SUV's. What's the attraction?

I hate driving SUVs and have absolutely no use for them in my life (currently no kids and I don't tow anything). if it was up to me, I'd never own one. Unfortunately my wife loves them so we have a Ford Escape.

Trying not to open the can of things I have owned in the past, I do at least currently own a wagon, an suv, a minivan, a 3-row crossover, and a fullsize van. Out of all of them the minivan is the best mix of attributes for the largest number of people, not that that changes anything. Old news!

Something slightly more interesting is that i own the last Chrysler fullsize wagon that immediately preceded the launch of the original Chrysler minivan which i also own. It's shocking how vastly, immediately, obviously superior the minivan is as a people mover than the last wagon that preceded it from the same company.  As far as i can tell, SUVs never made a leap that huge. They've never been as obviously superior to other existing options as the original minivan was to the wagon or full size van of the same era. That doesn't invalidate them in any way, it's just an interesting thought to me.

My personal (current) SUV dream car is a Cayenne E-Hybrid. Low 5 0-60, ~20 miles EV range, 7k tow rating, sports car handling/braking, Porsche interior quality. Yes please. 

Streetwiseguy said:

frenchyd said:

In reply to Suprf1y :

Back in the mid 1980's I guess I was one of the early proponents of SUVs  my reasoning was simple. Towing a race car.  
I started with a  S10 Blazer. With a 2.8 liter V6 I could haul my race car all over the country.  Fuel mileage was three times as good as the race car hauler and I didn't spend 1/3 of my time maintaining it.  

I hate to argue...No, that's a lie.  I like to argue.  Anyway, if you are suggesting a 2.8 S10 was capable of towing anything more than itself at anything approaching highway speeds, I will say that you are wrong.  4.3, sure.  2.8 will barely carry itself in overdrive.

I towed my first race car behind a 1983 Pontiac6000 that had a 2.8 IIRC. I trucked up and down Hwy 401 in Ontario at 70 mph quite comfortably.

Streetwiseguy said:

frenchyd said:

In reply to Suprf1y :

Back in the mid 1980's I guess I was one of the early proponents of SUVs  my reasoning was simple. Towing a race car.  
I started with a  S10 Blazer. With a 2.8 liter V6 I could haul my race car all over the country.  Fuel mileage was three times as good as the race car hauler and I didn't spend 1/3 of my time maintaining it.  

I hate to argue...No, that's a lie.  I like to argue.  Anyway, if you are suggesting a 2.8 S10 was capable of towing anything more than itself at anything approaching highway speeds, I will say that you are wrong.  4.3, sure.  2.8 will barely carry itself in overdrive.

Well, grab your pants. I hauled my BlackJack Spl up and down the freeways all over the country in a tandem axle enclosed trailer with a big roll around tool box and chest plus spares. 
 I've got some prints of me at various race tracks and If I get a chance  tonight I'll take a picture and print it out for you. 
I'm not saying I was a speed demon but I pretty well kept up with traffic and even on really steep hills I never dropped below the minimum speed limit.  Oh by the way,  the transmission was pretty weak on those so to keep it alive I never towed in overdrive.  But that little 2.8 never gave me a lick of trouble until the dreaded Tin worm made it unsafe. I drove it into the junkyard.  And replaced it with the 4.3 S10 Blazer. Which towed it easier but lived up to it's name.  Caught on fire on the freeway and burned to the ground.  Regular old Car-B-Que Luckily my wife 2  children and dog got out  safely. ( I wasn't there) 
 

A full sized SUV is the best of all worlds. It does the job of many vehicles. 

Need to haul a pallet of mulch? Yep. 

8 people down a muddy dirt road to the fishing hole? Yep. 

4 people glamping for the weekend with all their gear? No problem.

2 couples out to dinner in a presentable vehicle that rides and drives nicely? Can do. 

Tow your 20' enclosed trailer 500 miles to the track? That too. 

Tool down the road on vacation to the other side of the country while knocking down 20+ MPG? That too if you drive it gently. 

Haul a trailer of lumber and the entire framing crew for your barn. Got that done too. 

Go rescue your kids car from the side of the road? No worries. 

