Pondering the next chase vehicle!

[ericjkelly]

Hey friends!

Pondering the next chase vehicle. I have a 2005 Escape Hybrid that I love, but its getting some age to it and I am beginning to ponder what to buy next fall/winter.

I understand the MPG game etc, but my biggest question is ground clearance. How much do I really need? The outback/forester has 8.7 inches which seems plenty, but something like the impreza has 6.4 inches. Do the 2 inches really matter??

I keep thinking about my adventures in Kansas "Cake Frosting" and how much clearance I may need.

Thoughts on how much ground clearance?

 

[Skip Talbot]

My minivans have had 5-6 inches of ground clearance, and in ten years of chasing, I've never had issues with clearing any of the dirt roads I was driving on. I've plowed into the mud a few times, and higher ground clearance would have maybe helped a little there, but AWD and some all terrain tires (which I do have now) would be much better in that regard I'd think. If you have to worry about ground clearance, I don't think the roads (or lack of road) you're are on will be speedy enough to keep up with a storm anyway. You also spend about 95% or more of the chase on the highway. I'd argue that your vehicles utility (which might also mean how many kids it can hold when not chasing), comfort, space, and fuel economy are bigger considerations.

 

[MClarkson]

I am a big fan of the Forester. I spun my old one into a ditch on the side of a road at decent speed a few years ago. A solid impact... ripped off a tire, punched holes in others, bent the frame, took off the oil filter, knocked the entire engine upwards a couple inches which popped the hood. The engine never turned off, and I was able to limp home. This was at 130k miles and she drove another 20k without any major repairs. Quite a trooper. Some people are like "my car will last a long time if you take care of it". I prefer a car which will last a long time without me taking care of it! I was sold! So I just got a brand new Forester.

The new 2014s have pretty good gas mileage with the new continuous transmission. I was a little leery of the fairly new technology so I went with the proven technology of the traditional gearbox (but lower gas mileage) on the 2013. The Rav4 was the other serious contender on my list.

 

[Dan Robinson]

It's my opinion to buy a car for your day-to-day needs rather than for storm chasing, unless you have the money to spend on a separate chasing-only vehicle. This is because any vehicle works just fine as a chase vehicle if you don't drive on the worst roads. I have been impressed by friends' 4WD performance on the bad muddy roads in the Plains, but that comes at a bigger MPG and lifetime maintenance price. If it's your only vehicle, remember you have to live with it year-round, driving to work, etc. Chasing only comprises a small portion of your overall time in the vehicle.

That being said, If I chased full time all year, I would go with some sort of wagon (Taurus X, Outback etc) as a compromise between gas mileage and interior space. To deal with the worst of the mud roads in the Plains, you really need a good 4WD configuration that will really kill your MPG. Fine if you have lots of money to blow on gas, but if you're like most people, you can't chase much if you spend your budget on fuel in a week on the Plains. Also, 4WD doesn't guarantee that you won't get stuck on some of the worst roads (or at least be slowed to a crawl to stay on the road).

 

[Mike Johnston]

I think good visibility is an important feature, for chasing or just driving in general. In particular, I don't like "swept" windows but prefer more of a "boxy" overall frame design with good visibility front, back, and sides. I have a Jeep Commander and like it just fine.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

I've chased in a 1998 Nissan Altima with a 5 speed manual, and took that little beast on dirt and muddy roads no problem. Of course sometimes it doesn't matter what you drive, there's some muddy roads that can't be tamed. Right now I'm in the process of getting my 2006 Ford Fusion up and running. For me, MPG is what I want. Mostly because I chase in areas where roads are good. And for the most part I don't have to be right next to a tornado to be happy.

 

[STexan]

I personally don't feel comfortable in anything on the "light" side. I appreciate the room and the security and the abilities that my full size Yukon offers. But for rear seat occupants, even a Yukon is terrible due to poor rear leg room. While I agree you should not "require" a 4-wheel drive vehicle on chases and if you need one, you're probably doing something wrong .... but having higher clearance and 4-wd sure does provide a sense of security that's hard to put a price on. Due to a blown tree and power lines and some massive rains a few years back between the area of Edmund and Guthrie, my day would have ended early had I not had 4-wd drive on those greasy back-roads that were normally fine until you dump a few inches of rain on them in an hour.

 

[ericjkelly]

Thanks guys!

Lots of good answers, clearance was my main question, but the other comments help! I am leaning towards the 2013 Outback, its a good balance of MPG and a good daily driver for my wife here in Colorado snow, plus the clearance helps on the chase sometimes. I have found myself having to plow through some mud trying to get out ahead of a good storm, so mud is a given on my chases! I guess I am doing something wrong, but many times the only route to getting in a good position ahead of the storm involves a few dirt roads!

 

[STexan]

So long as you don't try and traverse across culverts or across some farmer's wheat or corn field, you should be fine. I could be talked into an Outback and I agree it's probably a good compromise. I rarely need 4-wd on storm chases but I travel a lot in fall/winter months through NM & CO and when you need 4-wd or AWD, you need it. The nice thing about AWD too, is the tires will wear longer and require fewer rotations.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

The nice thing about AWD too, is the tires will wear longer and require fewer rotations.

Yeah, I don't think I've ever needed to rotate my tires on my AWD Mazda 6. I always check the tread on each oil change and they always wear evenly.

 

[Hank Schyma]

I always side with fuel economy. Sometimes the lightweight high economy cars like the Toyota Prius are dangerously difficult to handle at faster speeds in cross winds. Vehicles with Boxy windows like Nissan Cubes or Honda Elements seem to handle hail surprisingly well without hail guards. And lastly, the higher the clearance, the better. I once knocked the oil pan out of Dodge intrepid back in 1995 in the middle of nowhere... We sat there for 5 or 6 hours before a local passed by and towed us back to the Exxon in Langtry TX where we sat another 3 days trying to repair it (with some JB weld and old aluminium shingles) enough to get back to Houston. Obviously that failed. My last vehicle was a 1998 4runner and sailed like a man-o-war in cross winds... high clearance, but horrible Gas mileage. I'm now in a 2009 Toyota Camry... 30-32 mpg and cuts through storms at high speeds. This has been a tremendous asset and i will always choose my vehicles based on how they handle storms at high speeds as this is where the highest percent of danger occurs. It Handles the rock & dirt roads fine so far (knock on wood). Something else to consider is some cars like some Toyota Corollas do not have anything protecting the oil pan underneath, while the Camry does. And one last thing... When there's a rock in the road i know i cant clear, take it with a tire. They're much easily replaced.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

For Fusions also have splash guards under the car to protect the under-carriage. Just FYI

 

[STexan]

Whatever you do, keep the battery "current" and don't get caught in the middle of nowhere with too few cranking amps because you left it off with some equipment running about 30 minutes too long. Replace the factory battery with the best and largest capacity battery you can find. If you're battery has made it through 2 or more southern summers, you might ought to replace it now if you haven't already, regardless of how many months rating your battery has.

 

[wpattie]

Whatever you do, keep the battery "current" and don't get caught in the middle of nowhere with too few cranking amps because you left it off with some equipment running about 30 minutes too long. Replace the factory battery with the best and largest capacity battery you can find. If you're battery has made it through 2 or more southern summers, you might ought to replace it now if you haven't already, regardless of how many months rating your battery has.

Agreed, if you like to run equipment with the engine off maybe consider a deep cycle battery like the ones made by Odyssey Battery. They make great batteries that are designed for great deep cycling life spans. Use one in my rally car and it can sit for long periods with all the driving lights on, equals 800 watts draw and this battery can still start the car no problem.