SUVs are the root cause of all things evil in this world

[sphere79]

Originally posted by 88mph
I have an SUV. Its a 2001 Toyota Rav 4.
I almost always drive solo.

In fact, I took my back seats out so I can only drive with one passanger.

All of you can eat a bag of cocks.

This coming from someone who drives a RAV 4!? Seriously, did your mom get tired of it or something? Is that thing even considered an SUV? It's built on a car chassis, and has what - a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engine? Geez, my mother drives a Durango with a 360 (5.9 liter) V8 ( can you say low-end TORQUE? ) - now THAT is an SUV, 18 miles to the gallon and all.

[Calliander]

Originally posted by Stone
I like SUVs because they piss off people I dislike.

So you dislike me?

[Stone]

Heheh, ahh, I was generalizing Mikey, it's all good.

[Wildkat]

Its not the SUV's fault..
Its the "i don't give a shit about anyone else but me and my 2.3 kids" attiude thats abundant these days.

The Cherokee, Bronco, Blazer have been around for DECADES.

90% of the people in SUVs don't freaking need them, and for the most part WASTE these vehicles running errands and taking Brittany and Tyler to soccer practice.

Hate the drivers, not the Vehicles.

For the record, I dont drive one either. Nor would I, really as I don't need a vehicle with those abilites. If i had some spare cash to buy one as a "play" truck, or I lived in a area with poor road clearing in the winter, or had a dirt/gravel driveway, i'd get one in a second..

[Stone]

Who cares whether they need them or not? Why do we own cars that have speed limiters set over 75mph or so an hour? Cars that can do sub-9 second 0-60s (virtually all of them).

Americans get to waste their money on all sorts of things - so why complain about SUVs? And, anyways, I'd happily put my wife and kids in the biggest fucking SUV possible. What would you want your wife in - an 8,000lb+ Hummer H2 or a 3,000lb convertible? Safety isn't all about weight, of course, but it makes a difference. And, when it comes to something like that, I don't really care about whatever minor added risk to other drivers that her driving an H2 would incur. My family's survival is paramount - so if we're not causing an outsize amount of danger to others, then I'd feel fine.

Although I wouldn't buy one, I support everyone else's right to own them.

Lexus is bringing out a Hybrid RX330.

[negitoro]

Originally posted by Hero
And you know...not everyone who owns a SUV is just a one person per car situation. It's usually because they have a large family...or take their kid + friends all over the place. I still don't get why you would demonize someone purely for the purpose that they need something larger than a 4-door to effectively go about their driving routines...

The fact is most SUV drivers don't need the SUV to begin with. Frankly, the interior space for a typical SUV is pathetic given it's overall size. When I did research for my car shopping 2 years back, I found that a lot of SUVs hev less leg room than a typical midsize sedan, for instance.

Fact is, you still it's still a tight fit for 6 full size adults regardless until you go into the 'ship on wheels' class like the Suburban. If you need to cart 7 people around, the most effective vehicle is still the minivan - better handling, better gas mileage, better ride, safer overall.

Originally posted by Stone
Americans get to waste their money on all sorts of things - so why complain about SUVs?

Because they way things are, most SUV drivers are inconviencing and imposing on regular drivers for cosmetic purposes. They jack up our fuel costs, our insurance costs, our safety, our general convenience.

I can't count the number of times I've tried to park a car into a compact space to find that I can't since the next one is occupied by a 4Runner or something ? Or how about the fact I can no longer see anything on the highway since I can only see rear bumpers now ? Or that the fact their headlights are aimed directly at my rear view mirror ? Or the fact that if they rear-end me, I'll end up with $2000 in damage due to their high bumper ?

And, anyways, I'd happily put my wife and kids in the biggest fucking SUV possible. What would you want your wife in - an 8,000lb+ Hummer H2 or a 3,000lb convertible?

SUVs are not safer. The fact is, there are rarely SUVs that manage to get top scores on all the crash tests. They have higher than normal rollover ratings. They have poorer handling and evasion capabilities. They have a stiff, unyielding chassis for poor energy disappation in an accident.

In any situation, a car is the safer vehicle to be in. Accidents with SUVs may not even happen in some cases if the SUV were a car with a regular braking distance. If an accident happens, damage is always minimized if both parties have non-SUVs. If you're in an low-to-mid speed accident with a stationary object (wall, telephone pole, etc) the SUV driver takes more than a car driver due to the chassis not absorbing the energy and passing it straight to the occupants.

The other day, I was in an accident with an SUV/van. In the accident, if he was a car, nothing would've happened. In his case, his terrible braking distance and lack of evasive handling ability made an accident when one shouldn't have happened.

Safety isn't all about weight, of course, but it makes a difference. And, when it comes to something like that, I don't really care about whatever minor added risk to other drivers that her driving an H2 would incur. My family's survival is paramount - so if we're not causing an outsize amount of danger to others, then I'd feel fine.

Again, this is the SUV owner attitude that turns every non-owner against them. Why should I have to live in fear of dying in a 40 mph crash becuase the SUV has a higher bumper ? Why should you be allowed to do all the damage because you've chosen to drive such a big ass car ? When any car is in a collision with an SUV, even at low speeds like 10-15 mph, the damage is ridiculously skewed towards the car because of the unnecessarily high bumpers and stiffness of the SUV in general.

SUV owners feel they have more rights ("Get out of my way on the highway! I'm in an SUV!") and thus have a sense of arrogance.

Of course, I'm generalizing but the fact remains that there are far too many bad SUV drivers out there terrorizing the roads and compromising everyone else.

