Just What I Wanted
When I found that my Forester did not work well for some of the hauling that I wanted to do, I looked around for a small pickup, doing my on-line research first, then test driving. The Santa Cruz, while being a little more expensive than some, had the overall best package of features and fully-thought-through fine points (like the interior of the bed area). Having the all-digital dashboard and the outstanding performance gives a nice combination of luxury and utility. On a recent 3-week, 6,600-mile road trip, the GPS navigation system twice took me around problems that were up ahead but not yet visible at the time that it alerted me. While crossing the Nevada desert, where the speed limit is 80mph, the 2.5L turbo engine cruised easily while still giving me plenty of remaining acceleration (I don't like driving next to 18-wheelers for any extended time!), and had no problems with the Appalachians, the Rockies, or the Sierra Nevada mountains; depending on the terrain and speed (a major factor in aerodynamic drag), I also got over 28mpg on some legs of my road-trip, all on regular gas. And the combination of acceleration, braking, and superb handling characteristics makes me feel very safe with regard to being able to deal with those unexpected events that tend to crop up (see Mega Driving School for sample videos). Overall, I am completely happy with my choice.
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