More re Compact SUV's

I’ve never heard of a hill holder but my last manual was in the 80’s.
Remember driving my mom around San Francisco in a stick Mercury and her asking why I ever bought that stick shift.
I bought that car in Roswell, New Mexico and back in those days unless it was a high end loaded model the dealers didn’t stock automatics.
When I traded it in (in Florida) the salesman call everyone around to look at a Monterey with a clutch.

I too was taught to use the hand brake on hill starts and had to demonstrate it during my DL road test. That was a standard requirement even with automatics.

Hey grayhawk. I think Subaru has had the hill assist for a long time. The car senses when you’re stopped on a hill and it locks the brakes so you don’t roll into someone. The brakes are SUPPOSED to release when you take off. Sheeeit. The car stalled. I disabled the thing as soon as I got home. I just continue to use the parking/emergency brake lever at my right hand if I feel like I need it. The computers and sensors aren’t as good as me yet. Not in the car I got.

If someone is too close behind on a hill, you could always shift into Reverse while holding the brake down…BACK OFF, IDIOT!

I don’t know if anyone has already mentioned it, but some vehicles have now done away with the parking brake handle and the parking brake is foot operated (it takes a foot to set it and release it). So the geniuses added the hill holder. Well at least that is the case on some brands on some models. There is supposed to be a 2 second delay between the time that you remove your foot from the brake and press the accelerator. If you fail to hit the gas in that time delay, you will roll back unless you hit the brake again–I guess.

I thought our new Tucson had this device, but after thinking about it, I don’t believe it does, because we have the regular automatic transmission, which still has a torque converter. The models with the dual clutch 7-speed, do not have a torque converter–thus the hill holder. This is why I prefer a stick. But these days even that can be a PITA. In some vehicles, the whole engine assembly has to be dropped out of the vehicle to change the clutch.

There really needs to be a car/truck maker who believes in the KISS principle.

My last manual was a german 5 speed, I liked it.
What I didn’t like was the front wheel drive under hard acceleration.

I had just gotten my '98 F-150 with a 5 speed when I went paddling with a friend. The put in was just off a 4 lane intersection with a steep drop to the river.
I was a bit spooked about getting back on to the highway. I got caught by the light on the slope and someone pulled up right behind me. Now I was a bit more spooked.
The truck had a foot brake . I revved the engine, popped the brake and burned rubber across the highway.
I eventually got better with the clutch.

My 2015 Mazda CX5 has the 6-speed stick, same transmission as in the Miata sports coupe. And it has the right side hand operated parking brake so I can easily set it when stopped uphill (and in Pittsburgh we have some of the steepest hills in the country, many of them of brick or Belgian block – check out YouTube clips of the infamous Pittsburgh “Dirty Dozen” annual bike race).

I like the gear ratios on the CX5 – I can easily start moving in second, also can shift smoothly between the gears without the clutch at many speeds and can coast through neighborhoods with a lot of stop signs in second gear, rolling to a 99% “stop” and then accelerating across the intersection without stalling it out. Compared to the old Outback it shifts like butter. Also gets 10 mpg more than the Subaru did: 27 around town and as much as 36 on highway trips.

Willowleaf, from what I can see on the CX5, they have a flush rail on both sides to attach a rack, what rack do you use to carry your boats?

@string said:
I had just gotten my '98 F-150 with a 5 speed when I went paddling with a friend. The put in was just off a 4 lane intersection with a steep drop to the river.
I was a bit spooked about getting back on to the highway. I got caught by the light on the slope and someone pulled up right behind me. Now I was a bit more spooked.
The truck had a foot brake . I revved the engine, popped the brake and burned rubber across the highway.
I eventually got better with the clutch.

I did something like that on the hills of SF in a manual RWD pick up. I was on a road trip and rolled into that unknowingly. I was quite decent with a stick but not decent enough for that. Practiced a few more times after and got used to the feeling of sitting in a rocket ship about to launch.

Totally don’t mind driving my 99 Prelude in stop and go. Very friendly transmission.

@Celia said:
@Andy_Szymczak I’d be curious to hear your take on the 2019 Rav4.

