After reading the post about the worst vehicles you have ever driven I came across G-Mann's disapproval of SUVs. Now, first of all I have to agree with you about 90% of the ones seen on the road. This goes for the GMC Envoy, Ford Explorer, Ford Escape, Hummers, Excursions, FJ Cruisers, Aztec, etc. the list goes on forever. There are so many SUVs that I hate to see but there are some that deserve to be noted. I really wish people would remember the best looking models like the 1980s Toyota Land Cruiser, the Land Rover Defenders, 80s Isuzu Troopers, and old Pajero/Shogun/Monteros, Jeep Grand Wagoneers, International Harvester Scouts, 70s Jeep Cherokees, etc. I am 6 foot 6 and possibly the tallest person on this site and I absolutely love being able to see all of the road in front of me. My 1993 Montero has a lot of headroom and I am tired of being in vehicles where my head hits the ceiling. I drove my friends Toyota Camry the other day and it felt so strange (or just awful). I had no room to move and I couldn't see ahead of me at all. G-Mann you can't forget about the SUV legends out there when you are making fun of SUVs. I know you may just be kidding but I don't blame you because again 90% or more look horrible. In my dream there would be a worldwide ban of every single SUV except the following:

1980-1990 FJ60 and FJ62 Toyota Land Cruisers
All FJ55 Toyota Land Cruisers
late 80s to early 90s Land Rover Range Rovers
All Jeep Grand Wagoneers
70s Jeep Cherokees
All Land Rover Defenders even new
late 80s to early 90s Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero/Shogun
all International Harvester Scouts/Travelalls
50s though 70s GMC and Chevy Suburbans
late 80s early 90s Nissan Patrols
late 80s Isuzu Troopers
80s Dodge Ram Chargers
60s Ford Broncos
all FJ40 Toyota Land Cruisers

I may have missed a few but you get the idea. The rare rugged SUVs would be the only that survived. Of course the army could still have military Hummers but in my dream there wouldn't be any war!

Lada Niva is good as offroader because it is so bad on road that in Europe it is used only for its first purpose: going offroad

The real problem is fewer people use them for going off-road.

Recently, I took a road trip, and found somebody in a Ford Econoline E-150 van who was stuck on a dirt road. I don't have an SUV, but I tried to help him out as best as I could, which sadly wasn't much. The man apparently had to make a delivery on this road(I forget what he delivered), and he got stuck trying to back out. He told me that he had been there since earlier in the morning, and after he called his boss to help come over and tow him out with a 4WD vehicle of some kind, he got in an accident. Later he had to call one of his customers to tow him out with an F-350. This particular F-350 was a crew cab with dual rear wheels, but more importantly it had four wheel drive. During this man's ordeal I told him that situations like these are why I don't bash SUV drivers. A Ford Excursion with 4WD could've done the same thing for him.

I'll admit I have a bee in my bonnet with SUVs. I should point out that I live in a country (England) which is mostly built upon and densely populated, with plenty of road infrastructure and lots of traffic. And I live in the South of England, which is pretty flat (no mountains down here), with a mild climate (we get about 1 day of light snow a year, if that). Now, I've been to different parts of the USA and it has far open space and more a natural "wilderness". SUVs make a little more sense over there (even though still too many people in cities and suburbs drive them). Most people living in England, especially urban areas, have absolutely no need for a big SUV, they buy them for all the wrong reasons. So they've become a bit annoying because they are so many around now. If far fewer people drove them (as was the case in the 90s), they wouldn't bother me so much.

