It’s a toss-up between I-70 through Missouri, I-70 through Kansas, or I-70 through the Rockies (I-70 in eastern CO is just More I-70 Through Kansas). Through Kansas, you will die of boredom, but through Missouri or the Rockies you might die by other drivers. Missouri has no excuse, since it could easily add a lane to…

Stroads are literally the worst. Frequent intersections, no acceleration porkchops for pulling into/out of traffic between intersections, and everyone wants to speed because the road is often wide and straight.

Who needs to turn, honestly?

What’s the advantage of manual over auto? I understand preference is always a factor, but in practical terms? Particularly with modern AWD system that can torque vector, not just apply the brakes to counteract wheelspin.

You’re on the money already, friend. If inertia is already the enemy of performance with a car, then the effect is multiplied when the coefficient of friction is reduced. I’m sure someone good with maths and graphing the maths could draw up how starting with a lighter car yields superior results in snow, wheels driven…

Most of my off-roading experience is on a two-wheeler powered by my own legs.

One benefit of them having been shitty for such a long time, but still beloved, is that there will be a wealth of information on the webs concerning the ways in which they can be shitty, and how to mitigate the shittyness.

FJ80 Land Cruiser.

Anything with a timing belt is not unkillable, or at least not unstoppable (IIRC it’s no an interference engine). Did you take the time to pop off the tbelt cover to check the state of rot, or did you have evidence of the last service date so that wasn’t a concern?

Two examples, for different reasons.

We took a bit of a gamble on a one-owner 2014 Honda Pilot Touring AWD with 100k miles in January of 2017. In what must be a very rare case, the Toyota dealership that was selling it had the contact information of the original owner, who had encouraged prospective buyers to call him.

For a lot of these yokels, it’s more than a political statement, it’s a life statement. They let it define who they are to the core, and that’s why they fight so hard for it.

I mean, obviously the best answer is a 2005-2010 non-VCM Honda Odyssey for sturdiness, ease of loading, family-and-many-kegs hauling, and not falling on its face in a corner, but misses the mark on quirky. Perhaps some aftermarket low-profile wheel/tires and some ironic vinyl could up the quirk factor, or you could…

Add just $10-15k worth of aftermarket turbo- or supercharging, and it will obliterate just about any hypercar on the market in acceleration.

Provided that 8spd DCT doesn’t turn out to be a delicate princess.

I mean, they definitely could have offered the 420hp LF3 (3.6L TTV6) as a “base” engine, and the performance would probably still be excellent (mid-4's 0-60, probably?), but I’m guessing that engine is far more expensive to produce than the aluminum-blocked truck motor they went with.

Does anyone else in here feel like the term “crossover” has lost all meaning? I mean, I understood it better 20-odd years ago when it meant a high-riding wagon-bodied vehicle with 2 or three rows of seats that mimicked their SUV predecessors in appearance, but had more car-like dirty bits hiding underneath their…

Superlatives — we got ‘em all!

Can (somewhat) confirm. I beat the shit out of my 1996 Geo Prizm on the southern dirt roads where I grew up throughout high school and the start of college.

IIRC Prado/GX and 4Runner are chassis/platformmates, but you’re right that the GX body apes the Prado and is distinct from the 4Runner.

They’re all within the range of “Ah don’t care if’n the Chevy thanks it’s got a bit more grunt, that sucker’ll blow up first time you hitch up and try to pull some’n! FORD TOUGH!” margin of error.

Truck buyers are a loyal lot. And diesel buyers love to tune the things. I’m sure we’ll see 400hp/650tq tunes in no times,…