Getting ready to go for a hike in the Cascades this past Wednesday: Stephanie: Why don’t we take my car for a change? It’s so much nicer than your noisy and rattly old xB. I can’t understand why you never want to drive the TSX? It’s such a fab car.
Me: Why not? Hmm. Maybe because the last time I drove it on a trip I got busted for doing 130? Is it just too tempting to go fast in it? And it’s not at all ideal for driving on rough forest roads. I wouldn’t want to ding it up like I just did to the xB. But come to think of it, the trailhead for Scott Mountain is just off McKenzie Scenic Highway, so yes…why don’t we take it.
There’s some other reasons, but I didn’t feel it was worth bringing them up just then.
Here’s the graphic answer. Let’s just say our respective cars rather reflect our respective body sizes and shapes.
I’m vastly happier climbing into that tall and glassy box; getting into the TSX feels like I’m strapping myself into an Apollo space capsule or a LeMans racer. It’s just so low in comparison; the windshield swoops right up into my head. I miss that huge air space above and around my head, the lack of a console which gives my legs lots of freedom, and just the vast roominess one has by sitting in a box with vertical windows; never mind the visibility.
The other reason is that I really love driving the xB precisely because it’s not a powerful car with fab handling and grippy fat tires and such. The xB, especially since I jacked up the suspension, put in softer springs, and with its year-round snow tires, is trying hard (and succeeding) in being the opposite. With half the hp, I have to cane it hard and row the gears, and taking fast curves on pavement evokes the old-school French-car style of cornering: it leans and squeals but it hangs on.
It’s a lot like driving a vintage car; think gen1 VW Golf, with a bigger boxy body. Or with a bit of imagination (which comes very easily to me) a ’60s Alfa Giulia sedan, which also had an upright and narrow body, a high winding little DOHC four and a 5-speed box. And there’s the absolutely superlative visibility. And it nips and tucks in city traffic and can slip into any parking space. And I can haul appliances and my bicycle in the back. And…well, the xB just suits me almost perfectly. And one tends to get a bit attached after almost twenty years, despite certain obvious shortcomings.
But in a long marriage like ours, the best thing often is to just say Yes. And allow oneself to be open, and even surprised, because getting too stuck in a rut can be limiting and possibly dangerous. So I moved the somewhat worn but very comfortable perforated leather seat way back and reclined the seatback some before I folded myself in. It’s not so bad once settled in…just different. Fine for a longer trip but terrible for all the short runs I make all the time to the hardware store, the rentals, and our daily summer evening trips to Mt. Pisgha for a hike and swim. I feel trapped!
We bought this last-year 2013 TSX in March of 2014, and my long writeup of how that all transpired is here. The highlights are: it was Stephanie who came up with the TSX Sports Wagon after having looked and driven a couple of other cars to replace the very tired 2000 Forester. So it really is her car in more ways than one, and maybe that’s another factor.
It only has 92,000 miles as it gets very little use other than Stephanie’s twice annual trips down to Half Moon Bay in the Bay Area and the little runs to the store and such. Since the Promaster van entered our lives in 2018, all of our road trips are in it, for obvious reasons. And the TSX miles have been flawless, without ever seeing the dealer (except for the air bag recall) and a bit of an electrical gremlin.
Starting a couple of years ago, in the rainy season the car alarm would occasionally go off, in the middle of the night, of course. I Googled the issue and bypassed the often faulty hood switch, but to no avail. I took it to a guy who is a car electrical system guru out in an old garage in the country, and he tracked it down to an issue of excessive moisture in the fuse box and/or in one of the microprocessors, which sits down there in the driver’s side footwell. No easy fix, except to set a tiny 7W AC heater in the footwell overnight during the worst of the rainy season. Works like a charm; it’s a plug-in car now.
Otherwise nothing except the usual Niedermeyer minimal maintenance: oil and filter changes, brake pads, new front rotors, and a few sets of tires.
That’s not to say it isn’t showing a few scars after ten years. It sits very low, so parking lot dividers and curbs are a problem. That dent down there on the passenger side air dam appeared one day. Stephanie has no memory of how it happened. It might have been our younger son who helped himself to a few drives while we were out of town. The cut in the bumper cover was from a piece of errant metal that a car in front of Stephanie kicked up on one of her I5 sojourns. It could have been worse.
