QUOTE:
“The era of the truck-based large S.U.V.’s is over,” said Michael Jackson, chief executive of AutoNation, the nation’s largest auto retailer.

As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Are Flocking to Small Cars

I am so happy. I never thought I would live to see that headline.

I don't care. I hate most compact cars. They're boring and ugly and as often as not driven by idiots who change lanes without signalling.

I saw one of these parked on capel st. It was the biggest vehicle I've ever seen. (outside of that stripper limo that drives around town, and the stretch hummer I saw outside holloway prison) Apparently these are very common in the US.

And I am the Life wrote:

QUOTE:
the stretch hummer

They somehow managed to get that bugger down the tiny road to Leadenhall Market this morning.

very popular - they are pretty much the most common car outside of cities (especially in the midwest), but that may be because they cost $10000.

There is a guy on my street who has a hummer. On Manhattan. As their regular car. It is crazy.

how the fuck can that thing cost $100000. Actually looking at the picture on my phone, the version I saw of that was newer.

Reed of the Valley People wrote:

QUOTE:
I don't care. I hate most compact cars. They're boring and ugly and as often as not driven by idiots who change lanes without signalling.

And of course there aren't any SUV drivers who do this (and worse, given the size of them). My bug was almost smashed yesterday when the driver of a large SUV whose lane was ending tried to merge on top of me as though I wasn't even there.

I think SUVs and large trucks are ugly and boring and as often as not driven by idiots who haven't been properly trained to handle something so large.

AIATL - You've got an extra 0 in there.

And I am the Life wrote:

QUOTE:
how the fuck can that thing cost $100000. Actually looking at the picture on my phone, the version I saw of that was newer.

I guess the accidental zero there is the case - the price of those things is absurd. They are constantly on TV with finance deals. I got the price wrong (probably due to the way those adverts are designed) and it is actually $20k. Which is still absurdly cheap for so much metal.

My brother-in-law(ish) drives one, but thankfully he needs all its pick up functions for his job.

The prevalence of these things in the MidWest, much like the place itself, is a thing of wonder. I have seen people drive them for a block to go and see a friend, as walking without climate control really isn't an option.

To be fair to them, they are very useful in the winter they get there - but that is the way these cars get themselves bought (playing on insecurities).

Anyway, you haven't seen the six-wheel ones (four at the back, jutting out from the normal body frame). Those are the ones that terrify me.

As a brief interlude, I recall having to explain to a bunch of MidWesterners (for I spend a bit of time there) what car I drove. I had a VW Polo. It is tricky to explain, when the smallest VW they have here is the Rabbit (Golf). Trying to tell them there are two VW models smaller than the Golf was filled with very unusual facial expressions on their part.

I doubt they will go that small here - maybe on the East, but people spend huge amounts of time in their cars elsewhere and wouldn't compromise. Thankfully the Toyota Prius has been hugely successful and really shifted the minds of GM and Ford.

FF, the car that cut me off this morning was a Toyota. Please let me have my moment of umbrage.

One needs a big truck like that in the first picture to carry all of one's tools and gear out to one's rig. And if one doesn't have tools and gear, let alone a rig, then one is a panty-waist non-real-man who should go back to fucking sheep in France.[/irony]


Those really small cars are catching on in New York and San Francisco and other places where smug people like to smell their own farts and/or have a hard time finding a parking spot.

Personally, if I felt the only feasible car for my situation was one of those glorified go-karts, I would just buy a motorcycle and learn how to ride it. It would be much more comfortable, I think and easier to park.

There is no way I would drive a SmartForTwo on the NJ Turnpike. I think my Beetle is the right size for me.

Femme Folle wrote:

QUOTE:
Reed of the Valley People wrote:

QUOTE:
I don't care. I hate most compact cars. They're boring and ugly and as often as not driven by idiots who change lanes without signalling.

And of course there aren't any SUV drivers who do this (and worse, given the size of them). My bug was almost smashed yesterday when the driver of a large SUV whose lane was ending tried to merge on top of me as though I wasn't even there.

I think SUVs and large trucks are ugly and boring and as often as not driven by idiots who haven't been properly trained to handle something so large.

I concur with everything FF said above.

Serious question:

Would most people who drive large trucks/SUVs/4x4s/larger MPVs still choose them if their speed was electronically limited to 70mph ...or even 60mph?

Y'see, since I've started riding a bike (and I have a 600 now, so I do my fair share of overtaking) I've noticed that alot of the most aggressive drivers and alot of the ones who charge along the motorway in the fast lane at a fairly constant 90-100mph are those that drive the vehicles I listed above. ...And yet it is these that use the most fuel. So surely, it would be the best for the environment, other road users and the 4x4 driver's pocket if they could only drive them at a slower (and - dare I say it - legal) speed?

Reed's reasons for using a pickup truck are totally valid, but would such people suffer and such practical concerns be negated if their speed were limited? (I'm talking about the UK here.) Of course not. People would just have to get used to leaving 10 minutes earlier.

In reality, I think that if a speed limit were imposed upon these vehicles, their sales would just be decimated. In my opinion it's not a practicality thing; it's not an off-road thing; it's not even a protecting-your-children thing - it's simply a status thing, a domination thing. It's wanting to dominate the roads and bowl everyone who isn't in a similarly-sized vehicle out of the way. You limit those vehicles to 70mph and watch everyone (at least all the arrogant fuckers who drive the huge BMW, Audi and Volvo versions) instantly migrate to M3s, S4s and anything else they can 'be better' than other drivers in.

Clive, what did you end up buying?