Stupid SUV's

[WinterBorn]

Obviously we are all free to do stupid things. My neighbor drives an Escalade, and her husband has a Tundra. No kids, nothing but air in the bed of the truck. Never had either one of them off road. Happy as a clam.

God bless 'em.

About that 7 Passenger SUV that gets 22mpg, call the Guinness people; they will want to put that one in their book.

Chevrolet Suburban Research All Models and Prices - MSN Autos

The Chevy Suburban has a listed MPG of 22-23 on the hwy.

 

[Mr Natural]

I could never understand why someone would willingly drive a truck instead of a car when they didn't have to.

 

[WinterBorn]

I could never understand why someone would willingly drive a truck instead of a car when they didn't have to.

Given how useful a pickup truck can be, I don't see the reason I would want a car.

Trucks now are as comfortable as cars, have all the luxuries and amenities that cars do, and my visibility is much greater.

For several years I averaged 5k miles a month driving two different trucks. The Ford F-150 was a better truck, but the Chevy didn't cause me any grief. Both handled well, drove great, and allowed me the flexibility to do more.

 

[007]

I have a 1997 1/2 ton, 4x4 pickup truck, lifted.

I have a 1980 3/4 ton, 4x4 pickup truck, collector.

I have a 2002 Chevy Tahoe, also 4x4, that will do EVERYTHING a car will do and more, including having a VERY plush interior and VERY comfortable ride, and gets 24 miles to the gallon.

Do I need to justify owning any one or all of my trucks to some libtard that wants us all to have to drive electric suit cases on wheels? Not only no, but FUCK NO!

If I saw a Prius that slid in the ditch off a snowy road and it had an obama/biden sticker on the back, I'd just drive on by in my big 4 wheel drive truck thinking of the OP and this dumbass thread. In fact I'd probably flip them off.

The SUV just happens to be the most POPULAR selling vehicle in America. They wouldn't MAKE them if people didn't BUY them.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

These same sanctimonious assholes are the ones begging me to pull them out of deep sand at the beach.
What kind of idiot drives a pious into deep sand?
I always tell em(when I'm feeling generous)that they have to hook up the tow strap to their own vehicle and I'm not responsible for any damage. This has lead to several hilarious incidents of dragging a plastic bumper down the beach.

 

[koshergrl]

In some parts of the US, we travel on the freeways during snow and ice storms, alongside big semis. The bigger rigs allow us to be able to see over the spray-back. When I was working in central oregon, I had a prius, and a jeep, to drive back and forth for my work on isolated back roads in all weather. The prius had blind spots and was so low to the ground that when the weather was bad, I was blind because I wasn't higher than the blowing snow.

 

[Pogo]

Is there any vehicle more conspicuously stupid than an SUV?

SUV’s (and “crossovers”) are big, heavy, and inefficient. They handle terribly, don’t stop very well, and are markedly less comfortable than cars of comparable price and features. They require more and costlier maintenance, are more complex, and will ultimately cost much more in repairs and upkeep than a comparable sedan over the life of the vehicle. (Think tires, brakes, ball joints, wheel bearings, transfer cases, etc).

Most of the justifications for buying an SUV are preposterous. If there is a snowstorm that is so bad that a FWD car or RWD car with traction control and four good snow-tires can’t handle, then YOU SHOULDN’T BE OUT DRIVING AROUND IN IT. And the likelihood that such a storm will arise under conditions where you SIMPLY MUST drive around is approximately zero. The schools are closed, and/or you can work from home or call in sick. Police and Fire excepted.

Regardless of how much money you are budgeting for a new vehicle, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A CAR THAT IS BETTER FOR THE SAME MONEY AS THE SUV YOU ARE CONSIDERING. It’s not for nothing that the Car Manufacturers are constantly pushing trucks and SUV’s – their profit margins are substantially higher on the trucks and SUV’s.

One of the worst features of SUV’s is the one that cause many women to favor them: You can see over the roofs of cars. But the fact that you can see over the roofs of cars means that YOU ARE BLOCKING THE VIEW OF CAR DRIVERS – for no reason other than your own self indulgence. How many parking lot accidents are caused by the fact that the driver of an AUTOMOBILE is completely blind to what’s coming because there are so many stinkin’ SUV’s blocking her view?