Now I'll admit this, I don't find 4x4s beautiful (not even the classic ones like the WWII Jeep, although I will admit they have a certain charm to them), in the same way I don't find lorries/trucks and buses beautiful. This is just my personal taste, but to me a 4x4 is not quite the same as a car. Originally 4x4s (Land Rovers, Jeeps) were built for function, not style, performance and comfort. With the evolution of the SUV, they've become more drivable, more luxurious and less harsh and rugged. But to me the real SUVs are still bulky and ungainly, and look like a fish-out-water in civilisation (towns and cities). Like a big wrestler or weightlifter wearing an ill-fitting suit at a black-tie do. And the crossover SUVs are ugliest of all, a weird crossbred mongrel of a sedan/wagon/MPV and an SUV. For example The BMW X5 is ugly because it looks like a 5-Series after a freaky genetic experiment.

A 4x4 is something I'd only really want if I had use for one, like I would only buy a tractor if I owned a farm. There so many more handsome cars in the world than SUVs (although I can understand why some adore the classic 4x4s like Land Rovers and Jeeps), that I dream of owning.

93Montero, from what you've written I think you already understand where I'm coming from and I agree with what you say. In fact if 90% of SUVs (or SUV models) disappeared, I would be pleased I make fun of SUVs because so many of the ones around today are just fugly (thus I question the taste of their admirers ), but I don't post mocking comments on the pages of the best 4x4s. Not every SUV is a total waste of space, they've just become too abundant and have lost some of their meaning. And this says something about a lot of consumers.

Well most SUV drivers aren't anywhere near that tall! I myself am 6'1", although that's not especially tall by any means (certainly nowhere near as tall as you), it's above average height (I see more people who are shorter rather than taller), and I found my old early-90s Renault Clio (small car) to have enough space when I was driving it (although if a friend sat behind me he wouldn't have much legroom at all), even though it felt small the first time I got inside it.

Often I see mums (normally only 5'4" or so) on the school-run picking up their little kids (no more than 1 or 2 of them) in a big Range Rover or BMW X5 which is pretty ridiculous, so you can see where all the jokes come from!

Also big SUVs have become closely associated with the whole rap-R&B-chavvy-urban-bling-bling side of today's culture which I find really lamentable

I'm afraid we don't see SUV's in the future anymore. Atleast in Finland there are now a growing number of 'ecological radicals' who wish to ban these cars. Now they have a campaign where they empty tires from SUV's. There are instructions in magazines how to empty an SUV tire. Today eight SUV's were found with their tires flat. These same people want all private cars to be banned from driving in city centers. At the same time fuel prices are rising constantly.

It's almost sinful to own a private car. If someone complains about fuel prices people respond "It's you own choice. Blame yourself. You should only use public transportation." I live 25km from the capital and buses go once in every hour. Public transports are simply not an option.

I got little carried away

Instructions? Take a sharp blade, stick it into the side of the tire, voilà!

Not that I condone this...

They must really be anti-car in Finland! Which is funny considering the population of the whole country is less than London's.

Oh, we've got them here too. The Earth Liberation Front waged a campaign a few years ago where they encouraged kids to run around randomly tagging SUV's with bumper stickers reading "I'm changing the climate. Ask Me How," or something like that. In once case an entire Hummer dealership was torched by them. Some people even want to encourage the government to put a $1 tax on gas in the hopes that it will sway more people into using mass transit whether or not it's available, despite the fact that OPEC has been jacking up the price of oil since 1999, which has been causing the economy to go down the tubes for nearly a decade.

Slashing someone’s tires is vandalism, if anyone was to try and slash my tires (as much as a set of descent tires cost these days) I would have to kick some ass!!!

Vandalism is wrong, but people who drive things like Hummers around town deserve whatever heckling they get, in the form of these flyers, leaflets and stickers (which can always be peeled off).

Well here in the UK we pay more than that in tax for every litre of petrol (I think about 70% of the price goes to the government and the average price of a litre is now over £1, and £1 = $2) and that still doesn't stop anyone driving.

As for me, I do take my Montero off-road in the wilderness of Indiana, USA. Sometimes I come back to town with it completely caked in mud from top to bottom. The headroom is also a lifesaver for me because of my ridiculous height. I don't understand why people buy SUVs and never take them off-road. There's nothing like being in the middle of a mud covered field with the road no where in sight. Going with what Raul1983 what talking about, I have a road bike that I ride all the time. I don't personally ride the buses but biking is one of my favorite things to do.

