Perfect ski/surf car = Honda Element Ecamper?

[blackgriffen_1]

Headroom looks a little limited in that setup, but still a great idea. How much could you move the sleeping arrangement down (vertically) if you removed the back seats?

[Poop~Ghost]

Headroom looks a little limited in that setup, but still a great idea. How much could you move the sleeping arrangement down (vertically) if you removed the back seats?

Take out the back seats and you can drop it to basically the floor.



That's what a CRV looks like with the back seats pulled out.

If you wanted a single sleeper in the CRV w/ out back seats - you could have a ton of room.

Headroom is about 28" as my setup is now - which is fine for sleeping or laying down watching a DVD/reading by lamp...

[hop]

that looks promising! Nice work.

[monkeywrenchMoose]

This looks to be in the range of what you are looking for ya?

AWD, good ground clearance, decent MPG? It is only a V6 so I would think so. Small enough to be used as a daily driver, but big enough to sleep in?

And $3000 ain't too bad. Don't know how these are on maintenance though.

[blackgriffen_1]

Take out the back seats and you can drop it to basically the floor.



That's what a CRV looks like with the back seats pulled out.

If you wanted a single sleeper in the CRV w/ out back seats - you could have a ton of room.

Headroom is about 28" as my setup is now - which is fine for sleeping or laying down watching a DVD/reading by lamp...

28"=not too shabby, kudos. plus, taking out back seats would reduce usability (only one seat to carry a buddy to pay for gas), so no point even bothering.

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Not sure if you're still looking but your perfect truck is in Denver: http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/1529624997.html

I was a bit too tall to really be comfortable with the regular cab, but it's a sick truck and in perfect shape. I'll send you the mechanics inspection I had done if you're interested.

[Scottish_Skier]

Hard to look past a Subaru...

However a Mazda Bongo camper might be what your after ? Dont know much about them - but ticks all boxes, including AWD. They look small enough to use as a car - but can also be used for weekends away. Possible good alternative to an estate car ?

[TroySmith80]

That mazda seems cool but they aren't sold in the USA to my knowledge. Looks similar to an MPV?

[ACheateaux]

That is cool, but they must be midgets. I'm 5'10" and there was no way I could lie flat in the back of an Element (hence the need for Ecamperness).

So that's actually my rig and I have to echo what Powtron said. Im 6'0, Slide the seats all the way forward, tilt forward and your good, or what I do is slide forward the seats, remove the head rests and then you have something to rest your feet on. Mine hand over, while my midget wife is just fine...

I love my Element. I get 26 mpg, but do a lot of air filter and maintenance work, some other creative stuff to keep it high. Ive taken it damn near everywhere and it handles business.

Is it a 18" clearance jacked 4 runner? No, but its never left me on the side of the highway like my 4runner did either...

I dont ever say I cant drive through that, because I havent seen anythign I cant drive through yet. I dont even have AWD, I just through chains on when it gets deep and keep going.

Get one.

[El Chupacabra]

However a Mazda Bongo camper might be what your after ? Dont know much about them - but ticks all boxes, including AWD. They look small enough to use as a car - but can also be used for weekends away. Possible good alternative to an estate car ?

^^^ Drool. Why don't they sell this in the U.S.? Damn near perfect.

http://www.bongocamper.com/buyers-guide/conversions.php

[hop]

Not sure if you're still looking but your perfect truck is in Denver: http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/1529624997.html

I was a bit too tall to really be comfortable with the regular cab, but it's a sick truck and in perfect shape. I'll send you the mechanics inspection I had done if you're interested.

Still looking but not interested in the regular cab. Looks like a nice ride though.

It looks like I may not be driving myself around much (at least in my car) this year and by the time I do, I'm gonna have a much bigger budget.

[Hugh Conway]

Still looking but not interested in the regular cab. Looks like a nice ride though.

It looks like I may not be driving myself around much (at least in my car) this year and by the time I do, I'm gonna have a much bigger budget.

Who's the lucky pitcher?

[hop]

Who's the lucky pitcher?

