Again I was out-voted.
My 10-year old daughter had the most convincing argument. After tooling around the neighborhood, she complained that the ride in the back seat was too "bumpy," and said that her head was moving around too much. "I don't like sitting this high, daddy," she explained.
I felt it too. Slightly loose initial body roll is letting our FJ rock back and forth a bit, a vague feeling of motion that is magnified by the highish seating position. The suspension calibration required for excellent off-road articulation and long travel usually includes the use of rather slender stabilizer bars. Small bars are great for rock-crawling, but the trade-off is more noticeable on-highway roll motion. Bigger bars and an electronic stabilizer bar disconnect would be the hot ticket, methinks, but now we're talking money.
As I remember, this feeling was not nearly as pronounced in another FJ Cruiser that we drove in a comparison test with a Nissan Xterra. I wonder if the tall & massive roof rack on our long-term Cruiser is adding interia to the roll movement. The comparison test FJ didn't have one.
So the Kia Sedona looks like the leading candidate for this trip. The Wall of Death will have to wait for another day.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Automotive Testing @ 8,774 miles
autoboy16 says:
07:09 AM, 08/ 9/06
Is the lexus still there? The Rx400h? Your child could watch a dvd in the rear. Its may work.
autoboy16 says:
07:13 AM, 08/ 9/06
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/LongTerm/articleId=106271/pageId=69574
Shows no wrap up so i'm guessing its still available.
ahightower says:
07:25 AM, 08/ 9/06
What a bunch of whiners. That Mercedes doesn't have a DVD player. That FJ Cruiser is too bumpy. I don't care about the wall of death. Leave them at home, Dan.
navigator89 says:
09:42 AM, 08/ 9/06
Why not take the Commander? It has offroad ability, and it is a good road trip vehicle. ( It even has a DVD player, lol ). Of course the fuel economy sucks, but I guess thats the price you pay for wanting to please others.......
Like I said before, I think the long term fleet has too many performance oriented models, which usually suck on long trips. With the departure of the LR3 and Magnum, there doesnt seem to be much choice.
One more thing - why no reporting on the Rx400h?
actualsize says:
03:47 PM, 08/ 9/06
You know I can't leave them at home! As for the DVD and wanting to please others, you've got to know that if the miniature passengers in the 2nd row ain't diggin' it, the trip takes FOR-EV-ER. The "are we there yet" and "can't we stop now" refrain starts before we get to Bakersfield, for crying out loud! If they're happy and have something to watch, they wave off rest stops and have to be pried out of their seats. I save at least 7 hours each way, so I'm happy!
I'm not sure if I can commandeer the already-spoken-for Commander.
desmolicious says:
04:01 PM, 08/ 9/06
The Fj Cruiser that I rented (round trip journey of about 300 miles including about 50 off road)had the roof rails but no head bobbing tippy feeling. The truck was basically new (only 20 miles on the odo) so maybe the suspension on yours has started to wear out prematurely?
autoboy16 says:
07:26 PM, 08/ 9/06
actualsize, what about the rx400h? It has a dvd entertainment system!?
actualsize says:
10:55 AM, 08/14/06
desmo - While the slight head bob feeling is different from the other FJ I've driven, the difference is subtle. I don't think anything in the suspension is wearing out. If the rack-equipped version's higher inertia and c.g. aren't to blame, I'm more inclined to chalk it up to build variation.
autoboy - The RX400h is not available during the time I need it. Also, as your helpful March 06 status report link points out, it has been in the fleet for awhile and has been on a few road trips already. This "old news" status is one reason why the RX400h was not included in the blog. I'm limiting my choice to bloggable vehicles.