I've never seen a good reason for most ordinary people buying them either, most middle-class SUV drivers aren't the outdoors type, nor do many SUV owners actually need to tow anything, like a caravan, so many SUVs I see don't have a tow-bar fitted (certainly not the luxury ones). I guess SUVs are just in vogue at the moment, they've become modern status symbols, a bit like the way everyone wants a huge Plasma TV at the moment. I also blame marketing for why many families think they need an SUV.

Most of the Range Rovers, X5s, MLs, Cayennes and other luxury SUVs I notice have personalised numberplates to hide their age. So it seems very clear that a new SUV (or one that appears new) is the thing to have for many people. After all that's what the celebrities drive (particularly footballers, who have more money than braincells) I think they're a load of douchebags. And why do all SUVs come with tinted/blacked-out rear windows?? None of us bystanders CARES who is in the back! It's only little Chloe being driven home from school!

Many people want a SUV for "feeling safe" and "seeing better" (even if these two are to the detriment of the other people on the road)

I know, it's silly because you'd be suprised how safe most new cars are, even the small hatchbacks. I once saw a crash-test for the Smart (which always struck me as a flimsy, unsafe car), I think it was on 5th Gear, and I was amazed that it could hit a wall at 70mph and the occupant would still have a good chance of survival.

The "seeing better" reason is really stupid.

Well, if you have a crash against a bus, a truck or another SUV, you have probably more chance if you are yourself in a SUV. But note that I said "feeling safe", not "being safe"

I can’t stand these zippy little high performance SUVs like Porsche, BMW and others have, I just don’t under stand them. Yet they sell like hot cakes. People have lost the idea of what the SUV was meant to be – a work horse. SUVs were never meant to be fast, sporty and quick. If someone wants fast, sporty and quick, then they should get a sports car or 4-door sports sedan. I know my Expedition isn’t fast or sporty (and ironically naive people down grade it for that) and Mercedes, Porsche and BMW’s performance SUVs can run circles around the Expedition in the performance category. But, the Expedition wasn’t built to be sporty or fast, it is built like old-school SUVs; big, robust and with endurance for work. I know for a fact it could out work any thing Mercedes, Porsche and BMW could manufacture in the SUV segment.

Little? They're still too big! They still look bulky and obnoxious and block your view! Although Americans have a very different idea of what "big" is.

The things Mercedes, BMW and Porsche make aren't really meant to be workhorses (although I think the Cayenne can offroad a bit, not that Cayenne owners ever go offroad), just upscale lifestyle accessories (although anyone with any taste would go for a Merc or BMW sedan or a REAL Porsche, the 911 or even the Boxter).

Things like the X5 and ML (both of which are popular in the UK) are a big part of the reason I hate new SUVs.

I meant little as in compared to something like my Expedition.



SUVs really don’t block other motorist’s view that bad ... there are way worse vehicles on the road that block views and there are lots of them (at least here in the US): Buses, Moving Trucks, Class A Motorhomes, Class C Motorhomes, Dump Trucks, Semi Tractor-trailers [All types: Tank, Trailer and Dump body] and large Parcel Delivery Box Style Vans (like the ones UPS and FedEx use)

I know for a fact that my Travel Trailer has to block views, but I can’t help that – it’s not my problem. If people would drive like they have some sense we wouldn’t have half the accidents we have. I see impatient drivers cut of Semi-trucks and Buses all the time. So stupid ...

You know what I wish? I wish I worked for Hollywood and told them which vehicles they should give the protagonist and evil/bad characters. None of my movies would have any new cars but it would probably take place in modern times. I bet many people on this site would love that job!

Btw, the X5 is the poison that is killing the SUV name.