I was thinking of a suzuki sidekick. 22 mpg in the city seems bad. What
type of engines do jeeps tend to have? Is a 4by4 that important or is
chains more important. I do a lot of hiking and the trailhead can be on
forest service roads. I do want good gas mileage in the city. My
current car is a nissan 240sx . Im looking for something with better
gas mileage and higher off ground and easy to repair yourself.

On 31 Dec 2006 13:36:35 -0800, "wiseman" <nosugarintea (AT) yahoo (DOT) com>
wrote:


Most Jeep type 4x4 have a higher profile and lack areodynamics as well
which equal poorer MPG. If you keep speed under 60 when possible they
will do better but if you plan to run 65 to70 and more MPG will
suffer. Tires chains can be a hastle to instal but they have few peers
in use and even a 2wd using chains on drive wheels will easily
outperform a 4x4 without them on snow and ice
-----------------
TheSnoMan.com

SnoMan wrote:
Cool, Thanks. I do like the look of a jeep. I might have to get
something more aerodynamic, though.

On 31 Dec 2006 17:06:12 -0800, "wiseman" <nosugarintea (AT) yahoo (DOT) com>
wrote:


You might consider a 2001 one of older Jeep cherokee. They have the
Jeep look, they are pretty sturdy with good clearance and can have 4x4
drive with better aerodynamics too. My wife has a 2000 (last year they
came with a 4 cyl standard) with the 2.5 and a 5 speed that she drives
to work and hass been since it was new. It has been a very relable
vehicle and it has close to 80K miles on it now. In the summer she
average 20 to 22 MPG with it in urban driving and it will get close
to 25 MPG or so on the road. During winter it drops down to high teens
in urban driving but still easily does low 20's on longer runs. It has
a 20 gallon tank so it has pretty good range. I also have a old 4x4 89
burb that I bought new and it is still pretty cherry today after 180K
miles with no body rust. It is a great traveler (what we bought it
for) for long trips with kids and had the abilty to get off the beaten
path when need be (it has been a a few strange places in its life and
never failed) but what I like about it most is the range it has. It
has a 40 gallon tank and will get 17 to 18 MPG or better consistantly
on a trip so 500 miles between fuel stops is no big deal and 400 miles
is a piece of cake. Granted it costs more to fill up but I like know
that I can make a 500 round trip with no fuel stops if need be with
good reserve.
-----------------
TheSnoMan.com

It's not all about aerodynamics, there are other factors like gearing
and weight. the problem with 4x4's & MPG is that you can't have them
both. You either have a 4x4 that sucks on the trail or can pull a semi
out of a mud hole. I have understtod why Chrysler discontinued V8's in
the Wranglers. Unless you stick a huge CID engine in it, you won't have
torque. This problem came from the AMC 304. But the in-line 6 engines
were and still are great. If you stick a huge engine in a small vehicle
you raise the safety liability which falls back on the manufacturer.
But to get the same trail trail torque in a less weight and mass engine
is Ideal. Plus you use less fuel on the trail. However the same SUV
will not save fuel on the road. It has more weight than the Volkswagon
beetle and of course, has little to no aerodynamics.
I'll shut up now.
SnoMan wrote:

Doesnt it help to turn the 4by4 function off? Even the jeeps that 2by2
seem to have poor gas mileage.

notaek2 (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:

Interesting. I will have to brood on this.

SnoMan wrote:

On 1 Jan 2007 02:28:01 -0800, "wiseman" <nosugarintea (AT) yahoo (DOT) com>
wrote:


A 4x4 weighs a bit more than a 4x2 and it has more drag rolling to and
this all adds up to less MPG. Tires size and tread is another part of
it to because a aggressive tire takes more power to roll at speed.
THis together with a higher profile and lift equals poorer MPG. My
burb that I mentioned earlier runs on smooth stock tires that are
reated at 50 PSI and I run them close to that as tire pressure plays a
roll too. No one factor is the complete cause but they all can add up
to have a large effect on outcome. Many years ago I owned a few 4x4
subarus for about 9 years (I bought a 81 and a 86 new) and it was
mostly my wifes car and while it did not have a lot of ground
clearance compared to a full sized 4x4 it was a very capable vehicle
off road on trails and such. It got pretty decent MPG too doing in low
30's on road and lower to mid 20's in town. Nice vehicle for someone
that needs one that can get off beaten path without going too hard
core.
-----------------
TheSnoMan.com

wiseman proclaimed:

forest service roads and head out across countery...or wanted to hike in
very severe snow or mud conditions. The wrangler style jeep is
designed for low speed rough terrain crawling and may not be for the
tastes of someone not willing to sacrifice a bit of highway and city
mileage and comfort for being able to tackle pretty much any trail.
There are several small cute utes that will get much better gas mileage
in the city and on the highway, yet will have some form of modest all
wheel drive that and a bit higher ground clearance that is more than
enough for the typical forest service road. Before you decide, try a
few of the different brands and see which fits you--the subaru, small
mitsu, suzuki, honda, etc. etc. as well as a wrangler.
The jeep is pretty easy to work on and has a very large following of
offroad enthusiasts capable of giving you instructions on everything
from common pita issues up thru major maintenance and alterations if
that is important.

It may help a bit to use part time 4wd, but a brick is still difficult
to push thru the air and they tend to be geared rather low compared to
more soft trail models. I would avoid the 4cyl models, they really
don't get much better mileage and are not as capable as the I-6 units.
The cherokee is a bit more civilized with true rough trail capabilities
and is quite light so performance is much better than you'd expect. The
grand cherokee still has more offroad capability than any cute ute, but
only a nut job would try to follow a wrangler.

wiseman proclaimed: