why do people like big ugly SUVs?

[B_Marius567]

why do people like big ugly SUVs? I Dont Like SUVS they are ugly and poeple buy them to push people around on the road so I never let a suv push me around to stand up to them

 

[NumberOne]

why do people like big ugly SUVs? I Dont Like SUVS they are ugly and poeple buy them to push people around on the road so I never let a suv push me around to stand up to them

i don't like them either...but i dont think people buy them to push people around :biggrin1: haha...that is pretty funny though...

 

[unzipped]

I co- sign that hung shy guy...

They are huge gas guzzlers and many of them do tend to be pushy on the roads. I also detest the fact that when you are at an intersection in a smaller car.... you cannot see beyond the mass of the SUV to gaze to the left or right...

Wonder why people do not downsize -- especially in todays climate...

uz

 

[2322]

• People feel safer driving an SUV
• People feel an SUV makes them more powerful
• People feel the only other option to an SUV is a minivan and neither men nor women care for the domestic image a minivan projects
• People in northern climes like to have AWD
• You can see more of the road in an SUV
• Gas was cheap when SUVs became popular
• Everyone else was buying SUVs

 

[speshk]

I have a small, ugly SUV. I'd rather have a sporty station wagon (Jetta?) but can't afford to change at the moment. I need something roomy for the biznitch.

 

[unzipped]

Good observations Jason..

Maybe if everyone goes smaller / green hybrid / the sheep will follow ..

uz

 

[D_Preasteman Breastemann]

U wanna try driving round central London.
the streets are narrow, the road systems are stupid and everyone drives bloody SUVs!

Why?

It always seems to be mothers taking their kids to school aswell :-s
dunno why.

And they're SO bad for the environment.
tbh, so are most standard american cars though. they most have HUGE engines. like camaros, 5.2 litres? wtf?

*leaves quickly before hate mail arrives*

 

[B_Italian1]

Never had one, and glad I never bought one. My car is costing me $35 to fill up, so I can't imagine what those gas guzzlers are costing their owners. People are still buying them. Go figure! I'm getting a hybrid next time I buy.

 

[NumberOne]

Never had one, and glad I never bought one. My car is costing me $35 to fill up, so I can't imagine what those gas guzzlers are costing their owners. People are still buying them. Go figure! I'm getting a hybrid next time I buy.

hehe... I drove my bosses GMC yukon Denali...i drove it for 3 days (alot though)..costed me 70 dollars to fill it up on regular gas... Little sporty sports cars for me all the way just more fun to drive..

 

[anonimar]

In any consumer economy, you can buy what you like. If the public likes them, then the public will buy them.

Personally, I do not like them. I've yet to see one that isn't crass to look at. I don't like the fact that in the event of a crash with one, me and my econo-box will come off much worse; I don't like how the owners have ramped up their safety at the expense of mine. I don't like how if I have one parked either side of me in the car-park, I can't see jack-shit either side when i reverse.

But what I really don't like, are the stupid reasons their guilt-ridden owners trot out for buying them: 'oooh, it's better for the kids';...'oooh, it's much more practical than an estate' and de dum de dum de dum; all complete jibberish. Why can't their justification be as bold as their car? 'i bought it because...I like it'. In the UK, no-one ever says that. Why is that, I wonder? Is is because saying that be an acknowledgment of an guilty pleasure?

That said - and in the spirit of fair debate - I have yet to find a logical or rational argument against them that stacks up scientifically or technically, so I'm not going to jump on the usual anti-SUV everyone else trots out.

However, even without any hard evidence against them, I can't deny that I simply do not like them, so they will have to be a necessary evil I have to endure.

 

[speshk]

Little sporty sports cars for me all the way just more fun to drive..

'Wish I could fit in a Mini Cooper (I'm 6'2"). I love those little cars!

 

[NumberOne]

'Wish I could fit in a Mini Cooper (I'm 6'2"). I love those little cars!

hehe....i dont particularly like those unless its a turbo cooper...I have a 1989 240sx with a motorswap from a nissan silvia...and i LOVE it...its a little small quick car...running 15 psi...around 300 horses and still getting 24 mpg

 

[dong20]

Personally, I do not like them. I've yet to see one that isn't crass to look at. I don't like the fact that in the event of a crash with one, me and my econo-box will come off much worse; I don't like how the owners have ramped up their safety at the expense of mine.

That's not necessarily true. Some of the Euro NCAP tests may make drivers of 'SUV's and other large cars think again about safety. The days were bigger=safer are over.

That said in London it's rare that a vehicle is going fast enough to do any real damage!! It's hard to justify one in an urban environment on any grounds other than personal desire, nothing wrong with that and most are more fun to drive than your average saloon. The extra visability is a bonus too.

 

[B_Italian1]

People are still buying them.

Gas Crisis? What Gas Crisis? SUV Sales Revving

We had a gas crisis in the mid 70's, and many people switched to smaller cars. The 90's is when people started buying SUV's and trucks and gas prices went up. I never hear any mention of that as being one of the reasons why prices have gone up.

 

[speshk]

I have a 1989 240sx with a motorswap from a nissan silvia...and i LOVE it...its a little small quick car...running 15 psi...around 300 horses and still getting 24 mpg

Holy crap that's gotta be fast!

 

[NumberOne]

Holy crap that's gotta be fast!

its not too fast or anything... (not yet)...its just more fun...especially in the rain

 

[anonimar]

The EuroNCAP tests are relative to a car colliding with a like-sized/weighted car. A Punto hitting a Punto-sized/weight car, for instance. But a new Volvo XC-90 (which was designed to be crash compatible with 'normal' cars) will muller a new Golf; in three independent crash tests between the XC-90 and Golf-sized cars, the XC-90 did a sterling job of decapitating their drivers. So here's your offset collision choice; Renault Modus, or Mercedes R-Class. Which do you favour?

I agree 100% there's nothing wrong with personal desire (even though it might reflect questionable taste). As for SUVs being more fun to drive...the BMW X5 is meant to be great, but I have not driven one. I have driven a Mercedes ML; for the 120 miles I drove it, I was utterly baffled by it. Thinking of its owner, I kept saying in my head 'let me get this right; you paid £40k notes for this ponderous, rough running, rough riding, sloppy handling crock of absolute shit?'

I know that's only one example, but the ML - dynamically - is a 30 year backward step. If that's 'fun', then I need a reality check.

 

[B_RoysToy]

So true, unzipped, re. not being able to see around them at intersections. I even have more trouble when one parks next to me in parking lots and it's impossible to know when it's clear to back out. My consideration of others would keep me from buying one, even it they were decent to look at.

I co- sign that hung shy guy...

They are huge gas guzzlers and many of them do tend to be pushy on the roads. I also detest the fact that when you are at an intersection in a smaller car.... you cannot see beyond the mass of the SUV to gaze to the left or right...

Wonder why people do not downsize -- especially in todays climate...

uz

​

 

[dong20]

The EuroNCAP tests are relative to a car colliding with a like-sized/weighted car. A Punto hitting a Punto-sized/weight car, for instance. But a new Volvo XC-90 (which was designed to be crash compatible with 'normal' cars) will muller a new Golf; in three independent crash tests between the XC-90 and Golf-sized cars, the XC-90 did a sterling job of decapitating their drivers. So here's your offset collision choice; Renault Modus, or Mercedes R-Class. Which do you favour?

I know and I would have agreed with you unconditionally until recently when I saw a test offset crash at 40 mph (80 mph closing) between a large Volvo estate and a small Renault with a 5 star rating. The Volvo driver would probably have been toast, whereas the Renault driver would almost certainly have simply opened the door and walked away.

The NCAP director asked for the tape because he was as surprised as those who hosted the experiment. As it happens I think the small car was a Modus. The modus is a 5 star for adults (4 for children) the R class is unrated so far as I can see. Going for the known against the unknown and based on what I saw I'd go for the Renault. When the Mercedes is rated I'd review

The only point I was making was that today just because a car is bigger doesn't mean by definition it's safer. There are other factors to consider, age being a key one.

I agree 100% there's nothing wrong with personal desire (even though it might reflect questionable taste). As for SUVs being more fun to drive...the BMW X5 is meant to be great, but I have not driven one. I have driven a Mercedes ML; for the 120 miles I drove it, I was utterly baffled by it. Thinking of its owner, I kept saying in my head 'let me get this right; you paid £40k notes for this ponderous, rough running, rough riding, sloopy handling crock of absolute shit?'

I know that's only on example, but the ML - dynamically - is a 30 year backward step. If that's 'fun', then I need a reality check.

Well I quite agree, taste is entirely subjective!

 

[anonimar]

Dong20,

Mate you're right; I saw that crash test between a new (-ish) Modus and the 10 (-ish) year old Volvo 940 (which was based on a crash structure introduced in 1982, with the 760, I think?).

The test proved that crash design and safety has moved on massively since 1983 to 2007. That's why the tiny Modus destroyed the Volvo.

I know that the Mercedes R-Class has not been NCAP'd yet, but I've got ten quid in my wallet that says:

1) It'll score at least 4 stars (In reckon it'll five, tbh)
2) In an offset between the R-Class and the Modus, the Modus will be squished.

In 1993, a German mag took a then new Merc S-Class, and the then new Opel Corsa, and did a 40mph offset. You can guess the results. And I'm sure this'll be echoed in and R-Class v Modus impacto.