ALT-3 Should we still be Buying Suvs – No
Don't you just adore those SUV's all chromed up with the cute little brush guards across the grill and protecting the tail lights? Protecting them from what?
The "Yes" answer to this question represents nothing more than delusional self-justification. The fact of the matter is that, despite the moniker including "utility," the SUV represents the least efficient utility available on the market.
Its not about fuel costs. Its really about our personal insecurities and the desperate need to demonstrate to the rest of the world just how cool, in, def, phat, hip, or whatever one is.
We have become so inanely selfish that we simply can not see ourselves doing it.
Here's the argument for "space." I have (fill in the blank) kids and my hobby is (fill in the blank), so I need the ROOM available in an SUV.
Nice try. Have you compared the actual cargo capacity of a Chevy Tahoe or an Escalade with the cargo capacity of mini-vans? I didn't think so. Turns out most mini vans actually have more room than almost all vehicle currently claiming the SUV name.
Mini-vans don't really do much for the ego though, do they? And of course, they generally cost less, so that pesky problem of conspicuous consumption isn't solved either.
If you really do need more room, you may have looked at a full sized van. Just like the SUV set, you can go with the sexy, but rather impractical conversion type van, spend a lot of money on luxuries and reduce the extra space and the gas mileage with the extra weight, or consider a bare bones passenger or cargo van. Not too sexy, but now you're talkin' ROOM.
Here's another one from my area of the country - "when it snows, I need the four wheel drive." (Alternatively, as the commercials like to suggest - "I can go off-road in my SUV) Yeah, another great argument on both fronts.
First, there are very limited and very few situations where running a vehicle in four wheel drive provides superior traction to front-wheel drive. Next, the #$%^# who believes he can go faster in the slick stuff 'cuz he's got four wheel drive needs a real physics lesson - the stopping power is not increased in four wheel drive.
Finally, I would love to see the real statistics showing how many of these four wheel drive SUV's have ever seen the dusty part of the shoulder, let alone all out four wheel drive. No, most of these are just for show -
Just like everything else today, people are all caught up in wanting the real thing so they can be the right kind of fakes.
We really need cute little brush guards protecting the tail lights just in case we get lost somewhere where the lawns aren't manicured to putting-green perfection.
