I am an xb newbe.

Took the xb on a 9 day vacation to the country. xb performed better than expected!

The chair like seating was much less fatiguing for me and my partner better than the lounger position of my lower cars. The xb is quieter when compared to our previous cars at highway speeds. The automatic and overdrive did well on highway.

Prior bike rack fit - saving a ton of money. Had to buy a few rack parts on ebay. The straight lines of the xb were very rack friendly. The clip part fits in the doors and you close the door on them. The rack did not damage the roof and rubber door seals at all. Combined weight of the Mtn bikes with the tool bags on them is probably 50 pounds. We hardly noticed them on top but a roof rack will effect your gas mileage (even with the plastic wind deflector thingy on the front).

The box was fully loaded and had wind drag from mountain bicycles on top. We drove through LOTS of mountains on the way out. The box won't win any prizes for climbing mountains but it was able to keep up with traffic. Its odd but I have noticed tailgaters seem to keep their distance from the xb. More so than on my previous cars.

On the return trip we had lots of cross wind and the xb was very stable in the wind at highway speeds. It is a box and boxes handle diffrently than go carts. On the serpentine county roads the handling was good. At highway speeds it tracks well, but then I don't lunge across several lanes of traffic like a go cart. The xb handles better than expected, for the type of vehicle it is.

The xb was hardly broken in with 1600 miles on the box at the start of the trip. On the way out to the cabin we drove highway speeds mostly up and down mountains. The xb was fully loaded with bikes on top and about 600 pounds of total cargo including people. We clocked 28 mpg on the way to the cabin (250 mile drive). Driving on secondary roads with 2 people in the car (rolling country with litle/no stop and go) we clocked 35 mpg (empty bike rack was on top)! On the way back home (250 miles) fully loaded and bike on top we clocked 31mpg. I have heard a roof rack will significantly reduce mileage (even with no bikes or kayaks on top). But I suspect that reduction is in mileage is less than a huge suv ever gets. When we are not on an expiditon we remove the rack (5 min simple operation) and put the bikes in the cargo area.

I would tweak one thing. When running the front defroster the air conditioner goes on, weather you have the AC button pressed or not. I would prefer to make the call if I want AC when defogging. If anyone knows a work around for this this I would be interested.

4 large windows (that open all the way) provided huge ventilation when needed. Big windshield gave a great view. We did not feel cramped at all. Our opinion of the xb build quality and attention to details only increased in the many hours we explored back roads. In the weeks we have owned the xb it has attracted more inquiries and positive comments in parking lots than both of our previous cars combined for all the years we owned them.

Compared to the GF's prior car (Civic 3 door) and my Integra 3 door, the xb solved our problem of not beaing able to hold loads of outdooor gear. Liked GFs xb so much I purchased a 2006. We got the same color which freaks people out for some reason. I am glad to be a box holder! I have to go wash off some mud now...

 

Glad to hear you had a good time!!!!!