There’s a black scuff on the sill under the driver’s door; it will not come off with ordinary methods so far. I don’t know its origin either.
Time to start up the 2.4 L classic K24A series four and get to it (I took this picture when it was new). I’m not one of those turbophobes (having bought an early one way back in 1983), but I also very much appreciate the linear power delivery of a really good NA engine, and there’s very few that can top one of these; it’s truly a gem, peak Honda. On this 205 hp high-output Acura version, at its 7000 rpm power peak it swings its four 3.42″ diameter pistons on surprisingly long 3.898″ strokes, but thanks to Honda’s superb engineering and balance shafts, it’s always smooth; one can tell it’s a four, but in a good way. VTEC kicks in at 6000 rpm for the final dash to the (red) finish line, which is when most lesser engines are petering out. The muted shriek it makes between 6000 and 7000 is absolutely delicious; the sound of 400-thread-count sheets being ripped into shreds.
Although peak torque is at a fairly high 4500 rpm, its long stroke makes it responsive down low too; it’s not high strung, until it is. And it’s the last of its kind; a fitting tribute to the art of Honda motor building without the easy turbo Band-Aid.
I’ve almost forgotten what’s it’s like to have such a responsive and willing steed. Why do I not drive this more often indeed? And although all Hondas tend to be a bit noisier than average on the road, it’s vastly quieter than the xB. I did not feel the urge to put on my noise cancelling headphones. Hey, that encourages talking! What a novel concept!
from the web
We are lucky to live so close to mountains, whitewater rivers, the ocean, the high desert…no; actually it wasn’t luck; we decided to move here precisely because of them. In a bit over an hour we can be way up on Cascade trails to remote lakes and peaks. And unlike other places, they’re not overrun with people. Maybe one or two or three other parties on a day’s hike, often none.
Our route is via Hwy 126, which follows the very scenic McKenzie River on its course down from the melting snows of the Cascades. Those are the “Old Cascades” in this picture, which were once young volcanoes many millions of years ago. In much more recent geologic time the Juan de Fuca subduction zone, which creates these volcanoes, moved further east, so those taller younger and sometimes active volcanoes are a bit behind these. This shot was taken before the huge Holiday Farm fire in 2020, and now the views of the river along the highway are much better at the expense of lots of burned trees.
Speaking of the McKenzie River, I need to confess another recent lapse of judgment, a pretty serious one at that. After we arrived here in 1993, almost every summer I would rent a whitewater raft (or two) and took the kids, visiting friends, relatives, tenants, and anyone else ready, willing and (hopefully) able down the classic Middle McKenzie whitewater run (from Finn Rock to Helfrich). This wonderful stretch includes many fun Class II rapids in between serene stretches, the potentially tricky Brown’s Hole, and the grand finale, Marten’s Rapids, a Class III chute that has powerful standing waves, especially when the water flow is high. We always managed to get through it without mishap. That’s just for other folks.
Last summer I treated myself to a nice new inflatable kayak. I took it on the upper McKenzie, which is narrower and faster flowing, and has more but less intense rapids. It was a bracing solo trip, and then I hitchhiked back to my van. So early in August I woke up one morning and decided to do the Middle McKenzie. Tossed the kayak and gear in the van, and off I went. It had been some years since I last did the full stretch including Marten’s. I did make a point to reacquaint myself on YouTube with the proper line through the many big rocks; it’s pretty essential to getting through it.
The water was flowing high (2400 cfs), and the waves were bigger than in this video. And those waves look even much bigger when you’re facing them directly in front of you, just before each one crashes over the boat, and you. It was intense but things were going well, until suddenly they weren’t anymore. I must have hit one of the last narrow standing waves a bit to its side, as in an instant I was suddenly upside down in the water — strapped into my kayak by my thigh straps — going through the lower part of the rapids. Very unexpected, and not at all welcome!
Thigh straps are very helpful in whitewater, to help brace oneself for maximum paddle leverage. There is some controversy about the safety of thigh straps as apparently there have been some bad (fatal) incidents, like the one I could have had here. There are two ways to get out of them quickly in case of a flip: grab the quick release buckles and undo them, or extend the legs straight, which allows them to slide right out from under them.
