Whats the deal with "SUVs" (1 Viewer)

[Chris Maynard]

Pretty soon Ford will begin selling tanks. Road Warrior, indeed..

Any word on the specs? Sounds interesting. I could use one of those.

 

[Joseph Young]

Terry,

It is my understanding that light trucks are exempt from CAFE and SUVs are classified as light trucks

Sorry about the confusion. I was just stating that light trucks are [rant]not[/rant] exempt from CAFE, this is just not true. But yes, you are correct that SUVs are classified as light trucks.
Joseph

 

[Todd Hochard]

CAFE for light trucks (including SUVs) is 20.7mpg.
CAFE for cars is 27.5mpg, and has been since 1981, IIRC.
I'll abstain from the rest of the discussion, since I have nothing nice to say regarding SUVs.
Todd

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The CAFE standards apply to all vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (essentially curb weight plus payload capacity) of 8,500 pounds or less. The heaviest GM Suburbans (& Yukons?) and the Ford Excursion are outside this weight range. Anything the size of a Ford Expedition or smaller is subject to CAFE. There are also separate CAFE standards for cars and light trucks as mentioned. In addition, major manufacturers have to comply separately for import and domestic (75% or more US/Canadian content) fleets. Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and GM all have both import and domestic fleets to manage.

Regards,

 

[kevin_tomb]

By classifying them as trucks (even the PT cruiser is considered one) it permits american companies to have a sorta monopoly on large SUVs and give them a bit of an unfair advantage in the american market.....SUVs arent popular with the J6P crowd anywhere but in the USA and mexico and canada. Which sorta makes you think "what does the rest of the world know that we dont"??? That way american companies make a MEGA profit on very cheap to build vehicles since they couldnt remain competitive with small and average size cars as the rest of the world was.

The rest of the world realizes that SUVs are being used as cars but we are fooling ourselves classifying them as trucks just as a way around regulations. WHy is a PT cruiser a truck??.....well according to the Government,,,cause the rear seat is removable...great thinking huh???

I drive an SUV and a NEON, but I have to admit several SUV drivers in my area of pennsylvania drive like total idiots...its embarrassing to me...they think they are driving cars, but it aint so when you have to stop fast or make an abrupt maneuver

We get a lot of snow where I live and the usual vehicles you see wrecked, overturned or stuck in ditches are almost always SUVs. DUe to lack or driving experience, thinking they are invincible or several other factors. THese are some of the reasons "car" drivers dislike SUVs. They are involved or cause many of the accidents here by driving silly or too close in winter or thinking they can defy the laws of physics...

I mean none of this in hatred to SUVs, cause like I said I own one also, but also drive a car. I think its more an attitude problem with the J6P crowd jumping on the latest bandwagon and driving something they dont totally understand

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Hell, let's just ditch cars altogether and ride bikes to and from work. No pollution, no guzzling of gas, and it gets you from point A to point B.

Seriously though I drive an SUV at the moment, and I love it.

 

[Ron-P]

You'll nerver catch me driving anything but an SUV or a Truck. They are just so much more fun to drive than a car.
I want to have fun going from point A to point B.
Peace Out~

 

[MickeS]

You'll nerver catch me driving anything but an SUV or a Truck. They are just so much more fun to drive than a car.

You must have been driving the wrong cars.
Or maybe I drove the wrong SUV's.
/Mike

 

[Jack Briggs]

As far as fun with motor-vehicle technology goes, I prefer machines along the likes of Suzuki's GSX-R1000R, Honda's CBR959RR, and Yamaha's YZF-R1.

And as far as the government staying out of the picture and all the talk that no one is hurting anything by driving SUVs, I can't help but wonder what the environmentalists are thinking.

Ultimately, internal-combustion enthusiasts are going to have to consider alternative means of propelling vehicles. The planet can just take so much of what we're dishing at it. And where there's a will there's a way: It would be entirely feasible to develop fuel-cell technology or electric-motor technology to make using these vehicles fun. I just bet you high performance will come to environmentally friendly vehicles.

 

[Todd Hochard]

You'll nerver catch me driving anything but an SUV or a Truck. They are just so much more fun to drive than a car.

More fun? Really? How so? (I'm not being combative here, just seriously curious).
I can think of a few things that are fun in a 4x4, but driving on the road isn't one of them.
This is precisely why I can never move to Texas, or return to my home state of WV- I can't see the point of trucks as daily transportation, and I don't own any guns.
Todd

 

[CharlesD]

You'll nerver catch me driving anything but an SUV or a Truck. They are just so much more fun to drive than a car.

Ron, please elaborate! What do you find fun about trucks/SUVs? To me they are the least fun vehicles to drive due to their size, weight and high center of gravity.

I can't imagine how a truck or a SUV would be more fun to drive than my WRX, so presumably we have different definitions of driving "fun".

