Beginning of the end of SUVs?

[DrFfybes]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67424678

A move in Paris to introduce differential parking charges.

It will be interesting to see if/how it works.

Paul

[stevensfo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67424678

A move in Paris to introduce differential parking charges.

It will be interesting to see if/how it works.

Paul

I have often wondered about this infamous SUV.

What is a true SUV?
SUV - Wikipedia
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.

I have a Volvo with large wheels, so it's easier for my mum and other elderly people to get in and out. I drive slowly and carefully. In fact, my mum drives much faster than me in her little Piccanto!

I would love to know about this off road business. Where does one go off road? Does one need a special licence?

Steve

[MuddyBoots]

There already seems to be a creeping decline in SUVs by the makers. I've noticed that many models have had their engine size reduced in the past few years, for instance Ford Kuga diesels only have a 1.5 L engine now, previously they were 2 L or more. I don't think there's a law to restrict engine sizes yet, the car makers seem to have their own green agenda, or else know something I don't about future policy.

[CliffEdge]

Too early to rejoice. Car designs, apart from mine, are stupid and manufacturers should face criminal charges.

[bungeejumper]

I have often wondered about this infamous SUV.

What is a true SUV?
SUV - Wikipedia
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.

Well, let's go back to the American roots of the genre. You started out with three fat tonnes of metal, and then you fitted a fat engine, a set of fat wheels and tyres, and fat squishy suspension. Then, when you'd added a fat driver and a couple of fat passengers, you'd got what the yanks were pleased to call a sport vehicle.

Okay, sumo's a sport, I suppose?

BJ

[stevensfo]

I have often wondered about this infamous SUV.

Well, let's go back to the American roots of the genre. You started out with three fat tonnes of metal, and then you fitted a fat engine, a set of fat wheels and tyres, and fat squishy suspension. Then, when you'd added a fat driver and a couple of fat passengers, you'd got what the yanks were pleased to call a sport vehicle.

Okay, sumo's a sport, I suppose?

BJ

I had no idea after all these years that I had been driving a 'Sports Utility Vehicle'!

It's great for taking rubbish to the tip, giving lifts to elderly relatives and friends who appreciate the higher distance from the ground. Since the car is further off the ground, I have a greater field of view and so feel safer when I drive.

Which is quite slowly and well within the speed limit.

The reason we liked this car was for its height and safety, not for the engine size.

So what is it? Height of car or engine size? What exactly is an SUV and why all this commotion?

PS OMG I know how teachers must have felt when trying to control a class!

Steve

[bungeejumper]

I had no idea after all these years that I had been driving a 'Sports Utility Vehicle'!

The reason we liked this car was for its height and safety, not for the engine size.

So what is it? Height of car or engine size? What exactly is an SUV and why all this commotion?

Partly, the SUV's US origination and popularity resulted from its official classification as a light truck, not a car. That was certainly true in the 1980s when the first brutes appeared, and AFAIK they're still classified that way today. Along with pickup trucks and so forth.

The point about light trucks was (and still is) that they're much more lightly regulated than passenger cars. Their construction standards are different - even today, many still have rear suspensions based on a rigid axle, whereas their European and Japanese equivalents have fully independent suspension at each corner. And their bodies tend to be bolt-ons to a rigid chassis rather than a monocoque design. That makes them much cheaper, and much crappier to drive. No wonder they sell so many, and at such low prices.

Rigid axles are tougher on rough terrain, but their cornering characteristics have always been woeful. Trying to understand why Americans like these lumbering, unsteerable things is a bit like asking why they buy Harley-Davidsons - it's something about the appeal of the crude, lumpy, bumpy, iron-girder, good-ole-boy or outlaw heritage that still gets American hearts beating.

The other point is that, because they're classified as utility vehicles, they escape the tight rules on fuel efficiency and emissions that apply to cars. A light truck is still allowed to be dirtier, smellier and generally fouler than any car. Which came in handy when the US oil industry was coming under pressure to clean up its act in the nineties and noughties.

Speaking of which, because "light trucks" don't officially count as cars, they've been jolly useful to governments of all stripes as they've tried to play fast and loose with international standards and trade agreements and environmental controls and suchlike. And those classificatory opportunities have been used to the max, ever since Reagan. It all helps grease the wheels of an American industry that's still in dinosaur mode really.

Your Volvo will be an entirely different animal. And so are the American-built BMWs that are really pretty good, if you can forgive the looks of the X6. (I can't. My neighbour had one, and it used to hurt my eyes.)

Enough. Enjoy the ride!

BJ

[bluedonkey]

Apparently some insurers are either withdrawing from insuring Range Rovers in London or charging greatly increased premiums. Does anyone here have any experience of this?

[Nimrod103]

Apparently some insurers are either withdrawing from insuring Range Rovers in London or charging greatly increased premiums. Does anyone here have any experience of this?

I don’t have experience of this, but I can well believe it true. However, the reason will be due to Range Rovers being easy to steal and easy to spirit out of the UK, to a thriving black market.

[Spet0789]

Well, let's go back to the American roots of the genre. You started out with three fat tonnes of metal, and then you fitted a fat engine, a set of fat wheels and tyres, and fat squishy suspension. Then, when you'd added a fat driver and a couple of fat passengers, you'd got what the yanks were pleased to call a sport vehicle.

Okay, sumo's a sport, I suppose?

BJ

I had no idea after all these years that I had been driving a 'Sports Utility Vehicle'!

