Scuba-friendly automobile suggestions?

[Mako Mark]

I get 2-3 cave divers in a cherokee sport no probs. Small enough to drive around the parking lot without provoking SUV rage, but big enough to not notice a two or three sets of doubles etc. Pretty good on gas too. I would avoid the liberty, it hasnt really got enough space in the back.

 

[chrisch]

...especially on the freeway, where I'm getting about 28 mpg even with some crosswind.

Boy fuel really is cheap over there...

I really don't like cars at all and would take the motorbike if only I could get the gear on the damn thing.

A reasonable sized station wagon should suffice for dive gear unless you are a big group with lots of tech stuff - twins etc. Then get a minivan..

For the record I have a Peugeot 406 diesel and get 40mpg at speeds that would make the average state trooper have a fit..

The sooner that you guys pay some real tax the better!! Interesting stuff about fuel in Nat Geographic this month - maybe time to think about a low mpg car??

Chris

 

[inter_alia]

Sorry to hear that [snip] What ever happened to aerodynamics............Granted the 04 is begining to look less than a bread delivery truck.

Aw, I see where you're coming from but somehow -- if you noted my mpg on the freeway -- the aerodynamics only suffer marginally. I guess it's still lighter than most things and maybe the wee 4-cyl 160hp engine saves on economy... but Lego (my name for the Element for now, I think it suits plenty well enough) is just zippy enough around town, too.
Not for everyone, but certainly for me. Waterproof seats, no carpet, not even I can mess this thing up.

Cheers.

 

[RonDawg]

When the H2 first came out I remember seeing a TV show about it. The H1 was made by AM General, but Chevy bought the rights for the H2. It's basically a re-bodied Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon. Same drive train and suspension. I'd opt for the Tahoe/Yukon as they're cheaper and not as ugly, IMO.

Only partly true. Yes the H2 is based on the chassis, and uses many of the same components (including drivetrain) of the Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban.

However, the vehicle is still manufactured by AM General.

Where the confusion lies is that AM General is now part of the General Motors family. But then again so is Saturn and SAAB.

 

[flw]

I recently came across this thead and found it rather interesting to see some rather gas-guzzling recommendations...until I looked at the dates on the posts and realized many of the recommendations were made well before fuel prices started heading towards the stratosphere.

Knowing what we all (sadly) know about fuel prices today, how many of you would still stick to those recommendations? I'm not talking about the ones recommending Subaru's, but those who recommend less fuel-miserly choices like the Excursion?

Depends on what you mean by stratospheric rises really - as far as I know your fuel costs are still _way_ under those in Europe. I paid 96.5p/l( works out around $7/gallon) for diesel this morning, which is only marginally higher than this time last year - I drive a Toyota Hilux, expensive, but I choose to live in the sticks and need a 4wd car that can also tow a boat/fit in assorted children/hens/sheep

 

[RonDawg]

Oh I've been to the UK (4 times actually) so I know what it's like to pay painfully high fuel prices!

Even though we Americans still pay less than you do for "petrol", when the price has pretty much gone up 50% or more within a span of just a few months, it's fair to call that "stratospheric." My car, which isn't exactly a gas guzzler, now costs $40 to fill up from empty. When I bought it a little over a year ago, the same fill-up was under $30.

And when I was last the UK (April 2003, right at the start of the Iraq war) I don't recall seeing, much less paying, 96.5p/litre. Most places were in the mid to high 70's, and when I saw a petrol station on the A4 west of London I thought they were insane by asking 85p!!!

 

[flw]

There is more to the UK than London, regardless of what those in the BBC would have you believe. I live in the northern most bit of Scotland, where prices have always been higher, as fuel has to come up by tanker.
My monthly fuel bill is somewhere around the £200-300 mark, so $40 seems ridiculously cheap, and not worth whinging about

 

[RonDawg]

Actually I've seen quite a bit of the UK on my various visits. The only parts that I haven't been to are East Anglia, Northern Ireland, the Midlands, the various islands (Jersey/Guernsey/Man/etc.) and the part of Scotland north of Inverness. Everywhere else I've at least driven through if not stopped.

One of these days I've got to dive Britain...but only after I get my drysuit cert first

 

[srkdvr]

Dodge Ram 1500, on my second one now. Enough room for 3 in the front and plenty of room in the back for all the gear you want to carry.


Rich

 

[fishfood]

lol one of the instructors i have seen at the beach like 3 times drives a corvet... u should get one fits 2 hp 80 or smaller in the back seat.. remeber u work on your trim even out of the water... he has a very compact bc and wet suit in the trunk... your gloves hood boots and reg in the front seat... ohh yeah u can put your mask defog in the cup holder... i just dont know were u stores his weight..

so get a corvet man