Celia, the primary reason I’m looking at the Rav4 is my experience with the current one I have. My 2009 runs like new, the v6 is powerful and the selectable 4wd has been a bonus. I’m looking hard at the 2019 Hybrid Rav4, the MPG rating surpasses any other compact SUV. All Rav4’s now come with 4 cylinder engines, but the hybrid puts out more HP than the non hybrid Rav4’s. One caveat in all this is that as long as my current ride holds up, I don’t see any reason to replace it. Also looking at the Mazda CX5. It is one of the highest rated compact SUV’s in all the reviews I’ve read. The Honda CR-V is on my radar as well. But as long as my 2009 holds up, I may be looking at 2020 vehicles.

I used to race cars several years ago and at the end of the day the modern vehicles are built to such high minimums as set by the federal government that the cheapest 2018/19 vehicle will not only run rings performance wise around the most top end car from 30 years ago, but it is also inherently far safer and more comfortable. Compare a Chevy Equinox with a 1989 Ferrari or SEL 600 Mercedes, the former is so much better in every way there’s no comparison.

Sadly some marques remain unreliable, Chrysler/Fiat is awful and Subaru has had a lot of powertrain issues in the last ~10 years which has been unlike them. I mean serious stuff like ringland cracks, spun bearings, PCV flow, head gasket issues, exhaust valve springs to name a few with recalls and class action lawsuits resulting. These problems have not just been on the high performance turbo motors either, also their run of the mill naturally aspirated engines as well.

In the end it’s hard to get a “bad” car in today’s market. Think of all the ****boxes we used to drive not that long ago and be thankful!

@Andy_Szymczak I like some of what I am seeing in the 2019 RAV4’s, but there is other new stuff that I would rather someone else experiment with it first. The cargo capacity is a major question mark for me if it has been reduced. I am wasting a lot of space with just me in the car. But when I start hauling most of a string quartet or make the long trips to Maine including a crate with two cats, I want decent space. The higher clearance also an issue, I am already partly lifting my very frail 96 yr old stepmother into the seat to get her to doc appts. Not sure it’d work with 2 more inches added.

I get holding on. As you said, when these cars run well they do so with astonishingly little out of pocket costs compared to anything else I ever owned. Whatever other complaints anyone might have, their lack of fussiness is quite wonderful.

I can’t quite make sense of this small SUV world we are in right now. I am sure they are wonderful cars to drive but I just can’t see them as spacious and they are tall enough to make boat loading an issue. in my mind a good old minivan would do better.
As far as a solo boat hauler a lower car makes more sense to me but none of the modern sedans and hatchbacks are low enough to load a heavyish boat solo unassisted very easily. My Prelude is very low but it’s about the highest I am willing to do with a 50lb boat on regular basis. Even a Corolla would be tall enough for me to get a load assist so might as well do it with a van which would be so much more practical.

Agree with the minivan by the way, much better for space.

That said the best are the full size pickups, you can get them in 4 door full size everything, throw on a bed cap and then you have tons of room and before you know it 10,000, even 15,000lbs of trailering capability which admittedly was overkill but for me became the answer to all my Kayak transport problems.

@CA139 said:
Agree with the minivan by the way, much better for space.

That said the best are the full size pickups, you can get them in 4 door full size everything, throw on a bed cap and then you have tons of room and before you know it 10,000, even 15,000lbs of trailering capability which admittedly was overkill but for me became the answer to all my Kayak transport problems.

Not for me for sure. I considered a full size quad cab many times (mostly cause I like them :)), but realistically they are way to big to even fit on my driveway. To me it’s more about a good roof rack and lift assist system. I can fit my entire family with my boat and a cargo box on top for a cottage trip and the van does perfectly fine (especially after I added airbags to the rear suspension).