Did I practice either of those before going down a Class III rapids, solo at that? No. Did I have a helmet on? No. Did I have a buddy along? No.
I had several simultaneous and competing thoughts as I was hanging down there upside down under water: This is not good, especially since I don’t have a helmet on. I need to get out and up into air, but I also need to keep a hold of the paddle and boat, because if I don’t, one or the other or both will go down the river without me and I may never see them again.
This alone is a big reason not to go solo: if you do flip, you can focus on your self-rescue and not worry about the boat and paddle, as the others can grab them.
I couldn’t undo the buckles without letting go of the paddle in one hand and a strap of the boat in the other. Somehow I must have come to the conclusion that I could extricate my legs by extending them, and I finally came up for a very welcome breath of air. I didn’t really panic under water, because I’ve always been good at holding my breath, so I knew I had a good minute or so to figure it out. I’m sure it didn’t take that long. During this whole time I was still bouncing down the lower section of the rapids, so everything was very chaotic; it would have been much easier in calm water. I was mostly glad to finally get my head up to avoid hitting any rocks; that was my biggest concern.
By this time I was out of the main rapids and I kick-paddled myself and the boat and paddled to the shore. Whew! That was intense! And I had a come-to-Jesus moment about my decision to put myself at such risk. This could well have ended badly.
Since this is turning into a long-winded confessional, just two weeks later I got the van stuck on a gravel bar at the edge of the Sixes River near Port Orford. I’d driven on this bar several times before, including in the van, and it was always firm. But as I got closer to the edge of the river, looking for a place for the dog to take a cooling wade after a hike, I suddenly felt the van bog down. Yikes! There was soft mud mixed in with the rocks; it was up into the rims and it would not go, forward or backward. I was only digging myself in deeper.
This is the bar the van was stuck on, looking down from the bank.
My most immediate concern was whether the tide was going out or in, as this is just a bit inland from where the Sixes runs into the ocean at Cape Blanco, and the river level rises and falls with the tides. This is one of our favorite hiking spots out there, for obvious reasons, and it’s unusual to see anyone else there, despite the world-class scenery including seals, osprey, egrets, eagles, hawks, and porcupines.
I pulled out my phone to a tide table app: Whew; it had just been high tide some two hours ago, which of course explained why the bar was still so wet. OK, I don’t need to panic or call 911.
I had seen a red Jeep in the parking area above the bank when we drove down, so I walked up there; of course it was now gone. Then I looked into my cargo hold and realized that I didn’t have my recovery strap (or shovel) with me anyway. I thought of calling my friend in PO to come with his 4WD F150. Oh, right; he’s in the middle of replacing the timing chain in its 3.5 L biturbo EcoBoost V6, which is quite the undertaking, by the way.
Before calling a towing service, I decided to make another attempt, by sticking some driftwood down in front of the wheels. I got in and tried going forward: no luck. I tried reverse again, and… surprise! It moved, albeit very slowly, with the traction control hard at work cutting power to one side than the other. But it kept moving. End of that story.
And in between these two incidents I slid off a forest road and dinged up the xB. Two weeks; three screw-ups. Am I losing my mental faculties? Well, I’m certainly not immune to the effects of aging, but I’m not sure whether that was the primary cause. Perhaps in some part. More likely they were all wake-up calls, to let me know I’m not immortal and need to be more judicious. I’ve been a risk taker all my life, and there have been many rewards as a consequence. But just like in gambling, winning streaks are often followed by losing streaks. And I was having one. I promised myself (and Stephanie) that I would be more careful, to the extent I’m capable of doing so.
an older picture
Back to driving the TSX: So given my new resolution, I was good and set the cruise control at exactly ten over the limit as we wound our way along the McKenzie River on Hwy 126.
Just past Blue Lake, we pulled off for one of the best driving roads ever: Hwy 242, the McKenzie Scenic Highway, open only in the summer and fall due to huge snows. Here’s a video of the whole drive. It was deserted this weekday morning.
