Kevin Lang
Well-Known Member
I saw a marathon of the American Top Gear, and it was decently entertaining. In one episode, the premise was to find 3 vehicles for 2000 dollars or less which were "economical replacements for a truck".
One guy got an 1970s Ford sedan (not fuel efficient by far) because it was rugged and powerful.
One guy got a 1991 BMW sedan because it was German and it could drift (because that's what the average joe uses his truck for)
The last guy got a Mazda Miata convertable, arguing that it could haul the most with the top down & got the best MPG by far.
While all 3 choices were idiotic IMO, they all had one thing in common: RWD.
Which made me think that any real truck replacement really needs to have RWD. I was thinking a station wagon would make an economical truck replacement, but are there any RWD station wagons anymore? Skimming craigslist I discovered a whole ton of "8 passenger" Ford/Mercury wagons, but they're all FWD. Can a FWD 1990s Ford wagon even haul 8 people and get out of its own way, or without having so much weight on the back that all it can do is burn out?
200 * 8 = 1600 lbs which is a pretty fair amount of weight, that's more than the ST's bed is rated for, so I wonder. The 1997 Grand Caravan and the 1992 Ford Taurus wagon were pretty anemic.
One guy got an 1970s Ford sedan (not fuel efficient by far) because it was rugged and powerful.
One guy got a 1991 BMW sedan because it was German and it could drift (because that's what the average joe uses his truck for)
The last guy got a Mazda Miata convertable, arguing that it could haul the most with the top down & got the best MPG by far.
While all 3 choices were idiotic IMO, they all had one thing in common: RWD.
Which made me think that any real truck replacement really needs to have RWD. I was thinking a station wagon would make an economical truck replacement, but are there any RWD station wagons anymore? Skimming craigslist I discovered a whole ton of "8 passenger" Ford/Mercury wagons, but they're all FWD. Can a FWD 1990s Ford wagon even haul 8 people and get out of its own way, or without having so much weight on the back that all it can do is burn out?
200 * 8 = 1600 lbs which is a pretty fair amount of weight, that's more than the ST's bed is rated for, so I wonder. The 1997 Grand Caravan and the 1992 Ford Taurus wagon were pretty anemic.
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