4x4 Vehicles - Should they be banned from Town/City Centres

before_hollywood

nej wrote:

Given that the point seems to be "you don't need 4-wheel drive" (ignoring the fact that it's very useful in the snow), let's also ban:

5th and 6th Gear - most of you don't use them anyway, as you're driving around town.
Sunroofs - you don't need them.
Aircon - if you can prove that you really need it and that the temperature averages over 27degrees all year round then you may have it. If we can't have 4-wheel drive for the 2 months of slippery conditions, you can't have cool air for the 2 months of hot weather. Air-con also saps your MPG's so anyone using it should be shot in the head.
4 Doors - 2 is enough, you can climb through to the back. This alone will save the planet as each car will require only half the amount of hinges, thus reducing the strain on our metal reserves.
Leather seats - unfair to cows.
Traction Control - if you need this then you drive like an idiot and can't be trusted to own a motor vehicle.
Electric Windows - something wrong with your arms?

lets answer your post rationally shall we as i have a car with nearly everything on your ban list.
5th/6th gear- i use 5th gear every day and 6th gear when i do 40+ mph- happy?
sunroof- i have a large sunroof, and it gets used from about april to about september, was especially useful when temperature was 25 degrees plus this summer.
air con- used it once in the 2 and a bit years i have had the car, nice but uses a lot of petrol and i am an mse-er after all :rolleyes:
4 doors- i have a 5 door car, main reason being it was cheaper to buy a 5 door car than a 3 door one (the 3 door cars are more popular, they look different to the 5 door ones of my model), so i bought the cheaper one that i liked.
leather seats- not got them, nightmare in summer, shame that so many of your fellow 4x4 drivers have them though.
traction control- my car has used it once, on ice last winter. and i don't drive like an idiot thank you very much
electric windows- have you tried buying a modern car without them? i admit its nice because i use mine for being able to scan me security clearance pass without having to cotortion myself out the car, and i can just press one button and it goes down as i approach the barrier, but its not a neccessity.

before_hollywood

BertieMeldrew wrote:

Thanks (!)

I am not a farmer. I live 850 above sea level at the end of a one mile road that is "unsuitable for motor vehicles" - and half of which is an unadopted track that we have to maintain ourselves. The road from the village (3 miles away) is steep - 1 in 4 at the worse. In the winter we frequently get conditions that a non-4x4 just can't cope with. Equally, the track is pretty rough and at least one non-4x4 car that I had in my time here had the suspension ruined! Most of the track is unfenced and sheep and cattle roam the fells, and the track, at will. Whilst I felt they were justified I actually ditched the bull-bars!

There are several properties around this area that have similar problems. Most of the residents just wouldn't survive part of the year without a 4x4.

What you are saying then is that we should either (a) move or (b) stay indoors when the weather is bad or (c) become farmers

:rotfl:

AAMOI Intel, what sort of car do you drive?

missed point anyone?
we were talking about the type that are NOT used in this way, the type that the nearest off road they get is driveway or mounting the kerb

before_hollywood

Lob_Rockster wrote:

The BMW X5 gets a 5* NCAP rating. So your point is, erm, lost?

Cunningly, the Discovery (2) challenges the Jeep Wrangler for design...a Discovery3 would have been better in the situation, as would X5,XC90 etc etc.

Based on threads like this, I am going to need 2 cars; one to get from my home and one to drive into your town

try using an x5 off road

good luck :rotfl: