4X4s, Chelsea tractors, SUVs.
Call them whatever you want, there a number of you that really don’t like these behemoth vehicles.
It’s clear that your opinion of the person that drives this type of vehicle is they think they’ve earned the right to hurry up, tailgate and cut off traffic just so they can slow down and assert their presence on all the lesser motorists, take that oh-so-important call and generally ignore their driving while they dream of the next round of golf or the next opportunity they'll have to buy something beige.
Or maybe its something a bit stronger?!
With oil prices rising and the cost of fuel in the USA going through the roof, the Hummer and similar (SUVs) are rumoured to be at death’s door.
While GM still isn't confirming that the brand is for sale, all future Hummer models seem to be delayed or cancelled completely, so it's not likely GM wants to continue selling Hummers in the future.
So is it RIP to the SUV?
Probably not in the very near future, but its clear that their fate seems to be soaked in $4 a gallon (and soon to be $5 a gallon!) petrol.
The tree huggers are pleased, of course, but some old friends of SUVs will miss them and try to remember them for their strengths. Try as they might, they still haven't found a manly alternative to the sport utility vehicle.
So with that in mind, is there anything that we might miss about SUV’s if they disappear forever? Here are 10 possible things:
10. Resale
Driving by car dealerships recently would have you believe they’re having an early Halloween-themed sale. Turns out, the cobwebs on the big SUVs aren’t decorative. That wasn’t always the case: when SUVs were in demand, dealers got fat off all the desperate ‘I must have one as my neighbour just got one’ buyers.
Of course, the tables turned at trade-in time, when quality used models commanded the same price and rolled away again just as quickly as the new ones.
9. Safety
If you could resist the urge to swerve out of the way of approaching danger and actually test its roof-crush strength, your SUV’s tank-like feeling took on a new meaning in terms of protection, and is definitely one of the top 10 things to miss about SUVs. The old adage of putting as much metal as feasibly possible between you and the next man was one reason why SUVs found their way onto so many driveways.
Sure, their size made them more of a threat to everyone else on the road, but at least you'd make it to Point B in one piece, so what’s to complain about?
8. Space
Your wife + your kid(s) + your dog(s) + everyone’s gear = lots of room needed. However, with an SUV you could take a trip without limiting luggage to one small bag and one personal item.
Even though the maximum cargo room in some SUVs could be matched or beaten by a number of estate cars and (ughhh) people carriers/minivans, SUVs were just way cooler than the rest. So there. Argument settled.
7. Conflict
SUVs tend to broadcast a ‘screw-you’ attitude; you actually welcomed the thought of neo-hippies talking nasty about your vehicle, and this is one thing we'll miss about SUVs.
They’d whine about SUVs being the reason why trees are dying, the ozone layer is depleted and baby seals are getting thumped...yeah, yeah, whatever. Talk to the hand.
You didn’t care. You were sending a message, and if a few more dead dinosaurs got burned in the process, then tough ****.
6. Altitude
Given the choice of not being able to see around the numpty in front of you or actually getting to see the road ahead, there really was no choice at all. You wanted to know what was going on, and you wanted to know before you got there.
It was as if you were on some army reconnaissance mission and your commanding view of the road afforded you this information.
This in turn allowed you to act accordingly…when you weren’t on the phone or yelling at your kids, anyway.
5. Attitude
Not to be confused with the conflict or intimidation factors, the attitude aspect suggested a sense of adventure; like you were ready to drive up the Alps or pull a house clean off its foundations at any second.
Sure, you may never have gone off-road beyond the time you accidentally mounted the kerb when parking, but those are mere details…
Your ride definitely looked the part, which is what mattered most and is one of those things we'll miss about SUVs.
4. Luxury
Somewhere along the way, some car maker hit on the bright idea that SUVs could be the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove.
Soon, the option lists of many models rivaled those of traditional luxury saloon cars: heated and cooled leather seats, SatNav, power everything, DVD players to entrance the kids; it all became the standard operating procedure.
Basically you had the bells and whistles of your parents’ boring car without taking yet another step closer to becoming your dad.
3. Capability
Once upon a time, SUVs had their 4x4 gears by an actual gear stick; primitive stuff. It’s since given way to innocuous dashboard buttons that involve no greater effort than switching tracks on your iPod.
And in all honesty, those buttons for the 4x4 system were pushed more often out of curiosity than necessity, because most of you had no flaming idea what they did!
However, when you did actually need it, the extra traction was a godsend and may have made the difference between getting home in nasty weather and being stranded in the middle of nowhere on a freezing night.
Still, that’s when your heated seats would have come in extra useful, assuming you could find the right button for them.
2. Intimidation
Even the meekest bloke you know could fire up the 3.2 litre in his SUV and immediately become a man harder than a coffin lid nail. All of a sudden, he is out taking cruel pleasure in tormenting hatchbacks on the M25.
He’d get to within nano-inches of the guy ahead of him and make would-be lane changers reconsider the errors of their ways. In a world where guys sometimes feel like everything’s slipping from their grasp, the behind-the-wheel feel empowered more than a few to intoxication.
Boys, grow up; if you want a big Tonka Toy we suggest you go to Toys R Us.
1. Prestige
SUVs may now get laughs as ill-considered purchases and/or sad attempts at compensation for personal shortcomings, but they once defined the man of the '90s and the new millennium.
They were powerful, in your face and couldn’t be ignored…thus mirroring the personalities of more than a few of their drivers.
The power vehicle of choice is a cyclical thing, and the prestige that came standard with SUVs a few years ago has been replaced with a sense of failing to evolve.
Are there any other things we should miss about SUVs if they do die out? Or would you be glad to see the back of them?
Let us know your thoughts!