Why buy an SUV ??

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Sorry if i seem newbyish, but i have read the thread, so here goes.

Now there is a place for the SUV.

Fishing, Hunting, Killing.

All good american pastimes also.

so the SUV's popularity can not be faulted.

Except when fashion becomes involved.

Can anyone honestly tell me that they (If they bought one) Would take a Cayenne/X5/FX3/45 off road? I certainly wouldn't, i've just spent a bloody fortune paying for this new SUV, and i'm not think of getting it dirty in the street, let alone trying to go to the farthest ends of the earth.

As for the whole "Hate on American cars" comments, we bag out Korean, Japanese, European, American and Australian cars, for that matter anything we see which doesn't come up to our standards. Most SUV's are fashion items and thus they fall out of my range, Anything fashionable is likely to go out of fashion as soon as you buy it, so it's only a matter of time before something happens to scare OPEC into hiking up prices and forcing us into smaller cars. Oh look, Here it comes now.......................................

Having a big car suits having a big ego (No offence, Crisis) and also having a big family/hobby/outlook on life, people only buy big cars if the world is prospering, it's always luxury cars that cop the brunt of a falling market, and although their might be a lot of new Luxury cars falling into the market, there falling into a saturated one. If i wanted a Luxury SUV i could have any number of manufacturers begging you for their cash, and this is the inheirant problem. People like having an SUV, it's the new Big sedan with a brand name. And when even Porsche gets in on the action, you know manufacturers are beginning to rely on the market for profits. When the Oil Crisis strikes again people with SUV's are gonna be stuck, like owners of Big Cadillacs were, and once again the cycle of Manfacturers struggling, getting comfortable, expanding and being blown up again will continue.

As for the whole 50 Trillion Barrels argument, ever heard of rationing? there trying to make it last as long as possible, so OPEC can get the profits for as long as possible. It's the way big business works, unfortunately.

[crisis]

so the SUV's popularity can not be faulted.

Except when fashion becomes involved.

Can anyone honestly tell me that they (If they bought one) Would take a Cayenne/X5/FX3/45 off road? I certainly wouldn't, i've just spent a bloody fortune paying for this new SUV, and i'm not think of getting it dirty in the street, let alone trying to go to the farthest ends of the earth.

You get no argument from me.

Having a big car suits having a big ego (No offence, Crisis) .

Thats not offensive. My mates rekon its cause I have a little dick. Overcompensation.

As for the whole 50 Trillion Barrels argument, ever heard of rationing? there trying to make it last as long as possible, so OPEC can get the profits for as long as possible. It's the way big business works, unfortunately.

50 years is a long time. I dont think we will be needing oil by then.

[Matra et Alpine]

The oil shortage is manufactured by OPEC. As at 2000, the known reserves are a trillion barrels (1 barrel equals 159 liters, 42 gallons, or 0.16 m3), the estimated world reserves, according are about 1.5 x 1011 m3. 1 trillion barrels of crude oil is enough to supply the world for about 50 years. This prediction is based on the present world consumption, however, world consumption is expected to increase.

This last year the oil industry has had to face the facts and have seen companies DRAMATICALLY changing their estimates of oil avilability. Shell has cut its estiamtes by 1/3rd !! It runs out the oil industry has never been that good at getting estimates right but as long as they could keep finding new major fields it wasn't an issue. It's different now. There ARE no "easy" fields any more and so the truth is starting to be seen.
The estimates also assume that new technology will come on stream to get the last 30% out of those existing fields. That technology isn't even KNOWN for the more diffifcult fields like the North Sea and Bering Straits !!
So already you MAY be looking at 1/3rd less than 50 years for the estimateion errors AND ANOTHER almost a 1/3rd for accessability.
Suddenly it's now within a single generation !!
And yet our consumption continues to increase.
There are is no point waiting till we have to befor ecutting consumption as by then it's too late. There are some things ONLY reasonable to produce from oil. Those other non-necessities will become less available and much more expensive.