Your tax dollars!

[FlimFlamvanHam]

I cannot believe nobody has mentioned this little piece of sex on wheels:

The Poontiac Asstek. It meets all of your criteria and so much more.

[bossass]

^Heh. The guy on Breaking Bad rolls one of those.

[TroySmith80]

Hmm, the Aztec is so godawfully ugly that i've never really even paid attention to it. Is it a cool rig?

[Fenris]

Try the new Suby Forester. It's got enough space that I can sleep in the back without sleeping on a diagonal or having my head between the front seats. Not as easy to build up and leave shit setup inside as a van, but it's got a shitload of storage once you throw a box on there. And then just flip up the rear seats and fit some large people in the back seats too. I'm 6'4" so 5'10" or whatever height you said you were should be wicked spacious. I do need to rig up some little platform to span the gap between the front and back seats, but that just requires some plywood and cord to wrap around the front headrest.

[hop]

^^^^ what's the length of the cargo area w/ the rear seats folded down? Could a 5'10" person lie in there w/o needing a gap-filling thing? I did a quick test lie in a Forester and it seemed shorter than my '97 legacy, but I was more worried about mucking up the interior with the salesperson watching my every move than actually getting a true feeling for the thing.

Rumors have a diesel showing up in the new Forester in a year or two or never.

[Fenris]

^^^^ what's the length of the cargo area w/ the rear seats folded down? I did a quick test lie in a Forester and it seemed shorter than my '97 legacy, but I was more worried about mucking up the interior with the salesperson watching my every move than actually getting a true feeling for the thing.

Rumors have a diesel showing up in the new Forester in a year or two or never.

I'll measure it when I get back to Colorado. Cars101 has measurements. It's about 70 inches from the gate to the center console. The seats scoot forwards about 10 inches, so thats about 80 inches of lying flat space.

The diesel Foresters have already started to make the US journalist rounds, but there is no official release date yet. I swear I've seen a bunch of rumors for this spring, but I can't find anything definitive right now

[hop]

The dealership in Ballard didn't even know about them when I checked in early December but all the reviews I can find online seem quite promising.

If they do show up in the next year, I'm pretty sure that will be my next ride.

[bossass]

^How do I get on this government gravy train? I got a camera. I can photo some whales and shit?

[Danno]

I keep watching this thread hoping that someone gives me the answer to my car dilemma. A diesel Forester (assuming it gets good mpg) is intriguing.

Right now my leading candidate is a Nissan Frontier crew cab with the 6' bed and manual trans. Only one of its kind (the Tacoma doesn't come in a manual transmission).

[hop]

I keep watching this thread hoping that someone gives me the answer to my car dilemma. A diesel Forester (assuming it gets good mpg) is intriguing.

Right now my leading candidate is a Nissan Frontier crew cab with the 6' bed and manual trans. Only one of its kind (the Tacoma doesn't come in a manual transmission).

Diesel Forester = 37mpg city/highway combined.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...sel/index.html

[Danno]

Thanks hop. 37 is pretty damn good, though lessened somewhat by higher diesel prices. If that car becomes available in the US this year, I may have to crunch some numbers.

[hop]

I just did a little number crunching compared to my Legacy (fuel consumption averaged at 25mpg for the past four years) using AAA average costs for 87 and diesel in CA and WA, the states where I fuel up the most.

diesel reg for leg cost/tankD cost/tankR mpg dist/tank cost/mileD cost/mileR
ca 3.04 3 16.9 15.9 51.376 47.7 37 625.3 0.082162162 0.112899408
wa 3 2.82 16.9 15.9 50.7 44.838 25 422.5 0.081081081 0.106125444

Another way to look at it is by crunching the numbers for the 1000 mile drive from CA to WA, using CA prices. I'd need to fill up the diesel 1.6x at a cost of $82.16. My Legacy needs 2.37 fill-ups which would cost $112.90. I obviously can't confirm this for the diesel, but the numbers match up pretty well for the Legacy.

So far the diesel looks to be the winner in every category except for "Category 1. I already own this car".