It's great for taking rubbish to the tip, giving lifts to elderly relatives and friends who appreciate the higher distance from the ground. Since the car is further off the ground, I have a greater field of view and so feel safer when I drive.

Which is quite slowly and well within the speed limit.

The reason we liked this car was for its height and safety, not for the engine size.

So what is it? Height of car or engine size? What exactly is an SUV and why all this commotion?

PS OMG I know how teachers must have felt when trying to control a class!

Steve

“We’ll within the speed limit”? I hope not - you’d fail a driving test for that.

[BigB]

Apparently some insurers are either withdrawing from insuring Range Rovers in London or charging greatly increased premiums. Does anyone here have any experience of this?

My 50 yr old SIL with a long clean driving record swapped her 8 yr old LR Evoque recently for something else because of silly [re]-insurance quotes, out of nowhere this year. Cambs.

[swill453]

I had no idea after all these years that I had been driving a 'Sports Utility Vehicle'!

It's great for taking rubbish to the tip, giving lifts to elderly relatives and friends who appreciate the higher distance from the ground. Since the car is further off the ground, I have a greater field of view and so feel safer when I drive.

Which is quite slowly and well within the speed limit.

The reason we liked this car was for its height and safety, not for the engine size.

So what is it? Height of car or engine size? What exactly is an SUV and why all this commotion?

PS OMG I know how teachers must have felt when trying to control a class!

“We’ll within the speed limit”? I hope not - you’d fail a driving test for that.

Not necessarily. On occasions I drive well within (i.e. below) the speed limit, because it's the safest thing to do in the circumstances.

Scott.

[didds]

“We’ll within the speed limit”? I hope not - you’d fail a driving test for that.

straight question.

You'd fail a driving test for driving at 50 along a 60mph road?

I suppose that also depends if you view 50/60 "well within" etc ! (I would for example)

[Watis]

“We’ll within the speed limit”? I hope not - you’d fail a driving test for that.

straight question.

You'd fail a driving test for driving at 50 along a 60mph road?

I suppose that also depends if you view 50/60 "well within" etc ! (I would for example)

Years ago, I read that more drivers fail their driving test for 'failing to make adequate progress' than for speeding!

Watis

[DrFfybes]

“We’ll within the speed limit”? I hope not - you’d fail a driving test for that.

straight question.

You'd fail a driving test for driving at 50 along a 60mph road?

I suppose that also depends if you view 50/60 "well within" etc ! (I would for example)

The answer (as Google will confirm ) is "yes". It is 'holding up the flow of traffic' or something similar, although 50 on a country lane might be fine whereas on a dry dual carraigeway it would probably not be.

For an IAM or RoSPA test you would be marked down for failing to drive at the speed limit, providing the conditions permit it.

This isn't to say that it is a target or something you MUST do in every day driving, however in a test situation you are required to demonstrate you are capable of doing certain things, which is a lot different to routinely doing them.

Paul

[bungeejumper]

My 50 yr old SIL with a long clean driving record swapped her 8 yr old LR Evoque recently for something else because of silly [re]-insurance quotes, out of nowhere this year. Cambs.

Might be the theft issue, or then again it might be just the product. Daughter sold her Evoque because she couldn't stand the repair bills for all the things that were going wrong. (Transmission problems are pretty inexcusable these days, but they're among the commonest issues with Landies, as she found out. )

Our near neighbours didn't fare much better with their newly-bought two year old Discovery, which had multiple warranty issues. Just when they thought they were finally out of the woods, somebody rear-ended the car, and it took the dealer nearly three months to get hold of a new tailgate. Which meant three months in an expensive courtesy hire car, of course. That sort of logistical and cost issue does tend to trickle down through buyers' awareness in the long run. In the short run, it does terrible things to the insurance companies' bottom lines. The rest is inevitable.

BJ

[Mike4]

Anticipating the end of SUVs, I bought my first SUV yesterday to see what they are like!

Gonna try working from it instead of a van. My old Merc van has 300,000 miles on it and stuff keeps going wrong.

[didds]

straight question.

You'd fail a driving test for driving at 50 along a 60mph road?

I suppose that also depends if you view 50/60 "well within" etc ! (I would for example)

The answer (as Google will confirm ) is "yes". It is 'holding up the flow of traffic' or something similar, although 50 on a country lane might be fine whereas on a dry dual carriageway it would probably not be.

But on a dry dual carriageway you couldn't be holding up the flow of traffic or something similar as there is a passing lane available for anyone doing 50+mph ?

How weird.

Didds

[DrFfybes]

The answer (as Google will confirm ) is "yes". It is 'holding up the flow of traffic' or something similar, although 50 on a country lane might be fine whereas on a dry dual carriageway it would probably not be.

But on a dry dual carriageway you couldn't be holding up the flow of traffic or something similar as there is a passing lane available for anyone doing 50+mph ?

How weird.

Didds

So, never seen a tailback on a dual carr when there's something large and slow in the inside lane? Even if you're doing 50 and a Stobart is passing you on a 56mph limiter then traffic behind the truck is being held up

[didds]

But on a dry dual carriageway you couldn't be holding up the flow of traffic or something similar as there is a passing lane available for anyone doing 50+mph ?

How weird.

Didds

So, never seen a tailback on a dual carr when there's something large and slow in the inside lane? Even if you're doing 50 and a Stobart is passing you on a 56mph limiter then traffic behind the truck is being held up

one l
that lasts about a minute tops maybe. So thats no different to following a cyclist, a horse, a milk float on a non dual carriageway (or shorter even).

Im just flabbergasted that 50mph on a 60mph duial carriageway would fail a test!