Is an SUV or is it a Wagon?

Rhetorical question or are you soliciting opinions?

If the latter, I'd say there's no question. It's a dressed up fancy-pants station wagon (or estate car if from the olde country.) Isn't it the same basic car as the A6 wagon with extra ground clearance and some butch fender spats? What's the weight penalty for those 'extras'?

Nice veehickal none-the-less, I'm sure it's quite capable. Having never driven one, as an enthusiastic driver my main concern would be that handling is probably a bit numb-'n'-spongy compared to . . . oh, say an A4 (or even an A6 wagon.)

dan k

My money is on nice station wagon. It's a wagon in the sense that Subaru Outback or Volvo V70 XC (or XC70 depending on the year) is. IMHO - it becomes an SUV when it bears little to resemblance to the car in which it is based on (Acura MDX, Audi Q7, Volvo XC90).

By all counts it's a wagon. Drives like a wagon, gets gas mileage like a wagon, but we can push a button and it raises up 4 more inches. Plus it's got a sealed underside, front and rear skid pans, cargo and luggage capacity up the wazoo, and even a sensor that keeps the airbags inflated if you are rolling down a hillside.

The handling isn't even close to my A4, but it's a totally different class of vehicle, so I wouldn't expect it to drive like an A4.

I think that makes it the perfect SUV since most SUV's spend 99%+ of their time on regular streets.

Heh, I had a friend once try to tell me that her cousins compact SUV (a Kia, IIRC) had more space than a minivan...

Congratulations on the car.

If you don't mind me asking a couple of questions.

Can you fold down the seats?
Can a piece of plywood fit in the back?
How is the back seat room? About the same as an A6 or more?

I can't believe I forgot about the allroad. That would be a great replacement for my pickup. Plus it would be good when I go to visit my parents in the winter.

Another questions. I noticed you bought it from Riverside Audi, did you happen to buy it off eBay?

and at maximum lift it has 8.5" of ground clearance, which is also better than most SUV's.

Yes. You can also extend the cargo safety net to the ceiling while it is folded down or upright.

Dunno. I'd have to check the width. I put an 8 foot ladder in it last weekend.

Awesome. The same as the A6. Huge improvement over my A4. Plus all four seats are heated and it has air vents in the rear center console.

I did not buy it over ebay. I had a friend check the car in person for me and this shipped it via train.

Left rear door looks like it was resprayed (just had to mention it, sorry.)

One assumes drbob actually needs offroad capability, but those tires ain't gonna be very effective on anything sloppy. That extra ground clearance gizmo could be useful though. Neat parking lot tricks at the very least.

Do these jobbies have any decent towing capacity?

dan k

Negative, it's all original. I had the car professional inspected.

It's not a rock crawler, nor is any other SUV. It's meant for driving on rough dirt roads and through gullies and such with all your camping gear.

Dr. Bob likes camping, so a few weekends a year, the car will go offroad. The rest of the time, it's my wife's grocery getter.

3300 pounds

It's technically a crossover. I hate to lump it in with the Chrysler Pacifica, Ford Freestyle and others, but it's technically the same kind of vehicle. Although, I really love the Allroad. I kind of hate the others I mentioned.