10 ms·
Urban pickup trucks in particular are very American, but the ever increasing number of SUVs in places like central London is just as absurd, not to mention prob
by chris_overseas 7y ago
Urban pickup trucks in particular are very American, but the ever increasing number of SUVs in places like central London is just as absurd, not to mention problematic[0]. I'm guessing one reason Europe favours SUVs over trucks is because the roads are generally much narrower here.
[0] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/25/suvs-second-biggest-cause-of-emissions-rise-figures-reveal https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/...
- me_me_me 7y agoSUVs are the minivans of rich suburban soccer mums. I really hate that trend as most of time people driving it have no idea what they are doing + have no need for that capacity.
- celticninja 7y agobut now we're putting people in the position where if you're not driving SUV and you're in a collision with an SUV you come off worse. so your option to remain safe is to buy an SUV so that if you hit/get hit another SUV or you hit/gethit another vehicle you end up in a better position
- prepend 7y agoI don’t think that’s true and it’s possible to design small cars to fare well. I had an old Saab 9-3 that was t-boned by a Chevy Avalanche at about 40 mph. Both vehicles were totaled. My passengers had some lacerations from shattered glass. The avalanche people were taken away in an ambulance. I was fine. Small cars can be designed quite robustly to withstand these huge trucks hitting them. Not all though. I think the current tesla sedans do quite well with large vehicle impact testing.
- sanpan 7y agoWhoa, freaky. My 9-3 was rear ended by an Avalanche. Luckily no one was hurt and insurance didn't total my car somehow.
- prepend 7y agoI wish it hadn’t totaled mine. It was a 2000 so before GM turned Saabs into Malibus.
- Silhouette 7y agoModern safety features certainly help, but ultimately physics is still physics. There can also be serious problems when modern vehicles have collisions with older vehicles that don't have those safety features, for similar reasons.
- jeromegv 7y agoIt’s not so much about the design than the impression. Lots of people don’t like driving and would rather a bigger car because they feel unsafe next to those other giant cars. Nothing to do with actual danger, just perception.
- prepend 7y agoI think people like excuses to drive SUVs. I had a friend who drove an SUV and talked about the safety and space needs. But the SUV had worse safety and space than many sedans, wagons, and hatchbacks. I always thought it curious about why they would cover up whatever the reason was for driving an SUV but was never able to talk about it because they got deflective and defensive.
- systemtest 7y agoThe downside is that an SUV flips over without any effort. Especially with the high greenhouses and unavoidable sunroofs nowadays. I've seen SUVs flip over just from being rear-ended.
- stef25 7y agoI saw a Defender flipped on its side after being t-boned by a Mercedes taxi.
- alecmg 7y agospeaking of weight over/under 2.5t on weight of that tesla cyberwart?
- daxorid 7y agoDefinitely over. A claimed 500mi range on the upper model with three large motors is a LOT more copper, steel, and lipo cells than the X.
- alasdair_ 7y agoThis is why I exclusively drive a Mac truck.
- globular-toast 7y agoNotice how one of the first marketing points of this new monstrosity is "passenger safety". Because the safety of the passengers in a vehicle the size of a truck with the performance of a sports car is really important. Given the poor standard of driver training it's going to be suicide to drive smaller car soon, let alone be on a bicycle or walking.
- ycombonator 7y ago>people driving it have no idea what they are doing + have no need for that capacity. Presumptuous to assume the operators of these vehicles don’t have the need for the capacity. My next door neighbor has 3 kids that fit in 3 car seats she carts them around all day not to mention their accessories and shopping and I always thought she needed a bigger vehicle. SUVs fare better in a collision with a smaller car, when it comes to protecting your kids you are better off riding in a tank.
- Silhouette 7y agoSUVs fare better in a collision with a smaller car, when it comes to protecting your kids you are better off riding in a tank. Unless the other party was driving a bigger tank in response to everyone else's tanks. An arms race where vehicles get heavier and heavier isn't really in anyone's interests over the long run.
- lawlessone 7y ago>3 kids that fit in 3 car seats Would all fit in a compact
- Amezarak 7y agoCar seats are massive and I’m pretty sure they’re deliberately designed so that few models will fit three to a row. They certainly don’t fit in my compact or my crossover. Putting them in my compact also requires me to drive with my chest on the steering wheel.
