Personal take on this. I maintain a fairly large personal vehicle fleet. Most are electric per my personal beliefs regarding transportation in a winter climate. We do keep one gasoline work truck operational - a full size van that can carry 12 passengers or 750 kg cargo or combinations between those ranges. Cargo can include 4' x 10' sheets of melamine flat on the floor. This vehicle also pulls our utility trailer, which frequently carries vehicles between stops on their road to conversion to electric power or to shows to spread the EV message. It does not get used for commuting, that's why we have the EVs. It does get used by a lot of other folks, so they don't have to maintain a beast of their own. When they need it, they can borrow ours.
My experience with SUVs is that they are neither sporty nor utilitarian, and they are not designed for off-road use, and they are top-heavy (prone to rollover). They provide a false sense of security. On poor weather days, the first vehicles I usually see stuck in a ditch are the 4WD SUVs. My theory: the 4WD gives a sense of superior traction allowing operators to drive more aggressively regarding the elements and road conditions. However, 4WD does not provide commensurate braking advantages, so the overconfidence becomes a problem at critical points. In our climate, I understand the value of 4WD. But you don't need 3 tonnes of vehicle to get 4WD. SUVs that I have experienced leave me baffled. For example, the Navigator/Excursion is heavier than my van, almost as tall, and as long. It seats 7, my van seats 12. The Navigator cannot take a 4'x8' sheet flat on the floor (not enough room between rear wheel wells). Most of these high-end SUVs have leather interiors and decorative paint jobs. Where is the utility in this? As for sporty, well, they are generally over-engined, but wallow around like whales when it comes to handling. I guess if you think a top-fueller dragster is a sports car, then the archtype SUV would qualify, but my concept of sporty tends to evoke images of Morgans and similar small, nimble, ground-hugging cars. If you want to go offroad, there are off-road machines (ATVs) and roadable vehicles that do this relatively well. I think of Willys Overlands, Dodge PowerWagons, Land Rovers, LandCruisers, early Jeeps... Not sporty. Not even very utilitarian in most cases. Not designed to travel 200 km/h. And not likely to be confused with today's SUVs. My issue with SUVs is that they are not designed to do well anything I value in a vehicle. Haul people efficiently. Haul cargo. Work in off-road environments (note how many SUVs come as 2WD configurations). Carry a winch. Get dirty. In a word - work. What they do well: consume a lot of fuel, make a statement about the owner's wealth, make our roads less safe for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers of other vehicles, generate very large profits for the automakers diverting them from focusing on more useful activities (whatever my definition of "more useful" might be). In a word - image. I have nothing against big heavy vehicles being used appropriately. If you need to pull a horse-trailer with 4 horses, hay and tack, a 5th wheel duallie 1-ton pickup is probably the way to go. If you're going to haul garbage, use a garbage truck, not a sports car. If you're commuting, don't use a dump truck. Technically, the automakers created the distinction. They coined the term SUV and have by virtue of advertising and manufacture created the market segment. A pickup is not an SUV. A full size van or minivan are not SUVs. Effectively, an SUV is a truck frame and suspension with a station wagon body on it. Later entrants on unibody or car frames are generally known as cross-overs, not SUVs (e.g. Subaru Outback, Saturn VUE). Side note, the smaller, lighter VUE cross-over can take a 4' wide item flat on the floor between the wheel wells, which most hulking SUVs cannot. Darryl McMahon (still looking for an affordable diesel replacement for the venerable van) "harley3" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote; > My question is how did a work pickup truck become a Sports Utility vehicle > (SUV)?. I am missing that some how. I grew up on a farm, and we always > had a truck. We where not part of the upper class. I must admit once we > got our first 4 wheel drive, we never went back to 2 wheel drive. The > mileage was never the best, but we worked the heck out of them. Either > plowing snow or hauling something. Also the work vans and trucks used > by service people, are they also being considered SUV's? Who made the > decision of what constituted a SUV? Mater of fact what does constitutes a > SUV, and why? Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