Even though I didn’t go quite as fast as I’ve done before, I did allow myself to enjoy this superb drive in the TSX properly: watch it on Youtube and set it at 1.5 or 1.75 times normal speed, and you’ll get a better idea of that. It’s my favorite stretch of road to drive hereabout.
We pulled off at Scott Lake and headed up the trail. It felt so good being up in the higher elevations; we didn’t get any good mountain hikes in July and early August as it was smoky from fires. Recent rains have dampened them down considerably, and the air was crackling crisp and the sky a deep blue. We grazed on wild huckleberries on the way and stopped at Benson Lake.
By the way, that’s Wanda, our new hiking companion; she belongs to Anna, who lives in the cottage behind our house and has become almost family. She works long days and sometimes out of town, so Wanda stays with us or at least comes on hiking trips, which she loves. She’s a “Bug”, a Pug – Boston Terrier mix, and is bright and energetic.
Scott Mountain has splendid 360 degree views of the old and new Cascades; these are the Three Sisters. As always, iPhones make them look much further away than in real life.
I usually drive faster on the way to a hike and slower coming home. But this time it was the reverse, and it’s partly Stephanie’s fault, who said: The TSX takes curves so well one barely feels them. She said that just before we hit this wider 360 degree turn heading downhill, and to underscore her point, I really pushed it. The TSX stuck like glue, and I said: You mean like this? Umm…yes!
Without gushing further, yes the TSX is a superb handling car, thanks to Honda’s (no longer used) double wishbone front suspension and multi link rear suspension. With the relatively light four in front and the heavier station wagon rear, it simply does not feel like a FWD car except in very rare cases, and was perfectly neutral in this sweeper taken not far from its limit. I’ve hustled the xB through this many a time, and it squealed and leaned and tended to oversteer, requiring some wheel input. The TSX made it feel so easy: just go! And that’s why I still like the xB: it’s more challenging and entertaining, in a somewhat goofy way.
A little nap on the back deck after a ten mile hike and an invigorating drive was not unwelcome. Actually, I was saying my ten Our Fathers and twenty Hail Marys. Confession is good for the soul.
Related CC reading:
Road Trip Journal: Busted – For 130 MPH (60 Over the Limit)
COAL Outtake: So This Is What Honda’s Double Wishbone Suspension Looks Like
This was a great look into your world, Paul, and I enjoyed it all. My lifestyle is less active than yours (nothing like the kayaking), so you had me holding my own breath there for a moment—happy it turned out OK.
xB/TSX: When my older Ford Escape was in the shop recently, I got a loaner of a Ford Fusion—basically the same platform at “sedan height.” I wasn’t too old to get in/out smoothly, but I’d forgotten what it’s like to sit several inches closer to the road…
I have multiple reasons for being a subscriber. But ir it just meant helping a tiny little bit towards Paul having the time to write this pieces, it would be more than enough.I’m a fan of all things automotive that I find here. Bur on a par, there are very short life clips that show the persons behind.
I’m old enough to know that that’s a rare find.
Long may you write, Paul!
Thanks.
You remind me of my current driving challenge – I have come out of a Honda Fit (that has many of the qualities of your Xb) and a minivan. I am now in an AWD Charger and a Mazda3, each of which is a car that rewards and encourages aggressive driving. It’s a good thing there are not more twisty roads in my area or I might find myself with a sheaf of tickets (with ramifications that would affect my day job driving trucks) or worse.
One solution has been to set each of the cars’ variable displays to the one showing fuel mileage. This way I get to reward my competitive streak with ever higher MPGs instead of ever higher speeds and thrills. The Charger’s lifetime average (barely over 1000 miles) is almost 21 and the Mazda’s (since the battery reset the memory) is over 23.
I am certainly glad that you came through the rapids incident OK!! Rocks in fast-moving water are not a joke. And you remind me why I always preferred Honda products to those made by Toyota.
Almost a year ago my 2014 was totaled in an accident, now I’m driving a less impressive 2021 Honda HR-V because I thought I wanted AWD. There was also a high mileage modified wagon on Bring a Trailer last week, sold for $12,500. Too many reminders for me, what a nice car it was.
Has it really been that long? Indeed it has as you bought your TSX a few months before we bought our Passat. It will be 10 years tomorrow when we took delivery of ours. And, like your Acura, it has 92,000 miles.
