo is 5.3s standard.
I also just missed out on a standard A6 quattro (not Allroad) wagon with 32,000km that sold for $34,000 from dealer.
Both cars have 18' or 19' (mine) rims.
Allroad has height adjust and can change damping settings automatically while driving or select from comfort, sports(lowered), allroad (outback clearance) or high lift (under 15km/h). The automatic setting lowers from a normal car height above 120km/h and alters damping as required.
Can tow 2500kg braked.
As you can guess I'm kinda smitten...
Ohhh yes Audis are so Sexy. Truely. I share your lust. But there is a reason you get Audis so cheap. Maintenance cost may have something to do with it.
Yep, for certain. For what you get it's still better value than bike parts! We don't seem to blink much on a $600 service on a bike but freak on anything more than this for something with four wheels and far more complex .
Also reckon that the increase in maintenance cost over next 5 years or so will be far less than the $80k-90k depreciation hit taken by the previous owner. It's still a much better value way of owning a car that sold for more than 6 figures new.
I've manage to convince myself at least!
We just bought a new family car. We traded in a 2010 VW Jetta after the intake manifold and cat both died leaving us with a $4k bill. We looked at what Audi and VW had to offer and were less than impressed.
Ended up buying a Volvo XC60, build quality and standard equipment are streets ahead of VAG. It's a bit of a stretch to lift the bike up on the rack but other than that it's great.
Are great value. I'm too tall to see out the front of them properly other than the XC90 at a pinch. Volvo cars have leapt forward in my opinion since bought by China.
However the windscreen rake is too swept for drivers with long backs and all I can see is the roof and centre rear view mirror when looking forwards. Tilting seat back first work either for me as steering column won't extend far enough. This is becoming a common problem for me with cars. Work bought a fleet of Prius's which I can't even get into!
Preferred handling of Audi. BMW 5 series wagons of similar age to mine are also good value for what they are 2nd hand, M sports package handles better but lacking the space of A6 or XC60. M damping would be horrid as family car, Allroad is great. 5 series petrol engine is also very ordinary until it's revving in top end as is the auto transmission.
Didn't drive the XC60 as too tall to own it. Picked up an S60 for a mate and put on truck to Perth for him. Twin turbo diesel went well but is comparatively twitchy in a corner and doesn't settle as well. Similar with the car it shared a platform with from when Ford owned Volvo prior to China. S60 steering rack is also very aggressive and takes by surprise for first few corners.
$600 for a bike service?!?
and shock rebuild, plus replacing worn drive train?
All I'm saying is car servicing seems to get you more than bikes compared to value and complexity of item.
Used to cringe at spending $600 on car and didn't care when it was on bike.
My Skoda Octavia Scout is an Outback killer!
With Thule racks, job done.
Hauls ass when you need it to + I have slept in the back before at the Fling as well.