United States Why are SUVs getting to be so popular?

[Captain X]

So this is going off of the news that basically all the major manufacturers are discontinuing cars in favor of SUVs and pick-ups. I honestly didn't get it, partly because I value getting good MPGs, and partly because I learned how to drive using pick-ups, and have a lot of bad memories of having a hard time parking and don't much care for the excessive body roll those old pick-ups had. But after watching this video I at least have some understanding of it, even if I have to roll my eyes at the idea of "being safer" at the cost of everyone else being less safe because of it.

 

[HistoryMinor]

Extra storage space, less emasculating than a van and close enough to a Jeep or Hummer to make you forget about your small dick. Basically the US gas boom made us cocky. Next time there's a oil shock we're go right back to hyping up those midget box cars.

 

[prinCZess]

Fracking and domestic oil production boom has made the US considerably more resistant to gas shocks and put a soft (at least) cap on the US. Potentially even a hard one.

In my part of the country, a large part of it is clearance and the dude kind've dismisses it too easily as just a tire issue (dismissing ride height...Which is silly). There can be a considerable amount of snow on the roads that doesn't get plowed regularly or early enough all the time, depending on where and when, and as someone who moved from a pickup to a small car...Having to worry about getting high-centered on a 'mild' berm in my area that the truck or an SUV would push right through and needing to carry a shovel with me constantly because I might just get stuck is aggravating like no other--and that's an argument that applies to a good bit of the US just because of the snow patterns. Dude's CLEARLY midwestern and hasn't experienced plains or mountain snows (and, hell, the NE and even parts of the South has been hit relatively hard recently).

Probably more impactfully is, more than crumbling infrastructure or declining driver competence, the mass distance of the US. With gas more affordable (and SUV MPG on the increase anyways thanks to technological advances) longer-distance commutes or trips are a larger concern, so a family can more easily afford to live further from locations of work in an area where housing prices or the like are lower, and trips to more distant places are more affordable as well (SUVs making that travel more comfortable as well). Then SUVs have some limited towing ability that can add to their utility in the same vein.

 

[Bacle]

In terms of sheer practicality, there is far more you can do with an SUV than a car or van, and gas mileage is not the end all, be all of why people buy the vehicle the vehicle they do. SUVs have better ground clearance, storage capacity, towing capacity, and many are getting close to cars in terms of gas miles.

For people who never really leave the cities, or have reason to drive on unimproved/unpaved roads, I can see why the switch seems odd. But for those of us who actually venture out or live in rural/semi-rural areas, the reasons are much more evident.

Of course some idiots:

Extra storage space, less emasculating than a van and close enough to a Jeep or Hummer to make you forget about your small dick. Basically the US gas boom made us cocky. Next time there's a oil shock we're go right back to hyping up those midget box cars.

...won't even think beyond snark and dumb memes when it comes to the reasons behind this switch in consumer trends.

 

[Edgeplay_cgo]

Americans loved the station wagon. They died with Big Detroit Iron. The Minivan was the closest and most practical alternative, but tiny minded snarkers made them unpopular. The SUV is the closest we have to the old wagons. They have some advantages over them, and some disadvantages.

 

[Deleted member]

I hate SUVs with a true passion, driving a RWD sports wagon which would be considered a compact if it wasn’t so heavy, and commuting in her over mountain roads to work every winter; I am also a self-confessed effete aristocrat who loves heel and toe shifting corners and pleasure motoring as a leisure activity, so you may rightly call me a bit of a loon. I also carry chains, drive with studded traction tyres on all four wheels in winter, traction mats for getting her back on the road, a shovel, sand bags, and two spares. Not many people want to do that.

 

[Vargas Fan]

It's not just the USA, in the UK as well you often see the School Run Mum types taking their one or maybe two kids to school in something that would be more suited to driving in the desert. What's the bet that the roughest terrain they'll get will be our local roads, which are to be fair shit, but not THAT bad.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Extra storage space, less emasculating than a van and close enough to a Jeep or Hummer to make you forget about your small dick. Basically the US gas boom made us cocky. Next time there's a oil shock we're go right back to hyping up those midget box cars.

Ahem...

I would like to know more about these Humvee driving Soccer Moms with small dicks...

 

[Darth Robbhi]

SUVs handle more like cars, but have extensive cargo capacity. Especially those on the smaller end of the spectrum.

 

[Captain X]

I thought they handled more like pick-ups since a lot of them are based on pick-ups.

 

[Darth Robbhi]

I thought they handled more like pick-ups since a lot of them are based on pick-ups.

Depends on the vehicle. A lot of the crossovers are designed to handle more like a car than a truck.

 

[Deleted member]

@Darth Robbhi indeed, most crossovers and even SUVs at this point are monocoque and not body-on-frame.

 

[Edgeplay_cgo]

It's not just the USA, in the UK as well you often see the School Run Mum types taking their one or maybe two kids to school in something that would be more suited to driving in the desert. What's the bet that the roughest terrain they'll get will be our local roads, which are to be fair shit, but not THAT bad.

Except that most of them are not worth a shit off the road.

 

[Edgeplay_cgo]

I thought they handled more like pick-ups since a lot of them are based on pick-ups.

The bigger ones are. The smaller ones are closer to cars.

 

[bullethead]

Dunno about other people, but for me, driving a sedan sucks because of the lack of leg room. It was bad when I was driving an hour to get to CNC training, and sucks a bit less now that my commute is only about a half-hour each way, but if you're tall and/or have long legs, sedans lose out in the comfort department to crossovers and other SUVs.

 

[Vargas Fan]

Dunno about other people, but for me, driving a sedan sucks because of the lack of leg room. It was bad when I was driving an hour to get to CNC training, and sucks a bit less now that my commute is only about a half-hour each way, but if you're tall and/or have long legs, sedans lose out in the comfort department to crossovers and other SUVs.

I find now it can more often depend on the seat adjustment options. Obviously you've got your standard slide forward and back, but if a seat has a tilt and height adjustment and even a lumbar support option it can make all the difference to comfort. I've driven a Micra which had very little in the way of adjustment options which made the driving position pretty inflexible.

 

[Captain X]

I've never had any trouble with leg room at 6'1". The Civic I'm driving currently is at the very limit of how far the set can go back, but that's the closest I am to having trouble. Actually a nice thing about the Civic is that its steering wheel is telescopic, so I can bring it back closer to me.

Only thing that messes me up is when I go between driving a car and driving a pick-up because of the height difference. Every so often, I find myself driving my dad's Silverado and I get a bit paranoid about how big it is.

 

[Vargas Fan]

I've never had any trouble with leg room at 6'1". The Civic I'm driving currently is at the very limit of how far the set can go back, but that's the closest I am to having trouble. Actually a nice thing about the Civic is that its steering wheel is telescopic, so I can bring it back closer to me.

Only thing that messes me up is when I go between driving a car and driving a pick-up because of the height difference. Every so often, I find myself driving my dad's Silverado and I get a bit paranoid about how big it is.

I'm driving a VW Golf, which will be about the same size class. My friend says she knows someone with a Mini (not the original) which looks at first glance about the same size, but the interior of my VW is considerably roomier, she says the car seems wider especially, although her being in the passenger seat is sitting right back and she isn't that tall, but still.