An analogy easier to grasp. If you have wheat grain you have a choice.
You can have a feast NOW, eat it all and live in luxury till the wheat runs out.
OR you can plant 25% of it. Have enough to eat but not a feast and generations can live forever.

If we squander fuel now then it will be hard to make products REQUIRED in the future.

This doesn't mean NO SUVs ( or no trips ) but it SHOULD mean we should all be doing what little we can to curtail the inappropriate wastage. And dragging around 3 tonnes of SUV so mom can look pretty and kids can look 'cool' just is wrong.

[Matra et Alpine]

Now can we ask why buy one of these? Kylie excepted.

Because they provide highly-efficient urban transport for 2-4 people and or items.
In 10 years time you WILL be driving one too, unless you are lucky and can afford $20 a gallon.
Esepcially with current state-of-art alternatives, the mass of the car needs to be low to balance the mass of the drivetrain. So get used to it.
Will Kylie in 10 years time still be as desirable - hope so

[Matra et Alpine]

50 years is a long time. I dont think we will be needing oil by then.

You may not need it for propulsion in 50 years but it will still be the staple energy production fuel of the world.
most of the chemicals necessary to manufacture the goods in your home need petrochemicals as a basis for their production.
and it's 50 years in an optimistic world.
If we don't curtail consumption and increase efficiency then it's estimated shorter. There are assumptions made that we become better 'citizens'. As we can't agree the Kyoto accord then it's clear we're not

SOme of us remember the 60s () when everything was going to be nuclear powered. There are parts of our society think the same for wind/sea/sun electricity generation and alternative fuel transport. Call me cynical but I prefer to plan for a middle channel and not the Utopia of the "next big thing" being the salvation of all so keep steaming along !!

[Falcon500]

As for the whole 50 Trillion Barrels argument, ever heard of rationing? there trying to make it last as long as possible, so OPEC can get the profits for as long as possible. It's the way big business works, unfortunately.

Well for that argument my father clearly rembers the fuel crisis and didnt pay much attention to them buying a XW GT when the ripples where being felt..."The world is a big place and we have had an oil crisis a few times in my lifetime and no doubt you will encounter a few...i personally think youll be long gone when a real oil crisis is a serious problem" he may be wrong he may be right from my personal experiance my father is rarely wrong so you all could easily guess where i stand on the finiti resource subject.....
And yes matra you are right polymers (platics) are a by product of pretrol production...but science i believe will be able to get around it...humans while destructive are ingenious beings....i personally think that we can find a happy medium...maybey im being an idealist but thats my view....

[Misho]

what percentage of the world's oil production is used to supply fuel for cars ?

[Matra et Alpine]

what percentage of the world's oil production is used to supply fuel for cars ?

Don't have the numbers, but it IS small compared to energy and chemical production.
Will ask riend who works in industry, he usually knows these things
However, cars and travel is one thing we can readily make individual choices on and control or better utilise. The big guys do that already - power gen turbines etc etc

[crisis]

This doesn't mean NO SUVs ( or no trips ) but it SHOULD mean we should all be doing what little we can to curtail the inappropriate wastage. And dragging around 3 tonnes of SUV so mom can look pretty and kids can look 'cool' just is wrong.

No argument. No need for M series, X5s, Cayennes, Range Rovers, Audis. Also no need for sports cars if we are to reduce unneccesary wasteage. Ban motorsport, hugely wasteful. Make buses gas powered and trains electric.

[crisis]

Because they provide highly-efficient urban transport for 2-4 people and or items.
In 10 years time you WILL be driving one too, unless you are lucky and can afford $20 a gallon.
Esepcially with current state-of-art alternatives, the mass of the car needs to be low to balance the mass of the drivetrain. So get used to it.
Will Kylie in 10 years time still be as desirable - hope so

Make it two people and a dog. I may be driving one but I will not be enjoying it. Kylie will be around 40 and I'll be 50. I'll take it.

