Sunday, May 6, 2012

Search for a family GT

As readers can tell by the posts on this blog one of my favorite weekend activities is to go for a drive with my family of five. The three vehicles we have available for this activity are those listed in the information column to the right. However none of these cars are just right for the job. The Pilot has lots of room for the whole family plus whatever stuff we decide to bring along. It is also very comfortable to ride in. The drawback for me is the handling. It is heavy, and you can feel the weight when accelerating, braking and in turns. The PT Cruiser is also quite spacious, although not nearly as big as the Pilot. All three kids fit in the backseat, with decent foot room for the middle passenger. It is much lighter and more nimble than the Pilot yet cornering is not its' strong point. I will say the PT is a decent car on the highway. Could use more power and slightly better handling. The Evolution is my vehicle of choice for road trips. This cannot be said for the rest of the family. The front Recaro seats have little padding and no adjustments. They get uncomfortable in about 30 minutes of riding. Due to the great handling characteristics the car rides very rough. Every bump in the road is felt by everybody in the car. The backseat has seat belts for three, but the middle passenger has little room in the seat or the foot area. This car does all the driving parts great acceleration, handling, and braking are all off the top of any chart. I am always for looking for a great road trip car that the driver and passengers can all enjoy. My requirements are better than average driving characteristics (acceleration, braking, handling), comfortable ride and plenty of room and seating for all passengers. The area where most cars fall off the list are in the back seat space. It is hard to find a sporty car or suv that has adequate space for the middle passenger in the back seat. The seat is usually very narrow and the foot area has a large drive shaft hump and the front center console extends back very far into the rear seat area. Some vehicles that I have looked at that have this back seat issue are the Porsche Cayenne and BMW 3 series. I would be open at any suggestions of cars or suv's that might be the perfect back road cruiser for a family of five.

1 comment:

  1. It sounds like you won't find a car that checks off all of the boxes, so you are looking for a compromise.

    The Honda Civic has a comfortable back seat for two adults. Being front wheel drive, there is no hump for the middle seat. With a full load of people, it may be nice to go for the Si, although I am not sure how the Si is for ride comfort.

    Otherwise, it could be interesting to see how comfortable the back of the new Focus ST will be.

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