Tone,
I'd love to see that video. And there used to be one of you on a track (and something about Porsches) - is that still around? As for NOS, just how safe is that?
morgan-tec,
The Axiom looks mean from the front. I think a lowered kick-arse street monster version of that would be pretty sweet. By the way, I saw a tag frame today on a Mustang GT that said Mustang GT - I'm eating rice tonight. We actually had a Subaru at one of the rallycrosses with a SUV ETR tag, which I found humorous because for the most part that isn't really saying much.
t2p,
Your comment about the magazine article was right on. I believe the quote you're referring to is this:
In the twisties, that means the VehiCross is probably the best-handling SUV made, save for the nearly $70,000 Mercedes ML 55 AMG.
It comes from Four Wheeler's 2002 Four Wheeler of the Year issue, here: http://www.fourwheeler.com/roadtests/5034/index.html
It's a good read, very positive about the VX, and basically the VX won everything performance-wise but they didn't like the interior, griped about the rearward visibility, and said there was no grab handle on the rear door even though there's a pic of a tester using it in the article. And none of that really affects the off-road capability, so if they were really looking to crown a four wheeler of the year, the VX was the rightful winner.
I totally agree about maintaining the on-road handling characteristics of the VX. We can safely take a tight curve like very few SUV's can, if any. I have been in a few situations where I swerved hard and I swear it was more composed than my old '95 Dodge Avenger ES, and this was with Mud Terrains on the VX which aren't as grippy on the street. To put this in perspective, the strongest point about the Avenger was its handling, and in a magazine review it was said that the 1995 Avenger out-slalomed a 1995 Eclipse GS-T! And my brother had a '95 Eclipse GS-T which I've driven, so I know that is an accomplishment and a testament to superior handling beating a much lighter, much faster car.
I like having a very capable off-road vehicle even in stock form, and that's enough for me. I've decided I won't do much real serious off-roading and it spends the great majority of its time on the street. Plus since I got into rallycross, handling is paramount and lifting it would be a negative. I could try to lower it a bit, but any gain in a rallycross respect would be negligible and the stock clearance is nice to have when I need it (and I love being able to just slide under there to work on it!).
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