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Originally Posted by inSANe DIEGO
My wife and I can and have comfortably traveled in our Subaru Outback wagon more than 8 hours away from home with 2 mountain bikes, gear AND luggage for a week's stay. This is while keeping ALL of the previously mentioned equipment INSIDE the car.
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I wasn't talking about couples.
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Originally Posted by inSANe DIEGO
Interesting enough we passed SEVERAL behemoth suvs with other couples (not families) who had their bikes or other equipment on the OUTSIDE of the things. Where's all that extra room? I live in a VERY family oriented community. Most of those in the know have minivans that haul all 5 members with football equipment, coolers, etc.
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They aren't taking their kid's friends along with them then.
My mechanic usually has 6-7 kids running around. 6-7 kids means one big vehicle or two smaller vehicles (and two adults being free at the same time to drive).
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Originally Posted by inSANe DIEGO
I never said americans only drove small cars until recently.
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Originally Posted by inSANe DIEGO
Come to think of it... how DID Americans get around before the auto companies brainwashed them into thinking they needed 7000lbs of metal surrounding them just to go to Starbucks for a decaf mocha latte?
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You're implying a majority did before the SUV craze came along.
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Originally Posted by inSANe DIEGO
However, can you tell me when the first year a vehicle over 6000 lbs was considered the average american car?
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I don't believe that has ever been the case. It isn't the case now. I live in truck country and the big SUV's, the Suburbans and the (discontinued?) Excursion, are a rare sight. I've only seen one Excursion in my life, and it was a work truck not a personal ride.
Similiarly the dually pick ups are almost all working farm vehicles, not pleasure vehicles.
I googled the weights of a few mid-size SUV's, and got a range of 4700-5000 lbs. That seems about right for the big wagons of the 50's/60's/70's.
But keep in mind that I said SUV/minivan, not SUV only. I'm fine with a van if it will do the job.
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Originally Posted by inSANe DIEGO
They boast offroad ability that is only as good as my "little" Outback. I know, I've driven circles around many on the dirt roads and have gone through ruts and ditches where others got stuck.
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Ehm, when equipped with the right tires and driven correctly trucks actually have that off road capability. The Outback is not close, it doesn't have the ground clearance. Try any real offroading with it and you will be stuck in no time.
Sure, manufacturers sell trucks on street tires to posers who will get them stuck in a mud puddle. I'm not argueing for the benefit of posers here, but for people who need the capability.
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Originally Posted by inSANe DIEGO
Smooth riding is determined by shock valving, spring rates and suspension compliance. Not size of vehicle. If size of vehicle were the determining factor people wouldn't say things like, "It rides like a truck" when describing how smooth something wasn't when they drove it.
Light and softly tuned to drive smooth handles night and day better than heavy and tuned just enough to support the weight and be equally as smooth as the lighter vehicle.
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Let me clarify, when I said "big" I was referring to interior volume, not weight. I'd be fine with a 1000lb car with the room the Riv has, provided all the other vehicles on the road were restricted to a 1000 lb mass. I don't want to be in a 1000 lb car though with 4-5000 lb cars passing only a few feet away in the opposite direction. A head-on collision is bad enough when the car weights are roughly even. Yeah, I now there are semis and other heavy vehicles on the roads too, and I wish they weren't, but odds are it will be another passenger vehicle in any wreck.