Your kayaking adventure was frightful. As one who can’t swim, and does not enjoy being in water, reading it all definitely increased my pulse rate. I’m happy there was no physical harm!
Thank you for that piece and pleased you got out of the situations, the kayak one sounds scary.
I like under powered softly sprung cars, fond memories of Citroen 2CV. My current drive is a 2018 Dacia Logan MCV Stepway with a 90 bhp 900cc petrol turbo. It’s jacked up as standard and has a French feeling ride and seats, it’s Renault based. It’s not fast but feels it after my last 2 diesel VW Transporters.
Where I live there are lots of speed cameras, including ones that check time and distance so I set the speed limiter. Like JPC I have the mpg readout as a challenge, it tells me I’m doing more than the 45 mpg (UK mpg = 37.5 US mpg) that brimming the tank tells me but hoping to better that.
I like things of the wagon. I not a big fan of boxy looks. Those we 2007 Aspen that less box;3 rows, 4×4,
Acura cars are famous for their excellent compromise between handling and ride quality. My 2000 TL handled beautifully. It was practically impossible to tell it had front wheel drive. The control arm front suspension really handled and made curve carving a real joy. The only reason I sold it was its 14L/100 km (premium) fuel habit.
That is not to say MacPherson strut suspension cannot be made to handle well. My Golf is so equipped and it handles even better than the TL did. The basic stance is neutral, but it is not hard to get it to oversteer on big sweepers. The ride is also better the TL.
That Acura sounds wonderful. I can appreciate the utility of a boxy vehicle, but I do still enjoy the space capsule/LeMans racer configuration. This is becoming a rare preference – perhaps for good reasons – which I am reminded of whenever anyone rides with me in my “sports wagon” and comments/complains that “Ohhhhh….it’s so low to the ground! How do you do this every day?”. True, that eventually may become an impossibility for me. But by then I may either not be driving or have switched entirely over to bicycles.
Your discussion of the TSX got me looking online for them, and on the first page of listings I found a 2013 that has only 24,000 miles on it…and it’s in Oregon! (Milwaukie? Seems to be near Portland.). It’s silver, not white, but should you/Stephanie want to refresh her ride and get one that will probably literally last forever, there’s that. I also started to go down the rabbit hole of getting one of these and doing the 6 cylinder/manual transmission swap from the TSX sedan. I’d best not go there.
Beyond that, I’d say that for me…a person who prizes “judgement”…often the best things in life come from those times when judgement has lapsed. So while things like being wrong side up in a kayak in whitewater are indeed the sorts of things I tend to avoid, I’ve probably missed out on a lot of waterborne fun due to that. All’s well that ends well, right?
Enjoy the great scenery and thanks for sharing. You all truly live in a beautiful part of the world.
A fun read though I knew a bit about a few of these “adventures”. Well, the bit about the EcoBoost timing chain wasn’t fun. 🤞 that ours holds up a bit longer. Just turned over 55k miles this week so still new.
His is an older gen1 version, if it makes a difference. The bummer is after he put it all together, another noise that he thought was part of the timing chain’s rattle reared its ugly head: a broken stud on one of the exhaust manifolds, creating a small gap in which the metal gasket vibrates under certain engine conditions. But he’s going to take that to the dealer.
His truck has 176k on it, now with two expensive issues. Should have bought a Tundra. 🙂
When I worked in dealer service, I quickly realised just how brand loyal truck buyers were. No matter what junk their off warranty truck was, they’d never tell their buddies. When the thing started costing the farm, they’d walk to the sales department and start all over again.
A client of mine just had the Ecoboost 2 litre in their Edge grenade at all of 90,000 km. A used engine installed was C$10,000. They traded it on a Mazda CX-50, correctly reasoning the used engine would probably blow up, too. Just google “Ford Ecoboost problems.”
I purchased my 2011 TSX Sport Wagon in 2016 with 46k on it, and now I have 145k on it. Your description of how it drives describes it so well. And in fact your article about it helped me decide to pursue my car when it became available. I haven’t taken mine as fast as you’ve taken your wagon, but it’s always been such a great handling car. I hope to keep mine for a long time!
