What makes the best storm chasing vehicle?

[Dan Robinson]

What, no pick 'em up trucks in the poll?

I chased for 4 years (2000-2004) in a 2WD supercab Ranger. I loved that truck and it served me well, but it was quite possibly the worst type of vehicle to chase in. No space and no wet/gravel road handling. The only plus was the high ground clearance that made it easy to pull off the road just about anywhere. Gas mileage was pretty good.

 

[Greg Campbell]

I'll pass on the Jeep.
Last summer, a visting friend rented a nearly new (<10,000 miles) Grand Cherokee. The thing was a disaster. It ran Ok on the freeway, but went berzerk when we tried to go off road. While driving up Mt. Hopkins, a modest grade and VERY well maintained gravel road, the drivetrain spontaneously dropped out of gear. Fiddling with the gear selector had no effect. With the transmission in drive, gassing it produced maybe 50 lb of forward drive, just enough to rock the boat. After seveal seconds of that, we saw smoke wafting from beneath and detected the unmistakable smell of overheated ATF. We shut it down and let it rest for 10 min. After restarting, things were fine for another few miles before a repeat performance convinced us to abandon the effort and make a beeline for the nearest Avis office.


I recently upgraded my tiny "White Rat" Mazda to the "White Whale-Wagon" (Honda Accord).

The thing is well finished and quiet, with good ergonomics; a deep dash for holding radios, computer monitors, etc.; and gobs of space in the rear (more than a Rav or other small SUV.) The best part is the mileage - I got an honest 34 MPG on the round trip from Tucson to Denver, and that was with ~50+ miles of city driving and a ~10mph headwind most of the way back.

It's only FWD, so those slimy dirt roads will remain off limits. Otherwise, it's about all I could ask for.

-Greg

 

[John Erwin]

I'll pass on the Jeep.
Last summer, a visting friend rented a nearly new (<10,000 miles) Grand Cherokee. The thing was a disaster.

Thank goodness we're all individuals, or we would all be driving the same vehicles in a very boring world. I suspect for every vehicle type and model in this world that someone will have a horror story for it. Obviously something was wrong with your rental unit.

While the Jeep Grand Cherokee will not suit everyone's needs (or tastes), my personal experience with mine has been nothing short of wonderful (both on and off-road).

Cheers,

 

[Matthew Havin]

Individually, the Grand Cherokee is great or terrible..... but overall it has a well-known track record by many to be a giant unreliable money pit.

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliabil...rokee&trimid=-1

One of my friends is a mechanic and wouldn't wish this vehicle on anyone.

On the other hand, the Cherokees are great (other than a boatload of electical problems with some of the older models). Sad they don't make them anymore.

 

[Ben Engle]

Originally posted by James Clark
I would have to agree with the folks that mentioned Jeep Cherokees. I have owned 2, and the one I have currently has 225k on it, and still has exceptional performance and reliability. My dad bought it back in 1997, and it has been the workhorse of my family since then. My next vehicle will also be a 2000 Cherokee with Select-trac. It is unfortunate that the only Jeeps that still use the 4.0L engine are the Wranglers, the Liberty's 3.5L is nice, but not as nice as the 4.0L.

That is true about the 4.0, definately the best motor I've ever owned. I had a 97 TJ, a 00 XJ classic, and a 94 ZJ all with the 4.0, torquey as all get-out. Unfortunately, I dont know if many people have heard yet that Chrysler is discontinuing the 4.0 I6 after the end of the 2006 model year. The 2007 will have some POS V6 crap in it. Like I always said, It's a Jeep thing, Daimler Chrysler doesn't understand.

 

[Dave Carroll]

chase vehicles & sleeping

...don't have enough mileage on my wife's Mazda MPV minivan to enroll it as my chase vehicle just yet (still using a Subaru AWD wagon), but it has a great feature for all you roadside sleepers: the front and middle seats fold flat back creating two perfectly flat sleeping platforms (it was designed this way). In a pinch with eyes getting heavy...it'll do the trick. -DC

 

[Laura Hedien]

I picked Hummer... And I don't mean the sissy H2, H3, H4's, etc.. I'm talking about the REAL H1. But, that might be out of the question if you don't have $80K to throw around - they are quite a hot item now, ever since the release of the girly-man hummer.
[/b]

Just poking around the site some and I love your post!!! The worst thing you can do to a "real" Hummer owner is ask them if it is an H2 (H-Tahoe).
I haven't posted much, but this is my beast.

