Wagon Ramblings

[John V]

Originally Posted by rumatt

Did you?

Wanna buy mine? 14MPG is cool. All the kids say so.

[lupinsea]

Originally Posted by FC

Considering all the projects I do, I could probably justify a pick-up with a full bed, but my SUV does most of the jobs. Instead I am looking for a good trailer that will fit a full sheet. That should take care of all my needs.

As for the wagon, I had the RWD M-Sport and yeah, it could use more power. Especially when it was loaded up and/or at highway speeds. There was also the super boring exhaust. Besides that I really liked it though. The interior was meh, but not bad.

Utility trailers are awesome! Love mine. Basically, it gives you the cargo hauling abilities of a truck (bulky or dirty loads) to anything you can hook it up to (which is a lot). And, the only thing you need to maintain are a couple of wheel bearings and tail lights. In WA, it's $30 / yr for tabs for trailers and there is no extra insurance needed either.

The downside is a footprint to store it some place. But, eh, it's smaller than having a pick-up truck around.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

The engine is the same size. If the 7hp delta really bothers you, do a 330 intake swap.

The suspension, exhaust and brakes are all easily and relatively cheaply fixable. Can't fix weight, realistically. Power isn't too hard to improve, but easy to spend why more than it's worth.

If there's not enough room inside, that's an issue. But why are you keeping the spare inside? Why not strap it to the roof?

[bren]

Yeah, you should definitely mount the tire in one of those basket roof racks, and put some oversized tires on it. That would be awesome.

[equ]

Primarily, xdrive sucks the life out of most bmw's (both suspension and overall feel). Secondly, that engine is rather torque-less.

The car I had 2.5 years ago, Lemans Blue 335iX is going on sale again by the next owner. It fixes the second problem, but not the first.

[equ]

Third problem is space. 3er & a4/s4 wagons do not have much. Based on our recent move, I'll say that the mk6 Golf has cavernous space. So Golf R likely solves/ameliorates all 3 issues.

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by equ

Third problem is space. 3er & a4/s4 wagons do not have much. Based on our recent move, I'll say that the mk6 Golf has cavernous space. So Golf R likely solves/ameliorates all 3 issues.

A close friend has a Golf R, I believe the rear parcel shelf is much higher than on the standard GTI due to the AWD hardware in the back. The rear room of the R seems very small, even compared to my E46 wagon.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by equ

Third problem is space. 3er & a4/s4 wagons do not have much. Based on our recent move, I'll say that the mk6 Golf has cavernous space. So Golf R likely solves/ameliorates all 3 issues.

Yeah. I left a Thule roof box on my wagon for about six months. Given how low the car is with the sport suspension, it's surprisingly easy to reach inside. I also had the Thule Aerobars that hug the roof pretty low.

[equ]

Could be true on the R. I was thinking that the awd hardware ate into spare tire room but perhaps the floor is higher. Our tdi has a full sized spare and great space. We've put a 48" church pew and a 4-6 person round patio table. The 5er boat fit another pew across the backseat, just barely, a 3er wouldn't have.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by equ

Could be true on the R. I was thinking that the awd hardware ate into spare tire room but perhaps the floor is higher. Our tdi has a full sized spare and great space. We've put a 48" church pew and a 4-6 person round patio table. The 5er boat fit another pew across the backseat, just barely, a 3er wouldn't have.

The good old days of spare tires. And something in favor of VWs/Audis. We spent extra to get one for the new X5. We didn't have one in the last one because we had the third row.

When I had the M3C, I cobbled together a donut kit and strapped down in the trunk. Our trip to the mountain house was on a stretch of lonely roads with no cell service, so I didn't want to take a chance of being stranded.

I dumped the run-flats on the wagon, but just have to rely on a travel compressor and AAA.