 

[AjayM]

SUVs arent popular with the J6P crowd anywhere but in the USA and mexico and canada. Which sorta makes you think "what does the rest of the world know that we dont"??? That way american companies make a MEGA profit on very cheap to build vehicles since they couldnt remain competitive with small and average size cars as the rest of the world was.

Well any company is free to make SUV's and bring them to the US, hell a Honda Accord is more domestic than a few Fords (which are built in Canada or Mexico). BMW did it with the X5, built in the USA, sure some of them are imported out of the country but it's a US vehicle for the most part.

As to why US drivers have more SUV's than the rest of the world, check out how small roads are in the rest of the world, parking spaces are a fun one as well. Fuel economy becomes a big issue as well. I drove a mid-size car in Europe a few months ago and it was ridiculous, it felt like I was driving a bus every time I wanted to park the thing, and never mind the wheezy 2.0l engine drank about $80US of gas for a fill-up (and this from an economical mid-size car, was very similiar in some ways to the older Altima's). I couldn't imagine taking over our Nissan Pathfinder and driving it around, or even my Mustang...both of which would require a couple of EMT's with a heart jump starter every time I went to fill up the gas tank.

Andrew

 

[Max Knight]

My problem is seeing the SUVs in the city. I live in NYC, and you wouldn't believe the number of SUVs here. Why on earth would someone need a Hummer in NY? Have you ever seen one of these things try to navigate a busy street laden with doubleparked delivery vans and cabs? It brings the entire street to a halt.
I don't think that people should be prevented from buying an SUV, because in the end it's their money. But I wish people would step beyond their fashion conscious image in regards to these brutes. Even the most consciencious SUV driver:
1. Takes up more of the road
2. Guzzles more gas
3. Takes up more of the very rare parking spaces in this city
4. Is more likely to kill me in an accident due to the sheer weight and height of their vehicle, regardless of how wonderful a driver they are
5. Is contributing to the destruction of all the bridges that move people around this town, because the bridges were never designed to support such heavy constant loads.
6. Contribute to increased traffic jams due to the fact that now all the cars are just plain longer.
I drive an all wheel drive subaru sedan. My car gets great gas milage, handles wonderfully, is much better off road than many of today's SUVs. I can seat as many people as an Explorer in the same comfort. The only thing I'm lacking is the trunk space, which getting a wagon version of my car would solve.
Now that said, I love the BMW X5. I think they are beautiful, and I would love to own one. But then I take a step back and think about those points I outlined above. If I had the money for an X5, I think I'd probably just go buy a nice smooth 540...
So to all you potential SUV buyers out there, before you lay down your cash on another big truck, think about:
1. Your fellow drivers
2. Your city
3. How you like having clean air
4. How much it stinks to be stuck in traffic
5. How hard it is to find a good parking space
6. How bad you would feel if your car rolled over another human and killed them (a higher possibility with an SUV than with a sedan or station wagon)
If you don't have a pressing need for real off-roading ability, or if you don't haul huge amounts of stuff around all the time, maybe you should reconsider. You might find that you've saved yourself a few thousands bucks. And hey, if you really want a status symbol, buy yourself a nice luxury sedan.

 

[Todd Hochard]

I just bet you high performance will come to environmentally friendly vehicles.

See, in my mind, efficiency=high performance. Virtually every car on the road today shows this to be true, when comparing them to their counterparts 10-15 years ago.

Consider:

1986 Acura Legend- 2.5L V6, 170hp, 26 or so mpg highway

2002 Acura TL-S- 3.2L V6, 260hp, 30mpg highway

1992 Chevy Z28- 5.7L 350, 230hp, 24mpg highway

2002 Chevy Z28- 5.7L 350, 320hp, 28mpg highway

Two examples off the top of my head. Huge increases in power, and still gains in fuel economy. There are bigger gains to be had. In fact, this is almost a good time to start trading a bit of power for a bit more fuel economy. The car manufacturers ought to take the high road on this, and pick up the pace. Otherwise, the government might mandate it before the manufacturers have perfected the technology. Like the emissions issues from 1970-1972, when HP dropped about 30-40% across the board in those three model years.

In any internal combustion engine, a substantial portion of the energy (generated from burning the gas) is completely wasted (over half, if I recall), through the radiator. What can be done to reduce those losses, those great sinks of efficiency? I suppose if I knew, I'd be rich.

Todd

 

[Holadem]

I have done both. After flipping over in my Explorer (entirely my fault, going too fast in a sharp corner on a rainy day), I decided SUVs were not for me. I can't feel confortable driving such heavy cars anymore - even the Intrepid I am renting right now makes me nervous in corners...

