Hi,

We are going to be driving from West Central Florida to Asheville, NC in a couple of weeks. Any experience with the XB on mountain roads would be appreciated. We don't know if we should drive the xB or the Toyota Tundra truck.

Thanks.

No problems here. Drove my xB up through the Appalachians here in MD heading out west, drove fine. Don't be afraid to sacrifice the AC for a moment though if you need a lil extra power

Mine did fine on a recent road trip up into the Rockies- surprisingly well. Search for the thread- "Nice little hillclimber".

And, yeh, it was a cool day, so I didn't run the A/C...

you will have fun.....my xb drove like an indy car through WV NC ans SC....it was great

I've driven the stretch of I40 between Knoxville and Asheville quite a bit with no problems at all. Its actually alot of fun to run that twisty road, If you take I26 into asheville there is only one little grade and you 'll hardly notice it. But its not near as fun as I-40

... Any experience with the XB on mountain roads would be appreciated. We don't know if we should drive the xB or the Toyota Tundra truck.

The manual transmission's gear ratios do better in the mountains. At 70 on the Interstate, the manual is doing 3500 rpm where the auto would be doing 3000 rpm, further below its max torque rpm of 4200, and not be able to hold that speed on many hills. At lower speeds on two-lane mountain roads, the xB is fun to drive for its cornering, but the engine gets a workout and I would prefer the manual over the automatic.

I had mine up at 12,000' last weekend--- no problems.

It does not have V8 power pulling long grades at altitude running 75 or so MPH, but I have not had any problems keeping up with traffic. The car handles decent on twisty roads. With the altitude (or lack there of) in the East part of the country you should not have any issues.

I don't know about them pansy mountains out east, lol, but the mountain passes out here in the Northewest, give the xB a bit of a challenge. Sure, it'll get up them but sometimes you just have to pull over to the right lane and watch all the other cars zip on past you when you get to a particularly steep section of road.

I would take the xB. Even out here in with the 'real' mountains, the very steep grades aren't that common and I wasn't shamed into the slow lane often at all.

If it matters... manual '06 xB and problem areas were parts of Snoqualmie Pass and bits of Eastern Washington/Northeastern Oregon. The Rockies weren't an issue at all.

i have been to boone a few times to go snow boarding with the xb, its fine to drive, just a lil slow going up big hills

I have driven mine all over the mountians mainly from Atlanta to Johnson City Tenn. with no problems at all


Good luck with the drive

I have had mine all over Asheville area Waynesville etc.....sometimes it feels a bit slow but it does just fine

Snoqualmie Falls today a few hills no problems

Independence, MO to Warner Robins, GA no problems for my manual xB

I have had mine all over Asheville area Waynesville etc.....sometimes it feels a bit slow but it does just fine
Which transmission?

I've driven the stretch of I40 between Knoxville and Asheville quite a bit with no problems at all. Its actually alot of fun to run that twisty road, If you take I26 into asheville there is only one little grade and you 'll hardly notice it. But its not near as fun as I-40


Man I love that part...flying around all the curves and thru the tunnels. Awesome road to run flat out on.

I've driven all over the Blue Ridge in the Lynchburg/Lexington area...it was VERY FUN! the xB did great and I didn't even have to ditch the A/C. Manual is where it's at for the mountains!

I took mine to Gettysburg during the July 4th weekend and it handled the "hills" on I30 very well. This car is fun has hell to drive on those winding hilly roads.

... it handled the "hills" on I30 very well. This car is fun has hell to drive on those winding hilly roads.
Manual or automatic?

I've driven my xB through Deal's Gap *many* times and it's a blast. Stock suspension, original tires. It's almost as much fun as my extremely modified Miata. The only weak point is the brakes, but that's because I'm *really* giving them a workout. Regular driving? No problem.

The wife and I just took a trip to rocky mountian national park and the b did great.

I've driven my xB through Deal's Gap *many* times and it's a blast....
Again, manual or automatic? Can the automatics be having all this fun in the mountains?
I went through Deal's Gap on a motorcycle a few years ago. The infamous "Dragon" with 318 curves in 11 miles. A lot of carnage.
http://www.motorcycleplayground.com/Gallery/TreeofShamebig.htm
Saw a guy sitting outside the general store with blood oozing out of his ears - insisting he was OK.

tacoma,wa to cour de'lane idaho.... 05 auto xb..... 95-105+ air temp.... my box was hurtin on hills.... cruisin 70-75mph slight incline droped me to 65-70mph at 4-5k rpms just to maintain... pretty sure my speaker box in back wasnt helping things... but my guess was the heat that was the big hurt flats did well.... and when the temp droped it was better too... still was weird going extended times at 4k+ rpms between shifts

^^I did the same trip as Kekai, but I was really happy with the way the box did going over the pass. I had 5 people + our weekend supplies in the car and we went 75-80 the whole way.

wow, alot of people seem to be making the pilgrimage to Asheville lately, but it's probably just me. Since spring, I've had 3 friends move down there independently, and a 4th is going in a month or so. They're kind of hippies though, and I hear there are alot of them around there. Tell Vince I said hi!