[crisis]

You may not need it for propulsion in 50 years but it will still be the staple energy production fuel of the world.
most of the chemicals necessary to manufacture the goods in your home need petrochemicals as a basis for their production.
and it's 50 years in an optimistic world.
If we don't curtail consumption and increase efficiency then it's estimated shorter. There are assumptions made that we become better 'citizens'. As we can't agree the Kyoto accord then it's clear we're not

SOme of us remember the 60s () when everything was going to be nuclear powered. There are parts of our society think the same for wind/sea/sun electricity generation and alternative fuel transport. Call me cynical but I prefer to plan for a middle channel and not the Utopia of the "next big thing" being the salvation of all so keep steaming along !!

Neccesity is the mother of invention. We will be less wasteful in alternative resources, grains, animal products etc. Industry is contiually becoming more efficient also. Not for ecological reasons, for profit. Make more (money) form less. I visited our local brewery ( no it was no a regular visit) and they explained how the recycled water, yeast and every by product that they used to discard. This is happening with many progressive industries. We have wind powered electricty in South Australia. I thought that was mickey mouse stuff. We will have wave generated power also. Im not infavour of wasteage, I just want to go bloody fishing. All this from you favourite cyninc.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Your right crisis, but the point with sportscars is you can slow down your performance, with SUV's, most are struggling to get going, and thats wherethey use their fuel.

Just remember with Electric trains however, most electricity stations are powered by coal still, so the positive of having an electric train is ruined by the fact the coal station pumps out heaps more CO2

Wastage is never a good thing in my book, i'll always buy more than i need though, sometimes i'll buy a 1.25 bottle of coke when i'll only drink 600 mls, but it's cheaper, which is odd, you get it cheaper because you buy more. Thats how americans get their fuel so cheap!

I'm a big fan of Bio Diesel, mind. The americans probably eat enought deep fried things to make it happen reliatively easy..........

[crisis]

I'm a big fan of Bio Diesel, mind. The americans probably eat enought deep fried things to make it happen reliatively easy..........

Scratch that one, McDonalds is making salads.

[Spastik_Roach]

Toyota Prado and the Isuzu Bighorn are the Blazer/ Explorer whatevers of New Zealand.

Personally, as shown on top gear, alot of families will have a 4WD instead of a MPV because they are cooler than the MPV. I can understand that, and its also a fact that quite a few modern 4wd's drive better than vans and MPV's...

But as I live in a rural town most 4wd's round here are used off road.

[drakkie]

car feul is a small percentage of the worlds total fuel usage, but it is the quickest growing market of all.I dont now where , but I read somewhere, that if everyone buys a car that doesn 3l/ 100 km(volkswagen lupo for ex.), the world will have 45% less smog problems.And that is a LOT.


I read in the paper lately , that in the netherlands, 65% of the SUv are bought because of the high sitting position! !!and the "better (they call it safer)view on the road".It isnt safer at all, cos the people in smaller cars, cant see a bloody thing anymore driving between really big trucks and these f##king SUV's .

They arent safer at all, just check out www.euroncap.com for the crash results, smaller, cheaper,more luxury cars do better sometimes in the crash tests. On pedestrian safety, SUV score little or no points.

Fuel usage again.When my dad bought his last car he received a small boook, with fuel usage data of all cars on sale in the netherlands at that time(last year). SUV's use lots more fuel . Example :
BMW X5 --- 8,7/9,7 liters every 100km
BMW 316i --- 7,0 liters

that is at least 2 liters difference

other cars :

Range rover ---16,2 liters on every 100 km
renault Espace(largest engine available then) ---9,7 liters /100 km

that is almost 6,5 liters difference

last example:
minivan vs. SUV

mercedes vito ---8,1 liters/100km
land rover discovery --- 16,7 /100 km

ALMOST DOUBLE THE FUEL FOR THE SAME DISTANCE
They both tow lots of weight!!About the same amount!!!!
i compared cars with about the same space/size, and you see the difference straight away.

I still think it is a waste of the planet, but i guess we cant stop it