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SUV's--aka "Super Useless Vehicles"Sep 16 '00 Write an essay on this topic.Ok, this is a biased opinion (aren't they all), so if you can't deal with anyone knocking SUV's don't read this. Now, with that off my chest I can continue on to my feelings about the whole CAR vs SUV situation that seems to be getting more and more attention everyday. I am a car person. I love cars, be it a 2 door coupe, a 4 door luxury-mobile or anything in between--I have an affinity towards cars. Trucks I'm generally pretty neutral about; I don't really care for them, but I don't really mind them on the road either. But SUVs...oohhhh... The main reason I hate SUVs is that in 90% of the cases I see the people who are buying them simply DO NOT NEED THEM. Currently I can think of about 4-5 main reasons people purchase these vehicles: 1) It's trendy! It's true, the explosive growth of SUVs is nearly unprecedented. Even traditional 'car' car companies are expanding their lineup to try and grab a piece of the action. A few examples: the BMW X5, the MercedesBenz ML320 and 430, the Oldsmobile Bravada (I guess this is not your father's SUV), and even PORSCHE!! Yes, Porsche with it's long history of manufacturing 2 door sports cars is going to have an SUV on the market within a year or two. 2) "I feel safer in a bigger vehicle". I can not fathom the reasoning that goes into this. There are scores of very safe vehicles available to buy that aren't 10 feet long and 6 feet high. (Volvo, Saab, BMW, Mercedes, all these are well known for there crash safety). The real problem behind this reasoning is that it leads people to think 'hey, bigger really IS better'. But this is only a half-truth. SUV's are generally safer to drive, but they also tend to beat the hell out of the vehicle they hit. An ex-boss of mine once told me that he was going to purchase a Lincoln Navigator. A few months passed and nothing happened, so I asked him where his Navigator was. He explained that the insurance was SOOO high because in crash tests the damage to the OTHER car was exponential...and then he went to say how this was stupid because his vehicle is safer. Where is this thinking going to stop? In 20 years are we all going to be driving Hummers and light tanks because everyone has an SUV so we'll need something even bigger? 3) "They're great for offroading". HAH! I really laugh at this one. If you take a look at the current SUVs being purchased, almost everyone is 2WD. (few exceptions--ie many Jeep GCs). The reason is that 4WD is usually a 3-4000$ option which most people tend to forgo on. In fact, a decent percentage of the SUVs being sold on the market don't even offer 4WD. So when a neighbor starts boasting about his 2WD SUV, make sure you put him in check. 4) "I can see better since I'm higher up". Another half-truth...yeah sure you'll see better, but what about all those people who are trying to turn right while you're in the left turn lane and can't see a dang thing? And it's not just during lane changes, SUVs block my vision when I'm driving behind one on the freeway, when I'm beside one, basically whenever one is even near, they tend to block my vision. There are some other reasons (people feel they NEED them) but the above four probably account for at least half to two-thirds of the people who are planning on or who have bought SUVs. Now on to the REAL problems with SUVs... 1) Stability--it doesn't take a physics major to realize that if a vehicle is 6 feet high and has a short wheel base its not going to be able to take the slalom at 70MPH. In the CAR vs SUV test, 99 times out of a 100, the car is going to be able to take that corner faster, make that emergency lane change easier, make a u-turn without having to throw it in reverse and so on. 2) Acceleration--many SUVs come up short in this area. Again, it's a no brainer, something that weighs 5200-7200 (the Ford Excursion 4x4 tips the scales at over 7200 pounds, that's more than SHAMU at Sea World) is not going to be able to merge as easily as a vehicle which weighs in at 2700-4200 pounds. The few SUVs that do tend to accelerate decently (Lincoln Navigator) have large large engines and tend to go VERY low mileage...yeah your Navigator may hit 60 in around 8 seconds, but 13 miles to the gallon is laughable. 3) Gas mileage--these things CHUG gas. It's a large myth that SUVs average about the same mileage as cars. In truth, the average car on the road today gets about 24-26 miles to the gallon. For SUVs that number is in the high teens to low 20s. They also pollute more since SUVs get placed in a different class when it comes time to emissions...laxer rules. If SUVs had to meet the emissions standards set for cars...one word...fuggedaboudit. And the list goes on. Basically I've just been rambling on about my intense hatred towards SUVs...but I managed to keep it together with some true statistics (and hopefully you enjoyed my wit...hey put that rotten fruit down!). All-in-all I don't REALLLY hate the SUV, I just hate the people who buy them who don't need them.  |
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