Weekend Athlete, a Ford Focus and the Tri-ing for Kids Triathlon

Most times when I’m competing I have to rent a car to get where I’m going, and sometimes that means getting stuck with one that wouldn’t be my first choice. Such was the case when I got a sedan for my latest camping trip/triathlon adventure. And not just any sedan — a compact sedan.

Car: 2009 Ford Focus SE

Destination: Tri-ing for Kids Triathlon near Eagle, Wis., and nearby campground

Distance: About 232 miles

Fuel cost/average mpg: $22.60/roughly 27 mpg

Weekend Athlete Takes Toyota RAV4 to Grand Haven Triathlon

This summer, I’ve mostly done new races I’ve never done before. It’s fitting, then, that I’d get a new car to drive to one, too. The race was a blast, but what about the RAV4?

Car: 2009 Toyota RAV4 base with all-wheel drive

Destination: Grand Haven (Mich.) Triathlon Distance: About 355 miles Fuel cost/average mpg: $33.95/24.4 mpg

The trip: I drove to Michigan on Saturday morning, taking a mix of toll roads and normal highways. My rented four-cylinder, all-wheel-drive Toyota RAV4 kept up with traffic well and delivered good mileage. Once I got into town, I found the little SUV easy to see out of, easy to park and peppy enough for quick maneuvers.

Weekend Athlete Hits the Elkhart Lake Triathlon in a 2009 Kia Sedona

It’s summer, and that means it’s time to switch to triathlons, camping and trail-running. The Weekend Athlete feature is also changing things up, adding a more real-life, real-use look at whatever car — sometimes, gasp! rentals — I’m taking on my adventures.

Destination: Racing the Elkhart Lake Triathlon

Car: 2009 Kia Sedona

Distance: About 338 miles

The Trip: I’ve done this triathlon several times over the past few years, and it might just be my favorite because it gives me an excuse to take a long drive in the country on one or two lightly traveled roads. The racecourse is also super-fun, with good hills.

My bike obviously comes along, and because it’s early in the year the wetsuit does too. I like to stay up in Wisconsin the night before, so I bring more gear than normal: Food, extra clothes, etc. To my mind, all of this means that it’s the best triathlon to test a car. (In a weird coincidence, the first time I did this race I had a Kia Optima sedan.)

The Weekend Athlete Compares Compact Cars

Compact cars usually garner attention for their low price tags and advantageous fuel economy numbers, but our Weekend Athlete, Bill Jackson, wants to put the spotlight on the utilitarian side of these vehicles. With this in mind, he lined up three of the most popular compacts: The Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris. Which vehicle best matches utility with economy? Read this Cars.comparison to find out.

Cars.comparison: Weekend Athlete Cars

Weekend Athlete: 2009 Ford Edge Sport

I already tested the Ford Edge once, but I decided to give it another look considering it was 10 below zero the first time and I remember thinking how much I enjoyed things like spring-loaded rear seats, a power hatch and anything else that let me load the Edge quickly in inhospitable weather. I wondered then if I’d like those features as much when things were less Hoth-like.

Yes and no is the short answer.

Weekend Athlete: 2009 Honda Pilot

Normally, three-row crossovers like the Honda Pilot breeze through Weekend Athlete tests with such ease that I don’t always bend over backward to test them. But, with a slow week and a new 2009 Honda Pilot in the office, I gave it a shot and found a few surprises.

2010 Kia Soul: Weekend Athlete

Sometimes small cars surprise me by being capable of carrying unruly cargo, and other times I just find myself muttering, “Man, this thing is tiny!” When I saw the Kia Soul at the Chicago auto show, I thought it would fall into the “pleasant surprise” category.

It didn’t, and there are better cars its size out there for the weekend athlete crowd.

Weekend Athlete in Squaresville

A box is a handy thing to carry stuff in, and I’m all about carrying things in the car. The very square Nissan Cube and Kia Soul were recently on hand at the Chicago auto show, so it made sense for me to check them out after hearing so much about them from my coworkers.

Serving as a baseline for comparison is the Scion xB, because it was one of the first boxy little cars out there and it’s closer in size to the Soul and Cube than, say, the Honda Element.

The Cube toed the line first, and it stumbled out of the gate.

Weekend Athlete: 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan

Another day, another compact SUV in the crowded Weekend Athlete segment. What’s interesting this time is that the Tiguan is a rare SUV that faces a strong challenger from inside its own family.

See, Volkswagen also makes a wagon version of its Jetta. If it were my money and I wanted a Volkswagen, the Jetta SportWagen would make my decision tough. But we’ll get back to that.

The Tiguan has a very low exterior latch for its hatch door. It wasn’t so low that very tall athletes have anything to worry about, but perhaps shorter ones will appreciate the latch placement. The Tiguan doesn’t stand very tall overall, so if you’re the roof rack type you’ll probably be able to go that route without the assist of a running board or opening the doors, as long as you’re not especially short.

2009 Mercury Mariner: Weekend Athlete

It’s time to put away the bikes and take out the cross-country skis here in Chicago, and that means the Weekend Athlete test is going to shift with the seasons.

First up: The 2009 Mercury Mariner, which I tested eons ago with my bike and camping gear. When it comes to a winter car, the first thing I look for is a long cargo area. My skate skis are 1.9 meters long, and I generally carry two pairs when I go skiing. Even though cross-country skis are narrower and lighter than downhill skis, they still take up a lot of room.

Surprisingly, the Mariner came up short. I expected to need to put my skis in at a slant, but thanks largely to the seat-folding arrangement, I had to slant them more than I would have wanted. This was even worse when I only had part of the seat folded. Just as is the case with my bikes, I don’t like to jam my skis in if I don’t have to … and I had to with the Mariner.