We had the van set up with a sleeping platform pre-kid, but after he grew out of infant-size and could move on his own, it was too tight. If we had to put up a tent for someone anyway, it made sense to just get a nice big tent. I’d reevaluate if I had a full-sized van.

Having owned a Fit and a Transit Connect., ’m a fan of small footprint, high interior volume cars and the Soul fits that model perfectly. My mom just bought one, so I’m eager to take a look when I can someday visit.

I think I would be totally fine with an Outback level of ground clearance, I just want more useable cargo space (maybe I’d want a bit more, but Outback levels would bump me from 90% of where I want to go to 97%). The Transit Connect has almost the same footprint and much more space (in a more useable configuration).…

The departure angle (40) is higher than the approach angle (38) or breakover angle (28 degrees). To me it makes a lot more sense to extend the back a bit and lower the departure angle a bit than to stretch the wheelbase and lower the breakover angle. The 110 is already 197.9 inches in length, so it’s only a three…

Yep. I lived for years in New England and didn’t find it much of an issue. At worst, I’d just park the car and walk the last mile that the Transit Connect wouldn’t clear. Nevada...it might be 30+ miles of dirt road with some tough sections. I don’t really NEED a truck, but I might end up with one just because I need…

ND was one of the states we crossed, though we hit our biggest winds in Wyoming I believe. When you’re driving basically a box and then add a few sails, you feel the wind.

As a current Transit Connect owner, I’ll be watching this carefully. Building them on the same platform/at the same factory as the Maverick/Bronco Sport might make it easier to make a slightly lifted/ruggedized AWD version, which in my opinion would be an awesome adventure vehicle.

I drove mine across the country this summer loaded with two kayaks, a bike rack, a roof box, and enough camping gear to only briefly stop for supplies in two weeks. it was a trooper.

Comment of the Day from the QOTD post:

I’m excited for the Maverick too.

I think the biggest difference is that powerful, inefficient sports cars make up an extremely small portion of total cars sold and an even smaller portion of miles driven (as most people don’t commute in their Viper). While it might be a good analogy, it just seen as having as much a cumulative impact. 

I’m a van lover! I drive a Transit Connect and if the Transit gets more efficient in the next generation, I’d be very interested in a crew cab version like you link.

I’d totally judge and roll my eyes at whoever drove by in this...

I would be very interested in a study that tried to piece out how many deaths/injuries were prevented by the high beltines vs. the increase caused by accidents that would have been avoidable had the driver been able to see halfway decently out of their vehicle. Vehicle safety is amazing these days so I’m not saying…

I love it. I think all well-handling cars should be made in rally versions.

I disagree with your argument, David. If you had an electric car you could have just pulled out an emergency solar panel (a lot easier to keep inside the car than extra gas). Looking at the map/photos, I’m pretty sure you would have been able to charge up enough to make that service station in under a month.

We have two cars. If both were going to be electric, one could get away with 50 miles for one easily. My commute is about 16 miles round trip and if I go to Costco/Home Depot/Trader Joes, it would be about 33 miles, so 50 miles would provide enough cushion for the majority of our use.

I don’t mind it. I can’t imagine buying it, but it doesn’t look terrible.

If you go to their cite now, they have the prices for the 2022 models by trim just a bit above the image you cited.

I wanted to say “Well it also has more cargo room behind the rear seats,” but then looked it up and found that it actually has fractionally LESS cargo room. I have no idea where those other three inches went.