Celia, just for clarification the 2019 RAV 4’s have a conventional 8 speed automatic transmission except for the hybrid which uses a CVT. Also, Ford was never big into CVT’s so I think you meant Dual Clutch Transmissions (DCT’s) since only Ford hybrids use CVT’s. I had a one year lease on a 2005 Ford Freestyle when I worked for Ford and that one had a CVT but I think Ford went away from CVT’s largely to avoid maintenance complexity for their dealerships. So with a significant horsepower bump plus the 8 speed automatic the new RAV4 should be plenty peppy and also quick off the line which Americans love. I was disappointed to see the very small horsepower increase in the new Forester when they added direct fuel injection…which implies that it’s more of a retro-fit technology and marketing buzzword since direct fuel injection should enable a big horsepower increase while also improving fuel economy.

Dual clutch automatics are very popular in Europe and in sporty cars because they offer the control of a manual yet shift faster and more consistently than any other transmission so they can be a great option in sporty vehicles (like every Ferrari) or even the new little Hyundai Kona. The DCT is an awesome option in the VW GTI and it’s also getting rave reviews in the new Honda Gold Wing motorcycle. CVT’s do not have the control of a manual or DCT but they can work really well in the real world…my 2017 CRV is calibrated to feel eager and peppy and it feels more effortless driving through mountains than my V8 Mustang did. Many manufacturers may be forced to tune CVT’s for fuel economy so I can understand why some folks feel like they let the engine lug…the Nissan Murano feels a bit sluggish even though it has a very powerful engine and goes just great if you put your foot down. Hondas are usually a bit lighter than their competitors and they also often use slightly smaller engines so they can then calibrate the vehicles to be fun to drive and still get good fuel economy. The CVT in my Honda also gives more engine braking than a conventional auto and I like that.

All the new models have different personalities and different pro’s and con’s and one can make a good argument for any of them being “best”. I think the new RAV4 will be bigger and that’s one reason we liked the CRV…at the time it was the only small crossover that had a real double-wide armrest between the front seats just like grown up vehicles…plus it has way more rear seat legroom than our 4Runner!

@PaddleDog52 said:
I read an article year or two ago how headlight technology was way behind other patrs of car development. DOT has limits I am sure they could make blinding headlights.

They already make blinding headlights, many of which are likely blinding oncoming drivers without being of much use to the driver of the car.

The lights down low on the bumper are some of the worst offenders - many are brighter and more dazzling to oncoming traffic than the main headlights and probably do very little to aid the sight of the driver, since they’re located close to the pavement and are aimed into the eyes of oncoming drivers.

My impression is that the federal government doesn’t actually test new vehicle model headlights to see how detrimental they are to oncoming drivers. If they do, then they need to reconsider the acceptable parameters for the test.

Andy_S: I use standard square Thule bars with the lateral clamp mounts made to fit the “aerodynamic” side rails on the Mazda. Main problem is the close spacing – those factory bars (though the were an add-on when I bought the car which the dealer had to install) is so short that the space between the crossbars is only about the length of the cockpit coaming on any of my boats. That does make for a slippage-free placement when I carry them hull down but it means there is an awful lot of overhang. I lucked out the week I bought the CX5 – a poster on local Craigslist had just returned his own leased CX5 and had a two year old complete rack that he sold me for $150, good as new and adjusted to fit my vehicle. I like the car pretty well but wish it was more squared off and not egg-shaped. Can’t complain about quality, comfort or drive-worthiness but it’s lacking in space to haul stuff easily. I was spoiled by minivans and big ole’ Volvo wagons…

TomL
I am certain I was told by the Enterprise folks that the Fords I was renting had CVT. For a bit I was driving two major beaters, because I needed them as junk haulers for some cleaning up work. But they would not have been wise to take on long trips. I was generally renting Ford Focus’s because I long ago learned that Ford had the knack of a comfortable seat for my tastes. The young men at Enterprise may have been wrong.

I went back thru the various reviews and found the rather misleading sentence that had led me to think the non-hybrid version of the 2019 Rav4 had a CVT. Found another one that was clearer.

I also ran into a plethora of conflicting height measurements, and anywhere from half an inch to two inches estimated change in ground clearance. If I can get clear of some holiday prep stuff that is chewing up my time, I might try to get to a lot to look at one of these things. Just for information, I am quite good with my 2018.