DEMISE OF THE S.U.V!!! (Language Warning)

[sundevil777 102]

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Try the BMW X5 - awesome.

The X5 handles like shit compared to an Acura MDX.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[vortexring 0]

Sod the MDX - I'm on about when I borrowed my mates X5 a couple of days after my neighbour bought an X3.........

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[Scoop 0]

If they were good handling and performing cars, I'd see them at the race track.

[vortexring 0]

But they're not cars mate, they're SUV's

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[billvon 3,132]

>I see it working every morning for those solo drivers breaking
>the rule (about half of them). They are seeing quite a bit of traffic
>reduction....

So arrest em.

>I really like it in the winter when those 7 or 8 cars are going 70 mph
>in the lane right next to the stackup of cars going 15 mph. Certainly
>seems safe enough when it's snowing or icy.

No car driving 70mph on an icy road is safe. And the problem of differential speed in different lanes is inherent on every road where people sometimes slow for traffic, or accidents, or to rubberneck. The nice thing about the HOV lane as opposed to a plain old passing lane is that people aren't going to cause accidents by suddenly darting into the high speed lane. (Well, they could, but they'd have to break through a barrier.)

Newer HOV lanes (like the ones on the 405 and the ones on the 15 down here) are separate roadways, so there's no issue.

[sundevil777 102]

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If they were good handling and performing cars, I'd see them at the race track.

They don't do as well as vehicles that are lower to the ground, but some of them are much, much better handling than the typical SUV.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Stumpy 284]

True. A porsche cayenne (despite possibly being the most pointless 4x4 of all time, as well as the ugliest car ever made) recently lapped the nurburgring faster than a lot of sports cars.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[livetofall 0]

yeah the damn porcshe bastards! I love to drive mid engine cars, but my 98 5.9 jeep GC LTD(1 yr only) was the fastest SUV until they decided they had to hold the title by making a "SUV", but I'd like to see who could knock who off the road first heh heh. I am curious why they even bothered going front engine after that dog 944. I could still modify mine and eat up the Ceyenne with less dollars spent,,but why. Might as well buy a hemi..the new one.

[champu 1]

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The nice thing about the HOV lane as opposed to a plain old passing lane is that people aren't going to cause accidents by suddenly darting into the high speed lane. (Well, they could, but they'd have to break through a barrier.)

Newer HOV lanes (like the ones on the 405 and the ones on the 15 down here) are separate roadways, so there's no issue.

One of the closest calls I've had since I've moved out here was actually on the CA-91 when someone (who happened to be in a large SUV... *cough*) apparently got tired of sitting in the stop and go traffic and piled over the plastic barriers into the express lines right in front of me.

A brilliant maneuver on his part but a reminder that anything even remotely resembling continuous pavement will be used as such by people regardless of how many lines you paint on it, or how many plastic barriers you put in the way.

[misskriss 0]

I have to say that I have a bigun... I have a Chevy Suburban right now. It's big, it's huge and I use every inch of it. I have four children and my children have friends. I often have every seat packed with kids when taking them to various activities . I also have kids that go to different schools so you may see me dropping one child off at one school and dropping two off at another school.

I travel a lot as well and let me tell you that I have every square inch of that sucker packed up. I feel it's all a balance. I recycle and I buy recycled goods, etc. I know it's a gas guzzler but frankly a smaller car would be completely impractical for my family.

We do live downtown so we also walk to places when we can. Their schools are also just a few blocks away so I don't use much gas driving them. I would let them walk but I worry about them being kidnapped. (slightly overprotective) Anyway.. I love my Suburban and I need it... till I trade it in for the Yukon this summer. Same car just prettier.


EDIT... and an SUV as a fashion statement??? I would love nothing more than to be driving around in a small two seater. I love the little Audi's. Suv's are not the most attractive things around and are certainly not a fashion accessory to me. LOL My Coach diaper bag is a fashion statement(which my husband bought me)... not my tank of a car(which I bought myself)

[sundevil777 102]

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Might as well buy a hemi..the new one.

What is so special about the Chrysler hemis?