--

Holadem

 

[Leo Hinze]

I'm all for liberty and personal freedom. But I am also for responsibility - both personal and social. The older I get, the more I tend to look at the big picture of things. I think it's great that people are able to buy a vehicle that makes them happy. I own something that makes me happy when I drive it. And I think it's great that our country and the world have enough resources to support our pursuit of happiness.
However, I am reminded about the anti-drug commercials from the Super Bowl. I firmly believe that you should be able to do (within reason) what you want in the privacy of your own home. Illegal drugs included. But I never realized that money used to buy those drugs may goe to support all sorts of things and people that I would rather not support.
This could be analogous to our dependence on foreign oil. Americans' desires for ever larger, faster, more powerful, and less efficient vehicles requires us to use more gas, which in turn may put money into the hands of someone who may not think the way we do, or who does things that are at odds with the American way of life.
Environmental/world issues aside, I do not like the way SUV's and trucks block my vision. I do not like the way SUV and truck headlights blind me at night. I do not like the way I have to squeeze into my car when an SUV parks next to me in a 'compact' space. I do not like the door dings I may get from an SUV that doesn't fit in a compact parking space. Most importantly, I do not like the way SUV's will rigidly adhere to Newtonian physics in the event of an inelastic collision with my automobile.
I understand that SUV's are sometimes necessary for moving large groups of people. I hate it when a 15 passenger van is blocking my vision, but if it has 15 people in it, then that means there are 14 fewer cars on the road to impede me in the fast lane
For the record, I thing that large trucks - 18-wheelers, 5 ton trucks, dump trucks, etc are more annoying and exponentially more dangerous than SUV's. I think that more should be done on improving rail systems and other means of delivering goods over long distances. This would allow reduction in size of such vehicles and their removal from high speed roads where they pose the greatest threat to drivers of cars and even SUV's.
As an afterthough, I love the HTF. Where else could I go to write such inane drivel and have fun doing it?

 

[Matt_R]

You'll nerver catch me driving anything but an SUV or a Truck. They are just so much more fun to drive than a car.

I had a 1996 Jeep Cherokee Sport. I LOVED that truck. I spent MANY MANY hours off-roading. I never got stuck, and my Jeep just begged for more!

However, as far as calling it fun to drive... well, let's say the only thing I liked about it's on-road driving capabilities was the view of the road ahead. It really does give you an advantage being able to see what's happening - those extra seconds can save you from an accident. But personally, I would never call it fun to drive. It handled poorly, had terrible brakes, and didn't track straight on the highway above 65 MPH.

I gave my Jeep to my sister in 2000 (she still has it with 130,000 miles still running like a champ!) and bought a 2000 Honda Prelude 5 speed. Now THIS is FUN driving!! This car handles like a dream, has powerful brakes, steering and handling that rivals BMWs, and is just plain FUN to drive. Not to mention it's mean snarl when you rev it past 5500RPM's. Very fun engine for a "4-banger"

Now if my car insurance wasn't $2700/year!!! (and this is with a perfect record, no points, accidents, etc.......) But that's off-topic...

Matt

 

[Ron-P]

Why Trucks and SUV's are more fun to drive by Ron-P.
I like to drive SUV's and trucks because I sit up higher than you (if your in a car). That makes it more fun for me. I get to look down at all the girls in cars. That makes it even more fun for me...and exciting also. They have the capibility of jumping curbs, I have done this may times, it's fun. Can't do that in a car at least without causeing damage. I get to see what is going on around me, that is nice. They ride much better than cars. I love the firm, hard ride of a tuck/SUV, cars are too soft and boaty. Boaty = no fun. They handle better than cars, at least for me. But then again, everything I've owned in my life with the exceptionof my first car was a truck or SUV. I can go over speed bumps without slowing down, that is fun. At any point in time I can put it in 4 wheel drive and hit the dirt, just like today, got me some dirt. That is really fun. What is also fun is tapping the brakes when a person in a car is tailgateing me, seeing their reaction...that's priceless fun. Being able to hit Mammoth Mnt. and not having to stop to put chains on, that's fun.
If you do not like what I drive or the way I drive it is in your power to go around me. There, that's just some of the fun.
Peace Out~

 

[Jared_B]

You tell em, Ron!

I own a BMW X5. It is a light truck according to the EPA, but it is also a Low Emission Vehicle.

My requirements in a vehivle were speed, handling, looks, cargo, AWD (snow), comfort. The X5 fit those needs perfectly.

The SUV (or wagon) body style is the MOST versatile ever made. You can haul stuff, and keep it dry. You can haul people. You can't do both of those in a car or in a truck. That is justification enough.

Jared

 

[Mike Lenthol]

SUVs arent popular with the J6P crowd anywhere but in the USA and mexico and canada. Which sorta makes you think "what does the rest of the world know that we dont"???

From what I observed 99% of SUV purchases are made due to skewed personal values and priorities,... I don't even talk to anyone with an SUV! Just kidding.