- msh 7y agoshow me a compact that can take 3 car seats and have isofix mounts for all 3 of them.
- rjmunro 7y agoThere are plenty in the UK: https://www.carshop.co.uk/latest-news/cars-with-3-isofix-points/ https://www.carshop.co.uk/latest-news/cars-with-3-isofix-poi...
- raxxorrax 7y agoThey are often called housewife tanks in Germany.
- wlll 7y agoChelsea tractors
- dividedbyzero 7y ago"Hausfrauenpanzer", pronounced somewhat like "House-Frown-Pun-Tser". In case anyone was wondering.
- zentiggr 7y agoAs a bit of a WW2 historian/wargamer, that is the most hilarious thing I've heard in a long time... thank you from my particular context :)
- goodmachine 7y agoBrilliant.
- louisswiss 7y agoInteresting. I’ve never heard that before, but I have heard them called Einkaufspanzer (shopping tanks) several times. The implication being it’s the tank you use to do your grocery shopping in.
- me_me_me 7y agoThat's brilliant.
- splatcollision 7y agoHilarious - my family and I joke and call the inevitable massive chevy suburbans "Mom Tanks"
- stef25 7y ago> have no need for that capacity If I'm forking out 40K+ on a car I'm going to make sure it's at least useful for 2-3 vacations per year with the kids. That currently requires about 900L of boot space (stroller, 3 big duffels, a few boxes with supplies, toys, etc)
- zrail 7y agoThe thing is, if you the math, owning a small car and renting a larger vehicle the 2-3 times a year you need it is vastly less expensive.
- TomMarius 7y agoNot the case in central/eastern Europe (where most personally owned vehicles are second hand)
- chris_overseas 7y agoBetter for the environment too.
- TwoHeadedBeast 7y agoI own zero cars and rent when required. I save a fortune.
- zrail 7y agoFor sure! If your living situation allows it that’s definitely the cheapest option, at least for car budget.
- stef25 7y agoBy myself I can live with my bicycle and motorbike but once kids, daycare, schools and 10Kg of groceries per week come in to your life things change.
- iknowstuff 7y agoMost grocery stores in the places I’ve lived offer online shopping. From Amazon Fresh to Carrefour. Try it, it will save you so much effort.
- iamsb 7y agoYou see them everywhere in urban and rural Australia too, though the aussies call them ute. Honestly if my family is going to own just one car, it will be a SUV, instead of a sedan/compact.
- frosted-flakes 7y agoUte for utility vehicle, I presume?
- stef25 7y agoAs someone with two kids, massive storage space appeals to me very much. Flying somewhere for vacation now costs $$$, so driving say to France, Spain or Portugal is a lot more appealing. A baby stroller already takes up half the 500L boot/trunk space of my BMW X1 and even with an annoying & noisy 400L roof box we still can't fit everything we want (I used to go backpacking for months with a 35L pack, so I'm not someone who takes the kitchen sink on vacation). A Skoda Superb has a boot space of around 600L, one of the largest among "normal" cars. If you want more space, I guess you have to go for something that may look out of place in the city center but does have practical appeal even outside of farms.
- ljcn 7y agoAs your example numbers here show though estates are often better for storage than crossovers. So there must be other factors behind crossover popularity. Their being higher is a big factor I bet (less stooping and more road visibility, although the latter is less of a factor as they get more popular).
- stef25 7y agoThe fact you sit higher and the extra visibility that gives on the road is indeed a huge plus. Car salesman told me "everyone's ditching estates for crossovers nowadays" and almost every brand makes one.
- flyingfences 7y agoConversely, a low center of gravity and the superior emergency handling that it gives a car is also a huge plus.
- Fjolsvith 7y agoMy wife used to own a Mercury Sable. I literally dodged a deer with it one day without rolling the vehicle. Ended up in the next lane over in less than half a second still going down the highway. With my big pickups, I just try to center the deer on my massive grill guard so they don't dent the quarter panels.
- alimw 7y agoRoads that have always been able to pass sensibly-sized cars on either side are effectively one-way now because of all the outsize vehicles.