New Car

Raine and I decided to get a new vehicle to replace the Xterra. I loved that truck, but it was just killing us on the gas mileage. 90% of the time it was being driven back and forth to work getting about 13.5 mpg. Also, doing all the traveling back and forth to the races getting 14.5 mpg was totally unacceptable. Taking Raine's car to get the good mpg wasn't really an option as I didn't want to put it through all that, it's too nice a car for that. So we started shopping for cars/SUVs with comparable interior room to the Xterra, that were also capable of doing a bit of light off-roading when needed to reach those remote race sites. Emphasis on light, I can't remember the last time I really needed the full off-road capability of the Xterra(did I ever?). Just dirt roads, grassy field parking areas, etc. After searching we settled on a Subaru Forester. The Forester has a 2.5L four-cylinder engine, and claims to get 20city/27hwy mpg. It has interior room comparable to a Rav4 or CR-V, but sits lower to the ground and edges them out in gas mileage. It still has 8+ inches of ground clearance, however, and the symmetrical all-wheel drive enables it to be pretty formidable in low traction situations like snow, mud, and wet roads or grass. I like the way it drives, it's actually a sporty handling vehicle that still has tons of interior room(big enough to put a 29er inside). I have heard that the gas mileage claims are accurate, the folks at www.subaruforester.org were pretty helpful in providing info and helping me decide on the car.

So the day after we got it we were already putting it to work with a bike trip to Huntsville State Park. We met Lisa H. there and we all rode a lap together. Afterwards Lisa and I turned out a semi fast fun lap. She was riding well, I know why she's an Expert!!! It was so nice knowing while we were buzzing down the interstate on the way home, we were getting 25+ mpg(allowance for the bikes and rack on the back). Here's a picture from after we got home.