SUVs can handle snow well, but they cannot handle well in snow.Originally Posted by Geneticfreak
They can't handle well when the roads are dry for the most part, because of their large size, and therefore momentum, which fights against handling, braking and acceleration.
So, if you were offered a choice of SUV; one with a petrol V8 that gets 12mpg, or one with a diesel V8 that gets 40% better milage figures, and therefore costs you 40% less in fuel bills...Originally Posted by Geneticfreak
It might not be a "worry", but why, literally, burn money?
No, it doesn't.Originally Posted by Geneticfreak
It might be able to accelerate as fast, or slightly faster than a "sportscar" with less power, but again, the fact that it weighs nearly double that of a sports car it cannot possibly accelerate as responsively, corner as well, or brake as sharply as a sports car.
It isn't a sports car, everyone knows it isn't, so there is no use trying to pretend it is - it is a fast SUV.
That's funny.Originally Posted by Geneticfreak
I don't want to tow things.
I care about performance, looks and a car that goes someway to expressing my tastes; that's why I wouldn't want an SUV as a "performance car" - I'd buy a TVR.
I don't think that braking power satisfies "responsibility".Originally Posted by Geneticfreak
What about building them to the lightest weight possible so that in a crash, the huge mass and momentum of your SUV doesn't do more damage than it has to?
As a result you'd get improved performance and gas milage - where do you lose out?
You've already said that money isn't an issue, so a few $$$ more for aluminium rather than steel, and a proper monocoque chassis rather than a backbone won't hurt anyone.
How about offering the option of modern diesel engines that offer the choice for potential customers to use 15mpg rather than 40mpg for similar performance?
How about addressing the fact that in a pedestrian impact, the bonnet level of an SUV is usually at head height, purely for stylistic reasons?
It doesn't perform as well as a sports car!Originally Posted by Geneticfreak
Stick it on a track, or a road which isn't a short drag between traffic lights, and you will soon be lagging behind any decent sports car, and the driver of the sports car will probably be having much more fun doing it.
SUVs have a few advantages over cars, but for most of the people, most of the time, they will never make use of those benefits.
All an SUV does is show that a person has money to burn, and they don't care that their SUV is costing them much more to run than a similar car would.
For some that is fine, but I'd rather be saving that money so I could be spending it on other things; like a proper sports car