[Calliander]

Originally posted by negitoro
The fact is most SUV drivers don't need the SUV to begin with. Frankly, the interior space for a typical SUV is pathetic given it's overall size. When I did research for my car shopping 2 years back, I found that a lot of SUVs hev less leg room than a typical midsize sedan, for instance.

Fact is, you still it's still a tight fit for 6 full size adults regardless until you go into the 'ship on wheels' class like the Suburban. If you need to cart 7 people around, the most effective vehicle is still the minivan - better handling, better gas mileage, better ride, safer overall.



Because they way things are, most SUV drivers are inconviencing and imposing on regular drivers for cosmetic purposes. They jack up our fuel costs, our insurance costs, our safety, our general convenience.

I can't count the number of times I've tried to park a car into a compact space to find that I can't since the next one is occupied by a 4Runner or something ? Or how about the fact I can no longer see anything on the highway since I can only see rear bumpers now ? Or that the fact their headlights are aimed directly at my rear view mirror ? Or the fact that if they rear-end me, I'll end up with $2000 in damage due to their high bumper ?



SUVs are not safer. The fact is, there are rarely SUVs that manage to get top scores on all the crash tests. They have higher than normal rollover ratings. They have poorer handling and evasion capabilities. They have a stiff, unyielding chassis for poor energy disappation in an accident.

In any situation, a car is the safer vehicle to be in. Accidents with SUVs may not even happen in some cases if the SUV were a car with a regular braking distance. If an accident happens, damage is always minimized if both parties have non-SUVs. If you're in an low-to-mid speed accident with a stationary object (wall, telephone pole, etc) the SUV driver takes more than a car driver due to the chassis not absorbing the energy and passing it straight to the occupants.

The other day, I was in an accident with an SUV/van. In the accident, if he was a car, nothing would've happened. In his case, his terrible braking distance and lack of evasive handling ability made an accident when one shouldn't have happened.


Again, this is the SUV owner attitude that turns every non-owner against them. Why should I have to live in fear of dying in a 40 mph crash becuase the SUV has a higher bumper ? Why should you be allowed to do all the damage because you've chosen to drive such a big ass car ? When any car is in a collision with an SUV, even at low speeds like 10-15 mph, the damage is ridiculously skewed towards the car because of the unnecessarily high bumpers and stiffness of the SUV in general.

SUV owners feel they have more rights ("Get out of my way on the highway! I'm in an SUV!") and thus have a sense of arrogance.

Of course, I'm generalizing but the fact remains that there are far too many bad SUV drivers out there terrorizing the roads and compromising everyone else.

Damn. Well said.

Originally posted by Stone
What would you want your wife in - an 8,000lb+ Hummer H2 or a 3,000lb convertible?

I think a lot of people miss the point, which was posted in other words in the Hummer thread:

A good driver can take a 3,000lb convertible and make it safer than an 8,000lb+ Hummer H2.

And the fact is, there are very few good drivers, so we have all these people in the supposedly safer SUV's. Buy whatever vehicle you want, it's your choice. I don't know about SUV's being the root cause of all evil, but I think they're way more of a vehicle than anyone needs when minivans have more room and better fuel economy on average.

And Stone, once you start paying for gas in earnest, I think you'll probably care about fuel economy. It matters a lot to people who don't have a lot of money to toss around for transportation. If you do have a lot of money, then hey, enjoy.

Originally posted by negitoro
Why should I have to live in fear of dying in a 40 mph crash becuase the SUV has a higher bumper ? Why should you be allowed to do all the damage because you've chosen to drive such a big ass car ? When any car is in a collision with an SUV, even at low speeds like 10-15 mph, the damage is ridiculously skewed towards the car because of the unnecessarily high bumpers and stiffness of the SUV in general.

That's true. I had an '86 Mercury Cougar. It was a monster of a V6 2-door car, all steel except for the bumpers. I got rear-ended by a woman in a Chevy Trailblazer, not even that big of an SUV, at 45mph while I was stopped at a red light. The Trailblazer pushed my car a whole car length up into the intersection. My Cougar was totaled - the bumper on the Chevy pushed solidly into the trunk of my car and folded the back end up, then down - the repair was worth more than the car. She had dogs in her back seat and was on her phone and didn't notice that the light was red. If she'd braked even a bit before she hit me, the bumper would have pushed down more and punctured the gas tank, probably. Her fender was a little dented and I think her dogs were a bit traumatized. But I guess that this proves that the vehicle is safer to the people who are in it.

[MVS]

Women can't drive as it is.

Women in SUV's are my death waiting to happen.

[Schlep]

I drive a mid-size SUV since I was in a pretty fantastic accident. If you're going to take SUV's off the road, then you have to take pick-ups and vans off too. I was nearly killed by a damn full sized ram van who wasn't watching what the hell he was doing. The ladder in the middle of the road that caused me to spin out in the first place didn't help either.

[basemies]

Originally posted by Schlep
I drive a mid-size SUV since I was in a pretty fantastic accident. If you're going to take SUV's off the road, then you have to take pick-ups and vans off too. I was nearly killed by a damn full sized ram van who wasn't watching what the hell he was doing. The ladder in the middle of the road that caused me to spin out in the first place didn't help either.

Most people use vans as work trucks. I rarely see anyone driving a full size van that isn't a work truck or conversion van. I'm not fond of pickup trucks either, I see them as a penis extension. Almost all of the aggressive drivers I encounter are in pickups or SUVs.