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Are you kidding me? Are you comparing an SUV LIMOUSINE to an SUV car? How ridiculous are you going to get?
I agree, many/all of the smaller SUV's are built on a unibody chasis which is no different than a car. In fact many of the medium sized SUV's are also built on the unibody chais now as well. My small SUV (Saturn Vue) can get about 25-26 mpg city when I keep the RPM's under 2500 (which I've been doing lately). That is no different than any medium sized car. I can get 28-29 highway mileage out of my V6 SUV.
Consider also, that small SUV's make up the biggest portion of SUV sales. A small/medium sized SUV is closer to a car in gas mileage than those tanks you call hummers and Excursions. Small SUV's in many cases have the same gas mileage numbers as medium sized cars.
The 2 people in the small Accura walked away without a scratch. 4 people in the Excursion- one of the biggest SUVs made were killed on impact and a 5th is barely alive in a coma.
I'm not the one who stated that the SUV's were killing people.. (try to follow the thread)...
The story also does not say how people were hit, (front, back, side), how fast they were driving, and who was wearing seat belts.
Try to find a valid link next time with all of the facts. You have a way of seeing one story, and then repeating it as fact. Here, let me help http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/teepa/pdf/TRB_Safety_1-03.pdf (broken link)
I think all he's trying to say is that our buying preference and life style as a whole can influence the price of oil. So, whether we drive a small compact car or a SUV, that we should consider the gas mileage when purchasing. And, if you decide to ignore gas mileage, that you shouldn't complain if your fill up is expensive.
Whether SUVs are safer, better or worse, etc. is debatable.
To me, I don't really understand the guys/girls that drive the monster truck size trucks/suvs (raised, jumbo tires, etc.). They must be paying a ton to fill those things up. They also seem to drive pretty agro most of the time too :P
For reference our family drives a civic hybrid and a CRV.
Remember, rising oil prices are due to the falling dollar. Too bad nobody cares about that.
It is SOOOO difficult to glean even an iota of truth from the huge avalanche of crap that the gov distributes each day...Good gosh, it wasn't but several months ago that Bush gushed forth the observation that the economy is strong! This from a man that went on vacation in the midst of the Hurricane Katrina debacle
haha.. you just didnt accuse me of endangering drivers of small cars, because I'm being responsible and buy cars that ensures the safety of my children?
Well, yes I did. I can't really blame you for wanting to drive an SUV (if that's what you drive) to protect your children, because there are so many other people out there driving around in big trucks that drivers of smaller cars start to feel unsafe in them, and go and buy big trucks (disregarding the rollover risk, apparently).
I used to drive a little 30 mpg subcompact, then I started imagining what would happen if I got rammed by an Expedition or a Hummer. Now I drive an old tank of a Volvo that weighs over 2 tons and gets 20 mpg. city. For my own personal safety. Although I still worry about a collision with a 3-ton truck I feel somewhat safer than in a really small car.
Maybe someday this SUV craze will end and then I can go back to driving a 30 mpg. subcompact.
I drive a GMC Envoy. When I bought it I had the need for something with some size. I no longer "need" the size but, I will not get rid of her. Not only is the ride wonderful, no mechanical issues, but, I get 26/27 highway and 21/22 city. I know that's out of the norm but, I am not going to complain!
There are very few SUV's on the road today getting 10 MPG or less as one poster asserts.
SUV's are not the problem in this country - far from it. There are any number of full size passenger cars that get the same, or worse, gas mileage than the average SUV on the road.
Blaming SUV's is nothing more than a red herring
OBTW - we looked at the "Smart Car" for fun. It's so ugly its cute. First thing we noticed is, the gas mileage rating ain't that great - in the low 30's mpg. Then we also found out that the MFG recommends 91 Octane fuel - the expensive stuff -
Yes, at this point I would love to get a more fuel effcient car. But my Jeep is paid for (old cherokee). Will go green next time I trade, but I don't plan on trading until I have to. Gas costs have increased, but not enough to compesate for a car payment.
So until then -I'll just be on of those SUV drivers you complain about. If it makes you feel any better, I do try to conserve by combining trips, live a mile from work, and sometimes walk the kids to school vs. driving. I don't drive my SUV to boost my ego-unless of course the old rusty, worn out, faded front liscence plate look is now the happening symbol of status!lol
I think all he's trying to say is that our buying preference and life style as a whole can influence the price of oil. So, whether we drive a small compact car or a SUV, that we should consider the gas mileage when purchasing. ...
So how does that work, when our refineries are currently lowering their production with our current surpluses?
Even though I'd prefer to drive a more fuel efficient car, my car gets just 25 mpg. Since I drive it only about 80 miles a week to and from work, I don't feel too bad about driving a gas guzzler. It's 10 yrs old, paid off, and only has 60K miles, so I'll probably be driving it for another 5 years becasue car payments would more than offset any savings I might obtain from driving a more fuel efficient car. Everywhere else we go, we drive my wife's VW Golf which gets close to 35 mpg. Overall we have cut down on the number of miles we drive to keep our total gas consumption down. IMO, total fuel consumption and fewer miles driven is a better guage of social responsibility than MPG. An SUV driver who get's 10MPG and drives just 100 miles a week is using 10 gallons of fuel and adding only 100 miles of wear and tear to the highway system. A driver of a car that get 40 MPG and drives 400 miles a week is using the same amount of fuel, BUT they are putting far more wear and tear on the highways. IMO, the SUV driver is being more socially responsible in this comparison.
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