The car manufacturers have made great strides in recent years to reduce the 4WD penalty in fuel economy, but nothing they do can compensate for the fact that if you drive a 4WD/AWD vehicle you are carrying around 3-400 pounds of mechanical apparatus that you don’t need. Think of it as having Rush Limbaugh and Rosie O’Donnel in your back seat all the time. It affects not only fuel economy but tire and brake wear, and the load that is placed on the suspension, transmission, and engine – for the life of the car.

OK, if you live in an area that has a combination of a LOT OF snow for much of the year, and a lot of hills to negotiate, then maybe 4WD can be justified, and if the snowplows don’t know where your street is and you actually have to drive around in foot-deep snow for much of the year, then maybe an SUV can be justified, but for the rest of us, it is a stupid indulgence.

When I was growing up, most families got around with little trouble with rear-wheel drive Chevy’s and Ford’s that didn’t even have posi-traction. Amazing, isn’t it?

Want to know what is really stupid? Trying to justify your claims in this thread.

Someone says they get 22 mpg and you tell them to call Guiness Book of records? The 2014 Suburban gets 22-23 on the hwy. And a Suburban is one of the biggest SUVs.

I am 6'2". My sons are 6'4" and 6'5". Think some little sedan will carry all of us comfortably?

I drove a GMC Yukon for 6 years. It was far more comfortable than most sedans. I had 4wd, and I had plenty of room for camping gear, my dogs, or whatever else I needed to carry.

Yes, families got around without Posi-traction. They got into more accidents too. The fact that you dismiss a significant safety feature in your rant against SUVs shows you are not interested in reality.

Also, it is not just women who want to see farther ahead. I usually drive a full sized pickup, since my kids are now grown. Same height and handier with the 8'bed. The fact that you cannot see is based on your own choices. If there were no SUVs, you would still have your view blocked by other cars.

Also, if you look at the survival rates for serious accidents, you will see that the bigger the vehicle the better your chance of walking away from the accident (with few exceptions).

I just wanna zero in on this myth that "bigger is better". To sustain itself this myth demands we look at not traffic but accidents, the 0.00001% of what you do in a car. The reality is this is not talking about 'safety'; it's talking about crashes. Safety is measured in terms of maneuverability-- stopping power, steering agility, center of gravity determining how the vehicle handles in that hairy situation, that sort of thing. What kind of mass the vehicle has is irrelevant except as it affects that maneuverability. And on that basis I'll take my 2500 pound Saturn station wagon over the same maker's SUV any day of any week, in a heartbeat. I dread to think what will happen the day I have to put the Vue through some of the moves the SW2 handled with a shrug. And I've seen many an SUV flipped over on its roof, legs dangling in the air like a helpless cockroach, because of that ridiculous centre of gravity.

Bottom line, if mass meant safety, we'd all be driving around in skyscrapers and motorcycles would be illegal.

Moreover, the effect is additive; even if you do accept that more mass means more safety, you condemn the public to a battle of size that can never be won, because as long as there's something bigger than yourself, you're not 'safe'. That's a no-win.

In short, try worrying about your own choices and save the sanctimonious lectures. Try watching your own life instead of watching your neighbors to see if they drive around without ever putting anything in the bed of their truck.

Unless I missed something the OP's point, granted not well expressed, is that the SUV design is stupid. Which it is, no question. We don't design the cars -- Detroit does. Therefore it seems to me the target of this thread is the automaker pushing dangerous drives on the public to make a buck, not the drivers left with fewer and fewer choices.

Just my read.

 

[Pogo]

Obviously we are all free to do stupid things. My neighbor drives an Escalade, and her husband has a Tundra. No kids, nothing but air in the bed of the truck. Never had either one of them off road. Happy as a clam.

God bless 'em.

About that 7 Passenger SUV that gets 22mpg, call the Guinness people; they will want to put that one in their book.

Chevrolet Suburban Research All Models and Prices - MSN Autos

The Chevy Suburban has a listed MPG of 22-23 on the hwy.

Your figures are sound, but still --- that's exactly half of what my SW2 would do, regularly.

