Some Fun Transport |
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Mervyn Rees
4 August 2008
This issue covers:
4x4s - The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful.
Boy's Toys - Bringing Motoring Up To Speed.
Police Cars - What's Special about Them?
Green Fuel - The Facts.
1. 4x4s - The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful
It seems that wherever in the world you wander, or even drive for that matter, you'll find the 4x4 - a huge metal beast with a deep growl that shudders the ground as it approaches, scaring away anybody or anything that dares to stray into its path.
Love 'em or hate 'em, four wheel drive vehicles are refusing to stay on the rough terrain they were designed for; they've invaded our cities and they're a status symbol that some just have to have!
The Good
One of the good points, and undoubtedly one of their biggest selling points, is that 4x4s are comfortable. They'll almost always have big plush seats that you sink right into, lots of room for the long-legged amongst us, and plenty of flashy controls including satellite navigation, built in DVD player, a hands-free wireless cell phone, and a surround sound stereo. Some even have built in DVD players to be enjoyed by back-seat passengers, as well as plugs for game consoles, mp3 players and the like.
Because of their size and weight, they're generally safe vehicles to drive. Unless you're on the motorway/freeway, the average accident is more likely to cause far more damage to the other vehicle than to the 4x4, one reason why mothers tend to choose 4x4s for taxiing their children around in.
Of course, their choice could also be connected to the incredible sense of empowerment they get when driving around town in, what essentially amounts to, an urban tank. There's something incredibly sexy about being in control of such a powerful beast!
Hence - In London they are known as 'Chelsea Tractors'.
The Bad
No matter how good something appears to be, there's always a downside of the coin, and in the case of the 4x4, the downside is that they'll guzzle more gas in one day than a small car will in a month! Well, perhaps not quite that bad, but when comparing gas consumption by vehicle class, the difference is most definitely noticeable.
In US figures, where a "Honda Civic" will zip around for about 32 miles on one gallon of gas, a "Nissan Murano" will stop running 12 miles earlier. Even an "Audi A4" or a "Mercedes-Benz C230" will run for 2 miles more. But a "Murano" isn't a BIG 4x4. Move up to a "Chevrolet Suburban 1500" and you won't move further than 14 miles before the beast demands a re-fill. In comparison, a "Honda Accord" will happily run for 26 miles, just 2 miles less than a "Toyota Camry". Highway driving figures show equally comparable differences.
In other words, when it comes to choosing the "class" of vehicle, owning a 4x4 (or SUV, as they're also known) is going to hit you considerably harder at the pumps than would be the case if you chose a smaller car. With prices continuing to rise, filling up will be a tearful experience before long, especially if this summer's roller-coaster fuel prices are any indication of future trends.
The other obvious knock against these huge machines, is that they are much less forgiving on the environment. If you're interested in limiting the negative effects on the environment, an SUV purchase isn't likely to be the right choice for you. If, on the other hand, you are an urban parent with teenage children in need of regular taxiing, a member of the PTA and a car-pooler, then the environment is likely to have slid further down the line on your new car priority checklist.
Finally, because they are what they are: very expensive and noticeable luxury vehicles, they're incredibly attractive targets for thieves and vandals. Compared to hatchbacks and mini-vans, an $85,000 SUV is certainly going to stand out in the supermarket parking lot.
Big 4x4s are still very much a North American market phenomenon. The sheer size of their designs continues to make them too cumbersome and expensive to operate virtually anywhere else on the planet, although the Scandinavian market has increased considerably over recent years.
Twenty years ago, SUV sales accounted for only 2% of the automobile market in North America; today they are one in four and rising - an extraordinarily high share of the automobile market and one that looks set to continue to increase.
As manufacturer's continue to inflate the size of the 4x4 machine in order to meet the needs of their ego gratification starved customers, it's certain that SUVs are here to stay whether we're happy about that or not.
The Beautiful
Are SUVs beautiful? Some would say yes, but there are plenty that would say the sub-title here should definitely have been the expected "ugly".
Because these vehicles are status symbols, you'd imagine that their owners would automatically consider them beautiful, but that isn't always the case. The status symbol came into being because they're expensive to run, so anybody able to afford to use a 4x4 on a daily basis has to have a dollar or two in the bank. What the cars actually look like seems to be of secondary importance.
Of course, there are vast numbers of 4x4 models available, so it's impossible to say "they're all ugly", and just what is the definition of "beautiful" anyway? Somebody clever once said "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder" and that's undoubtedly the case with a 4x4.
I'll leave it up to you to make up your mind.