When I purchased my car, it had 18″ wheels on summer tires and the stock 17″ wheels on winter tires. The summer tires on 18s look amazing, and whenever I get it serviced, the staff always looks at it with adoration and almost a bit of jealousy that I own a TSX Sport Wagon!
I remember you telling me about your TSX. Keep enjoying it.
CC is my go to site for relaxing reading but it crashes and reloads distressingly frequently. I’m using an iPad. This is the only website that I have a problem with. Any advice?
It’s all those damn ads! 🙂
Either pony up for the $10/month ad-free version or if you can’t afford that, I give you permission to use an ad blocker.
I briefly considered one around the time you got yours. I was much more anti-automatic than I am now, and the wagon couldn’t be had with a clutch, so I made a different selection.
I’d buy one now, but the ones for sale are pretty used up.
The 5-speed automatic in these is the best I’ve ever driven. It works really well with the relatively wide power band of the big four. And the paddle shifters are there for those situations where I want manual control, like on those tight stretches of that road. Lots of folks question their usefulness; I don’t.
I see the mileage benefits of more gears, but with five it’s never in the wrong gear, because there are so few of them.
You hooligan! I’m too risk-averse, but that was a great read.
I’d recommend trying an RL – you have to change gear by hand to make it work well, but the SH-AWD makes it incredible in the twisties. A luxo-barge that has delusions of being a rally hero. The 3.5 V6 does like a drop of gravy on its dinner, however…
Of course, there is always the half-way point of the TL, which we never saw. Just as well, because we’d have to look at it.
I would imagine that the SH-AWD will disguise some of the strut jounce present on later cars – I love my double wishbones & hydraulic PAS!
Realistically, we’ll probably keep the TSX for some time yet until something smaller, narrower and a bit taller grabs Stephanie, as it really is her car. Undoubtedly I’ll miss its capabilities then, but that’s ok.
Paul, I’m glad you got through the kayaking incident without harm! I’ve never gone whitewater rafting, but I’ve had some scary incidents while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the Virginia coast.
I’m curious about the minimal maintenance on your cars. How often do you change the brake fluid, coolant, and transmission oil, for example? I ask because I’ve become more lax with my newer cars, taking more of a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude.
I have not changed the brake fluid or coolant in the TSX. I did have the transmission fluid changed once (IIRC) at 60k.
The xB, now 20 years old, is going to have its brake fluid changed for the first time in a few days along with shoes, drums, and pads. And rear wheel cylinders, while my mobile mechanic is at it. The coolant got changed a few years back when I had to have the water pump replaced, the only “repair” so far.
I changed the transmission fluid in the Promaster van at 60k because I want to pamper that transmissions (same as Chrysler minivans, etc.) as it has a pretty hard life in a big van.
I try to be pragmatic about these issues, straddling the line between benign neglect and semi-responsibility. I’m probably willing to put a bit more effort into the van because it’s my biggest automotive investment, given the build-out, and because I’d like it to last as long as we last in using it.
Thanks, this is all reassuring. On my 2015 Toyota Camry Hybrid, which is nearing the 10-year mark in ownership, I had the brake fluid changed for the 1st time earlier this year, and both the coolant and transmission oil have never been changed (nearly 98K miles at present).
The headlights look like they could use polishing and buffing. I have found that ceramic coating helps keep oxidation and clouding at bay. It does not have to be expensive, the $10 cheap stuff from EBay works fine.
True. Thanks for the tip.
Ooh, that was a close one. I’ve had a couple of scares over the years with canoes and moving water, so I have a healthy respect for its power. My friend and I once came across an empty canoe on a sandbar in the middle of the river, thinking it had escaped from someone’s property we tied it behind ours and continued. A few minutes later we came across the police looking for the bodies of the two kids who had been in it. 🙁
On a happier note, Miss Erin D has extended her Kootenay work term until the end of 2024 at least, and has been kayaking every week with friends. We’re heading out for another visit next week.
I suspect they weren’t wearing life vests? That’s what seemingly 99% of the rescues and water deaths around here involve.