 

[Pogo]

I could never understand why someone would willingly drive a truck instead of a car when they didn't have to.

I do a lot of long distance driving, meaning being on the road all day. That requires some kind of mental exercise to stay interested. Sometimes as an exercise I count the pickup trucks in terms of loaded and empty. If I can see the bed I'll count that truck as either carrying something or not carrying anything. Covered beds don't count, they can't be seen.

The ideal maximum efficiency rate should be 100% loaded - always carrying something somewhere. Of course that's not realistic so a realistic rate should be at least 50%, figuring a trip out empty to get something and a trip back loaded, or vice versa.

What I consistently come up with on this poll is around 75 to 80% of those truck beds empty.

So the answer to why drive a truck if you don't have to seems to be at least in part, because the TV tells them to. There's a lot of pickemups being used practically but there's a lot more doing nothing. Tells a lot about the power of suggestion; what are the chances that a citizen of suburban Cleveland is ever going to have occasion to tow an asteroid? Doesn't matter; they'll sell it because they can.

 

[koshergrl]

People can always argue the merits of whatever it is they like...the bottom line is, calling people "stupid" for their personal preference based solely on your own personal preference is..well, stupid.

It's like calling a guy "stupid" because he likes red heads.

If I want to drive a Monster Truck, how is that indicative that I'm STUPID? It doesn't. Anymore than driving a tiny little electric bucket that you have to fold yourself into is indicative of homosexuality.

 

[Pogo]

What kind of idiot drives a pious into deep sand?

Uh - I think you just did.

 

[koshergrl]

Or, perhaps, they like having a truck because it means they can haul their own garbage, move their own furniture. Or maybe because they just like it.

Why do you CARE why they like trucks? How is it any of your business if they use their truck for the things YOU think they should, as frequently as YOU believe they ought to, in order to *justify* having a truck?

See the majority of us never consider our car choice as something to be justified. We don't walk around apologizing for our existence on the earth to everybody who will listen. We don't feel GUILTY that we take up a spot that is 8 foot by 15 feet, as opposed to 7 feet by 10 feet, in a parking lot, or only get 18 as opposed to 25 mpg. We don't care. We like pickups. So fucking what?

 

[Pogo]

People can always argue the merits of whatever it is they like...the bottom line is, calling people "stupid" for their personal preference based solely on your own personal preference is..well, stupid.

It's like calling a guy "stupid" because he likes red heads.

If I want to drive a Monster Truck, how is that indicative that I'm STUPID? It doesn't. Anymore than driving a tiny little electric bucket that you have to fold yourself into is indicative of homosexuality.

You drive whatever you want. I think, again unless I missed it, that he's calling the design stupid. Which it is; it cannot be justified except in terms of pure unabashed profit. And the foisting of them on the public is cynical, manipulative and selfish. And those adjectives are aimed squarely at the car industry.

 

[koshergrl]

The aren't foisted upon the public. The public ASKS for them.

And he didn't call the design stupid.

I wish you wouldn't prate on topics you're clueless about. It's so annoying.

 

[Pogo]

The aren't foisted upon the public. The public ASKS for them.

And he didn't call the design stupid.

I wish you wouldn't prate on topics you're clueless about. It's so annoying.

Didn't he?
OP, first words:

Stupid SUV's
Is there any vehicle more conspicuously stupid than an SUV?

Not unclear at all.

We "asked for them"? When? Who?

Hey, remember back in the 1990s when we the people gathered in vast public demonstrations to demand Detroit make us huge inverted bathtubs with a ridiculous center of gravity that looked like everybody's car had been juicing on steroids because dammit, we were just not spending enough on gas?

Me neither.

"clueless"? I've been driving a lot longer than you have, dear. Since the Johnson Administration. And he left office in 1869. You could look it up.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Is there any vehicle more conspicuously stupid than an SUV?

SUV’s (and “crossovers”) are big, heavy, and inefficient. They handle terribly, don’t stop very well, and are markedly less comfortable than cars of comparable price and features. They require more and costlier maintenance, are more complex, and will ultimately cost much more in repairs and upkeep than a comparable sedan over the life of the vehicle. (Think tires, brakes, ball joints, wheel bearings, transfer cases, etc).