Most engines are now hemis. Back when it came out, the hemi was quite distinct from the wedge combustion chamber shapes. The hemis could have larger valves and better airflow. With most modern engines being 4 valves per cylinder, they are all hemis, but with a shallow dome instead of the very high dome (that caused a lot of pinging) of the old hemi design.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[rehmwa 2]

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>So arrest em.
.
.
No car driving 70mph on an icy road is safe.
.
.
Newer HOV lanes (like the ones on the 405 and the ones on the 15 down here) are separate roadways, so there's no issue.

the point is they aren't working, no matter how well intentioned - no barriers here (and most places I've lived), so that assumption is not good at all

In DC, we had completely separate lanes for HOV - so a bit better, but still was just wasted roadway for most of the drivers. Still had tons of violators, but easier to catch them anyway....

So here we don't, so it's really just taking 3 good lanes and eliminating one of them for 95% of the traffic. Purposely creating jams. And I don't see how creating a running parking lot of 95% of the cars results in less gas consumption.

Good experiment, the hypothesis was false, let's try something else and stop insisting on implementing a failed theory.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[billvon 3,132]

>In DC, we had completely separate lanes for HOV - so a bit better, but
>still was just wasted roadway for most of the drivers.

That's the central misconception with HOV lanes, that they don't benefit any regular drivers. But for every car in that HOV lane, there are 2-3 that are NOT on the highway that everyone else is using.

The separate roadway is indeed a good idea; new HOV lanes here do that.

> And I don't see how creating a running parking lot of 95% of the
>cars results in less gas consumption.

Because you are reducing traffic overall by reducing the number of cars on the road. In addition, the cars in the HOV lane are getting far more capacity out of _their_ lane than people in the other lanes.

[rehmwa 2]

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>ecause you are reducing traffic overall by reducing the number of cars on the road.

My best estimate of HOV use on the way into work this morning. Best guess - anecdotal observation

50% solo drivers violating the HOV
30% solo drivers with a kid in a car seat (usually an SUV)
10% two drivers in 'contractor' vehicles. they'd drive paired up anyway regardless of the existance of the HOV
5% 2 or more adults
5% windows too dark to tell

I doubt there is any real substantial reduction in the number of cars, just a few lanes underutilized next to a parking lot of cars with engines running

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[wmw999 2,602]

In Houston, it seems a whole lot better than that. The majority of cars in the HOV when I've watched it (note: I don't go into town for work) have 2 (and only 2) people in them. There are some who have their kids as the second person, as well as some buses, etc. Also, motorcycles in Houston get to go in the HOV regardless. Might not help from a conservation point of view with big bikes, but it's sure safer.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[rehmwa 2]

If they had to do it, then I liked the way DC did.

1 - ONLY major feeders into the city.

2 - Completely separate lanes with barriers and dedicated ramps

3 - ramps on and off monitored by cops. tickets given to everybody who violated, not just cars trolling (here, if someone is pulled over for violating, it also creates a jam for the normal traffic as the car pulls off on the shoulder, blocking more traffic)

4 - HOV was 3 or more, not 2

we had a 5 person carpool (but work had dedicated and required hours that everyone had).

I still wonder what would have happened had we just had 6 normal lanes instead of 4 normal and 2 HOV. I think conservation would be better served with cars going at their most efficient speeds, rather than carpooling a very minor percentage in order to make most cars sit in a parking lot......

I don't think HOVs are a good idea, more of a bone thrown to a certain demographic. A PR plug.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[wmw999 2,602]

Well, Houston has pretty much the same HOV system as DC. The only difference is that only the higher-volume rush hour HOVs are limited to 3 or more people.

Maybe that's why there's less resistance here. Houston also helps to sponsor van pools, with a very wide range of times (determined by the carpool members), to get folks to carpool. Free parking in the park-n-ride lots, and some downtown companies subsidize bus use.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[kallend 2,182]

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Well, Houston has pretty much the same HOV system as DC. The only difference is that only the higher-volume rush hour HOVs are limited to 3 or more people.

Maybe that's why there's less resistance here. Houston also helps to sponsor van pools, with a very wide range of times (determined by the carpool members), to get folks to carpool. Free parking in the park-n-ride lots, and some downtown companies subsidize bus use.

Wendy W.

Yes, but you are catering to rocket scientists in Houston.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[wmw999 2,602]

Naw, they all work farther south, and won't ride the HOV. But brain surgeons -- they could ride the HOV

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)