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Now if this were only a better chase year.....
Laura

 

[Marc Austin]

Just poking around the site some and I love your post!!! The worst thing you can do to a "real" Hummer owner is ask them if it is an H2 (H-Tahoe).
I haven't posted much, but this is my beast.

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Now if this were only a better chase year.....
Laura
[/b]

Nice ride Laura! If only it were a better chase year... How on earth do you have the money to put gas in that thing?!

 

[Laura Hedien]

Nice ride Laura! If only it were a better chase year... How on earth do you have the money to put gas in that thing?!
[/b]

I used to drive a Chevy Tahoe and got the same (13mpg) fuel mileage. Diesel fuel is about 10- 15 cents more a gallon here so it's not too bad. But of course the maintenance hurts.
I am very blessed and fortunate in this game called life. My husband (who thinks I am nuts for storm chasing) and I have no complaints. I've been a Lieutenant on a fire department for 16 years now and I also have a very good part time job. God has been good to us.
I haven't been chasing too long but I'm taking a few classes at COD. I really look forward to the wealth of knowledge on this site and the learning opportunities here.
What fun this is but so complicated!
Laura

 

[Chris Robinette]

I think my 1992 Celica will do fine, as long as I don't try any rally style stuff offroad (not the AWD version ). It gets pretty good gas milage, and has enough space for me and someone else. It'll work. With the backseats down it helps a lot on cargo space. It's reliable, which is what matters most to me.

For awhile I was also considering a hardtop Jeep Wrangler, but then I got at look at it's cargo space. Kinda small.

 

[Marc Austin]

I must admit, If I could have any vehichle in the world to chase in, it would probably be this one:

I don't know why, but ever since that movie, I've loved the Delorean! Too bad time travel doesn't come standard... oh well

 

[Chris Robinette]

Get a Lambo, or a z06 Corvette. You'll have no problems keeping up with the storm, or with cops at 200 mph.

 

[Tom Burgess]

Since 1989 I have used only vans. All Ford's. The Areostar is my pick for the mini van crowd. I found it to work well with the mid seat removed and a desk added. Sad to say a teenager liked it so well that he traded a toyo tundra for it that his new bride had only made 1 payment on. The nice insurance co. (State Farm) replaced it with a full size ford country club,4 laptop, 3 Cameras ( some night vision), A lettering job, 2 lightbars,A new OS cabled weather station,and paid to have everything put in by a pro shop includeing power center ,3 inverters. It would have cost $5000 to fix the old one. It cost them over $15,000 for the whole job. I now have a van that will carry 6 after removeing the mid. seat and putting a jump seat with my laptop desk. As for power it has a 5.8 that gets around 22 mpg around and 28 on the highway.While it is 2wd I carry chains but have never had to use them even in several ice storms here in Wv. It can be viewed along with the Areostar and my first ever storm ride a Ford bronco. At

Weather Technologies Just click on the pix of the van to be taken to the page.

Best ride comeing or going for room and has a rear seat that pulls out to sleep 2 with room to spare.

And the power center upgrade with separete chargeing systems will allow me to even jump start my self after forgetting to turn the headlights off (forgetfull in my old age).

 

[Blake Michaleski]

That is true about the 4.0, definately the best motor I've ever owned. I had a 97 TJ, a 00 XJ classic, and a 94 ZJ all with the 4.0, torquey as all get-out. Unfortunately, I dont know if many people have heard yet that Chrysler is discontinuing the 4.0 I6 after the end of the 2006 model year. The 2007 will have some POS V6 crap in it. Like I always said, It's a Jeep thing, Daimler Chrysler doesn't understand.
[/b]

yep, the last 4.0L ever rolled off the assembly line a month or so ago.

the one in my 94 yj went at 160k but after disassembly it was found that whoever assembled it wasnt paying attention. the two compression ring gaps were in line on the number one cylinder. they should be 180 from each other. some slight detonation blew a hole down teh side of the piston through the ring gaps.



again the burned up grand cherokee trans doesnt surprise me.

i would not have a grand cherokee for anything. but i'll take a regular cherokee anyday. in fact i just bought a 92 XJ (cherokee) with 200k on it. the body is in excellent shape and the motor runs great. i do have another motor to be built for this one though. i paid 500 bucks for it and all it needed was a starter.

 

[Paul Stofer]

Tom, I like the fake radioshack camera up front with the GPS reciever on top. What exactly is it being used for?