I am definitely in the bullseye of the target demographic: Current van owner who takes his vehicle down rough roads at the limit of minivan capability on long mixed road trips with lots various gear. I’m casually in the market for a new vehicle and have looked into Sienna lifts in the past week.

Normally I just click on the link back to the original thread.

This was just an attempt to meet the declared needs of half the posters commenting in the small truck threads. The half that isn’t looking for a 2 door, 8 foot bed, $12k, stick shift, manual windows 1997 Ranger revival. The half that hauls plywood daily, mulch every weekend, after which they cool off by towing their…

How about a Mazda 5? The lowest priced used ones in my area are right about the 5k mark, so you might be able to negotiate that down to your budget (or find a cheaper one). They’re smaller than most minivans and drive better but have lots of space for the size and so would make a good road trip car.

I’m 6'2" and slept a good number of nights in my Fit. Fold everything in the back, slide the front seat up, then recline it fully, put a cot over the seat. If he’s only going to be by himself, a Fit is probably fine size wise and covering 4.5k miles in 1.5 months doesn’t suggest that he’ll be doing so many long days…

I certainly agree. I'm just waiting for a company to put out a minivan with 2 extra inches of ground clearance and a Honda Element style interior. That would be the actual "ultimate outdoor enthusiast" vehicle in my mind.

Interior wise, exactly like an Element in materials and flexibility of configuration. But a bit larger overall (so you can fit gear when the second seat can’t be folded) and with an extra inch of ground clearance.

The Subaru Outback’s cargo area behind the rear seats is 42 inches long and 32 inches high with the door height being less. The Santa Cruz’s bed is 6-8 inches longer, you can just drop stuff over the bed rails, and you can hose it out if necessary. Without a topper it can handle much higher cargo and even with a…

I think the excitement over these small trucks shows how generally poorly SUVs have evolved to serve the outdoor enthusiast market. They are just too nice all around, so tossing a bike/skis/gear in the back tends to tear it up or dirty it up where it’s difficult to clean. These small bed trucks are less capable than…

I generally like Gladiators and they would fit my personal use better than a Wrangler Unlimited, mostly because of the extra cargo capacity when the second row of seats are in use. That being said, this is kind of dumb. I don’t really see the purpose of 32in mud terrain tires on a vehicle like this. If it’s going to…

I current own a Transit Connect. If they made a Transit Connect “Outback” with more ground clearance, I’d probably just get one of those. But since they don’t, small trucks appeal over a crossover for me because:

There will almost certainly be a hybrid version. It’s based on the same platform as the Escape, which has a hybrid and FordAuthority claims one is coming. Some of the early interior spy shots also seemed to show digital gauges that matched the Escape Hybrid.

Not primarily a work vehicle, but I own a Transit Connect. I would consider this for: 1. Higher ground clearance for rough dirt roads. 2. Ability to toss larger, awkward things in the bed while still using two rows of seats (the bed of this will be likely a foot longer than the TC’s cargo area behind the second row…

I’ve participated on such forums (including the Maverick one). It’s literally like 10 people who are really excited about the Maverick and dissect the spy photos and the like. It’s actually fascinating as to the very different things that people want this truck to be.

They’re somewhat ubiquitous, but Tahoes/Yukon’s hit a good balance of boxy/luxurious/spacious and can be made pretty off road capable.

Are we sure that first one isn’t an Irish flag?

My local mountain bike trails are probably some of the more high consequence you’ll find, but they don’t worry me at all in comparison to road riding. Mountain biking gets this “extreme” sport reputation, but its so much less scary than road riding with all the terrible and distracted drivers on the road.

I generally agree completely but I do have to wonder a bit about if Ford was a bit fuzzy about where those borders of capability would be. The first of these incidents wasn’t via some journalist going off and doing something completely outside the performance envelope, it was on Ford’s own media day on a course they…

This worries me because I’m very interested in the upcoming Maverick built on the same architecture and spend lots of time on loose dirt roads. If the Bronco Sport is overheating, I imagine it will be even worse in the (likely) heavier Maverick and I live in the desert, so the margin of error for thermal management…

I’ve thought about/discussed how Ford needs to use “Lightning” for an electric truck. When I wondered if what became the Maverick might be their first electric foray, I thought we could see the marquee there.