Too bad I wasn’t wearing a helmet and GoPro; it would have made for a good memento of that little misadventure. 🙂
In my view, xB is basically a kei car, too small for US. And there are many alternatives available, Kia Souls, Suzski SX4, Toyota Matrix, Perius V,, Ford cMax Mazda 5 mini minivan, Toyota Venza and Subaru Crosstrack. We can also go for Ford Flex and Mercedes R class. These all car based vehicle with high seat position. I believe some like Mazda 5 and Ford c Max handling can match or out perform xB. I am told the 2nd generation of Fit with manual transmission is very good and fun car too. But if reliability is not major concern, we can try Ford Fiesta ST. They again have high seating position.
The xB is not a kei car; it’s based on the Yaris but with a longer wheelbase and bigger body; it’s bigger than the Fit. It’s not much smaller than the Soul. It’s bigger than an SX4, and roomier inside than a Matrix and Crosstrack. The other ones you listed are too big and flabby. A Mercedes R class? No thanks!!
Not a criticism, but as a long time motorcycle rider, we kind of had a saying that if you have three close calls in a short time, it was time to closely examine what you were doing wrong. Because you were likely going to have something really bad happen, real soon! Sometimes it was due to speeding, sometimes it was riding while being preoccupied, over confident, fatigue, or just being in a hurry. Since I don’t drink very much, or very often, that’s never been an issue. I’ve found that the same concept also applies to normal homeowner stuff like climbing ladders, trimming trees, using power tools, or working on electrical circuits. Glad that you are okay. Gotta make that seventh decade last!
Point taken. It’s been a bit of a wake up call. Not sure yet exactly how that’s going to be played out in life going forward, but certainly no more solo whitewater kayaking. The xB incident was clearly a rare situation of allowing myself to be mentally/emotionally distracted. And the van getting stuck was fairly minor, within a reasonable range of mishaps, but will make me more vigilant.
Fun article, love the picture of the two of you standing next to your white wagons.
We’ve taken several family trips to the exact location you bogged the van down in. The shoreline from Floras Lake down past the Sixes mouth and then south from Cape Blanco is one of the most beautiful and special places I’ve visited.
Good to know it’s not just our imagination. We feel very lucky to be able to drive there in 10 minutes from our place in PO and go there almost every other day or so. There’s a great little trail that goes from down there up to Cape Blanco. And of course there’s fab trails out to Blacklock Point and connecting up to Floras Lake. That’s where we scored a half dozen or more big king boletes (Steinpilz) last fall.
Did I practice either of those before going down a Class III rapids, solo at that? No. Did I have a helmet on? No. Did I have a buddy along? No.
Oh, that is not good. When I was in grad school a classmate started one of the very first rafting businesses in Northern California circa 1977. Naturally in the class we got to go out and experience most of what Northern California has to offer. From the relatively tranquil American, to Stanislaus, to Tuolumne, to the dangerous King.These were eight man rafts and we were all very good at it after a year one of a four year grad program. However, we were flipped as the Kings was flowing 18,000 cfs at the end of May 1980. All but one made it out. The drowning fatality was not a classmate but a friend of a classmate.
I do dive and have passed advanced scuba and rescue scuba and during classes it is always drilled into your head to always dive with a buddy.
Oh, I forgot to mention Fiat 500L, it is a small package with a lot of room and high seating position. But I recalled New York Times, when it still had an auto section, didn’t gave a very positive review about this vehicle. My friend and his family went to Italy in 2018, he rent one, and liked very much. After his return, he even considered to own one with manual transmission, his search yielded no fruit and then pandemic came.
My current daily drive is 2003 Matrix XR, it is just fine, it is a Corolla wagon with tall roof and high seats. I am very impressed its various features and have to admit my 2003 Accord could not match its practicality.
If crash rating is not that bad, I would get a Mazda 5, Consumer Reports gave high score on its handling. I remember 15 years ago when I was on a business trip to Leon, France, there were many this type of 7-seat MPV from major European auto makers. But it seems now the trend dies down somewhat, people turn to small SUV vehicles in Europe, or worse they are attracted to cheap Chinese made EVs.
I feel the same way about the river views in the Santiam Canyon. I still expect to see trees in areas that burned in 2020.
Speaking of Highway 242 have you ever done the annual ski tour/race in March? The Oregon Nordic Association grooms the trail from just outside Sisters to near the top of the pass.