On Sat, 12 Dec 1998 05:42:20 -0600, Jay Maynard <jmaynard@xxxxxxxxxxx> jammed
all night, and by sunrise was overheard remarking:
> On Sat, Dec 12, 1998 at 12:30:18AM -0600, mahlon.r.haunschild@xxxxxx wrote:
> > Plus a collection of Sherpas (actually a Ford Explorer will do) to drag it
> > all around for me!
> You don't want an Explorer...see
Actually, the modern Explorer is a fine SUV. I got mine in '96, I ride
on backroads, dirt roads, and (the most dangerous of all) Pennsylvania
public roads regularly, and it's held up great through 45K miles so far.
It's thin enough to fit in tight places -- quite a few normal cars or
minivans would get stuck between trees taking the "back driveway" out of
my place, a 1/2 mile dirt road.
There are some things you need to know about it. Don't buy the older
model -- or for that matter, much of anything else made by Ford in the
70s, 80s, perhaps even early 90s depending on when they did the
redesign. I used to have a '61 T-Bird, loved it when I could get parts,
the Explorer was the first time I felt save coming back to Ford.
Don't get a manual transmission in an Explorer. I was planning to, but
the dealer pointed out (which, from research, I already knew) that since
so many Explorers are sold strictly for street use, 99.90f them are
automatic. Wanna place any bets on the bugs still left in the manual
transmission? I heard "on the street" that the tranny used most of the
manual versions was just plain too small for the torque of the V6, much
less the V8 they have out now. Similarly, if you really think you're
likely to hit a bump in the road, get steel wheels. Alloy wheels on an
SUV just doesn't compute. I used to go through about a wheel every 1-2
years with my previous vehicle, an Eagle Talon TSi AWD -- they don't do
PA potholes well at all.
The only real photographic application of a vehicle is getting you to
the shot. Or at least within 500 feet. While it's not my profession or
anything, it's still satisfying to drive something that lets me, pretty
much, get to any shot I can see. Very often, not within 500 ft of the
freeway :-)
--
Dave Haynie | V.P. Technology, Met@box Infonet, AG | http://www.metabox.de
Be Dev #2024 | NB851 Powered! | Amiga 2000, 3000, 4000, PIOS One
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