Top 10 Vehicles for Tailgating this Summer

Spring has sprung and there is new grass on the field. As we head into the summer sports season, the smell of charcoal fills the air and burgers and brats can be heard sizzling in stadium parking lots across the country. Tailgating is a favored tradition passed down from generation to generation, and a large part of a successful pre-game BBQ is choosing the right vehicle to complement your festivities. While the family sedan is a great choice for getting to and from the game, it doesn’t exactly measure up when it is time to get the party started. This list looks at 10 of the best vehicles on the market for would-be tailgaters, and talks about the special features or two that helps each of them stand out from the pack.

2009 Honda Ridgeline - The 2009 Honda Ridgeline might not be the most rugged mid-size pickup truck on the market, but it does have something few other trucks can boast – a trunk. This feature lends itself to a number of different tailgating uses. It can be filled up with a big cooler, a bag full of food and even a sack of charcoal with room left over, then closed and covered with the BBQ and lawn chairs for easy transportation to the parking lot. Once at the game the trunk can even be lined with a sheet of plastic, filled with ice and turned into an impromptu open-air cooler.

The bed of the truck itself is large enough to hold a few chairs should the ground be a bit too muddy for relaxed lounging, and at the end of the day the truck can transport up to 5 adults back home.

2009 Dodge Nitro - You may start to notice a Dodge-oriented trend on this list, and that’s largely because it almost seems as though the engineers over at the Pentastar spend as much time tailgating as they do penning new car designs. The 2009 Dodge Nitro’s main claim to pre-game party fame is something called Load ‘n Go. This unique feature is at its core a sliding cargo floor that can be pulled up to 18 inches out of the rear of the Nitro. This lets it serve as either a perch for diners or even a table upon which food and drink can be piled. Don’t worry about any plus-sized buddies damaging the vehicle – the Load ‘n Go floor can handle up to 400 lbs of weight, which should be enough to handle even the heftiest sports fan. The Nitro also features a number of electrical outlets so you can fire up the microwave if it’s too wet for the BBQ to get started.

2009 Honda Element - The 2009 Honda Element isn’t as large as some of the other vehicles on this list, but it does provide one of the bare minimum requirements for tailgating – an actual tailgate. Like the Nitro, this smaller vehicle can take up to 400 lbs of party gear piled up on top of its rear cargo gate before there are any problems. It also features rear seats which can recline almost totally flat – perfect for recovering from sunstroke or perhaps too much enthusiasm during post-game celebrations. Think of the Element as the jab in Honda’s one-two tailgating punch.

2009 Chevrolet Avalanche - If you need to haul a tent to your tailgating party, then the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche is the vehicle to call on. A removable midgate greatly extends the SUV’s cargo area, allowing objects just over 8 feet in length to be transported safely and easily. This means tents and tent poles are no problem, along with however many coolers you need to bring with you. With the ability to transport 6 passengers, the Avalanche is also a great option as a people mover with a still-decent 5.3 foot cargo bed. If things get a little too crazy – or muddy – in the parking lot, the bed can also be easily hosed out.

2009 Lincoln Navigator - The 2009 Lincoln Navigator might seem a bit too upscale for hardcore tailgating, but it provides a few important features that can make or break a party. The first is cavernous cargo space – a ton of gear can be stashed inside this full-size SUV, along with up to 7 passengers. However, the Navigator’s saving grace is its power liftgate, which can provide shelter from any encroaching storms for quite a large number of people. Even those measuring over 6 feet will be able to crowd underneath the liftgate without having to duck, and since it goes up and down at the touch of a button, it doesn’t over-complicate your party fun.

2009 Dodge Caliber - Dodge offers another winner with the 2009 Caliber. This crossover SUV isn’t particularly large or spacious, but it does offer one feature that no other vehicle on this list does – tunes. With a set of speakers that can fold down from the top of the vehicle’s liftgate, the Caliber is a rolling boom box, and this helps it to keep your party bumping long after everyone else in the parking lot has packed it in and gone home for the night.

2009 Chevrolet Suburban - The 2009 Chevrolet Suburban gets a mention here in recognition of its outstanding historical contribution to the field of tailgating. Long before many of the other cars and trucks mentioned here even existed, the Suburban was going above and beyond the call of duty thanks to its 9 passenger seating, huge cargo area and rugged construction that let it venture out of parking lots in search of shady trees and grassy knolls upon which to picnic. The latest Suburban is just as capable now as it was back then and is still a strong contender in the tailgating sweepstakes.

2009 Dodge Ram - The final vehicle from Dodge on this list, the Ram comes through thanks to all of the utility that a pickup truck has to offer, including enough cargo space to haul 5 or more BBQ’s down to the local race track or football field parking lot. What sets the Ram apart from other pickup trucks is the optional Rambox storage system, which makes use of hollowed-out portions of the rear fenders which can serve as high capacity portable coolers. In fact, it is possible to stuff them full of as many as 36 cans of beverage in each side plus all of the requisite ice without causing a mess or getting the inside of the truck dirty. Think of it as the largest and most expensive cooler you will ever own.

2009 Ford Flex - The last vehicle on this list is a crossover that offers fold-flat rear seats, making it the perfect choice for anyone who might have partied a little bit too hard and needs to camp out overnight in the back before driving home responsibly the next morning. The 2009 Ford Flex is more than just a rolling hotel, however – it also offers a refrigerated rear console that can handle just over a 6 pack of drinks at a time. Not only that, but it can even be dialed down into ‘freeze’ mode – can you say ice cubes on the go? The first production vehicle to offer an ice maker since the Toyota Van in the 1980’s, the Ford Flex is a true tailgating pioneer. Not only that, but it also stands out style-wise from the rest of the trucks and SUV’s that typically fill parking lots.