Forum Home
PC World Chat
Thread ID: 61207	2005-08-28 10:24:00	SUV or 4WD or something else?	Elephant (599)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
384291	2005-08-28 21:34:00	I have a friend who hates going to the supermarket ( or in fact anywhere in the city) when she is the driver & her husband is conspicuous by his absence. That's because she's aware of how stupid her SUV looks in that setting. But she certainly didn't want it or choose it. Her husband did "for weekends in the bush, dear". Before that, she had her own small car as an extra to the family vehicle. But the cost of the new monster meant selling both of those. And there's been only one "bush weekend." So next time you mutter about the woman blocking your daytime view (as I often do myself), maybe you could also wonder whether you've got the correct culprit..? Some of them may actually deserve your sympathy. Not even slightly. Any woman that allows her husband to have 100% decision making is asking for it.	pctek (84)
384292	2005-08-28 21:58:00	petrol cost is irrelevant......if you want to run a gas guzzler fine you pay and dont complain.....hell I ran a couple of V8's for 10 years and it probably kept me poorer than I would otherwise have been but I really enjoyed driving those cars and they were soooooo solid and safe.......my first was a chrysler cj model, (aka 'limo'), with the 360cid V8 (5.9 litre) and the next, (after I wrote that one off after being mickyfinned at a party) was a valiant regal 318V8 (5.25litre ) well the chrysler saved my life, I cant think of any other vehicle that you can hit a rock face in, flip thru the air about 60 feet and land on the roof, and almost rip the entire front off the car yet have both rear doors undamaged and opening perfectly and all three rear windows still unbroken, (I was wearing a seatbelt cause it caused me some damage and had to be cut off). The regal I bought to replace that one was the 318V8 and I got rearended in it one time hahah the fella pretty much wrote off his 93 holden and i drove away with a couple of very minor dents just under the bumper.......amazing ...the regal had cng which i feel is/was an excellent fuel and cost only half the cost of petrol to run. NO warmin up the engine in th morning cause it's already a diffused gas and runs beautifully. Shame they dont sell it any more very environmentally friendly too. Anyway when running on petrol both vehicles chewed the gas quite a bit compared to my current honda integra 1600 lol but hell I loved them cars and would get another but the missus.........lol.....	drcspy (146)
384293	2005-08-28 22:01:00	Then there is the issue for the large SUVs regarding "safety". In accidents they are apparently about 2.5 times more likely to kill the person in the other vehicle (assuming its not another large SUV I suppose) than if both vehicles were cars. I am often told by large SUV owners that "its safer so thats why I prefer it", when they really mean "Its going to kill more people other than me or mine, I don't care about others?" I certainly don't put RAV4's, Suzuki Vitara's or even perhaps Honda CRV's et al in that category though, any more than I put 4WD cars (Subaru's). Its the other mammoth boxes that form about 1 in 8 of the vehicles on the road. Then there is the issue of the massive after-market fitted bull-bars and driving lights, that usually contravene the original frontal impact test results. Part of those original test results relate to the safety of pedestrians at low impact speeds I gather, and fitting bull bars that were not part of the vehicle when originally tested invalidates the tests and (theoretically) should make the vehicles illegal on-road here. I note that the law now forbids fitting such devices for anything first registered after 2003, but they seem not to be actively pursuing it retrospectively. And on a final rant, the number of SUVs (and cars) that have bike racks (or towballs) fitted that obscure part of the number plate. How many realise its an instant $150 fine for that?	godfather (25)
384294	2005-08-28 22:55:00	I find it wierd that so-called 4 wheel drives create such a Puritanical rant from some people. I run a small 3 door 2.7 diesel in which I can select 4 wheel drive if needed. It gives good vision, is damned comfortable for getting my old arthirtic body in and out and I can travel 5-600 km and still walk afterwards. If we're going to swipe at the vehicles others drive, how about the old Dunedin City Council type converted buses that trundle around the South Island belching fumes at their 70 km an hour. How about the 1931 Riley a friend of mine and his lunatic associates run, proudly holding up lines of traffic. How about the old Bedford trucks that come out of the stables for the three months every year for the fruit transporting season, maximum speeds apparently 70 km an hour and belchcing too. My little Nissan has a better fuel consumption record than our 1.6 Lancer of the same age. Get a life folks. If the bigger beasts frighten you and cause you to slow down - great. My rant over. :cool:	Scouse (83)
384295	2005-08-28 23:00:00	Big bunch of girls. Hell, I can't see around trucks,vans,panelvans either,should we ban them?.Nah, It makes no difference, If you can't see then drive accordingly.It aint that hard. The world shouldn't have to change just to suit your whims.	Metla (12)
384296	2005-08-29 01:58:00	Start Rant!! With you on this pctek, I live near a primary school and these things are everywhere. You are right, little Johnny simply could not walk a couple of blocks to school. I think Johnny would like to walk, I know my son loves walking to school with or without me. In a lot of cases it is just mum is too lazy to get off her a*s and walk with him or is freaking about the stranger danger thing and believes a suv is a safe way of getting him there. These mums seem totally obivious to the danger of an unstable suv in an emergency situation, to the danger they pose to pedestrians, one of which could be her little Johnny, and to the obvious health threat of all that extra polution most of these worn out import engines belch. I don't have a problem with things like Rav4's and Honda crv's, it is the big Prados, Bighorns, Pajeros etc that are a simply a hazard when used on road,.The height and narrow track combined with suspension designed for off road with long travel makes these things very likely to roll if evasive action is ever needed. It is simply not true that bigger is safer & I can't fathom that people are happy to spend 10-20 grand on a 10 year old import "something" they "think" is safe!!. If we were not buying them In Japan these vehicles they would be going to the crusher for failing wof and emission tests End Rant!!	rmcb (164)
384297	2005-08-29 02:03:00	boo hoo hoo. Amazing. Take a 4WD, do everything in your power to roll it over.It will mean travelling at an unsafe speed and swerving the vechicle wildly. If dear old Mum is driving little Johnny to school in such a manner then she is either insane and about to be locked up,or drunk off her nut and about to be locked up.	Metla (12)
384298	2005-08-29 02:52:00	Its a free country and you can drive whatever takes your fancy. I dislike vehicles with big bull bars as an (ex) motorcyclist, the bull bars would be very unforgiving to the human body (see Godfathers comments). Vehicles which place you higher off the ground impart a superiority over smaller vehicles which is totally unjustified. You "feel" safer but are you?	dolby digital (5073)
384299	2005-08-29 02:55:00	Big bunch of girls. Where, where are these girls... :waughh:	dolby digital (5073)
384300	2005-08-29 02:55:00	I think people in cars that complain about big 4X4's are just jellious. Try driving over a center island to do a U-Turn in your car loosers, how about race up onto the footpath skipping over the gutter to scare some pedistrations. Or when stopped at an intersection, with a car on the inside who is edging forward to trying to look right and cant see past the front of my big 4X4, it's fun to just edge forward a bit too and watch them flip their lid with road rage. These feats are easily performed by your average 4X4 jap import. I see there is already one converted (Tazz) to driving big 4X4's to annoy other road users, so come on every one dont hate us join us, the force is too strong.	Rob99 (151)
1 2 3 4