Bingo Bongo- three people and bikes inside. Or two people, bikes, trailers (for bothy trips) and dogs.
Three weeks in the Alps needs the bikes carried on the outside! on the way to and from Les Gets but once there it is back to normal.
Totally great vehicle, love it.
Ambrose
Honda CRV. It's rubbish, only today I folded the seats and carried two road bikes with wheels still on. This is rubbish because I took two mtbs to Devon a few months ago inside the car (with front wheel off), thinking "bikes in car", I then forgot to bring the wheels home.
Has a four-bike rack on the roof for conventional/muddy duties that has served us well to France and Belgium.
Skoda Octavia estate. Was going to get the Superb but didn't need that much space its mahooosive. They were doing a good deal on a new one (0% finance and free servicing) so for sake of hassle free driving went for that. Really pleased as new engine is awesome. Stuck roof racks on so is really good for bike trips.
The STW standard; Skoda Octavia
Me too also. Not quite as good for bikes as my old (04) Passat estate but still good.
03 Passat estate, usually use a tow bar rack but when i do put bikes in the car it swallows them. I've had three mtb's upside down with wheels off in the boot, with people sat on the back seats. I don't care about cars being exciting so i think it's great!!
I do fancy a newer one but it's on 187k at the moment and I want to get it to 200k first!!
Mk1 Berlingo
Clio 200
Last of the V8 interceptors. It's booby-trapped so don't even think about it.
BMW 318Ti love it, fits all my race gear no problem.
Favourite feature, rear boot is openable with a press of a button which at endurance races is great, key in back pocket, food and drink laid out in back, get close, press key, boot opens, dismount, feed, close boot and carry on racing.
BMW 320d Saloon, lovely for the miles getting to biking, abysmal for carrying bikes as the seats don't fold down
Just got a cheap Renault Kangoo Van as a consequence 🙂
Another B5.5 Estate here, 1.9TDi Sport 6spd model. It's 13 years old, has done 140k miles, and drives almost as good as new! Does well over 50mpg on a run (have had as much as 60, but 52-54 is more usual even when pressing on), swallows bikes with ease (29er's with both wheels on even), is dead comfy and refined and...
Well, it's my 3rd Passat of this generation. They're not the most inspiring of cars, but they're probably the perfect MTBer's vehicle. Most go well past 200k before they're not worth fixing (and even then the engine is still usually going strong), and parts are pretty cheap these days.
Also, just like northwind's Mondeo, the rear seats pretty much never go up in my car either. I wanted a van, but given that I never need to transport more than 2 bikes at once, my Passat just makes so much more sense right now.
You'll need a bike not a car for mountain biking.
Land Rover 110.
Carries three people and three bikes with the wheels on easily, but it's not quite big enough to lock a tandem inside, so I have to improvise...
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VW Scirocco R for every day fast use. Not bad on fuel. Not too good with bikes - got a special VW roof rack that appears to be made from stringy cheese and marsh mellows. Got a VW California for general biking duties (and holidays, trips to the tip, days out etc...). Bloody brilliant vehicle.
No car for me. Luckily Samurai has two Audi's so the STW average is maintained...
Well, it's my 3rd Passat of this generation. They're not the most inspiring of cars, but they're probably the perfect MTBer's vehicle. Most go well past 200k before they're not worth fixing (and even then the engine is still usually going strong)
My current one is on 94K (which I'm dubious about) but my last one had 234K when I sold it (but wish I'd spent the ££'s on it to get it through it's test)
Got a 1999 Peugeot 206 GTI - fast and pokey and great on winding A roads but fairly useless for bike transportation. Need to take both wheels off to get any bike in.
A few years back had a saxo vtr that would fit 3 of us and 3 bikes in. Shame it failed it's mot due to needing 'welding back together.'
Got more than one friend who goes biking with you? Diesel estate minimum 50mpg.
If not a van.
I have a 98 Honda Odyseey.
A dream drive in every sense.
BMW 320d touring x 2. they take two bikes with the seats down plus they will take a 9'9'' malibu board. I don't like things on the roof or rear, makes me nervous.
Mine is one of the black and slightly dirt coloured ones.
A wheel placed, handily, at each corner, and one in front of the drivist.
There isn't one in the boot, oddly.
And cunning gears that do things by there self!
An MX5.
Actually not too bad for me and one other. Have a Saris Bones 3 for the back that takes 2 bikes OK.
Can get spare clothes etc in the boot.
Has heated leather seats which will be nice when you're soaked through.
