I also own a Jeep Wrangler and second everything Blaine said (including poor mileage). I have a hard top which I remove in the summer. It's great for slow driving on backroads. The visibility is great and you can also look up with binocs. One birding feature I never considered when I bought it was using the cd player for playing bird cds. I often take late night trips with owl call cds.
Den Henrickson avoce...@cs.com wrote: > From: avoce...@cs.com > Subject: Re: [mou] a car designed for birders > To: mi...@cadence.com > Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 21:31:57 EST > > Howdy all, > > I have to put my two cents in on this one also. I thought for some time > about my next vehicle, considering birding from it among other things > and am > very pleased with my Jeep Wrangler. Aside from the mileage it is a great > birding vehicle. > > Four-wheel drive to get about anywhere. > Very tight turning radius. > High clearance. > Small to fit some places larger vehicles cant. > Flat front windshield ( no bowed vision ). > High visibility especially when the weather is nice. Having the top off is > awesome. > > And actually it stays plenty warm in the winter. I have a soft top but real > doors with windows. And yes Air and Cruise for the longer trips. It is > a bit > of a stiff ride but they have come a long way. The soft top does have it's > downfalls with security though. > > The only thing I enjoy birding more from is my Harley :-) ...... > > Blaine Seeliger > avoce...@cs.com > > In a message dated 3/7/03 9:46:34 AM Pacific Standard Time, > mi...@cadence.com > writes: > > << I've had the pleasure of driving my sister's gas/electric hybrid Toyota > Prius this past week. Its so cool that I just had to tell somebody about it. > > > > Birding features: > > 1. 40-50 mpg. Save money on long bird chasing drives. > > 2. To my knowledge it's the only car you can get in MN which meets the > California SULEV standard (super ultra low emission). Minimize adding to > greenhouse gases which has the potential for dangerous changes in habitat, > food sources, migration patterns, etc. > > 3. Large windows, front and back for viewing and for holding most large > scope window mounts. > > 4. Now, for the coolest birding feature: when you pull over and stop > at side > of the road, the gas engine automatically shuts off-no noise, smells, or > vibration to disrupt your viewing. Then, when you want to pull ahead a > little > for a different viewing angle, the electric motor silently moves the car-no > ignition noise to scare those skittish shorebirds. Only when you push > harder > on the accelerator does the gas engine automatically start up for more > power. > As long as you move under 20 mph (depending terrain) and don't > accelerate too > much, the gas engine stays off. You can run on just the electric motor for > quite awhile with no engine noise to interfere with hearing what's singing > along the roadside. > > > > Mike Engh > > Wayzata > _______________________________________________ > mou-net mailing list > mou-...@cbs.umn.edu > http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net