It's a do all vehicle. If I could only own one vehicle it would be a 4x4 Suburban. 

Beach with family and tons of beach toys in the Summer. 5 large pumpkins, a bale of straw and a bundle of cornstalks in the Fall. To the mall for Christmas shopping in a snowstorm in the Winter and bags of grass seed, mulch and fertilizer in the Spring.

Oh and... WHO CARES WHAT SOMEONE ELSE DRIVES. The ultimate "get over it" scenario if I ever saw one.

In reply to frenchyd :

You guys drove much better 2.8's than I ever did.  Never could figure out why they added a fifth gear. Coasting down hills, I always thought. 

The best thing about SUVs is pissing off just about everyone!

Streetwiseguy said:

In reply to frenchyd :

You guys drove much better 2.8's than I ever did.  Never could figure out why they added a fifth gear. Coasting down hills, I always thought. 

 

Mine was an automatic, but you want to be shocked?  I used to launch and pull my boat with that SUV.  It's a 28 foot long Sea Ray Sundancer  that weighs 6000 pounds plus the trailer underneath it.  
I don't know if you are familiar with boat launches but most of them tend to be pretty steep. I'd shift it into 4 wheel low range and pull it out.   Then take it home and park it in the driveway. That short little SUV was like it was made for it. 

In reply to frenchyd :

I hated my 4.3 Bravda. Glad your 2.8 worked so well.

Ok, who cares about suvs. The real problem is do they still call the ridgeline a truck? 

bobzilla said:

Ok, who cares about suvs. The real problem is do they still call the ridgeline a truck? 

 

Better truck than a 2.8 S10. That's for sure.

I currently own one car, one small SUV, one minivan, one full size pickup, and one farm tractor. They all have one specific thing they are really good at, but if I had to pick one to keep out of the fleet, it would probably be the small suv.

In reply to gearheadmb :

Pshaw, nobody needs a tractor. 

bobzilla said:

Ok, who cares about suvs. The real problem is do they still call the ridgeline a truck? 

 

Don't get me started!

Unless you own a 2,000+ acre farm, you don't need a tractor. Furthermore, you most likely bully people with smaller tractors so your mean ol' tractor should be immediately surrendered to Beto.

SVreX said:

The best thing about SUVs is pissing off just about everyone!

so they're the automotive 'black' rifle but of considerably less value to the safety of the Republic? 

nutherjrfan said:

SVreX said:

The best thing about SUVs is pissing off just about everyone!

so they're the automotive 'black' rifle but of considerably less value to the safety of the Republic? 

Trying to thumbs up your post but the site won't allow me to... Conspiracy 

It just shows that you all don't know how to drive. I tow a 24' enclosed trailer with race car, with my '86 B2600. 

SVreX said:

The best thing about SUVs is pissing off just about everyone!

I completely agree. Go big or go home I say. Watching just about everyone loose there mind "because H2" makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Actually caring what others think about what I want to drive?  BAAAAAAHAHAHA. Now that is a funny concept to me.  I think the saying "We are not happy until your not happy" best describes why I have this vehicle.
 

On a funny side not i was at the local ice rink complex and took this photo. There were probably 1000 vehicles there (ten rinks). 
 

My Suburban identifies as a Civic.

I want to make a clarification on my stance on SUVs. Full sized truck based SUVs, especially of the chrome clad and leather filled variety are some of my favorite vehicles. A Chevy Equinox or similar is a definite no from me though. If I'm doing the SUV thing, I'm going to commit and do it right. As soon as you attempt to make it act like a car, I'm going to just go get a car instead.

dean1484 said:

I completely agree. Go big or go home I say. Watching just about everyone loose there mind "because H2" makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Actually caring what others think about what I want to drive?  BAAAAAAHAHAHA. Now that is a funny concept to me.  I think the saying "We are not happy until your not happy" best describes why I have this vehicle.

Your statement is completely self-contradictory.  You claim that caring what others think is a funny concept to you, yet the statements on both sides of that claim clearly show that you enjoy having the H2 because it pisses people off.  So you do care what others think; you just prefer to go against that grain.

Own being contrarian, if that's what gets you off.

In reply to dean1484 :

H2 should be yellow