4 x 4 - raison d'etre?

reeac

motorguy wrote: »

You mean like vans and lorries do?

Also, if you're sitting at the recommended distance from the highway code, you'll have ample view and braking distance.

HTH

Recommended distance and braking distance?? Err., I was talking about sideways visibility when stopped or parked.

sinbad182

As has already been stated, do you drive around avoiding buses, vans and lorries if you have this much of an aversion to common high sided vehicles?

andydiysaver

DKLS wrote: »

Its people like the Op that make me want to go and buy a 4x4

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oh come on! you need a better reason than ME!! I'm just the devil's advocate - do you own a farm or do you live in the countryside?

andydiysaver

marlot wrote: »

So I'm not supposed to go to work for those two weeks?

Plus, I live round the corner from the hospital, and often do emergency runs for them when its snowy. If the 4x4 owners near me didn't, then people would go untreated.

unfortunately, as a non 4x4 owner I confirm I go to work in the snow. I've not crashed yet


and point 2 is approaching a valid reason to have one, that's doing a bit of good for the community and not owning it for status and status alone !

provista_2

We had an x-trail until some pr@t in a brand new Lexus decided to drive full speed into the side of us and according to the paramedics who took my father away in an ambulance if we had been in a normal saloon car he would have been killed.
That is why we have a 4x4

andydiysaver

snowcat75 wrote: »

I used to live in Utah where they get real snow, could be several feet per night, SUVs were useless everyone who was local would drive beaten up old legacy and imprezas on snow tyres (mine with 220k on the clock and 15 years old) , they were lighter and even without the ground clearance they would still travel and find the grip, but most importantly they would STOP wheres are 3T of SUV just didnt, believe me there's nothing worse than coming down a mountain pass in second gear knowing that the only way you can stop is to hit snow bank or plough into the maridain.

With that said i also drove an old 4.8 Corvette with an auto box RWD, for a couple of months, never stopped me going any ware, and even made it to the airport a 2hr drive in decent conditions in the tiniest little Crystler on the market, It was snowing so hard that the plane was 3hrs in de ice before we could fly, coming over the brow of the interstate and down hill into salt lake I had no way of stopping other than hoping I could stop it sliding in first gear.

No way do you need a 4x4 to drive through the bits of snow the UK gets. People just need better driving skills.
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I completely agree with this having slipped and skidded my way to work for years now in a humble ordinary motor - next to weather in other places on the globe, I live in a very mild (but rich) country and I think here lieth the real problem the 4 x4 owners may not be appreciating. It's not about need , it's about status. Moreover, I bet half the marketed 4x4's sold in units of thousands over here, when taken over to places with proper snow, would simply not be up to the job. Reason: the manufacturers over here know the price point to cater towards is not handling, it is vanity.

facade

Personally, the thing that offends me most, and is the most anti-social, is people with 500BHP cars who only use 3BHP.

I pull up behind an Audi capable of going faster in reverse than my car will in 5th gear, and when the lights change, they bumble away possibly reaching as high as 27mph in a 40 limit, and all 47 Kia sorentos in the inside lane (that I have just overtaken) overtake us, then nip into the right hand lane to get in front of me and slow me down all the way to work.

Iceweasel

provista wrote: »

We had an x-trail until some pr@t in a brand new Lexus decided to drive full speed into the side of us and according to the paramedics who took my father away in an ambulance if we had been in a normal saloon car he would have been killed.
That is why we have a 4x4

I'm very glad your dad was not severely injured or worse as you suggest might have been the case.

But if you take that to the illogical conclusion we should perhaps all buy an ex-army tank to be really safe.

I'm happy to rely on the latest generation of airbags all round the passenger compartment.

As for snow - I've sold my Freelander and gone back to a rear wheel drive BMW - seeing as how winter tyres have reached a state of evolution that make them a valid alternative.

The deciding factor now is when the snow is deeper than the front bumper/spoiler.

andydiysaver

facade wrote: »

Personally, the thing that offends me most, and is the most anti-social, is people with 500BHP cars who only use 3BHP.

I pull up behind an Audi capable of going faster in reverse than my car will in 5th gear, and when the lights change, they bumble away possibly reaching as high as 27mph in a 40 limit, and all 47 Kia sorentos in the inside lane (that I have just overtaken) overtake us, then nip into the right hand lane to get in front of me and slow me down all the way to work.

Agreed! I find myself wondering why they bought it!!!

reeac

sinbad182 wrote: »

As has already been stated, do you drive around avoiding buses, vans and lorries if you have this much of an aversion to common high sided vehicles?

Car parking and stopping space being often at a premium one can't often choose to avoid such vehicles and also, as I stated earlier, there are the ones who stop/park after you've arrived. Sideways visibility is a good thing - that's why vehicles have windows as well as a windscreen.
Anyway, I wouldn't be so snobbish aa to call them common.