Sondra and I were talking earlier and she's annoyed at some of the SUV bashing that goes on here at times. I notice and it doesn't really bother me, as it's not directed at me. But I think SUV drivers, like myself and her in a former life, have been unfairly characterized by these sometimes accusatory and very widely sweeping statements.

I would say that I have more trepidation about minivan drivers than I do about SUV drivers. And I would go even further and say that there are good and bad drivers of every kind/class of vehicle. There are crummy S2000 drivers, too! Just like there are good SUV drivers...

So, my question is this. What is the deal with all the SUV bashing? Besides the fact that it's in vogue, politically correct and the media hate them. What's your gig? Why the animosity towards a very utilitarian, practical and safe vehicle? Moreover, if you are going to come at me with the argument that it's because the lack acceptable fuel efficiency, you can save it. Let me put it this way, if that is your position, then you shouldn't be driving ANYTHING. At that point, passenger vehicles are the problem, not SUVs. If cars are 1000, then SUV's make it 1010. The difference is almost completely negligible.

Anyway, what's up your keester with SUVs? And I encourage creative responses that show some independent thought, not some regurgitated mess that you hear beating into you head from the nightly news...give me some thoughtful stuff.

Bueller? BUELLER?!?

 

Ahhh... I subject I have spent many hours thinking about. I have no problem with SUV's, and even see their usefulness. What I do not understand is the Suburban fascination with them as daily transportation. You see, a station wagon (especially one with AWD) is a much safer, comfortable and economical way of hauling a family and gear around. An AWD [cringe] Minivan [/cringe] would actually be a much better way for larger families to get around safely.

The problem I see on a daily basis with SUV's is their misuse... I waited for 5 minutes at the bank yesterday while an attractive, petite housewife struggled with a 2-ton Ford Expedition at the bank parking lot. She was barely 5'3" tall, and was having trouble turning around in the tight parking lot. I couldn't help but think to myself 'Why would this person desire driving in such a vehicle to simply drop a check off at the bank?'

I have a 1/2 ton 4x4 pickup that I tow the S2000 with to the races, and I feel like a fool when I'm driving it on simple errands. Most of the people with SUV's only use the full potential of their vehicles space or off road capabilty 5% of the time at best... so why own such a large, cumbersome and inefficient vehicle?

It's a fad - it's keeping up with the Jonses.. for both consumers and manufacturers it's spiraling out of control. Why does Suburban america need off-road SUV's to shuttle the kids to school? And the vehicles have repeatedly proved to be less safe due to their high center of gravity, weak body shell and inferior handling. And then there's the one-upsmanship of people building and buying bigger and bigger vehicles... the Ford Excursion is a very useful vehicle to a handful of people, but the Suburban family I saw in one the other day don't fall into that group.

As with any fad, it will fade away... And I, for one, will rejoyce. Just my .02!

 

Greg,

You gotta be kidding right? let's see, I can think of a couple of reasons here.....

- They ARE gas hogs. If my car gets twice the mileage of your SUV we're going to go through all that Dinosaur juice a lot slower with more of my car on the streets than your SUV.

- They're UNSAFE. Where'd you get the idea that they were safe? I won't even mention the whole blown tire roll over die thing. They have a very high center of gravity that makes them more unsafe than any car just by default. Then you have the weight factor. Two 4000 lb monsters running into each other is a lot more unsafe than two 2800 lb S2K's. Not to mention that they limit the visibility of those around them which also creates an unsafe environment. People are bitching about Scot doing 161. Heck, SUV's cause more deaths in a week than Scot did all of last year!

- They're environmentally disgusting. Did you know that SUV's aren't subject to the same smog regulations that our S2K is? Or any other car for that matter. They're classified as trucks and our government is much more liberal with truck smog regulations than they are with cars. You see, there was a time when trucks accounted for a very small percentage of vehicle sales and therefore it made sense to cut them some slack since they weren't major contributors to smog problems. Now that they account for what, 50% of vehicle sales, they're putting us back decades as far as pollution goes. Hell, if it weren't for SUV's we could probably build some power plants out here in California.

- You can't see over them.

- People who grew up with Broncos and the predecessors to the SUV HATE them and the newer full size P/U trucks that have also gained in popularity. The reason? Since 90+ percent of SUV/truck owners never use them for their original purpose (off-roading and pulling stuff) the auto manufacturers have dumbed down the drivetrain to make them "ride nice". Unfortunately, the other side of this coin is that the newer SUV's/P/U trucks aren't well suited for their original intended purpose.