Not hugely keen on ragging it around with the bikes on the back though - don't trust the rack not to fly off mid power-slide
2011 Nissan X-Trail, 2.5l Petrol CVT. Heaps of space.
Rover 75 diesel estate,
Damn you I have the saloon! Needed a cheap auto during acl recovery was going to get shot of it but have fallen in love with leather seats!
Nissan Juke, back seats stay down nearly permanently. Can fit at least one bike in with the front wheel off. Have a rack but hate it.
Berlingo 1.6HDi (replaced a 2.0hdi Pug 306 - which was a bit too small, so when it died).
1 back seat permanently out (2 bikes - fronts out, down side), kit behind other 2 rears, clean stuff on rear seat, 50mpgish (to speed limit etc), have managed (easily - it was a right tetris and a half in the 306 and needed a roofrack) - 2 bikes, surfboard, walking kit and full camping kit easily - so can get stuff out etc without a repack
One with a flat battery this morning . 🙁
Nissan Micra Tempest, 2002 vintage.
I am at ease with the size of my penis. 8)
Up until recently an old Renault Megane with 160k on the clock. But a change of work means I don't need it and so am car free for the first time since I was 18, it's an odd experience. I do have access to my wife's Micra if that helps, I can get 2 bikes in it with wheels off too, though I never have.
One with a boot big enough to throw a couple of bikes around in
Your mum's.
A big silver T5 on silly wheels and suspension with red leather interior and ability to sleep 4 people.
Its not too bad I guess for biking.
Hoping it'll be joined by something else next summer. Maybe a mk2 Golf, maybe mk1 MX5 #4.
Ye Olde Saab 900 3dr - can easily fit 2 bikes in the back with the seats up and the parcel shelf in. Long enough to sleep in with the back seats down, but you look like a maniac because escaping in the morning is a nightmare.
Ye Olde Fiat Panda - most stuff goes in if you take both wheels off - even had the tandem in it (with proof!), but you have to be a bit of a masochist. Often relegates it to being a single seater as well unless you get creative.
Just picked up a nice BMW 335d m sport. Really cheap. Not that it's of any interest to STW.
'96 Polo which is going to the big rusty grave yard to be recycled today. 🙁
Polo good for 2 bikes.....
commodore SV6 sportwagon. massive.
Facel Vega HK500
I really like my Ford Astra
A SEAT Leon, one of the faster ones.
Bikes go on the roof. Its a decent car, faster than a Golf GTI for less money (with a slightly shit interior and lower resale value as the payoff) and no one expects a SEAT to be that fast.
murdered out 2.5ltr LWB T5 with bed in the back behind the second row of seats and a poweder coated VW bike rack... seats five, rack carries four plus one down the side of the bed. no wheels off. 7.5l/100km yesterday on a trip down south... 6.8l/100km when grandaddying it up to berlin... 60mph, cruise control on.
Fiat Doblo mk2 MPV, two bikes fully built go in upright, does 45-50mpg on a run, and drives well for what it is. Only issue is that the sump sits pretty low, so susceptible to grounding out on forest tracks.
A Toyota Previa taxi I caught the other night felt like a tin can with endemic body roll in comparison.
I used to own a Lancia Beta coupe, getting a bike in the back seats was a bit of a challenge but managed it just.
'96 Polo which is going to the big rusty grave yard to be recycled today.
Polo good for 2 bikes.....
Same here Trekster! 96 Polo just gone the scrappy, great for just chucking a dirty bike in the back although small. Good wee car but now replaced with... Skoda Octvia estate (series 1). Not huge but just needs front wheel and seat post off. Ill get roof bars when funds allow. Comfy and tdi makes it quick and cheap. Was a bargain to buy too.
one of those cheap Zafiras on offer earlier this year
its huuuge
got 2 adult bikes, 2 kids bikes, 2 adults,2 kids a double kid trailer, a buggy, carry cot all my racing kit and spares plus a million other things for a family 10 days in scotland while I 'raced' ews and ukge
It had to be well packed but it all worked rather well
ISUZU D-Max, Hi-Lander.
A massive 4 door pick up with a full canopy. Bikes slide in the back. I slide in the front and grin like a loon every time I put my foot down (3.0Tdi with a modified turbo).
I can't think of a better mtb'ers 'car'. I can literally hose the mud out of the boot, sit on the tail gate to change, spanner, rest. Never worried about getting stuck in muddy car parks and mpg doesn't change if I've got a truck full of men and bikes or if it's a single driver.