Most of the justifications for buying an SUV are preposterous. If there is a snowstorm that is so bad that a FWD car or RWD car with traction control and four good snow-tires can’t handle, then YOU SHOULDN’T BE OUT DRIVING AROUND IN IT. And the likelihood that such a storm will arise under conditions where you SIMPLY MUST drive around is approximately zero. The schools are closed, and/or you can work from home or call in sick. Police and Fire excepted.

Regardless of how much money you are budgeting for a new vehicle, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A CAR THAT IS BETTER FOR THE SAME MONEY AS THE SUV YOU ARE CONSIDERING. It’s not for nothing that the Car Manufacturers are constantly pushing trucks and SUV’s – their profit margins are substantially higher on the trucks and SUV’s.

One of the worst features of SUV’s is the one that cause many women to favor them: You can see over the roofs of cars. But the fact that you can see over the roofs of cars means that YOU ARE BLOCKING THE VIEW OF CAR DRIVERS – for no reason other than your own self indulgence. How many parking lot accidents are caused by the fact that the driver of an AUTOMOBILE is completely blind to what’s coming because there are so many stinkin’ SUV’s blocking her view?

The car manufacturers have made great strides in recent years to reduce the 4WD penalty in fuel economy, but nothing they do can compensate for the fact that if you drive a 4WD/AWD vehicle you are carrying around 3-400 pounds of mechanical apparatus that you don’t need. Think of it as having Rush Limbaugh and Rosie O’Donnel in your back seat all the time. It affects not only fuel economy but tire and brake wear, and the load that is placed on the suspension, transmission, and engine – for the life of the car.

OK, if you live in an area that has a combination of a LOT OF snow for much of the year, and a lot of hills to negotiate, then maybe 4WD can be justified, and if the snowplows don’t know where your street is and you actually have to drive around in foot-deep snow for much of the year, then maybe an SUV can be justified, but for the rest of us, it is a stupid indulgence.

When I was growing up, most families got around with little trouble with rear-wheel drive Chevy’s and Ford’s that didn’t even have posi-traction. Amazing, isn’t it?

Those Chevies and Fords that we used to get around in had a lot more power than modern SUVs, worse gas mileage, and were all around more dangerous than those stupid SUVs you are ranting about. I know, I used to drive them, and I would much rather be in an SUV with its modern traction control and other safety features.

On the other hand, you did brand yourself as a complete ignoramus when it comes to cars.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I have four kids, two grandchildren and two dogs.

Please tell me what vehicle I should use when we want to go gomewhere.

You could get 6 Smart Cars and tape them together.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I had a Ford Explorer in the late 90s. I liked it. It was a bit bulky but it served a purpose and filled a niche. If I wasn't so fond of my full sized pickup I'd get another SUV. I wouldn't get a "Smart Car" or a hybrid at this point.

A smart car is an enclosed golf cart, nothing more.

Even people in San Francisco hate those things.

On the other hand, they have invented a new sport.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I could never understand why someone would willingly drive a truck instead of a car when they didn't have to.

I do a lot of long distance driving, meaning being on the road all day. That requires some kind of mental exercise to stay interested. Sometimes as an exercise I count the pickup trucks in terms of loaded and empty. If I can see the bed I'll count that truck as either carrying something or not carrying anything. Covered beds don't count, they can't be seen.

The ideal maximum efficiency rate should be 100% loaded - always carrying something somewhere. Of course that's not realistic so a realistic rate should be at least 50%, figuring a trip out empty to get something and a trip back loaded, or vice versa.

What I consistently come up with on this poll is around 75 to 80% of those truck beds empty.

So the answer to why drive a truck if you don't have to seems to be at least in part, because the TV tells them to. There's a lot of pickemups being used practically but there's a lot more doing nothing. Tells a lot about the power of suggestion; what are the chances that a citizen of suburban Cleveland is ever going to have occasion to tow an asteroid? Doesn't matter; they'll sell it because they can.

So you're saying if they dont drive around with something in the bed at all times they dont need it?
You better get rid of all those extra seats in your car. What a fucken tard.....

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

What kind of idiot drives a pious into deep sand?

Uh - I think you just did.

Not sure if stupid.......oh hell you're stupid and we all know it.