- Utilitarian? Name me one thing you've done with your SUV that you couldn't have done with a V6 powered P/U truck?

You know, I never had a problem with Broncos or the early Suburbans, etc...The people who had them had a NEED for them. Most of the people who buy SUV's nowadays do it because it's the IN thing to do. It's like the guy who buys the Base Boxster instead of an S2K because it's a "Porsche" instead of because of what it was designed to do. That's the difference between SUV's and Minivans. Noone buys a Minivan because they're cool. They buy them because they have a NEED for them. So I can respect that. I can't respect someone who buys a gas guzzling, environmentally unfriendly, unsafe, oversize Truck just because they think it's cool and they're keeping up with the Joneses.

Now it's your turn. Justify the existence of an SUV. Be creative. Don't just regurgitate the whole Safe, Utilitarian argument.

 

all i know is i have to avoid SUV's like the plague.. their too damn big for the narrow lanes in dallas.. especially downtown.. and they don't mind merging on you.. or riding right up your ass.. because they know they'll win in a collision. maybe its not like that in your neck of the woods but it is here.. and most of the drivers really don't seem to care how crappy their driving is because they know everyones gonna try their damndest to get out of there way and avoid getting crushed.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Strike
[B]
The reason?

 

First of all, both of you guys suck, you're ugly and you mother dresses you funny as HELL!



No, good points, but it's still.

Gas mileage? My V6 4Runner gets barely worse gas mileage than Scarlet does. And I didn't want a truck, I wanted an SUV, so that's what I got. A truck in Chicago? Are you pulling my leg?! No, really...

Obviously the more weight, the more momentum, inertia, etc...that's not anything new. How do you justify at 4500 pound BMW 740il? That weighs far more than my 4Runner. But you can see over it...ahhh, nevermind.

No, a truck you can see over...? Ah, I hadn't realized that. Well, not before I fogot about my x-ray vision.

I suppose I am drawing from my experience with my War Wagon, as I call it, and differentiating that from the Expeditions and the like. I think the 4Runner is a mid-sized SUV and that is a big difference than those behemoths that are on the roadways today. I guess I'm not clear on what you think an SUV is. Are those Expeditions and Escalades considered by you to be SUV's? Help me out here...

Personally, I don't think it's the kind of car that makes someone a bad driver...it's the BAD DRIVING! People, no matter what they are driving, are far too innattentive when behind the wheel and that is true no matter what. I drive my 4Runner most days 60 miles back and forth to my client which is in the western burbs. People here should be ashamed of themselves for the way they conduct themselves on the streets here...it's absolutely disgusting how pathetically people drive here. And in my daily rants while in my commute, 99% of the time I find myself having trouble with people in minivans and other POS cars that don't give rip about how they drive because they don't have anything, so they don't have anything to lose. In short, people drive like shit here...and they do it in Volvo's, Neon's, BMW's and SUV's.

I was a little annoyed by the character assasination that seeemed to go on about the people who drove SUV's here. You can talk all day long about gas milage (yawn), but the fact is that, at least in my case, it's just not that much different than the S2000. I do drive the 4Runner gingerly...and I don't drive the S2000 gingerly, so maybe there is something to that...

At my last recollection, the tire separation thing was still in debate, that was not the fault of the SUV, it's was a Firestone thing (or whatever manufacturer) I thought...nice try tho.

Jason, did you stop to think that maybe that little woman was going to pick up her kids at school, that's why she had the SUV?

Anyway, nice thoughtful replies, I'm sure I'll have more later...


[Edited by gregstevens on 03-26-2001 at 07:55 PM]

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gregstevens
[B]First of all, both of you guys suck, you're ugly and you mother dresses you funny as HELL!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gregstevens
[B]First of all, both of you guys suck, you're ugly and you mother dresses you funny as HELL!

 

excuses!
There is no reason to drive SUV on a highway.
Almost no one drives SUV with its intended purpose. Instead, you just drive the SUV because it is big and dangerous to everyone on the road.
Don't get me wrong, I love SUVs.
At times, I really want to own one like everyone else.
I get to see what's in front of me at least 50% of the time.
I also have 50% more chance to bully other cars if I ever get in an accident.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Strike
[B]Greg,